Stargate Fic Recommendations

Rec Category: Het
Pairing: Laura Cadman/Evan Lorne, past Laura Cadman/Carson Beckett, Sam Carter/Jack O'Neill, Jennifer Keller/Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagan/John Sheppard, Rodney McKay/OFC, Vala Maldoran/Daniel Jackson, Carolyn Lam/Cameron Mitchell
Category: Het, Angst, Comedy, Original characters, Laura Cadman/Evan Lorne, Laura Cadman, Major Evan Lorne, Team, Teyla Emmagan/John Sheppard, John Sheppard, Sam Carter/Jack O'Neill, Sam Carter, Alternate reality, Jack O'Neill, Jennifer Keller, Jennifer Keller/Ronon Dex, Rodney McKay, Rodney McKay/OFC, Ronon Dex, Vala Maldoran/Daniel Jackson, Carolyn Lam/Cameron Mitchell
Warning: none
Author on LJ: http://evaflack001.livejournal.com/
Author's Website: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1571239/EvaFlack001
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4386920/1/Coming_Back_Home

Why This Must Be Read: One of my favorites for either show, the utterly charming, warm and engrossing Coming Back Home has something for everyone, balancing tense emotional drama with delightfully light comedy. This wonderful story by the talented EvaFlack001 is at its heart a study of the relationships on Atlantis and in the SGC, not just romantic but those of friends, coworkers, parent and child and superior to subordinate. Here as in canon, the bonds of marriage, partnership and friendship are a source of strength, comfort, guidance and joy, and the author wisely allows the dramatic conflict to arise naturally from how these relationships overlap, intersect and change. The list of pairings seems enormous yet each utterly believable couple has palpable chemistry and receives enough attention from the author to make their fans happy. The exquisitely written narrative focuses primarily on is the 'will they or won't they?' relationships of Laura Cadman and Evan Lorne and Sam Carter and Jack O'Neill. Coming Back Home won a 2008 Isis Award in a tough category so, though I am biased as its beta, I think I can safely say you'll love it too.

The enjoayble story opens with Laura Cadman returning back to Atlantis five years after the death of her fiance Carson Beckett, with their daughter, Cara. Laura was pregnant and stationed at the SGC at the time. With the help of friends like Cameron and Carolyn, she survived but her saucy and cheerful demeanor is deceptive. She never recovered from her grief and is thrown off-guard that the base in a warzone she left is now a community of military and scientist families, full of old and new friends who are overjoyed to welcome her back. She's shocked at how quickly it becomes home. Laura tries and fails to keep from losing her heart to Evan, leaving her emotionally torn and fearful. She is wracked with guilt for betraying Carson. The sarcastic Lorne is irresistible as he wholeheartedly courts her and is just as smitten with Cara as with her stubborn mother. He is so brave in his emotional vulnerability that I hurt for him when Laura tries to keep him at arms’ length. In sad contrast to this fragile and tentative love in first bloom, the tortured nonrelationship between Sam and Jack has reached a painfully abortive end. Sam, still the expedition leader here, has finally hit her limit after more than thirteen years of his mixed signals. After an ugly confrontation at Cameron and Carolyn’s wedding, she decides to stop hoping for Jack to be anything but her superior officer and former teammate and to stand up for her self-respect and emotional health. Sam is determined to move on but an equally determined and contrary Jack refuses to let her. Of course their friends meddle with these relationships even while embroiled in their own dramas. Ronon and Jennifer have reached a critical point commitment-wise in their relationship. On the eve of giving birth to their first child, Teyla worries about whether John will still love Torren as much and how their marriage will change. Vala longs for more from Daniel and Rodney tries to woo a pretty and smart major without being humiliated by his friends and godchild Torren, who spies on him and gleefully reports back to John.

The story's quite long but so well paced that the tension never lags and events never feel drawn-out. The author has a canny ear for dialogue and ace comedic timing. There are many laugh-out hilarious scenes, which she expertly builds to a fantastic pay-off, particularly with Rodney and the kids. All the characterizations are incredibly multidimensional and logically evolved from canon, carefully fleshed out with perfect details. The original characters of Cara and (to a certain extent) Torren, are standouts. Even those who despise kidfic will enjoy these precocious and funny cohorts in mischief and mayhem, who have all of Atlantis and the SGC firmly wrapped around their little fingers. Equally vividly drawn is John and Teyla’s adorable newborn (and how enraptured John is with his daughter), enough to kickstart your biological clock. I won’t bore you with a recital of all my other favorite parts but I have to mention how much I love the quiet scenes of female friendship, John and Lorne joking as they efficiently run the military installation, Laura and Rodney's mutually begrudging friendship, the utterly right-feeling depiction of John as an adoring, fun and supportive father, both to Torren and the new baby, and the endearingly soft-touch Rodney, despite his loud protests that he hates children.

( A snippet... )