Tag: m/m historical fiction

Review: The City War by Sam Starbuck

Rating: 4.25 stars

Senator Marcus Brutus is finding it perilous times to be a Senator in Rome, especially one not lined up behind Caesar.  Caesar is making moves to get rid of the Republic and crown himself Emperor of Rome and that is something Marcus Brutus just  cannot abide.  Brutus has devoted his life as has his family to the Republic of Rome and to see it demolished under Caesar sickens him. When he retreats to his country estate with his brother-in-law and lover, Cassius, he knows that there are hard decisions to be made and soon if the Republic is to be saved.

Cassius has pulled his long time lover, Marcus, out of Rome for a purpose. There is a mutiny brewing in Rome and he is part of it.  Even his sister agrees that something must be done about Caesar and soon if the Republic is to survive.  Now to make Marcus Brutus understand how necessary is the course of action Cassius and others have planned, as well as the major role Brutus is to play. And he hopes their love is strong enough to survive what he intends to throw before it.

Tiresias claims to be an orphaned boy when he meets Brutus on the road to his country estate.  But looks can be deceiving especially when the boy looks as delectable as Tiresias.  Tiersias appears before Brutus on a gorgeous animal and states that all the horses that Brutus owns should look as good.  And of course, Marcus Brutus is hooked, hiring the young man and sending him on ahead to the estate.  In one move, Brutus has captured Tiresias’ heart and loyalty as Tiresias has captured his.

All three men will face the toughest decisions of their lives as Caesar’s ambitions start to cause even the sanest of Senators to think the unthinkable. Cassius will ask everything of the man he has loved since childhood.  Tiresias will follow Marcus Brutus back to Rome and perhaps his death.  And Marcus Brutus?  He faces the loss of everything he loves. The Republic of Rome, his lover Cassius, the young boy who idolizes him and even the man who protected him when others would have put him to death – Caesar himself.

If you love history, especially the era of ancient Rome, this is the book for you.  Sam Starbuck takes a well known historical fact, the assassination of Caesar and the well known “Et tu, Brutus?” and makes it all so relatable as well as the human actions that set it in motion.  This is the assassination as seen from Marcus Brutus’ anguished perspective and a needed reminder that there are always more than one way to look at history.  Sam Starbuck has done, as he relates in his blog, his research and it certainly shows.  He makes Rome and its countryside come alive again as well as the incidents some might know only from the dusty tomes of history.

Into the tale of deceit and conspiracy, Starbuck weaves the story of the romance between Cassius and Brutus, a long established affair that is even given support by their wives.  This is really not a far fetched idea as a well known quote about Caesar (from one of his many enemies) was that Caesar was a “husband to every wife and a wife to  every husband”, which meant that Caesar himself entertained men as well as women sexually.  Here homosexuality had not yet been demonized by Christianity and the taking of male lovers was almost a given, albeit with some strict behavioral guidelines.  And this includes the mentor/young man sexual relationship which is mentioned here with regard to two couples.  The first is Aristus, former tutor and publican, now old friend of Marcus Brutus the younger.  They have an established sexual relationship in which Aristus mentored  Brutus in the ways of homosexual love, which ended when Brutus was no longer his student (in every respect).  The second  relationship of a similar manner is that between Marcus Brutus and Tierisias. While certainly a deeper relationship emotionally, at least on Tiresias’ side, it is still in keeping with the older man benefactor/young student or recipient bond.  I never felt that their connection was deeper than that, at least on Brustus’ part.

And really that is the heart of my quibbles with this wonderful in every other respect story.  I loved The City War as an intimate look into the events leading up to the assassination of Caesar from the POV of the main conspirator.  But as a m/m romance, that is a much harder sell.  The long standing sexual affair between Cassius and Brutus has all the elements of two men who know each other intimately inside and out.  They have been through war campaigns together and lasted through their marriages, even to the sister of one of them. So I kept waiting to feel a equally intimate connection between them, one born of romantic love and not that of brothers in arms.  And I never felt it.  Or bought into it.  And I think that is perhaps far more realistic a take on their relationship than that of two men deeply in love with one another.

