Original Fic Rec - A Dish Served Cold by Eurypon

[hpstrangelove]

So I don't normally rec stories - there are just too many good ones out there, and really, most people on my flist have found them before I have.

But this one just caught me.  I started reading it yesterday and couldn't quit until I finished it today.  It's around 80k words.

A Dish Served Cold, by eurypon 

Partial here: http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2783664/1/A_Dish_Served_Cold

All 16 chapters here: http://www.ximerion.com/index.php/dish

Authors Summary: Andrew Ashton grows up in a world very similar to ours, but where slavery has been reintroduced. While trying to deal with growing up gay and looking for romance, the institution of slavery begins to intrude uncomfortably on his life.

I can't really begin to even describe the ups and downs in this story.  On the surface, it seems like a light-hearted coming-of-age of a privileged fourteen-year-old gay boy who has a crush on his straight best friend.  But once the reader is drawn in, things get more complicated, and darker.  The way slavery is a part of this society seems so logical and accepted, it's scary. It reminds me very much of the way the prison system is accepted as a part of society in Remastering Jerna (although I'll say right now, the plots of each story are no where similar at all).

I should have anticipated what was to come, but I just didn’t see it!  And the epilogue was such a perfect touch – JK could certainly learn a thing or two from from this author about writing one properly!  I don't want to say more because I don't want to spoil the story, but this is certainly one that will be on my mind for quite some time. Just be warned - there is sex with characters under the age of 17.

Comments

[literaryspell.livejournal.com]

Oh! I'd seen this recced elsewhere but only the incomplete version so I didn't bother. Thank you so much for linking to a complete one! This is definitely going into bookmarks. :D Love a good slave fic. Heh.

[hpstrangelove.livejournal.com]

I think you'd probably like this one. It was just completed at the end of March I think.

[buckeye5.livejournal.com]

You know, this sounds intriguing. I might check it out. I love fics where you can't see the end coming.

Thanks for the rec! :)

[hpstrangelove.livejournal.com]

You're a good writer, so you'll probably can see it easier than I did. I think I take things at face value many times, which makes it difficult for me to anticipate twists and turns in stories.

[buckeye5.livejournal.com]

*laugh* I won't necessarily see it coming either. I tend to read the same way you do, rather than as a writer would.

And please do rec fics!! Who cares if some people already know about them. I live under a rock so I love fic recs.

[zimena]

This sounds intriguing. Definitely goes in my bookmarks for when I have more reading time by the computer. It always seems a bit of a daunting task to start reading a really long fic, but once I get hooked, I might end up reading it quite fast, and much faster than I read a normal book.

Thanks for pointing this out.

[hpstrangelove.livejournal.com]

I think it's a story you'd like, given some of the things you write. It is difficult to stop reading once you start, although it seems slow to begin. It gives you a false sense of security.

[capeofstorm.livejournal.com]

I basically devoured it.

Wow. That was one great story and I loved how the author tied up the loose ends in the epilogue. The characters got a real life, with ups and downs. I think I was a little bit disappointed about Davey's reaction to the fate of his family but I could understand it, and well, it was in character.

[hpstrangelove.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you liked it - once I started, I had a difficult time stopping to go to sleep Saturday night.

I can see your point in a way about Davey - every child wants to be loved - but he was treated so cruelly by his brother, and with indifference by his father...I don't know if I were raised in a society like that how I'd feel about what happened to them though. That might make a difference.