Faith and Hope

Zine
Title:	Faith and Hope
Publisher:	Agent With Style
Editor:
Author(s):	Sue Walker
Cover Artist(s):
Illustrator(s):
Date(s):	March 2004
Medium:	print
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	The Sentinel
Language:	English
External Links:
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Faith and Hope is a slash 220-page Sentinel novel by Sue Walker. It was edited by Leah S.

The zine is one work made up of two previously published works. "Faith" originally appeared in Beefstick and Lambchop 1 and "Hope" in Hope.

Summary

From the publisher:

This *thick* zine contains two wonderful novellas by Sue Walker that were published separately in zines now long out of print. Finally, here they are, together in the same zine, re-edited, updated, and flowing seamlessly into one another, telling the whole story at last. The police commissioner, the mayor and Simon Banks have each received a letter claiming that Blair Sandburg is ruining a good cop, his partner Jim Ellison, by 'contaminating' him with 'fairy ways.' The letter demands that Blair be made to disappear or he will be outed with telling pictures in the newspaper, ruining not only his, but Jim's career as well. Simon assigns Jim and Blair to find the author of the letter, and in the course of their investigation, they discover that not just one, but *several* threatening letters have been sent, targeting the friends, lovers and relatives of high-profile people all over Cascade. Each target has given in and left town rather than have the person they love be hurt, but Jim is determined not to give in to blackmail. Blair is bi-sexual and has never denied it, so why worry about what other people think? Until, that is, Jim begins to have feelings for his partner that are more than brotherly. The stakes have suddenly gotten much higher, and the circle of people whose lives could be destroyed is getting bigger all the time....

Reactions and Reviews

2000

Sue Walker is a zine author I will shell out bucks for wherever I find her.

("Faith," a novella published in "Beefstick and Lamb Chop" #1; "Hope," a follow-up novella; and "The Hammer Falls," published in "Beefstick and Lamb Chop #2.) As I had occasion to say to a couple of e-correspondents:

I *like* this woman's writing. A lot. She has a strong, adult style that really draws the reader in. She understands subtlety and nuance, and uses words wonderfully well -- managing to pluck intriguing character insights from short, simple sentences and ordinary moments. Her characters are somewhat different from my view (which is a frequent occurrence in the world of fan fiction, but that's not a problem unless a writer's view is radically different from what I see canonically, with no justification shown.) Here, however, Jim and Blair are portrayed fully three-dimensionally, and developed logically and consistently throughout the stories. There's hurt, there's comfort, there's angst -- all remarkably free from the usual easy fannish cliches. Her characters are *adults*, and portray both their strengths and their weaknesses.

Without giving away a lot of story details (which I hate to do), "Faith" starts after the partners have been together for only a year. I assume that is when it was actually written, as well, which is important to remember in terms of what we knew at that time of the characters, their relationship and their backgrounds. The story, told entirely from Jim's p.o.v., involves Jim and Blair being assigned to a gay-bashing case -- right after Jim has learned that Blair is bi, and realizes that he (Jim) wants a relationship with him. It's competently developed, but it's primarily a vehicle for getting us into the character's heads and hearts. Which she continues in "Hope," which was published as a stand-alone, 144 page novella This is not a direct sequel to "Faith," but does follow the events of the first story. Jim and Blair get involved in a case that has

*serious* impact on their personal lives as well. And Jim announces at the beginning of the story that he wants to come out at the PD -- as a couple, and as a Sentinel. Blair has issues with that. Oh, and Naomi and Simon play large supporting roles. <g>

2016

“Faith” originally was published by Leah in Beefstick and Lambchop #1 and “Hope” as a stand-alone novella in 1998. Later they were reprinted in a single edition by Agent with Style in 2004) - Sue had minimal output in this fandom, which is a great shame. She has a strong, adult style that really draws the reader in. She understands subtlety and nuance, and she uses words wonderfully well—managing to pluck intriguing character insights from short, simple sentences and ordinary moments. Jim and Blair are portrayed fully three-dimensionally and developed logically and consistently throughout the stories. There's hurt, there's comfort, there's angst—all remarkably free from the usual easy fannish clichés. Her characters are adults, and she portrays both their strengths and their weaknesses.