Classic Epics: For the Enrichment of the Illiterate Newbie

Here's the deal: there's a lot of good newbie resources out there, recommendation threads, indices and their ilk, but this newbie has a very specific newby-ish problem. With so many new oneshots, songfics, shorts stories and spanking new epics being born every day, browsing through these threads is an exhilarating roulette of talent and taste. However, sometimes you don't want to browse through the whole library. Sometimes you just want to curl up with the Great Galactic Novel, the one that's stood the test of time, garnered renown, and has been beloved by legions of readers simply because it is a classic. So what defines a classic?

Here's the definition of the noun according to the Free Online Dictionary:

n.
1. An artist, author, or work generally considered to be of the highest rank or excellence, especially one of enduring significance.
2. A work recognized as definitive in its field.

This is your charitable act of the day, people: If you've been around the fanfic block, consider yourself a connoisseur of good epics, and have the altruism to fill a newbie's empty Hall of Fame, please, make a recommendation. Some fabulous tales that you may take for granted we've never heard of before. Here's my sob story: I was involved with fanfiction for a year before I read By The Grace of Lady Vader. Gah!

This thread is in no way trying to usurp any other of the great fic rec services out there. It is just intended to be a little more focused: The sprawling. The scinitllating. The ones that you save to your hard drive and read on rainy days. We want to read them too!

Guidlines: All genres
All eras
Epic length

No self-promoting, trailers, or anything like that. This thread is for established works. I should hammer out better details, but I think I'll just wait and see if anyone replies at all before getting technical.

So. I'll start. Yeah, my experience is limited, but after a year you're bound to run into good stuff.

Drive You Mild by obaona. L/M genius!

*settles onto high vantage point to see if anything happens*

 

May I recommend, from the TFN archive, the Palpatine stories by Brendon Walhberg, and the "Father's Heart" stories by the fabulous Fernwithy. Also Oqidaun's "Burn!Burn!Burn!" and "The Keeper of Secrets." Edit: Although I've nagged her to, Oqi won't submit her epics to the archive. So you'll have to follow the links in her profile. Happily, you just need to scroll to the top of the page ...

 

DarthIshtar's "Lest Ye Be Judged" in Beyond is my favorite.

 

By the Grace of Lady Vader and Ascension of the Queen both can be found on the Archive.

By far, the best thing I've ever read as an epic is "Spirit Warriors of Angharad" by Ophelia (look for it in her profile). If you want to laugh, sob and be scared out of your wits by Sith and Skywalker alike, you HAVE to read this.

 

Wow, this is a great idea for a thread!

I don't know many epics, but here's one I know, and one that more than deserves being read: All in a Day's Work by Kudzu and Antilles2001! It's 63 chapters (and more than 100k words) already, and it's still far from being finished!

And there's, of course, Quiet_Mandalorian's Have Blaster, Will Travel, although I'm not 100% sure if it's an epic, yet. But still, this OC-driven adventurous story is full of great wits, characters, romance and action!

It's a miracle both fics have so few readers, and even more that none of them won in the Awards, yet...

.... aaaand, speaking of the Awards: maybe someone could provide a list of the winners of the last few Awards, because usually, the stories that get voted deserve it!



EDIT: Whoo, I thought I got the first post, but seems like I'm not the only one who found this...

 

Since you only wanted epics, here's a few. I've only given you completed epics...

obaona
Tainted Child
Fate and Obi-Wan Kenobi intervene when the Jedi discovers and kidnaps a five year old Luke Skywalker from his father, Darth Vader. Undeterred by a suspicious Jedi Council who are wary that the boy may always be tainted by the Sith Lord's influence, Kenobi accepts Luke as his new Padawan. In endeavoring to purge all darkness from the child, the master also hopes to redeem himself from his past failure of training a fallen apprentice.


Knight_Aragorn
Your Eyes Aren't Blue Anymore
Beautiful, heartwrenching story of Luke turning to the darkside while Mara watches. One of her best stories. Very dark, though.

souderwan
Fall of the Sith
A realistic look at what would happen if Mace had killed Palpatine. Chilling, riveting and action packed. However, it's another epic. Very long.

red_rose_knight
Tale of a Jedi: Volume I ? Embracing the Light
A completely OC story of the Jedi at the end of the Sith war. The first in a series of short stories on the life of Ben?al Houk, a Jedi who live more than 1100 years before the events of TPM. This story is about how he came into possession of the legendary lightsaber, the Prak?sha, and earned the title of Sith killer.
It is brilliant and scary as hell. Very intense. The final fight scene was awe-inspiring.

Shaindl
The Roads We Travel Shatter and Split Garen Muln has a problem and it leads all of them into the depths of hell. Drama, gorgeous. Made me want to weep at times.

The sequel
Dark Side of the Road
More drama, also fairly long but glorious. My heart died a dozen times with this one.

