River of Dreams
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | River of Dreams |
| Author(s): | Doreen Tracy |
| Date(s): | 1995 |
| Length: | |
| Genre: | slash, Sam/Al |
| Fandom: | Quantum Leap |
| External Links: | River of Dreams at FFN; River of Dreams at AO3 |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
River of Dreams is a slash Quantum Leap story by Doreen Tracy.
It was published in Wham, Bam, Thank You, Sam! #3 in 1995.
Reactions and Reviews
"The River of Dreams" was overwhelming. Tell you what, next time, let's just skip the middleman. I'll just cut my heart out and send it to Doreen,she can stomp on it, chop it into tiny pieces, dip it in brine, twist every drop of blood from it, then sew it back up and send it back to me...
I don't know where to begin. Doreen Tracy is becoming a serious addiction for me, as far as I'm concerned, she is one of the best damn writers of fan fiction I've ever had the pleasure of reading. To paraphrase a Gumpism: Doreen's like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get...but you can rest assured that it will curl your toes. Her stories aren't as "safe" as some other writers, she likes to play in deep waters, flirt with the dark side of humanity. You read at your own risk. But more often than not, you get something incredibly wonderful. "River" is disturbing and powerful, a vortex of pain and love, good and evil. There's a lot in it that makes me very uncomfortable. Part of me would feel a hell of a lot better if the lines between Sam's emotions were less ambiguous. But then, they would be less human, and less truthful.
The story screams sequel (and so do I). What has taken me by absolute surprise, however, is that I find I really don't care if Al and Sam get together, or if Sam stays with Stan. For once, Al's protests about his heterosexuality were simply honest and moving, and not the least bit homophobic. It might be just as interesting and satisfying (and bittersweet and heart wrenching) to see if our heroes can rebuild their friendship despite the fact that Sam is head over heels in love with his terminally straight friend. Maybe Doreen could even give Al a decent girlfriend... [1]
I also loved Doreen Tracy's "The River of Dreams" in WBTYS3 and "Age of Innocence" and "People Will Talk" in WBTYS4. I know these stories were quite different to the usual ones and maybe some people may disapprove in that they were more violent, more explicit than usual, but I for one really enjoyed them. After all, we are over 18 years old. [2]