InsaneJournal

Current mood:	impressed
Current music:	"The Smell of Desire" - Enigma

Reliquary by George Pushdragon
I'm reccing a fic, but for the first time ever, it's not H/D. It's Lucius/Harry, and it's not one of those L/H fics that could just as easily be H/D with the names changed. Oh no. This is Lucius Malfoy, not Draco, and not only that, but this is Lucius Malfoy as he should be written. I must say that after reading this story, I am forever ruined for any other kind of portrayal of Lucius. This is Lucius Malfoy in all his glory.

Reliquary presents us with a world that is (in pushdragon's words) "skinned of mystery" by the intrusion of Muggles and Muggle culture (which, in the world of this story, is somewhat of an oxymoron). It is a world rendered innocuous, insipid and crass. It is a world in which Lucius Malfoy (and his kind) is nothing more that a beautiful museum piece. But just because something is a "museum piece" doesn't mean it's powerless and inert. Awakened perhaps too late to the vitality and sublime mystery of the Old Ways, Harry has become a collector of rare Dark Artifacts, which he hasn't the background or training to use or even fully understand, but which sing to him through the magic coursing through his blood. The transcendent beauty and power of his "relics" render them more animate and essential than the cheap Muggle electronics now for sale in the streets of Hogsmeade. But he needs a teacher, a mentor. Someone who can appreciate not only the importance and vitality of his collection, but his own vitality.

Pushdragon is, imho, consistently the best writer in the fandom, and that talent is on full display in this story. The observations Lucius makes about the nature and varying forms of power and how to wield it render my purchase of The 48 Laws of Power embarrassingly superfluous. And the eroticism is profoundly masculine - something too often lacking in slash fiction, generally. Do not miss this story. It is simply masterful, and it'll bring alive the world of magic (and the Malfoys) like only a handful of stories are able to.

. . . It was somewhat naive of the Ministry to assume that unarmed was synonymous with defenceless . . .