main
side
curve
  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Saga - OT Moonwater Perfume: A Courtesan's Tale---FINISHED 9/16!!!!!!

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction- Before, Saga, and Beyond' started by leiamoody, Jan 2, 2007.

  1. ratna

    ratna Jedi Knight star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 1, 2007
    Lovely lovely conclusion to a lovely lovely story. I hold a future and enduring reunion for them in my heart.
     
  2. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    I read this virtually in a single sitting last night and I decided that the first thing I would do this morning (after coffee #priorities :p ) would be to leave a review here. Thank you so, so much for promoting this fic! This is a fantastic piece of writing and I would really have missed something if I hadn't read it. I'm not surprised it got the "best response to a challenge" award back in 2007 -- of all the DDC entries I have read or even skimmed on these boards, this truly stands out as unique.

    A (by no means comprehensive) list of what I liked:

    Your writing style. This is something I don't usually comment on, not being a native English speaker, because I don't feel that I understand the subtleties of the English language well enough to judge, but in this case it just stood out. The language this is written in is simply beautiful -- rich, sophisticated, peculiar, unusual, and with such a poetic quality that I read several passages aloud to better enjoy them. And you have a perfect balance of words you created for this story (Prestat, manse, cortigia etc.) to carry the reader into the very, very special world you built for this.

    Your world-building. The way you drop bits and pieces about how the oppressive, stifling society of Deiu operates makes the workings of the upper caste, with its idleness, its pretension and its vanity even more terrifying for those who are thought of as disposable property. The mention of how the Prestat discarded Niena -- even though you don't elaborate much on what became of her -- was an essential element to this story and made the idea that Palai is reaching her "expiry date" all the more heart-wrenching. That was actually the point where I decided I would read until the end before going to bed -- I wanted to know how this would end! (Hint: you didn't disappoint ;) )

    As a side note, the use of the word "benefactor" in this story is simply chilling and is in and of itself a reason to read this fic.

    Your characters. I really liked Palai and Josym, the way they're smart, enthusiastic and transgressing social codes at every turn to be simply human (the fact that they bond over poetry was a very welcome squee factor) but what really stole my heart was the secondary characters, even those who appear only fleetingly: the two uncles, the cousin, Aurielle, the Prestatia. And of course, Josym the First and his master, who only gets the briefest of mentions, but that's enough to make him real.

    Which brings me to the subtlety of the tie-in to the SW universe at large. There's the issue of Froce-sensitivity and how to meet Luke Skywalker, of course, but the connection was also there in the finer details -- that half-sentence about Master Roisine's unorthodox approach strongly reminded me of Qui-Gon.

    Lastly -- and I know that this is a detail, but it's the detail that caught my attention when I started -- I loved, loved, loved the entry titles and the way you mark time. When I read "Written during the Fourth Veiled Hour" in your first entry, I knew I had to read the rest :)

    So I went and checked your Prolific Writer entry, and I saw that you wrote more stories that take place in this universe [face_dancing] My reading list just got longer!

    Thank you once more for sharing this @};-
     
  3. Kahara

    Kahara FFoF Hostess Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Mar 3, 2001
    Haven't made my way through this yet, but I saw it in the promotion list on the Prolific Writers' Thread and was glad to see that it's in untruncated format now! I look forward to reading. :)
     
  4. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    leiamoody - hello! I adore the chance to read more of Palai & Josym.


    Like the amazingly talented Chyntuck I am swept away by your great and wonderful worldbuilding & writing style. You infer and give a wealth of detail into the history and values and qualities of the main characters without the reader getting bogged down. The pacing is superb: not rushed and not lethargic ;) - just right.
    I love the sense of a lost world and a decline into decadence and empty ritual from the past into the present. I enjoyed the process of the characters growing closeness to one another :) and also how they embraced different paths from those ascribed by the society.

    =D=
     
    Chyntuck likes this.