Proof that the remaining 10% is worthy of survival.
These are recommendations made by Tropers for Battlestar Galactica (2003) fanfics, all of which have to be signed to stay on the page. Feel free to add a fanfic of your own to the list, but remember to use the template found here.
You can also add to the current recommendations if you want. Refrain from posting Conversation in the Main Page though; that goes in the discussion page.
Page Reconfiguration in Progress: Fanfic Recommendations is being split into pages for each individual series, so help is needed to classify each entry into the appropriate category, and to format it according to the template.
Author and Websites
Beyond Insane
- Recommended by Jek Windu
- Pairing: Lee/Kara
- Info: A livejournal community dedicated to what is widely considered BSG's OTP. Remains constantly updated with stories from a massive pool of writers.
Add Review- Recommended by The Armada
- Info: A forum/image repository that covers numerous science fiction series, though the majority of its content is dedicated to BSG. Includes several fanfictions and NUMEROUS 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional BSG ship designs by its owner.
The works of CaffeineChic.
- Recommended by Across The Stars
- Pairing: Roslin/Adama
- Comments: She's brilliant. Seriously, seriously brilliant. She writes in this chaotic, tumbly style that would give English teachers a heart attack but that miraculously conveys feelings... the true, deep, magical feelings Mary McDonnell and Edward Olmos brought so vividly to life. Her spelling is flawless, her characterization perfect, and best of all, she's written nearly fifty stories for the pairing, all over a thousand words. It's a treasure trove, I tell you... a treasure trove of two people united body and heart and mind and soul.
The Road Not Taken by workerbee73
- Recommended by skylilies
- Vanished from the internet. Please post a link if found.
- Pairing: Kara/Lee, Kara/Zak.
- Word Count: 4200 (approx.)
- Synopsis: What could have happened if Zak had realised Lee and Kara were in love. Rated R for some sexual activity.
- Comments: workerbee73 is one of the best authors in this fandom in recent years (as of 2012), and this fic is a prime example of why - her characterisation is perfect, as is her use of language (appropriately sparse and pared-down, which is fitting for characters who are so not given to talking in canon) and the combination of the two is lethal. She brings Kara and Lee so vividly to life here, it's actually strange how easy it is to hear her lines for Kara in Katee Sackhoff's voice, or to imagine her version of Lee played by Jamie Bamber. This goes somewhat AU, but the author is a past master of capturing the simultaneous tension and incredible ease of the connection between Lee and Kara, and their first meeting and its (possible)aftermath is flawlessly written .
Best Laid Plans by workerbee73
- Recommended by skylilies
- Vanished from the internet. Please post a link if found.
- Pairing: Kara/Lee.
- Setting: AU, crossover with The West Wing.
- Word Count: 2600 (approx.)
- Synopsis: Lee wants to impress a girl, but fate - helped along by a cold bottle of champagne - has other plans. Moral of the story? Never take dating advice from Josh Lyman.
- Comments: Like all good fic, this features a Lee and Kara who are very much still the people we know and love in canon. And giving them a different setting- in this case, The West Wing, though one doesn't need to be especially familiar with that show to appreciate this - and observing their dynamic in it is fascinating. The tone is absolutely perfect - the author nailed the mix of UST and humour, and the end result is a must-read.
A Dangerous Game by workerbee73
- Recommended by skylilies
- Vanished from the internet. Please post a link if found.
- Pairing: Kara/Lee
- Word Count: 35,000 (approx.)
- Synopsis: Kara is a government agent sent to infiltrate a powerful mafia family suspected of selling military secrets. Her main suspect? Guess who. Rated R for sexual activity.
- Comments: Yet another AU, but this time it's set in the present day, on our Earth. Lee and Kara in this setting are older, much more guarded, and much less ready to trust one another than they were in canon. Despite this, the UST and the connection - helped along (and on occasion, hindered) by certain other familiar figures from BSG - remain as compelling as ever, and the scattered references to the show itself and its prequel Caprica will make any fan very, very happy indeed. And as always, workerbee73's strong suit lies in her understanding of the characters and the way she fleshes them out and makes them believable - the AU in this case is a genuine attempt to explore what they might have been like under different circumstances, instead of (as many authors often do) a chance to have characters go, well, out of character.
Sanctuary by ingrid.
- Recommended by Across The Stars
- Status: Complete
- Pairing: Roslin/Adama
- Synopsis: The universe has gone mad, but William Adama has sanctuary.
- Comments: A truly lovely, well-written little piece exploring the relationship of Laura Roslin and Bill Adama in the midst of chaos.
Through A Glass Lightly by katamarann
- Recommended by arcadia92003
- Status: Complete
- Pairing: mainly Roslin/Adama, but also other pairings in the background.
- Synopsis: What if Adama and Roslin were in opposite positions when they met at the decommissioning ceremony? Roslin as the Commander of the Galactica and Adama as the Secretary of Education.
- Comments: katamarann is one of the most amazing fanfic writers in the BSG fandom, and this is just one of many that she has posted and is famed for. The fic isn't just the two respective characters as the same people with the exception of their occupations, but she also goes into detail about how the two characters got into the positions that they have and the changes in their worlds because of the different choices they've made, and how these changes have affected the rest of the series as a whole, which leads to some pretty awesome and jaw dropping moments. Overall amazing, and still ongoing and katamarann is just amping up the "Holy Shit!" Quotient.