And that carries over to the relationship between Brutus and Tiresias. That is a relationship of unequals, as it has to be.  Roman society as well as Roman thought would not allow it to be anything else.  There is an equally surprising factor about Tiresias that I felt the author handled beautifully and with great respect.  This was so well done that I want to give Sam Starbuck a little extra kudos for the character and Tiresias’ back history.  Really, Tiresias is one of the most interesting characters you will meet between these pages.  Really, he is a lovely surprise that gives this already fascinating story a added dimension.

At 123 pages, The City War is a quick yet well researched look into one of history’s most infamous moments.  I thought Sam Starbuck did a wonderful job here and look forward to his next story.  This is part of the Warriors of Rome series from Riptide Publishing.  So if history, gladiators, Rome and everything in between is your thing, run out and pick this one up.  Continue on to the rest of the series and settle down for a great trip back in time to the golden age of Rome.

Guest Post by Sam Starbuck and Contest for The City War Blog Tour

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have Sam Starbuck here to blog about his latest book, The City War, published by Riptide Publishing:

Hello everyone! I’m pleased to be hosted by Scattered Thoughts today as part of a blog tour for  The City War, my first novella to be released with Riptide Press.

This is the second part in a series of posts I’m doing about the process of writing historical romantic fiction, and how one gets from being a history nerd to a romance writer in a few easy steps; today’s entry is about the delicate dance of historical fiction. To thank you all for reading, I’m offering a chance to win $10 in credit with Riptide Publishing; every comment you leave on the post today and for the entire tour enters you to win!

Something that comes up frequently when people talk about writing historical fiction of any subset is the difficulty of Getting Everything Right. If you set a story in ancient Roman culture — as the Warriors of Rome series is — it’s easy to leave out things we’re aware don’t belong: microwaves, cellphones, pianos. It’s often harder to leave out things we don’t know don’t belong — did the ancient Romans have books, or only scrolls? Did they have plates and cups? Did they have toilet paper? (Yes, Yes, and No.)

It’s daunting, the idea of having to know a dead culture so well that you can create a whole world without screwing it up.

But it’s also fun.

One of the things I researched for The City War was the food served at feasts, particularly feasts for the nobility of the highly class-stratified culture of Rome. 

The servants brought in trays of apricots in sweet sauce and lentils imported from Egypt, roasted thrushes, goose livers in garum and oysters in cumin sauce.

“The servants brought in trays of apricots in sweet sauce and lentils imported from Egypt, roasted thrushes, goose livers in garum and oysters in cumin sauce. Cassius occasionally licked sweet apricot sauce off his thumb, glancing at Brutus with lowered eyelids to see if he noticed. Brutus saw that Aristus did, and the older man drank more wine than usual. Brutus just busied himself counteracting the heat of the cumin with bites of honey-soaked melon, and ignored them both as children. He was getting tired of Cassius’s air of mystery.

By the time the servants brought in the pig—small but well-cooked, and stuffed with tender laurices and fragrant spices—Brutus saw the horse-boy watching the dancers as well, crouched in a shadow behind a tall window that let the breeze pass from the outer yard into the triclinium.”

It sounds delicious and poetic, but sometimes that’s part of the trick of historical fiction; goose livers in garum seems luxurious, if slightly gross to our modern sensibilities, until you find out that garum is a sauce made from fish that’s been left to decay in the sun for days. “Stuffed with tender laurices” makes the mouth water — until you look it up, as one of my editors did, and realize that a laurice is the term for the unborn fetus of a rabbit, a delicacy in ancient Rome. But part of the joy of writing for this era in particular is the fierceness and the nearness to the food chain that even the upper classes were required by their limited technological means to engage in. It was an earthy time.

Historical fiction is about getting the world right, but also getting the sense of the world right. It’s important to understand the spirit of an era — and sometimes to temper it a little in places, particularly when writing romance, which I’m also addressing today over at  Well Read.

