Omens by Abigail K

When we first considered this theme, Omens immediately came to mind as a follow-up review to A Glimpse, though I hadn’t read it for years and didn’t remember much more than the premise and rather liking it. It’s not an alternate reality in the sense that the others are, where the characters enter/witness an alternate reality at some point in canon; rather, the canon universe itself is an alternate reality that intrudes upon the characters.

Why you should read this: You enjoy the interaction of different universes. You enjoy a story that takes its time. You like visions of other realities to have a serious impact upon the characters.

Why you may not like it: You’d rather not spend pages upon pages building up to a single, easily resolved, scene. You have a low tolerance for grammatical errors and largely mediocre writing.

Regency, AU, G, Complete at DWG.

Re-reading Omens, I can see why it seemed the natural counterpoint to A Glimpse. The prose is on about the same level—readable, with some consistent grammatical errors (“The dialogue tags.” Exclaimed Empress Maud, “burn my soul!”). The content, which could so easily careen into the realm of the wrong and disturbing, is handled carefully enough that it never becomes painfully problematic. However, where A Glimpse took on a potentially rich plot and then skipped right over it, Omens takes a single point and stretches it as far as possible.

We begin at Netherfield, with typical but not particularly provoking versions of Bingley, Caroline, Mrs Hurst, and Darcy, all sitting down to breakfast. After a brief discussion of the forthcoming assembly, Darcy’s teacup splits in half for no reason. The Bingleys, rather unconvincingly, seem quite ready to take it as an omen – oh hi, title drop! Still less convincingly, Bingley quotes Terry Pratchett. At the same time, Jane and Elizabeth are wandering about Longbourn, talking about their mother; Elizabeth touches a nearby rose, and all the petals fall off. Dun dun dun!

The story follows Darcy and Elizabeth throughout the long day, random events trailing in their wake—there’s even a black cat (of course there is). The randomness is actually something I very much appreciate. As we’ve seen this month, when authors try to cross “Austen” and “alternate reality,” they almost always feel the need to provide some nonsense explanation. Wishing stars seem particularly popular, but I’ve read everything from witches to shrubberies. I’ve never seen the point: when it comes down to it, they’re just explaining magic with more magic. So I genuinely enjoyed the “it’s magic, y’all” non-explanation here.

Anyway, neither Darcy nor Elizabeth take the “omens” very seriously, but they inexplicably become more and more highly-strung as the assembly, very slowly, approaches. When they finally do meet and shake hands, lightning strikes (of course it does) and they have a split-second vision of all the events of Pride and Prejudice.

This is actually where the story (finally) picks up. The alternate reality they witness is completely real to this Darcy and Elizabeth. That is, they do not experience the vision as a dream, even a waking one, but as memory. They regard themselves as married; essentially, their identities combine with their alternate selves’—which is creepy if you stop and think about it, but interesting.

The writing, too, seems to improve in this section. I particularly liked this line:

Darcy smiled. “I should hope not. I should hope you would not refuse me if I ask for your hand. It would be very hard to propose knowing I was to be refused. It was hard enough when I thought I was to be accepted.”

Ultimately, Omens sets up its single compelling scene with such excruciating care that the first two-thirds are rather a slog, but even they are not awful—just dull. The characterization, likewise, is so conventional as to be pretty uninteresting, but not jarringly off. It’s a nice story: not great, not terrible. That and iffy grammar would normally come out to around two quills for me, but the twists on the usual alternate reality tropes were intriguing enough that I’ll give it a three.