Title: This Wasn't in the Brochure
Author: otahyoni
Rating: T
Genre: Adventure/Romance
Status: Complete
Fandom: Star Wars (EU, pre-New Jedi Order)
Parings: Hobbie Klivian / Karoly D'ulin
Summary: "Hobbie Klivian and Wes Janson are on vacation. The bad guys aren't. Set one year after the Hand of Thrawn duology."

Link: Here

Complete at 34,975 words.

This is extremely niche - to really get the most out of this fic, it helps to know who the actual characters are, and for that you're going to have to have read a bit of the EU at some point. Specifically, the Rogue Squadron books as well as Zahn's "fuck you, other writers who took my Thrawn trilogy characters and butchered them" duology.

That being said, I think this fic would work even if you were just a Star Wars fan in general. All you really need to know are that the two main characters are career military X-Wing pilots who are a few weeks from retirement and on vacation.

It's a really nice self-contained little story, tight and well-paced at 30K words. Despite Wes Janson being one of the three main characters, it doesn't devolve into "omg pranks, jokes, I'm so random and funny and awesome." The Hobbie / Janson bromance is strong, and there ARE some great lines, but there's an undercurrent of pathos running through the whole thing: these guys are almost done with the thing that defined their lives. The Empire is officially done, they're about to retire, so now what?

The little adventure they get up to centers around a terrorist group that opposes the peace treaty between the New Republic and the Empire - which is a refreshing angle, for sure.

Karoly D'ulin is a minor character that Zahn gave some nice texture in the Hand of Thrawn duology, and she comes off very well here. She's guarded in a way that makes a ton of sense, and this is about as well as I've seen this kind of love story handled in fanfiction.

Negatives: The interlude in the middle is a little forced. For all Wes's nice treatment here, he does occasionally succumb to a flat joke or two.

All in all, I'm not sure I could ask a fic with this setup to do the thing it's trying to do much better.

A pretty easy 4/5

 

I don't recognise any of the characters, but that didn't stop me from being enthralled by them. The author has a fantastic grip on his characters. They have distinct personalities, they behave consistently, exhibit foibles and character traits, and feel like human beings. Real people. Their fears and concerns are genuine ones. Sure, they're want to foil some terrorists, but that's just the series of story events that drives and connects all of the other wonderful human interactions on display.

The pacing is good. The romance is solid, certainly better than any other fanfic that you're reading, but it does feel a little wish fulfilmenty. Then again, this is Star Wars. I loved the team up of Hobbie and Wes, and the tentative beginnings of something between Hobbie and Karoly.

I entered this fic knowing nothing about the main characters, but I leave it with the belief that I now understand them - their fears and motivations - at this transitional point in their lives. They aren't me, but they almost could be. Hobbie, Wes, and Karoly all adults, with regular adult fears and motivations.

My one criticism of the fic would be that the main terrorist plot is almost perfunctory. It does its job of tying everything together, and with the tight pacing perhaps there wasn't much room for broadening or deepening that aspect of the plot. But, it has no surprises, the few twists are well telegraphed, and it feels by-the-numbers. That said, its execution more than makes up for its simple directness. This Wasn't in the Brochure isn't really about the terrorists anyway.

Otahyoni's This Wasn't in the Brochure is an easy 5/5 from me.