Hello.

	Welcome to part whatever of Glass Jar reviews.

	Today we're discussing (briefly) the recent posting of parts 1-3
of Brett Handy's newest Oh My God book.  For those who have missed the
earlier books, it's no problem at all to jump into the series at this
point - all you need to know is that Brett used to be human until a slip
of the lip during a wish made him the God of Destiny.  Things got a
little hairy for a while, but they've calmed down a bit at the beginning
of the story.

	Of course, they don't stay that way.  The working definition of
an adventure is when dangerous things are happening to *other* people.
:)  In particular, this is more adventure than comedy, for those who are
familiar with the anime/manga, and it's also pretty light on the
romance.  (The pair are an established couple, and have a comfortable
relationship.)

	This is admittedly an Otaku-fic, but it's a well written one.
The author is willing to have bad things happen to his avatar, who then
requires help from his friends to work out his problems.  This, plus a
basic understanding of writing, is what truely separates the high grade
of otakufic that this is from the drek we all fear.


	The story opens with Brett and Urd being whipped off to El
Hazard.  There they run into the old problems (Bugrum!  Bugrum!  Yaaay
Bugrum!) and new ones.  (Princess Fatora has a Crush.  Three guesses on
who.)  People not entirely familiar with El Hazard get introduced to the
concepts at about the same time that Urd and Brett are, although I think
it would be helpful at some point later in the story for an explanation
of the teacher's strength, which is never explained to the reader.  This
is pretty much the same as what had been previously posted as parts 1-3,
but is now only part 1.

	Parts 2 and 3 continue along the same track, going from
anime-world to anime-world, and avoiding the ones that get over-used (so
far).  Lodoss War and Phantom Quest Corp haven't had fanfics written
about them before (that I'm aware of), and it's nice to see them.

	In short, this is Recommended for people to read, even if you
haven't read the earlier parts, and especially if you have.  If you
previously read parts 1-3 as posted a month or two ago, you can pretty
much take up with part 2A, and go on from there.  


	Glass Jar reviews is intended to be a series of reviews
highlighting unusual and overlooked fanfics.  I'm mostly going to be
specializing in non-Ranma and non-Sailor Moon fanfics, since those tend
to be read a lot.  Also, since I'm usually about a week or two behind in
my fic-reading (You guys are *Prolific*!), these reviews won't be
showing up quickly.  But they're helpful for those of you like me who
save these away to read at leasure.
	If you want something particular reviewed by me (bwa-heh-heh)
you could try sending it directly to me, but you might want to check
with me first... pressures at work may preclude me from reading extra
fics, and I may already have a copy if you've posted it.  Of course, if
you want the review to show up at the same time as the fic, you might
want me to see it a week before.  Or not. :)
	Oh, and no-prize to the person who realizes what the glass jar
referrs to. :)

-john
"What do you do if a Terrorist throws a pin at you?
     Run!  He's got a grenade in his mouth!"
jcfiala@cssltd.com