(can go on your website, Judith :-))

Review: PARODIES LOST ... by Chris Blenkarn

You have all heard the expression 'something for everyone' before, I'm sure.

Welcome to a zine where it's not just hyperbole, but the unvarnished truth, since we have 'Blake's 7' in nearly every conceivable (and some *in* conceivable) styles here - from W H Auden to Enid Blyton (and is it a worry that Dayna and Tarrant, especially, fit sooooo beautifully into the Famous Five world?) from Jane Austen (a version of 'Hostage' which gives Travis better lines than the on-screen one) to Dorothy Parker, Dr Seuss and Charles Dickens (a version of Gan's Death that recalls Wilde's words on the death of Little Nell). And even Noel Coward ('Just Do It' - (just *begging* to be sung in public).

A wonderful antidote to the over-angsted (or just looking-for-a-giggle) B7 fan it is too ...

One thing I noticed when reading Chris's' previous effort, the Gilbert and Servalan Book (strongly recommended, by the way) was that, for my money, she writes the best, the *very* best, voice of Vila Restal I have ever read (and can do it in rhyme, what's more), and this is again true in Parodies Lost. The Woody Allen piece, 'Xenon base' is absolutely wonderful (I also love the fact that Chris shares my fascination with Our Heroes' domestic arrangements) as is his rewrite of the Liberator's recruitment package ("Assist in accessing resources" [Stealing's quicker]) and the *superb* "Soliloquy: After Malodaar" (after Shakespeare, of course ... alas poor Vilakins).

In addition to stories and poems in all styles, we have a fabulous Gift Catalogue (Rebel Scum Ltd are obviously looking up these days, and I want a pair of the boxer shorts that detect clones), a publishing list that *might* be a boon for any fanfic writer in search of ideas ... or not, a rather ... errr .... different Programme Guide (every word of it true, too), and The Way Forward, a surreal post-Rebellion conference with a *huge* supporting cast (quite a few of whom manage to attend despite being rather - umm - dead). Oh, and a Drama Festival to die for ... I *want* the scripts of 'The Caucasian Chalk Quarry' and 'Sexual Perversity on Helotrix', Chris. Pretty?

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