Arldetta
Foresaken and Begotten
Obi-Wan is sent to Bandomeer when he is not picked by a Master. On the way there, the ship is attacked by Pirates. And the AU commences.
The best angst I've ever read. Lots of Obi angst. I have the printout!

GunraysLawyer
SOUL OF LOVE AND BRAVERY
The introduction of a completely new society and how it fits into the SW universe. Rich, thought-provoking and thoroughly enjoyable.

 

Since oqi's Burn, Burn, Burn and Keeper of Secrets little duology has already been mentioned (seriously. Read it. OC's. Worldbuilding--a lot of it. With plenty of side stories along the way) I'll mention others.

The Naboo Chronicles and its sequel, For the Love of the Queen by JediMasterRev for those of us in love with Naboo.

Sweet Retribution by VaderLVR64--the story I consider to be THE Vader/Padme AU.

Betrayal by dianethx--a Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan/Anakin PT AU...very AU. As in, totally different kind of galaxy AU, but with all of the same PT feel to it. Beautiful epic and still being written.

And for a bit of great fun, the reality series by VA_Parky (links in her profile). Just good clean silliness and fun with a great plot.

I'll probably come back in here with more, but I'm done link-ahunting. *pant*

 

Wow, what a fascinating idea for a thread! Epics don't get as much attention as one shots and short stories sometimes because a lot of the time readers don't have the time it takes and are intimidated by longer threads.

Might I suggest to those who write Epics to have your word documents available to those who might not have time to read the story and wade through all the replies to post them elsewhere so that the reader gets just the meat of the story and that will also help new readers to be up to speed easier.

I'll be the first to nominate Dianethx's fic, Betrayal if you want a really good novella. Diane is a slow writer and takes forever to update, but the wait is totally worth it with the prose she delivers. It's a sequel to a short story that was in the archives But... and it can be found in the Saga forum.


Also highly recommended is Shadows of the Future by Stormqueen874 also in Saga and Stormqueen posts weekly updates which is extra good because it's so easy to keep up

If original characters are more your thing than I highly recommend Crash Course by Lilith Demodae, which is one of the best novels I have ever had the pleasure of reading on the Before the Saga forum. It's completed and there is a sequel also but that is not yet completed.

 

I can't believe that after 7 posts no one mentioned cynical21!
click


edit:
You know... stickies are our friends!
List of awards to be found in the second post. Just scroll down a reeeeeally loooong waaaaaaaay.

 

Here's a fic that everyone should know.

The Sands of Time by Jeff 52

 

Although the author isn't around anymore GAV's Blood and Ashes and Dust of Empire are two incredible epics. For the Imp lovers Dust of Empire cannot be beat. Incredible work!!!

Additionally, LLL's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is really worth a read. It's provocative and highly original AND it's one of those fics that makes you think. I love it.

The_Face typically errs on the side of short story or novella as opposed to epic, but his pulpy detective epic Galaxy Grey is speeding towards epic length. All of his work is gritty gumshoe style thrillers and guaranteed to make an OC lover out of even the most reluctant OC reader. EDIT: Galaxy Grey is a WIP connected to Face's larger Galaxy Noir enterprise, looking back I wasn't certain if we needed only to submit finished works here.

Edit2: Just noticed that LLL suggested some of my stuff. [blush] Please don't take my suggestion of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil as a quid pro quo thing, it's a hell of a good story and it's won a rather prestigous offsite award. Make sure you read this one.

 

Well YodaKenobi MUST be mentioned here....



NJO AU:
Revolution
The Eighth Cortex
The Living Force

Post NJO (same storyline):
Empire of the Hand

Legacy of the Sith (same storyline):
The Age of Heroes

Not only are each of those an epic in their own right, but they build one on top of another to form a huge storyline, epic in scale...and perfect in execution.

 

And here's a couple that need a mention...

Shadows of a Past Long Forgotten by Padawan Lunetta (first of a series)

Of Pilots and Jedi by Melyanna (first of a series: Never Ending Solo Kids Saga)

 

When I think of a really great epics, I usually go back to the old days of the Classic board (there are great epics today, but back then, I had time to read them

Melyanna wrote Of Pilots and Jedi and Into the Unknown and a HUGE storyline built up around it with a story about Jacen, one about Anakin, and several more written by padawanlunetta and another by RebelMom. I think even Sticks wrote a story in that universe. It's all part of the Never-Ending Solo Kids Saga.

Two luney wrote in that series were Shadows of a Past Long Forgotten and it's sequel, Why Love Was Forbidden in the Old Jedi Order (co-written with Mely) Those two are probably my favorites ever. If I had a whole afternoon with nothing to do, those two would be the fanfics I'd just sit down a re-read.


Lt_Jaina_Solo wrote one I liked very much called Complications.


