The Highwayman (Professionals novel)

Zine
Title:	The Highwayman
Publisher:	Gryphon Press
Editor:
Author(s):	O Yardley
Cover Artist(s):	Evelyn
Illustrator(s):
Date(s):	May 1997
Medium:	print
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	Professionals
Language:	English
External Links:
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front cover by Evelyn

sample text

The Highwayman is a 99-page (65,497 words) slash Professionals novel by O Yardley.

The front cover is by Evelyn. It contains no interior art.

Summary from the publisher: "An orphan without family or fortune, Doyle is a lowly lawyer's clerk. Sent to collect a valuable diamond brooch, he little dreams that his employer's letter of authorisation will pitch him headlong into danger - and into a meeting with a man whose life is spent in reckless opposition to those in authority."

The Hatstand summary: "An alternate universe Bodie/Doyle novel set in 1780 and involving smuggling on the south coast. The Author's Note says: "Inspired by 'Gentlemen of Sussex' by Eric Leyland".

Reactions and Reviews

1998

I was quite disappointed when I read O'Yardley's The Highwayman and discovered it had nothing to do with the poem...

This does play into a rather strong pet peeve of mine. I really think it is important to avoid choosing titles that relate to works/episodes of the same name without having anything to do with that work/episode.

Sometimes it's an accident (I have no idea whatsoever if O Yardley knows/knew a poem existed, but if she did, she should have picked a different title), other times I know it has been a deliberate 'I don't care' decision to use the same title.

If nothing else, it creates confusion in a reader's mind -- or at least my mind. I keep waiting to see what the heck this has to do with X and grow more and more mystified as it never ties up. Thus, I never get into the actual story....

I was disappointed about the lack of a tie-in with my favorite poem, but I found it a pleasant read. My only thumbs down was to the extent that she made Doyle heroic at Bodie's expense. I may favor [Bodie] in my lust and in my stories, but I always try to make certain that Doyle is no slouch in the heroics department. This story told us Bodie was cunning, brave, skilled and daring. It showed us Bodie getting wounded, outwitted and saved by Doyle's skill with a sword.

IMHO, this is NOT a good thing when it isn't counterbalanced by a couple of swashbuckling Bodie scenes before things go against him.