This isn't a proper review or anything; I just wanted to mention some of the things I especially liked about it. Trying not to actually give away too much at the same time, which isn't easy:
1. Penny's "The Killer of Dole Nu Lin", pov story about a change of state, someone becoming conscious of herself in a new way, and this is beautifully done via her changing use of language.
2. Belatrix's seven deadly virtues are mostly wicked and enjoyable little object lessons on how to end up in the clarts by doing the right thing, but the Gan one, "Humility" is a bit different and for me at least deeply moving - pure canon but with one of those reinterpretation of canon twists that seem to work so well with B7.
3. The Oliver Cromwell scenario in Una's "The Last Days of Roj Blake", where the democrat wins the revolution and then finds the plebs don't really understand what democracy's all about and need someone to force them into it...
4. and the alternative, the sad/happy moment in Ika's "Four Years After the Revolution" where the measure of his success is that no-one knows his name any more.
5. The "As You Like It" quotes woven into E'trix's "Take My Breath Away"
6. and Nova's happy endings - I can't write them but I love reading them and being convinced by them (even if my first reaction to Ta/V is "not unless they both have a brain transplant").
There's lots more that's enjoyable, but those were what stood out most for me and I just wanted to say thanks, folks!
Hafren
6 March 2001