i suppose one must

[pauraque_bk]

Unfortunately, most of the Yuletide fics people have really been raving about are for source materials I don't know. But I went through those I did know and read quite a few fics, most of which were nice but forgettable. There were two that stood out.

The shadows cast behind you by karanguni PG (The Left Hand of Darkness)
Short but dense and multi-layered. The author is clearly intimate not only with the character and the world, but with Le Guin's style -- rich and very particular about sensory things, yet also cuttingly direct. It really made me want to re-read the book.

The Aunt and the Ankh by shadow_truths PG (Jeeves & Wooster series)
Funny! A very confident author here, who can certainly do Wodehouse's style, but it isn't just an imitation; they go at it with a rougher, more worldly sensibility that makes the sexual aspects (which are thankfully not overdone) seem fitting and natural. There are always J&W fics in Yuletide that are written with skill, but so many of them try too hard to splice Wodehouse together with fandom and fall flat on their faces. The author of this one avoided the pitfalls. I wish they would, as the saying goes, rite moar.


eta: Gotta love pepysdiary today. "To church in the morning, and there saw a wedding in the church, which I have not seen many a day; and the young people so merry one with another, and strange to see what delight we married people have to see these poor fools decoyed into our condition, every man and woman gazing and smiling at them."

eta2: authors

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_hannelore/]

pepys also made me smirk.

[pauraque]

According to the comments it's an often-quoted line from him, but I can't say I'd heard it before.

[amythis.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much for the Wooster link! (Not sure what it has to do with Xmas, but no matter.)

[pauraque]

The Christmas connection is that it's a secret santa fic exchange, it was anonymously written as a Christmas gift for someone. The actual fics don't have to be about Christmas, though often people choose to make them so.

[amythis.livejournal.com]

I guess most of the secret Santa fics and art I've seen have been Xmas-related. In any case, that was a lucky recipient!