Bio: Sam Starbuck is a novelist and blogger living in Chicago because he enjoys trains, snow, and political scandals. By day, he manages operations for a research department at a large not-for-profit, and by night he is a pop-culture commentator, experimental cook, advocate for philanthropy, and writer of fiction. He holds two degrees in theatre, which haven’t done much for his career but were fun while they lasted. His love of ancient cultures and art crimes makes him a very strange conversationalist at parties. His novels include Nameless, Charitable Getting, and Trace, published independently, and The City War, published with Riptide Publishing. He blogs here, and you can check out his writerly accomplishments here.

The City War 

Blurb: Senator Marcus Brutus has spent his life serving Rome, but it’s difficult to be a patriot when the Republic, barely recovered from a civil war, is under threat by its own leader. Brutus’s one retreat is his country home, where he steals a few precious days now and then with Cassius, his brother-in-law and fellow soldier—and the one he loves above all others. But the sickness at the heart of Rome is spreading, and even Brutus’s nights with Cassius can’t erase the knowledge that Gaius Julius Caesar is slowly becoming a tyrant.

Cassius fears both Caesar’s intentions and Brutus’s interest in Tiresias, the villa’s newest servant. Tiresias claims to be the orphaned son of a minor noble, but his secrets run deeper, and only Brutus knows them all. Cassius, intent on protecting the Republic and his claim to Brutus, proposes a dangerous conspiracy to assassinate Caesar. After all, if Brutus—loved and respected by all—supports it, it’s not murder, just politics.

Now Brutus must return to Rome and choose: not only between Cassius and Tiresias, but between preserving the fragile status quo of Rome and killing a man who would be emperor.

You can buy The City War or read an excerpt here at Riptide Publishing.

Thank was wonderful.  My review of The City War will be posted tomorrow and you won’t want to miss it. And don’t forget to enter your name in the contest.  Just leave a comment and you are entered into the contest to win $10 in credit at Riptide Publishing. The Winner of the contest will be announced at the end of the tour.

Good luck, everyone.  And my thanks to Sam Starbuck and Riptide Publishing for stopping by today.

Review of A Mutual Understanding by Caro Soles

Rating: 3.25 stars

It is 1984.  Wayne Robinson, hair dresser and sometime artist,  surprisingly has always been an out gay man, even flamboyantly so given the small college town he lives in.  He is surrounded by the people he has  known all his life and his family lives nearby.  After dumping his ex for sleeping around, he sees Professor Adrian Taylor and  immediately falls into instant lust and then love. Wayne starts pursuing the man until he “catches” him.  But Wayne feels insecure and undereducated in Dr. Taylor’s presence.  And the man gives Wayne mixed signals whenever they are together, so much so that Wayne is confused as to what Adrian really wants from him.

Dr. Adrian Tayl0r is in the closet as a professor at the local college and the courtship of the gorgeous young hairdresser has turned his tightly controlled, neat lifestyle upside down.  When Adrian buys an huge old Victorian house in town to fix up, live in and rent out rooms,he invites young campy Wayne to move in with him.  But neither man is good with communicating with each other, and misunderstandings quickly arise over what each man expects from the other when living under the same roof.  Then a close friend of Wayne’s falls ill with AIDS and fear rocks the town.  Can both men come to a mutual understanding before they lose their chance at a relationship?

A Mutual Understanding had the potential to become a wonderful, realistic look at a small town’s reaction to gays and the AIDS epidemic in the 80’s, but that promise was never fulfilled as the story lingered over a miscast romance between main characters who never captured my attention or affection.  I did love Wayne Robinson, the campy and out young hairdresser with the big heart.  The descriptions of Wayne  taking his mother on her visit’s to her friends on Sunday were perfect.  I could see the whole thing unfold before me as though I was in the room with “Auntie Marge”, her mother Flo and the old dog outside on the porch.  I only wish the affection, care,  and authenticity the author took in creating these scenes carried throughout the book.  You understood these people immediately as small town USA is populated with them. In fact the book is full of easily recognizable small town characters, from the owner of the hair parlor where Wayne works to the people at the diner. So it feels right when the town “seemingly” accepts Wayne’s homosexuality as he is one of theirs until another gay man in town comes down with AIDS and the acceptance is seen for the fragile thing it really is as fear and ignorance takes over.  But again given the time period, the actions of the townspeople are in keeping with the time period and the AIDS timeline.

