A very satisfying conclusion. It's lovely that Raoul has found happiness and healing at last, and without an excess of sentimentality. In fact, the example of poor romance-addicted Becky (loved those titles, btw!), the reality of whose own romantic life has fallen so far short of her youthful expectations, furnished quite a commentary on the unrealistic nature of the stereotypical happily-ever-after endings of formula romantic fiction.

David's cynical pandering to the demand for sensational pseudo-history re: the Templars is nicely balanced out by Raoul's wreaking of revenge in cyberspace upon some of the most egregious of these popular historians. It's just a pity that the eminently sensible Edith is now so old and frail--a sad contrast to the perpetual youth, or at least, perpetual robust middle age, of Raoul and Ismini.

"took a job teaching History and Classics at a prep school in Surrey" - a fandom overlap here, but that's the period when, in Surrey, young Harry Potter would have gone to school, before Hogwarts. :)

Lovely ending! I liked it that they managed to restore some murals and all - old things brought back to life are the loveliest thing ever.

Apologies for the delay in reviewing.

You've done an entirely convincing job of bringing this unusual romance to fruition, though I'm not sure whether gaining immortality and remaining with one's immortal lover for all eternity (while outliving all one's other associates) would be altogether an unmixed blessing--while the relationship could constantly evolve and strengthen, it could just as easily result in eventual discontent and boredom with one another. But I guess it will be revealed in the epilogue whether or not this has been the case with Raoul and Ismini! And it's certainly all very thought-provoking.

I really enjoyed the references to medieval troubadour culture and courtly love--they greatly complemented the modernday romance.

It's a pity that this couldn't be filmed as a sequel to the original!

The motif of the hawthorn blossom--beautiful, yet smelling of decaying flesh--is quite hauntingly lovely. The image of the shattered remnant of Agnes' tomb slab, all that now remains of her (aside from her necklace, of course), is also strangely moving. It's all very much in keeping with the vein of melancholy running through the story--definitely not your run-of-the-mill happily-ever-after romance. One can see how an immortal's conferring of immortality on his beloved, so they can remain together for all eternity, is actually very much a double-edged sword.

Edith and Raoul's meeting lived up to my expectations. I took particular satisfaction in the words abut historiography carrying certain ethical responsibilities.

All in all, excellent work as usual!

It's a delicious subversion of the original to have David turn out to have exaggerated his academic credentials! And I liked the contrast between his approach--all too typical of popular history--and that of the bona fide historian Edith Hepburn, especially her reluctance to indulge in unfounded speculation to fill in gaps in the historical record. A meeting between her and Raoul would be well worth witnessing.

But what I enjoyed most of all about the chapter was the progression of Raoul and Ismini's romance. It's very bittersweet, for even as they're on the point of coming together, one realizes that he is doomed to lose her someday, just as he lost Agnes, since even if Ismini doesn't come to an untimely end like Agnes, she will still grow old and die, leaving him alone once more.

As always, the setting was very vividly and evocatively rendered.

Ismini and Raoul's out-of-the-ordinary romance is progressing entirely believably. It really *does* make much more sense for her to be paired with him rather than Anne. The references to Ismini's failed marriage were very enlightening--did you flesh out her backstory from the mini series? I also continue to enjoy the literary and artistic references. Very good work!

It's clear from the descriptions you provided me of the original series what an ingenious job you've done of filling in the plotholes and fleshing out the characters, particularly Raoul. Even David, though still annoying, is by no means the two-dimensional figure that his TV version sounds to have been (thanks for the pictures, btw: it's nice to be able to visualize the characters as they originally appeared). And I did love the line, "'You were so green with envy I thought you were going to start *photosynthesising*!'"

Btw, have you considered writing Harry Potter fanfic? I've never read the series--for one thing, the hype surrounding the whole HP phenomenom is thoroughly off-putting to me--but everything I've heard about it suggests that, like "The Dark Side of the Sun", it's one of those flawed works that provide a perfect springboard for fanfiction. And as you've proven in this and other fics, you excel at writing intelligent and thoughtful fanfic that subverts or improves on the original.

