Alternative Seven

Alternative Seven was a zine of Horizon, the B7 Appreciation Society.


Alternative Seven #1

Review

(Out of print, adult zine) Review by Judith Proctor

Here's a real oldie. An old Horizon zine, dating back to the days when they published adult material. This zine is rather a joy in some respects. I found it stirred fond nostalgia in me. For the early days of fandom? Er, no, 'cause I wasn't there. But among this collection of stories can be found such a collection of ultimate plot cliches that they can hardly fail to amuse.

We have Blake and Cally having sex after a well-meaning alien influences their minds.

Then there is Vila having to pick the lock on a planetary ruler's chastity belt and of course being invited by her to help out in other ways after it is removed.

Then Jenna, Cally, Avon and Blake fall in with a group of matriarchs who of course assume Jenna to be the leader and Avon and Blake to be little more than pets - and they have to sleep with each other to keep up the pretence.

Next, we have the 'aphrodisiac accidentally mixed into the coffee' which causes Jenna and Avon to have a fling, and that gives a complete quartet of the most cliched stories in existence.

There's also one uninspiring Vila/Cally (trapped in a cave) story and two others that are fairly original. The last story I really enjoyed. Blake makes up his mind to finally make a pass at Jenna, only to discover that she shacked up with Gan long ago. Then, just to make life complete for the Gan fan <hurrah!> we discover that he is in such hot demand that Jenna and Cally are having to take it in turns every other night!

Actually, considering the zine is fully of such ancient plots (well, maybe they were new back then), the stories aren't that badly written. The cover had me in absolute hoots of laughter though with a gloriously stereotyped picture that looked as if it was straight out of the only cliche that was missing from the zine (but then Avon and Blake as sex slaves is usually slash, not het fantasy).

Contents

Fiction:

Lysistrate, "The Deepest Secret" (B/C, A/Meegat)
Liberty Belle, "...from the Bottom Up" (V/oc)
Anne Lewis, "The Initiation" (A/C, B/J)
Robert Aries, "I Suppose it Was Inevitable" (V/C)
Anne Lewis, "Late Watch" (J/Travis)
Pat Thomas, "How Sweet the Cup" (A/J)
Southern Comfort, "Tonight's the Night" (G/J, G/C)
Art: Heather Lulham cover

ALTERNATIVE SEVEN # 2

Review By Julia Jones

Extremely ancient het zine from Pat Thomas, founder of the Horizon fan club, with the first few issues apparently predating even Horizon. The quality of the writing is very variable, and on average significantly poorer than to be found in later zines. One reasonable story for Gan fans, the rest of the stories in issue 2 aren't really worth bothering with--they're mostly PWPs, and they're generally either very poor quality or they've been done often, and often better than in this early effort. 42 A4 pages, about half of which I'd consider reading again. Don't pay more than a quid for this one.

Surprise - A N Orephus
Jenna is fuming at being left on teleport duty, and ends up n a bath with Vila. Lightweight PWP but nicely done.

What a way to go - Carole Fairman
A very early example of the author completely ignoring characterisation as shown in screen in order to force the sex scenes she wants. I don't really see either Blake or Avon deciding that a shag with Jenna or Cally is far more important than dealing with the pursuit ships bearing down on the Liberator. Jenna as a shy virgin isn't terribly convincing either, even in a story probably written during the first run of the first season.

Manipulative Dexterity - Miss Terious
Half page funny.

Lya - Miss Terious & A N Other
A look at a newly married Gan's relationship with his wife, and how he ended up with a limiter and a sentence to Gauda Prime when he should have been able to plead self-defence. There's some good discussion of the corruption in Federation society, although I don't think it's sufficiently clear why a trooper attacked Gan's wife.

Empathy - Miss Terious
Avon unwittingly experiments with a tasp (direct electrical stimulation of the brain pleasure centres), and is driven insane. Cally has to use her empathic capability to draw him out. It was a new plot then, and it's nicely written.

Song of the Rebel Leader - Liberty Belle
Poem, missing in my copy

Rushalla - Varian Martin
Part 1 of a long story which isn't continued in issue 3, or anywhere else. I can't say I'm disappointed. Blake gets involved with a female original character, to the distress of Jenna.

Night Shadow - Pat Thomas
Servilan's (sic) erotic nightmare.

Contents

Fiction:

A.N. Opedhus, "Surprise" (J/V)
Carole Fairman, "What a Way to Go" (B/J, A/C)
Miss Terious & A.N. Other, "Lya" (G/oc)
Miss Terious, "Empathy" (A/oc, A/C)
Varian Martin, "Rhushalla, part 1" (B/oc)
Pat Thomas, "Night Shadow" (Servalan/?)
Miss Terious, "Manipulative Dexterity" (A/oc)

Poetry:

Liberty Belle, "Song of the Rebel Leader" (a la "Hiawatha")

Art:

Heather Lulham cover (J/V)

ALTERNATIVE SEVEN # 3

Review By Julia Jones

An ancient zine, which means it should be forgiven for the outbreak of cliches because they weren't *quite* so cliched then... The PWPs by Carole Fairman (some 22 of the zine's 60 pages) are poorly written as well as cliched, and can be skipped, the other stories are worth reading.

Felicita - Janet Ellicot
Blake is trying to persuade the leader of a colony planet to let the rebellion use it as a base. The man has other ideas about how to get an income from his planet, and is quite happy to get the information he wants by using torture on Avon - including rape. Non-explicit.