Outside of the “romance”,  Wayne acts in an appropriately realistic manner.  He comforts his friend who has AIDS, he rescues those in need, he supports his itinerant younger brother until he realizes the extent his brother has taken advantage of him.  I love the portrait the author paints of Wayne’s family  and their interaction with their son as well as his friends, again another terrific element here.

So what is the problem with this book?  That would be the character of Dr. Adrian Taylor and the romance between the two main characters.  There is nothing remotely attractive about this man so his appeal to Wayne is never understood, especially in light of his treatment of Wayne throughout the novel.  Yes,  Dr. Taylor is in the closet so Wayne’s appearance at his office time after time poses a threat to his closeted life.  I do get that. But this is a rigid, closed off man who thinks very highly of himself.  The author has him saying to Wayne “Oh, I see you have been reading again” repeatedly after Wayne has used a more erudite word or phrase.  Are we supposed to find this constant disparagement adorable?  Why are we supposed to like this pompous,  priggish man and think him a welcome companion to a very endearing young man?  I just could never see it nor could I understand the author’s fondness for this character.  It never made any sense, and therefore I never bought into their love story.  When you can’t sell the love affair in a romance book, you know the author is in trouble.

Another thing that didn’t make sense was having a man in his  early forties acting as though he was much older, antiquated mannerisms to go with the antiques he collected.  Even in the 80’s, being in your forties was not considered old.  Acting in a frigid manner in your forties yes, acting as though you were frozen in the 1800’s? No.  Dr. Adrian Taylor is perhaps the only character who came across as flattened cardboard cutout and that ruined any potential for the romance aspect of this book.

This is the first book I have read by Caro Soles and I try never to judge an author based solely on one novel.  So I look forward to reading more of this author to see if the potential I see here is reflected elsewhere in her stories.  Again, had the character of Dr. Taylor been removed and the story concentrated on Wayne and his friend with AIDS I think this review would have been totally different.  But I would give A Mutual Understanding a pass when you are choosing your next book to read.

Cover: Deana Jamroz is the cover artist. Dr. Adrian Taylor does not fit the man in the background who seems too young for his description.

Review: The Celestial by Barry Brennessel

Rating: 5 stars

Life can be hard on a farm, especially if the only two full bodies people are yourself and your Ma.  Nineteen year old Todd Webster Morgan is acutely aware of this fact as he watches his Ma work from dawn to dusk just trying to make ends meet enough to support the two of them and her crippled younger brother returned from the war.  Uncle Ned fought for the losing side and came home with half his leg gone and his personality turned bitter and acrimonious. Todd Webster does what he can but there are no jobs to be found on the far outskirts of Sacramento where they live.  Then Uncle Ned mentions the money to be made mining for gold in the Sierra Nevadas and Todd Webster sneaks away in the dead of night determined to make enough money for them all.

But if Todd Webster Morgan thought life was tough before, he was unprepared for the realities of mining for gold high in the mountains.  Cold, dirty and hungry most of the time with little to show for it, Todd’s claim abuts that of a group of Irish miners with whom he has struck up a friendship with one of them.  One had to be wary of others all the time as claim jumpers and thieves were rampant as Todd knew all too well.  Then one night, tragedy struck the small encampment.  A celestial, as the Chinese are called, has been murdered on the mountain and Todd Webster’s friend accused of the killing.  In just one moment, everything goes wrong and soon Todd is running for his life. In the middle of all the confusion, another celestial comes to help Todd when he needs it the most and his name is Lao Jian. The two young men escape and start heading back towards Sacramento, running from anti Chinese sentiment, jumping box cars and escaping from robbers while finding love along the way.