Another of my favorites is DarthFruitcake's Skywalker/Solo Saga. Start with A Week With the Skywalker/Solos, and then move on to A Year With The Skywalker/Solos. It's so insane and random and funny. There have been several stories in this series (some are RRs, some written by others, and more written by Fruitcake) but I don't have links on me. I still really recommend checking them out


Mar17swgirl and Ams wrote a VERY funny story called Me, my Padawan, his girlfriend, and a bunch of handmaidens. I about died laughing


That's all I can think of as far as ancient epics go, but these are all very, very good stories

 

Hmmm...

Of the fics I've read, PaddyJuan's The Panther's Cub is one of the best. That link'll take you to a list of the chapter links, for all of the chapters except the last one, which is on the last page. Very good story. I've re-read it a couple of times.

Then there's solojones' In the Shadow of the Chosen: Episodes I-III and Episode IV--The Cure. Great story, especially if you love Obi-Wan. I've been there since she began this story--and it's one of the most awesome stories I've read on the boards. Episode IV is in progress at the current time, but Episodes I-III are finished and are great reads.

Then there's DarthIshtar's To Cast Away Stones and To Gather Stones, its in-progress sequel. Wonderful story.

Oh, and there's so many more, but those are my top picks.

 

*dances* Oh, I'm so excited!!! *drools over juicy prospects* As it happens, it's raining right now. So many stories that I've never even heard of just waiting!

Now which one to start with...

Oh dear.



Thank you, everyone, for contributing!!!!

 

Echoes of the Past By TKeira_Lea on the classic board is an amazing epic. There's also a completed sequel, and a WIP sequel to the sequel. It's a NJO AU, and I highly recommend it!

jcs

 

Thanks so much, oqi. My stories tend to be getting longer as I go. It's a learning process.

Hmm, I don't have any ideas off the top of my head that haven't already been mentioned, but I gotta say this should be an excellent resource for the "illiterate newbie".

 

BEST FICREC RESOURCE EVER.

Ahem.

Ohgod.

This thread might be singlehandedly responsible for converting me to more than just a BytSer. Seriously. I've been marathon reading all of RRK's fics since I clicked the link last night, and I'm going crazy over all these fabulous saga and before epics. Awesome idea for a thread, in my opinion.

::Runs back to reading::

 

Stupid internet... or is it stupid me?

 

I think it's you, Crazy.

Thanks, Layren and Luna. I really appreciate it! Betrayal is 250 some pages long (and that doesn't include the side stories) so it's definitely an epic.


Here are some great epics that are not complete. Some are still WIP and some have been dropped but they are still worth reading.

obi_ew
Price of Courage
Brilliant story of the survival of Whie from the Temple Purges and how it changes Obi/Luke's relationship. WIP

wawoot
Bad Boys, Jedi Style
Very long. What would happen if the SW movies were filmed on Coruscant with real Jedi as actors in the story? It's hilarious. I'm often laughing for minutes later. Brilliant and wonderfully underplayed.

maychorian
The unchosen
An AU where Qui-Gon doesn't go to the Temple. Obi-Wan comes into his life and they learn to accept the Force's will. Sweet, very mushy and heartwarming.

JediKnight-Obi-Wan
That which is remembered
OC romance story about a Jedi Master and his Padawan. They fall in love but events threaten to tear them apart. Great angst. WIP

LuvEwan
The Broken Cadence Rolls
Brilliant and thoroughly scary story about how Obi-Wan turns to the Dark after being left behind on Melida/Daan. He makes a great Dark Lord. One of my favorite stories. WIP

LadyPadme
In Name Only A Han/Leia story. Set just before the Alliance moves its base to Hoth, a wealthy Rebel benefactor requests help in uncovering a spy, and Leia is asked to take the investigation mission, but there's a twist: She has to be married, first.
Wonderful romance. WIP

 

I'm sure I'll have more when I get back. But this one came to mind immediately:

Live What You Learn by obi_ew. She's also got the incredible Redemption series. Not to be missed! Seriously. Don't. Miss. Them.

 

One of my favorites, a perfect read during a thunderstorm would be Kidan's Japor

Another recommendation would be oldjedinurse's Best of Us
Great story to curl up to, with a cup of hot cocoa or soup on a cold snowy day.

 

I adore Friends no More by Inara...

But I'm sure if I go back to look for more Epics on the classic board I'd find all sorts...

 

Two of my favorite epics are:

The Water's Edge by obaona, vader_inarnate, and Happy_Hobbit_Padawan
The Obi-Wan of Ep. III is dumped in an alternate universe by the Force - one where Anakin hasn't turned, the Sith are gone, and Qui-Gon is alive and well. Among other things . . . No spoilers, written well before RotS ever came out.


Negotiations with Destiny (ROTJ AU) by Queengodess
As the Rebels prepare to attack the second Death Star, they receive an unexpected invitation to attend a peace conference hosted by the Emperor. As they reluctantly agree, fate is forever changed...
Note: this story is not completed.

~KT