Glad to see David taken to task for his shoddy research! Especially because pseudo-scholarship such as his is so prevalent in real life. It's really immoral and irresponsible for "historians" to perpetuate that kind of misinformation, when the reputations of real historical figures are at stake (I particularly liked Ismini's realization that the Templars' "mail was not 'shining': it was muddy and dented and bloody, and the knights within it vulnerable human flesh, blood and bone"). I'm embarrassed to admit to having thought at one time that tosh such as Michael Bradley's book about the supposed Templar castle in Nova Scotia and Andrew Sinclair's book about Rosslyn Chapel seemed quite plausible--but then, it's very difficult for the layperson to distinguish between the wheat and the chaff when these people are interviewed on reputable radio programmes and taken seriously by reviewers in respectable journals. I guess it all boils down to the common problem of non-historians feeling free to hold forth on matters historical, much more so than with any other field of non-expertise.

Writing a story from the POV of a character of a different culture and profession than one's own can often form a stumbling block, so I'm impressed with your depiction of Ismini's Greek background and career in psychiatry: it all seems very authentic. However, while her culture is foreign, her attitude about the crusades is all too familiar--when I was learning about the crusades back in the late 1980s, we, too, were taught that the Western Europeans were nothing but benighted barbarians. It's refreshing to see a more nuanced approach, since this attitude persists to this day (it seems to be very much Karen Armstrong's stance in her popular history of the crusades, which I glanced into a year or two ago).

The descriptions of Raoul's personal evolution over the centuries continue very convincing--I'm reminded of something Zoe Oldenbourg wrote (probably in her history of the crusades) about how incomprehensible and inhospitable medieval people would find the modern world. Of course, he had the advantage of experiencing his arrival in the present as a gradual transition, but it would still involve a lot of culture shock. After all, even a lot of people born in the last century had trouble coping with the social and technological advances occurring over the course of their lifetimes; how much more extreme that would be for someone living 700 years! Another thing--you've also done a very good job of evoking the recent past, with the 1980s setting: something which might seem deceptively easy, and in actuality is quite tricky to pull off. As well, you've developed the story's potentially very melodramatic subject matter in a refreshingly non-sensationalistic way.

This is so enjoyable. Your writing is lovely: the lush prose reflects the exotic settings and the superhuman qualities of the characters. I look forward to more.

Tried to review last night, but the bloody review feature wasn't functioning...

I've never been to Dundee, but your descriptions made me feel like I was discovering it along with Ismini. It's a pity about the wanton destruction of the historic city centre (Bonnie Dundee, indeed!), but some comfort to know that the monstrosity of a shopping complex has since been replaced. I also enjoyed the material about Dante Gabriele Rossetti, whose art I love (along with that of the other Pre-Raphaelites...well, there *are* some exceptions, such as the precious "Puss in Boots"!); it was really quite beautiful and dream-like when the painting momentarily gave way to the vision of Raoul's much earlier life. The information about Rossetti's father and uncle was entirely unknown to me (and the remark about the Victorian pseudo-medieval history was wryly amusing! Plus ca change!). As well, Raoul's words about the difficulty of adjusting to changing mindsets over the centuries--and indeed, of outliving everyone around him--had the ring of authenticity, something which is not always true of stories with immortal characters. The Maturin reference reminded me that I have a very handsome Folio Society volume of 'Melmouth the Wanderer', still unread since my acquisition of it many years ago--perhaps I should finally have a go at it!

Thanks again for the outline of the show! It all makes so much more sense now, what they are talking about and what they are thinking.

A quibble from my crazy inner reviser: it's probably "Johanniterorden", from "Johannes", hence with two n's.

This continues to be very literate, like all your fanfiction--and *un*like the vast bulk of stuff on this site. But speaking of your other fics, I do hope you intend to resume "The Loyal Daughter"! It's one of my all-time favourite fanfics, and favourite pieces of historical fiction, period. And I find it heartbreaking that you haven't updated for *six years* now!

I'd never seen or heard of the original TV series, which puts me at something of a disadvantage. However, you're certainly to be commended for combatting all the wretched Da Vinci Code-esque pseudo-history out there (though obviously this series predates the 'The Da Vinci Code'). I appreciated the incisive analysis of the current fad of Templar-themed historical romances at your web site! The comment about Nurse Scott and her appetite for Mills & Boone romances amused me as well, calling to mind the "historical" romance fan who attempted to defend her beloved Templar bodice(surcoat?)-rippers on the Oltra Mar list.