- Recommended by Walutahanga
- Pairing: Dee/Kara/Lee/Sam, various permutations of.
- Status: Dead; last updated June 2017
- Synopsis: "Wherein certain groundbreaking events occur differently, leading to a series of ever-widening ripples through the events of seasons 3 & 4. An AU told primarily from Dee's POV."
- Comments: This could easily have been crack fic. Instead, the author has crafted a beautifully detailed series that seriously considers all the questions of how and why a group relationship would occur, what affect it would have on events, and all the ways it could still go wrong.
From Glory to Ash by brian 0711
- Recommended by Judge King
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: This will start as just a short story told from the Caprican perspective of the end of the Fifth Colonial Conflict and the start of the Cylon War. The Cylons have been the robotic servants and soldiers of the Colonies for nearly thirty years. For the past four years the Fifth Colonial Conflict has raged across eight worlds and dozens of moons and planetoids. Four hundred million Colonial citizens are dead, thousands of warships destroyed, and two alliances ready to slash the throat of the other. Caprica plans a major offensive to sieze Tauron's most important tyllium mine. Admiral Kessandra Makos, the high commander of Caprican/Scorpion/Picon forces begins her assault on the planetoid Corvus in the Cyrannus System. Unfortunately half of her fleet, ships crewed and designed for the robotic Cylons, have other plans.
- Comments: Prequel to Dust of the Stars (see below)
Forgotten Ones by Xerxezz
- Recommended by Gentlemens Dame 883
- Status: Dormant
- Synopsis: Decades after the Cylon War, a group of still-loyal Cylons sent into deep space to avoid subversion by the rebels decides to return and see what has changed. Their attempts to contact Colonial command and the interference needed will take The Plan Off the Rails.
The Hunted by Stephen T. "master arminas" Bynum
- Recommended by Gentlemens Dame 883
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: The Valkyrie-class Battlestar Scorpia returns to the Colonies after a long-range expedition only to find the nuclear wasteland left by the Cylon bombardment. Through their efforts to rescue resisters and holdouts, they learn of the main RTF and decide to chase after them. But this is more than just a "What If? another Battlestar survived?" story, for the history of Cylons is much different in this universe...
The Scattering by cg99 (Also available on FF.Net as Exiles on the Wind with the moniker Fabius Maximus)
- Recommended by Gentlemens Dame 883
- Status: Complete, with dead sequel
- Synopsis: A mature Faster-Than-Light Travel-capable civilisation is harder to exterminate than one thinks. Certainly, the Cylons made that mistake. One of these surviving bands is led by an engineering track Commodore and his fleet support ship rather than the combat veteran Adama was, one who has his own perspective on survival.
Crossover Fics
Going Native by Rap 541 (Star Trek: The Next Generation Crossover)
- Recommended by krinsbez
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Felix Gaeta is actually a Starfleet officer who was stranded in the Twelve Colonies and forced to blend in. When the RTF runs into the Enterprise-D, his secrets come out, and things get interesting...
- Synopsis: A few years later, the Colonials are settling into new lives in the Federation. Then the Dominion invades the Alpha Quadrant, and all hell breaks loose.
- Status: Dormant
- Comments: A well-written pair of fics, with an interesting premise, good characterization, and believable but unexpected plot twists. In particular, the interaction between the two casts are excellent, and the implications the contact between them has on their respective cultures is very well thought out.
- Night: This story works. It really, really works, it makes great sense and it presents everyone's characters sharply, clearly, and faithfully. Definitely worth a read.
- Pairings: Gaeta/Dee, Lee/OC.
From Prometheus to 12 by Lord Onisyr (Death Note Crossover)
- Recommended by feral
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: A Mind Screw Doppelgänger Crossover (Felix Gaeta and L) which scarily makes sense... this is made of win.
- Comments: Contains MAJOR SPOILERS for both series.
Red in Tooth and Claw by JA Baker (Halo crossover)
- Recommended by pagad
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: The good ship Galactica and her fleet encounter the far-flung remnants of the Forward Unto Dawn, around 80 years after the events of Halo 3. In relation to Galactica, this seems to be set sometime in Season 2 after the arrival of the Pegasus and before the discovery of New Caprica.
- Comments: This is awesome. I particularly recommend it to those... dissatisfied with the ending of BSG, which the author has clearly set out his intent to avoid. I even recommend it to those who don't particularly like Halo. It's been mentioned elsewhere on TV Tropes, I just thought I'd better put in a recommendation here. Spoilers for Halo and post-season 2 Battlestar Galactica.
- Night: Cannot recommend. Poor technical quality of writing and hollow, inept execution of existing characters eventually crush what otherwise could have been a good story. Feels like a low-budget spoof of the respective series.
