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You may have noticed a few changes around here at YaoiSuki. That's because we've moved to a new host, and in the process upgraded and altered a bunch of our features (most notably: embedded wiki and better forums). Unfortunately, we lost our user database in the move, so those of you who were signed up will unfortunately need to sign up again. It's a pretty painless process though!
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Variable XY / Sydney Series |
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Written by Jen Parker
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Tuesday, 10 April 2007 |
Welcome to YaoiSuki's first Indy Month review! (Even if it is like a week late...d'oh!)
Before I get into the review, I want to note that these reviews are NOT going to be quite like our normal reviews. The items reviewed will vary a lot, and can be very very different from what we normally review, so we aren't going to offer grades like we do for normal reviews. Instead, you'll get a 1-3 sentence summary, before the actual review.
Also, we originally envisioned these as mini-reviews, so they may wind up shorter than some of our regular reviews.
MOVING ON... VariableXY is the Internet home of writer Kimberley Powell, who offered us review copies of the first two books in what will be a trilogy (at least): Beautiful Disaster and Emotion Sickness.
Powell's works are unabashedly slash. That may or may not be your thing, but if it is, you'll love these books.
{mos_sb_discuss:11}
I call this series the "Sydney Series" in the title because the central character for both of these books-- and a third one that I'm told is in the works --is, of course, Sydney.
Now, Sydney is one of those intriguing characters who at times is part Mary Sue (people are often entranced by his delicate beauty, for example), and part complete and utter pissant.
Okay, okay, "pissant" might be a little too dismissive. He's really closer to a sociopath I think (and I just noticed a quote on the title page that suggest I'm right). Sydney can be charming when he wants to be, which is almost never in this case, but for the most part he is utterly selfish and manipulative.
He may also be a little too close to irredeemable in some cases. The plot-- which, true to slash origins, just occasionally bumps into "over the top" --follows Stefan's mechanations as he tries to get the one thing he really, really wants: his older brother, Stefan.
Let me get this admission out of the way first: I think Stefan is a little unfortunately named. But that's because my only association with the name Stefan is Steven Urkle's hot/cool/classy cousin, also played by Jaleel White, on Family Matters. Yes, I suck. Shut up. (I also am un-fond of the name Sydney.)
There are a few obstacles, of course: Sydney and Stefan's middle brother Kato (...more fun with names), Stefan's girlfriend Reese, and, you know, the whole of society in general. Not to mention Sydney himself, who is almost grossly aware of his own intelligence and attractiveness.
There are a couple of moments where Syd manages to show vulnerability, though: the first that comes to mind is a particular threesome he finds himelf in, and that part of me that really likes it when characters fly in the face of acceptability tends to root for him, even as he pisses me off.
Stepping away from the plot for a moment: the books come in rather nontraditional format: 8.5x11" pages bound into a softcover book that feels almost like a very thick doujinshi rather than a typical novel. The quality of the binding is pretty good though; no worries about it falling apart on me.
Now, the first book (Emotion Sickness) has illustrations scattered throughout. The second book (Beautiful Disaster), it's worth noting, does not. The print quality of the pictures included are so-so at best, and ditto for the art, which is pretty meh. (Note that I'm not including the covers in this estimation; both are nicely done, although book 2's is much more comicky-looking than book 1's).
There is some fun with fonts which I found mildly distracting. Before each chapter is a sort of diary entry from Sydney, which is printed in an italic script font, which I'd be just as happy without. The regular font is just Times New Roman, I think, and although the size is a little big in both fonts, it's all perfectly readable, of course.
All in all, I recommend this title if you're into sort of emo slashfic with a (relatively) mild flare for drama: it's got drugs, incest, casual sex, a gorgeous kid who plays the violin, a few rather contrived plot points that I shan't disclose so as to avoid spoilers, the whole bit. So while former-English-major mind goes "meh," my inner fangirl (who, you might have noticed, is a big siblingcest fan) goes "squee."
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 17 November 2007 )
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