Death and the Captain

[Ethel Sherman]

Death and the Captain, by Hazel Kohler.
( http://www.spectrum-headquarters.com/fa ... aptain.htm)

There are some authors whose latest work you wait for with a sense of gleeful anticipation: Hazel Kohler is one of that group. Never less than an entertaining read, she presents her stories with a high degree of artistry and a deceptively easy style that disguises the considerable skill of the writer.
Recently, we’ve had the pleasure of two new works from her: Writer’s Block and Death and the Captain, and although they are independent stories, the former does tease us with a mention of the latter.
It is the second of those two stories that I would like to focus on, because Death and the Captain is a crossover with the quirky Discworld novels of Sir Terry Pratchett, and crossover stories present the fan fiction author with a fundamental problem: how much of the ‘guest’ fandom can you expect your readership to be familiar with?
Some authors will go into minute detail, dragging their story through a quagmire of information beyond what is needed for it to succeed, whereas others leave the ‘Captain Scarlet’ fan floundering as they explain nothing about the unknown characters or bewildering premise of their chosen fandom. Either approach can ruin a perfectly good narrative.
I admit to a fairly broad knowledge of ‘The Discworld’, but I anticipate that even someone with no exposure to the genre would enjoy this story. For those who like a little extra information, Hazel thoughtfully includes a potted explanation of references in her ‘Author’s Notes’, which is the ideal place for details that would otherwise slow down a narrative. These notes also include links to other sites, which are interesting. However, although I presume the illustrations for the story were created by Hazel herself, nowhere in the notes does it actually say so. Illustrations are increasingly playing an important part of the fan fiction stories on the site, and the artists ought to be acknowledged by the authors who include them.

Death and the Captain finds Captain Scarlet stranded by bad weather in his – and, quite obviously, Hazel’s - beloved London, late on New Year’s Eve 2069. What happens to him as he takes the air on the Victoria Embankment forms the pivot of this short story.
There is a great sense of place in the narrative, which is enhanced by the two atmospheric illustrations. The evocation of that part of London is well-handled, as is the ennui Captain Scarlet is feeling after being cooped up in ‘over-heated offices’ all day, and then being prevented from re-joining his friends on Cloudbase in time to celebrate the New Year.
The pacing of the story is excellent; the details and the style create the impression of ‘slow time’ as, preternaturally aware of his surroundings, Captain Scarlet watches the death of the old year and the birth of the new.
It is not the job of a reviewer to spoil the twists and surprises in any author’s work, so I will merely say that the other individual involved in the story is as deft a characterisation as Hazel’s depiction of Captain Scarlet himself. The Paul Metcalfe in this story is stoical, friendly and prepared for anything, even to the extent of having a ‘stray peppermint’ in his pocket, just when it is needed.
As an example of a well written short story and a crossover that works in both fandoms, I would urge people to read this.

[hazel]

Thanks! I'm glad you liked the story.

You're absolutely right about cross-overs. I know the Discworld stories of Sir Terry Pratchett (Pterry, as he's affectionately known to his fans, for reasons far too complicated and irrelevant to go into here) very well, and I was wondering how much detail to include. In the end, I decided to go for the bare minimum - after due consideration, I didn't think it was necessary to have any familiarity at all with the Discworld element in order to understand what it's doing in the London of Captain Scarlet.

And yes, the illustrations are my own work. I even took the photos of Big Ben and the London Eye myself. In case anyone is wondering, I didn't wait until midnight to take the photo of Big Ben - it was about 9-ish one night, and I tweaked the positions of the hands in Photo Deluxe. The picture of the Grim Reaper was taken from a Halloween clipart site, and Scarlet himself was from Noose of Ice. Carrie helped me out with one bit of the title graphic that I simply couldn't get right. Thanks, Carrie! (Should have acknowledged that. Sorry. ) The galloping horse was hand-drawn, and came out astonishingly well. Not sure I could do it again...

Thank you for the lovely review, Ethel!