Time and Place - Carole Fairman
PWP in which Blake and Cally, and Avon and Jenna, have one night stands before settling down in their "correct" pairings.

Programmed Responses - Catherine Knowles
Avon has been captured by the Federation and programmed by a puppeteer before being allowed to escape. Vila has to help him unravel the programming. Non-explicit but still grim.

The Reason Why - Kathleen Glancy
Avon is being very, very nice to Vila. Everyone except Cally is wondering why... Amusing short.

Order of the Court - Carole Fairman
Blake and Jenna's happy sexual relationship is disrupted by Blake's accidental discovery of part of his sentence. Gives me the impression that the angst is tossed in to evade the label of PWP for the utterly gratuitous sex scenes.

Contents

Date: 1978?

Fiction:

Janet Ellicott, "Felicita" (A/oc)
Carole Fairman, "Time and Place" (B/C, A/J, B/J)
Catherine Knowles, "Programmed Responses" (A/oc, A/V)
Kathleen Glancy, "The Reason Why" (A/C)
Carole Fairman, "One Last TIme" (Travis/Kiera)
Carole Fairman, "Order of the Court" (B/J)

Art:

M.J. East cover (B & J)

ALTERNATIVE SEVEN # 4

Review By Julia Jones

Another batch of cliches, of variable quality. Generally not a total waste of time, but Perfect Pleasure is the only one I'd read more than once.

You'd never believe It, But... - Ricia Watts
Short funny in which a teleport accident puts Avon in a twentieth century house, and in need of emergency teleport.

Pleasure Palace - Star One
Avon is Trapped In A Brothel (TM). He has to be rescued by Blake (pretending to be a customer), and then Gently Taught To Enjoy Sex Again by Cally. Competently enough written, apart from the gaping plothole of why it's implied that the Federation were responsible for converting Avon from customer to merchandise, and yet Blake is able to walk in unrecognised.

Admission of Love - Rosinante
Third season Cally is tortured by Travis, and brutally raped by reptilian aliens under his command. Only It Was All A Dream, and Avon has to Gently Teach Her To Enjoy Sex, knowing that It Is Her First Time.

Skylarna - Ricia Watts
Avon goes to a concert by a singer he's long admired, and ends up rescuing her from terrorists. As a result they end up in bed together. This one has indigo hair as well as eyes, but is actually sufficiently readable that I'm disinclined to label her MarySue. The Tarrant Nostra need not bother, as Tarrant is (ab)used to demonstrate how much more attractive Avon is.

A Jenna Story - Carole S Fairman
Blake and Jenna have a brief encounter during their first night on the Liberator.

Perfect Pleasure - Southern Comfort
Avon has been captured by the Federation, but when he proves resistant to interrogation, Servalan decides to keep him as a pet. By the time Blake and the crew arrive to rescue him, he's been brainwashed and dosed with aphrodisiacs. So Servalan gets taken back to Liberator as well, to provide an outlet for Avon's needs while the drugs wear off. Stretches the disbelief suspenders in places, but worth reading.

Contents

Fiction:

Ricia Watts, "You'd Never Believe It But"
Star One, "Pleasure Palace" (A/many, A/C)
Rosinante, "Admission of Love" (A/C)
Ricia Watts, "Skylarna" (A/oc)
Carole Fairman, "A Jenna Story" (J/B)
Southern Comfort, "Perfect Pleasure" (A/Servalan)

Alternative Seven #5

Review

(out of print, adult zine) Review by Judith Proctor

'A Blake's 7 story' by Heather Lulham - not a bad story at all. A rather sad tale in which Avon meets a girl who has loved him from childhood. He has a brief erotic encounter with her, but is unable to accept any deeper relationship after his experiece with Anna Grant. Well written and worth reading.

'Xtar' by Rosinante - not as good as the other story in the zine. Dayna is raped and eventually turns to Vila to help her recover from the experience. Not that bad, but some irritating writing habits occasionally distract from the story.

Contents

Fiction:

Heather Lulham, "A Blake's Seven Story" (A/oc, T/oc)
Rosinante, "Xtar" (D/V)

ALTERNATIVE SEVEN # 6

Fiction:

Pamela Wright, "Legends" (A/oc)
Sharon Eckman, "You Were Right -- I Did Underestimate You,
My Dear" (Soolin/Dorian)
Sally Jones, "The (K)Nightly Quest" (J/oc, A/oc
Silver Reed, "The Final Conquest" (A/Servalan)
J.D. Humphries, "A Knowing Smile" (A/Soolin)
Ricia Hargraves-Wilson, "Just What She Always Wanted"
(A/Servalan)
Cynthia Helos, "Ceremony's End" (D/T)
Cynthia Helos, "Power Struggle" (Travis/Servalan)

Poetry:

U.N. Owen, "Ther Avon"

ALTERNATIVE SEVEN # 7

Fiction:

Ros Williams, "Cally" (A/J, Travis/C, A/C)
Ros Williams, "Interlude" (G/Meegat)
Mary Moulden, "The Visitors" (A/oc/oc)
Ros Williams, "Twelve for Teleport" (A/C, A/Servalan)
Paula Dare, "Rubber Duck" (A/C)

ALTERNATIVE SEVEN # 8

Fiction:

Cavea Lector, "The Moley Flower" (A/C)
Ros Williams, "Catch 22 - Federation Style" (B/C, V/J, A/C)
Mary Moulden, "Long Road from Innocence" (A/Meegat)
Ros Williams, "The New Arrival" (A/V, A/B, A/C)


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