Dust of the Stars by brian0711 (Trope page)
- Recommended by Judge King, Gentlemens Dame 883
- Status: Dormant
- Synopsis: A Stargate: SG1/Battlestar Galactica crossover. It begins 34 years after the First Cylon War with Commander Adama in command of BS-41 Valkyrie. The Colonies have been in a state of undeclared Cold War with the Cylons. After being snubbed thirty-four times at the Cenotaph Armistice Station Admiral Corman, Commander of Sixth Fleet, tasked with border patrol and expeditionary activities, dispatches Commander Adama to investigate a series of anomalous DRADIS signals on the extreme edge of explored space. They believe the Cylons are testing a stealth ship. Due to the story taking place years before the series there are many original characters. Series characters such as Kara Thrace and Karl Agathon will be introduced as they progress through the Fleet Academy and Lee Adama as he begins Viper training, as well as his brother, Zak. The story is told mainly from the Colonial POV.
- Comments: A Stargate/nBSG crossover
New In Town by k1227 (Deadwood crossover)
- Recommended by Jeeves
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis A President and an Admiral walk into a bar...a drabble that grew! A cancer-free AU finds Bill Adama and Laura Roslin in 1879 Deadwood post-Hearst amongst the Gem folks. Rating for language, adult themes. Spoilers for Season 3 of Deadwood.
- Comments: This story is brilliantly written and thoroughly researched. The characters are spot on, as is the dialogue and many of the themes of both series are explored in interesting ways.
Over the Horizon by Glennfiddich 12
- Recommended by Judge King
- Status: Dormant
- Synopsis: While on missions of discovery, two cultures meet and must face the challenges of their enemies and their pasts together. A Battlestar Galactica/Stargate crossover.
- Comments:
The Gods Have A Sick Sense of Humor by Kazimir 175
- Recommended by: Enderheisenberg
- Synopsis: A crossover with Knights of Sidonia. A chance encounter between two wanderers searching for home upends everything everyone has ever known.
Those That Go Unbound by Panzerfaust 26
- Recommended by Sithking Zero
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: As the Cylons ravage the Colonies and exterminate the human race, they will find themselves at odds with an ancient menace, whose destiny is intertwined with that of the Galactica and her fleet of survivors. Homeworld 2 influences.
- Comments: Dead Fic, unfortunately, and pretty short. But a very well-written story, nonetheless. A semi-crossover between Homeworld and Battlestar Galactica 2003, the story stars a group of space pirates that were originally exiled from the 12 colonies. Ever since the First Cylon War, they've been in a civil war with rouge factions, but now they have their stuff together again and are ready to begin preying on the colonies once more. Unfortunately, they arrive at the same time as the Cylons, which they consider as being a good thing, as that means more ships to plunder. Only about five chapters, most of which is space battles between the pseudo-Vaygr and the Cylons, but if you're looking for a good fight scene between an evenly matched alien fleet and the Cylons, this is it. I'd recommend it, but with a grain of salt.
Jupiter Brains All Over the Walls by Alyak.
- Recommended by Sithking Zero
- Status: Dormant
- Synopsis: Ploba has always been a mystery and doing something stupid, like messing with mysteries, will have consequences to the galaxy. Just remember you reap what you sow.
- Comments: A Mass Effect/Battlestar Galactica (2003) crossover, where the cylons survived into the far distant future, into the twenty-second century, where the galaxy is united via the power of Mass Effect. They were reawakened by Shepard, who was scanning giant, buried supercomputers known as Jupiter Brains before he was called away. These "Jupiter Brains," are actually Cylon ships, who dispatch a Six to check out the galaxy, and to determine how humanity is doing. In the process, however, she saves a colony and gains the ire of Shepard and the Illusive Man. Personally, I really like Six, the main character in this story, as she seems to take pride in standing up to Shepard and other powerful entities, which is a refreshing change of pace from where people fall all over themselves trying to get on Shepard's good side, as is so common in many stories. If for no other reason, read it for the characters, who are amazingly good.
Astra Major by FlirtyFroggy (Hornblower)
- Recommended by XFllo
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Lieutenant Archie Kennedy is transferred to a weird place and keeps waiting for his doppelgänger. Later he is joined by his friend Horatio Hornblower, and they keep waiting together. Horatio wonders if they are still alive and what kind of strange level of existence they are on.
- Comments: Jamie Bamber was once informed by his fans that they liked to live in a fantasy world where Archie had not in fact died, and he was asked about his theory on how Archie had survived his seemingly fatal wound. He replied: "So when they carried his corpse away, aliens came down and resuscitated him, and now he's living on Astra Major in some other galaxy. And maybe Lee Adama will come across him, and asks: 'What the hell is going on with you, Arch?'" This answer inspired the author to write her story. Several readers expressed its affinity to Waiting for Godot, which she originally had not read and was later freaked out by the similarity.
- Tags: Gen Fic, Fix Fic, Doppelgänger Crossover
Contact At Kobol by wilkins75.
- Recommended by Agent B
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: The scrolls tell that 13 tribes left the birthplace of humanity on Kobol, 12 went one way and the other Earth went another only to lose all contact with their cousins. It is written that one day they would reunite but when Earth meets their cousins it is not what they expected and it would cost both sides in blood. (Stargate SG-1/Battlestar Galactica)
- Now has a Tropes page.
