I Know What's Beneath the Snow Fields - Review

How many of the millions of fan fics on the internet are actually worth your time? The simple answer: close to none. This one is an exception.

I Know What's Beneath the Snow Fields is a novel-length Final Fantasy VII fan fiction written by, at the time twenty-something-year-old (now Doctor) Fatima Ali, known online simply as "Zahra". She started writing the novel in 1999 and finished it (with its 100 chapters) in 2005. It is written as a sequel to the Japanese role-playing game Final Fantasy VII, with a slight alternate universe feel to it.


Characters

It includes a portion of the original cast from the game, and one original character created by the author of the story. Cloud and Tifa are in the story, though mainly as side-characters, because the focus here is not on them this time. Our main characters in this story are Vincent Valentine; the quiet, brooding type with a dark past, and Aeris Gainsborough; a young, naïve and mysterious girl with a hideous secret. Another important character in the story is Davoren (the author's own character not native to the FFVII universe), who is Vincent's former colleague and friend, now a cold-blooded assassin who's more than happy to put anyone out of their misery.


Plot

The story takes place one year after the defeating of Sephiroth. Vincent lives a low-profile life in Midgar, and makes his living as a gunsmith for a small business. Homeward-bound one night, he bumps into a young woman who greatly resembles a deceased former comrade of his, namely Aeris. He soon finds out that the girl is being tracked and hunted by mercenaries, apparently hired to get her. Vincent saves the girl and lets her stay with him for some time, while they both try to figure out what's going on, barely getting along. It is soon revealed, however, that Aeris has no memory whatsoever of her identity or her past, only of some professor performing experiments on her in a dingy underground facility, whom she is terrified of, and managed to escape from.

Meanwhile, Vincent appears to suffer from coughing fits frequently plaguing him, and he comes down with a severe fever one night, becoming delirious and raving, then falling unconscious. During his time-out, he hallucinates, and re-lives his past as a Turk in Nibelheim. Here, we are introduced to Davoren, the leader of the Turks, as well as Vincent's only friend. He is a good-humored, kind, caring and an overall likable man with a strong sense of moral, as well as a disdain for the Shinra corporation and the very job he is hired to do. Vincent also befriends the beautiful young scientist named Lucrecia, who is an assistant of Professor Gast and Professor Hojo, and involved in a highly classified experiment known as the Jenova Project. Vincent falls in love with Lucrecia, but is horrified and appalled to find out months later that she is carrying Hojo's baby, for the sake of the experiment. Davoren also overhears this, and attempts to kill Lucrecia for giving her child to such a horrible cause, but Vincent deals a coup de grâce to the insane man before he can harm Lucrecia. The baby is born months later, and Lucrecia dies shortly thereafter due to complications. Vincent wakes up from his long nightmare, still hating himself for not being able to save his beloved.

Back to present time, he and Aeris - who over time come to like each other - are ambushed while out in the open fields of snow, by mercenaries with a mission to capture Aeris. After a very long night of battling, Vincent ultimately fails to protect Aeris who is seized once again. A battered Vincent then has to find leads, and tricks the two ex-Turks, Reno and Rude, into directing him to where Aeris might be. Sure enough, he finds Aeris, determined to retrieve her, when the purpose of her existence is revealed for everyone to hear. Vincent still fights to take back Aeris despite everything he has learned, as a way of compensating for what he should have done with Lucrecia years ago.

Aeris, however, does not appreciate being pushed into Lucrecia's shadow. She declares her love for Vincent, and knowing that she's in too deep in the predicament she finds herself in, begs him to leave her and save his own life while he still can. When Vincent is beaten and reduced almost to a lifeless heap, Aeris finally stands up to her oppressor, if only to protect Vincent, thereby facing (and defeating) her fears, but her actions have dire consequences.

Vincent, who is still tortured by the guilt of his past sins, only approaches Aeris weeks after the gruesome confrontation, when he finally realizes what he wants in life, and is able to make peace with himself, also revealing that Aeris' feelings are after all reciprocated.


Other information and general thoughts

The plot and character roles oddly remind me of classic Gothic Romance stories like Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. In fact, the more I think about it, it occurs to me that it is particularly reminiscent of Jane Eyre especially.

The story has flaws, however. It is clear that the author dedicated little to no time to the editing process; it is riddled with spelling and grammatical errors throughout. I also don't appreciate Professor Hojo always being a madman from the get-go, with his obvious villain traits. Had the author depicted him as a normal, likable man whose obsession with the Jenova Project gradually drives him to lose touch with his humanity only to become a monster, it would have given his character depth, and he would have been interesting, as opposed to in the game, where he is simply evil just for the sake of being a villain.

Some of the other characters seem a little off, particularly Cloud and Elena. Cloud is an optimist, and a generally nice and happy fellow in this story (like I said, it's slightly alternate universe), and Elena is much cockier and uses a whole lot of slang. Reno is not really like he is in the game, but more like he is depicted in Advent Children: wacky and fun, with lots of cheesy one-liners. However, the other characters, particularly Vincent, are spot-on personality-wise. I especially like his inner struggle, and how he learns to forgive himself for his past sins, overcome his problems, and grant himself a happy ending.

Aeris, I must say, is a bit of an annoyance mostly throughout the story. While it's understandable that she's scared stupid of the man who held her captive and really doesn't want to return there due to the painful experiments he performed on her, her whining and clinging to Vincent can be irritating. That's why, when she finally does find her spine, if only to protect Vincent, it is incredibly refreshing, and appreciated. By the end of the story, Aeris appears to have matured dramatically, and as a reader, one stops thinking of her as a helpless little girl. The lesson learned in this story is that standing up to your own fears and limiting beliefs is the only way to become stronger, and by doing this, one will make it far in life.

The writing style and language is fairly simple, though, and easy to read and follow, flows well, so no complaints in that department.

Also, it may seem strange that there is actually snow in Midgar, which is in a deserted kind of area reminiscent of Arizona or New Mexico with its climate and rough terrain. But then again, there was a blizzard in Mexico only a few years ago, so this isn't necessarily a flaw, but it can certainly come across as somewhat odd.


Conclusion

Do I recommend it? If you're a fan of Final Fantasy VII, you will most likely appreciate it. It has a strong plot, many great action scenes, some really good suspense, amazingly well-written character development, some really powerful and memorable lines, and an absolutely kick-ass and deep original character as the main villain. Davoren is one of the most well-thought out and three-dimensional characters I have ever known in a fan fic, and even if you're not particularly into pairings, especially the notion of Vincent and Aeris as a couple, I still recommend reading it, if only for this character alone. Where the novel falls short, though, is with the SPAG (spelling, punctuation and grammar), which bogs the narrative down at times. But if you can look past these flaws, I'm sure you'll enjoy the story as much as many people did (myself included), as it's one of the few good fan fics out there, with actual thought and effort put into it, and it is therefore well worth your time.