Title: B J Sandburg
Author: Gillian Middleton
Published:
Page Count: 179
Format: Full Size
Cover/Art:
Cover and interior art by TACS
Available From: OOP
Price:
$26.00 (US) * $31.00 (Other)
Contents/Description:
An AU novel by Gillian Middleton Imagine the 'The Sandburg Curse' and Blair
turning into a woman for one lunar year and the difficulties that he AND Jim
go through... thoroughly delightful.
This is a double column zine with a slightly smaller font to keep the price
down. It's a nice LONG story. =)
Available Online:
http://www.lexicon.net/gillianm/Slash_Page.html
Observations:
Skip my review and go straight to Amy Mountz' review!
This story was a wonderful read. You'll cry and laugh. And cry some more. This
may well be one of my favorite AU novels. Oh, and we get
two first-times!
Amy's
Review!:
I highly recommend the Sentinel zine BJ Sandburg by Gillian Middleton. It is
het and slash. Available from AMC press.
The basic story premise is that Blair becomes a woman for one year at the age
of thirty due to a ancient family curse. Jim and Blair fall in love as a man
and woman and then when Blair becomes a man again, they decide to use that love
to deal with the changes in their physical relationship.
There is a lot of humor, angst, smarm, hurt/comfort, romance, action, drama,
and love. It's a wonderful story of how friendship can turn into love. Blair
is shown to have many facets as a man and as a woman. He can be strong and vulnerable,
silly and serious, compassionate and sarcastic. Jim is shown to have many vulnerabilities
as well. Jim is shown to be insecure and confident, as well as the same qualities
mentioned before that Blair has.
I really liked the portrayal of Simon. It really hit the nail on the head. His
character in the story is very similar to that on the show. It added a lot to
the humor and the drama.
The cover is beautifully done with Jim, Blair and BJ (female Blair). There is
some nice b/w art work spread throughout the novel. I however liked the BJ on
the cover the best as a picture portrayal of a female Blair.
The font size is small to manage the story into a small enough zine to remain
affordable. The zine is well put together with nice binding. There are very
few typos, and the structure of the story is well put together.
I had already read the story twice on the internet at Gillian Middleton's site.
I wanted a copy to keep just in case she ever takes it off the net. It is a
heartwarming story of love blossoming, that includes very real fears, concerns,
and situations.
I cannot stress enough how much I liked this story. I think it is one of my
favorite stories, and the genderbender aspect is part of what makes it so good.
I don't want to give anything away, but Jim and Blair encounter life altering
crisis and circumstances, besides the gender changing bit, that captures the
reader so as to not to want to put down the story.
This is one I will keep to reread frequently when I need a good romance story.
I like Gillian's other works as well. She is an excellent writer. I hope others
will enjoy this as much as I did. I would like to see more novella work from
this author. She has a delightful imagination and insight into the characters
she writes about.
Bravo.
Why
you should buy this 'zine:
Why you shouldn't buy this 'zine:
As the publisher noted in their review, the type is fairly small.
Miscellany:
Review: Write to Submit