The Firebird Suite
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Firebird Suite |
| Author(s): | Kellie Matthews |
| Date(s): | 1996 |
| Length: | 6 stories |
| Genre: | slash, het, m/m/f |
| Fandom: | Highlander |
| External Links: | Kellie's 'Highlander' Fanfiction |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Firebird Suite is a Highlander series by Kellie Matthews.
Pairings are Duncan/Methos and Duncan/Methos/Amanda. An 88 printed copy of the first 5 stories is archived in the Escapade Fanzine Library.
Stories
- As Long as You Burn
- Phoenix
- Playing With Fire
- Stirring the Embers
- Trick or Treat
- Feet of Clay (also a sequel to Everything Must Change)
Reactions and Reviews
There are few, if any, readers of Highlander slash fiction who have not at least heard of Kellie Matthews-Simmons. Speaking as a writer of HL slash myself, and as a member of several lists for HL slash writers, I can say with little expectation of contradiction that she is one of the writers whose name is spoken in hushed tones when other writers gather. Many of us cut our slash teeth on this set of stories and were moved to literary extremes as a result.The Firebird Suite consists of five stories: As Long as You Burn, Phoenix, Playing With Fire, Stirring the Embers, and Trick or Treat. They begin with Methos in mourning for Alexa, continue through the evolution of a relationship with Mac and, eventually, Amanda. These stories contain some of the sexiest scenes I've ever read...and that's not just referring to the sex scenes themselves. Kellie is a terrific writer with a lot of imagination and style. Her sex scenes are both hot and classy, something not many writers can pull off. The characters are, if not completely in character with the series canon, "close enough for government work"--i.e., any straying they do is all to the good and easily forgivable. This is slash fiction, after all...
If you're a literary sort, you'll also appreciate the references to The Epic of Gilgamesh--which is a slash story in itself if you read it with your head tilted at the proper angle.
The Firebird Suite stories are among the first slash stories I ever read, and I consider them to be an excellent introduction to the genre. They're sweet, romantic, moving, dramatic, and at times amusing. Don't miss them! [1]
For me [my first exposure to slash] was like, okay, I have arrived. This is what I had been--because I had been reading fanfic almost from the beginning. And it wasn’t very long--it didn’t take me very long to find slash. I was reading, you know, Duncan slash whoever, whatever female character, you know, or it was gen stories and things like that. And I stumbled on this one website and it said: Duncan/Methos, NC-17. And I couldn’t click on it fast enough! It was “The Firebird Suite”, remember that? By Kellie Matthews. That was my first fanfic--my first slash fiction. And I was just like: I’m home. I’m home! I’ve been a slasher--I was playing out slashy scenes from High Chaparral with my girlfriend in the playground in my little Catholic school girl uniform, okay? Hurt/comfort....first I think it was shock. Because Methos/Duncan, NC-17--no comprehension. I--what the--is this? So I opened it up and I started reading--and what--oh. Oh! [laughing] However, I kept reading, and I kept seeking out more.[2]
These are excellently written and characterized Duncan/Methos stories. They're actually Duncan/Methos/Amanda stories, but the main emphasis and most of the stories are about Duncan/Methos. There are five stories in the cycle and two other stories which deal with Dawson and an original character, but the second of those two, "Feet of Clay", is also a Duncan/Methos story. I never would have thought of a triad with Duncan as beliveable, but the way this is set up it works, and everyone is wonderfully in character. [3]
References
- ^ review by Ryan St. Alexander, The Firebird Suite, at Slash Revolution International
- ^ nitebird at Media Fandom Oral History Project Interview with Creatch and nitebird
- ^ comments by Michelle Christian, Virgule-L, quoted with permission (February 12, 1997)