The Celestial is an impressive and remarkable  story of a young man finding his way during life in California in the 1870’s.  Barry Brennessel skillfully brings to life an explosive period of time in American history through the characters of Todd Webster Morgan, his family, and his lover, Lao Jian.  We first meet up with Todd Webster Morgan on the mountain side high in the Sierra Nevadas where he and others are mining for gold and not having very much luck.  Brennessel’s vivid descriptions of the setting and the activities on the mountain make us feel the cold and misery of the campsite, the bad food and dirty conditions. Mining for gold was hard, back breaking work.  People have rushed out there to try their luck thinking their fortunes are assured only to lose all their money and sometimes their lives in the effort.  Claims for the land had to be filed and the paperwork in order as a claim was in danger of  being “jumped” and confiscated all the time.  Those that didn’t mine, preyed on the miners in a number of ways, looking to take their money. Far the the glamorous rumors of gold floating in the waters, the author paints a gritty portrait of miners barely surviving under close to intolerable conditions.   Over and over, throughout the book, Brennessel brings the era to life right before our eyes.  From the Chinatowns to the boarding houses Todd Webster rents a room in, we feel as much a part of the times as the characters. The author has clearly done his homework, from the tools to the laws yet n0t once does it come across as a history lesson. Just an outstanding example of historical writing at its best.

Barry Brennessel made another wonderful choice when he decided to tell the story from Todd Webster’s POV.  At nineteen years of age, Todd is “a man” as he often reminds others.  But to the reader his young age is still so readily apparent.  Todd misses his mother and uncle, and repeats his mother’s sayings often, especially when Todd Webster is trying to do the right thing by others.  Todd can still marvel at new sights before him yet still shoulder the burden of responsibility of someone older due to the times.I loved “seeing” each new town, experiencing it as Todd Webster and Lao Jian live it. Todd Webster (both of his first and middle names are important to him) has been frugal with his funds as he doesn’t spend it on drink and “hors” like the others on the mountain are doing. And he is advised to be quiet about the amount of money he has by his friend thereby giving us a very accurate picture of life on the mountain and the lawlessness of the area during those times.  These are  wonderful characters that populate this story. Lao Jian is as alive as Todd Webster, although we only see him from Todd’s perspective. Lao Jian’s quiet yet proud manner is a strong complement to Todd Webster’s somewhat impulsive prickly youthful attitude. It is easy to see what attracts them to each other, an attraction that grows into love along their journey. Everything about the characters seems “right”. Their speech, clothes and actions are grounded in history yet all come across as totally believable in every way.

Lao Jian and the other celestials we meet have been brought to America to work on the railroad and end up in camps on the outskirts of  town when their labor is no longer necessary.  The same arguments heard today over illegal aliens taking away jobs from those who “rightfully belong here” have their foundations, in part, laid out during this time period. Discrimination against the Chinese makes its impact felt as Lao Jian is barred from certain establishments and expected to ride outside of the stagecoach and we are as angry as Todd Webster over these actions.  Anti-Chinese sentiment was far spread in that region, the author skillfully brings to life the racial intolerance of the period but shows us the whole measure of the human response from outright hostility to indifference to those to filled buckets and formed lines to help put out the fires in Chinatown.

Barry Brennessel handles his characters sexuality with the same deft touch he displays throughout the book.  Todd Webster is aware that he doesn’t look or yearn for women the same as others do and at nineteen he is a virgin as much emotionally as he is physically.  Away from home, he starts to look at certain men differently without acting upon it.  That is until he meets Lao Jian.  Lao Jian is only slightly more experienced than Todd Webster and their first sexual advances towards each other is tentative and earnest.  Don’t expect any hot sexual scenes here.  What does happen between the two is more of the kisses, fumbling nature and the rest is “offstage” and private which is in keeping with the nature of these two.  Also in keeping with historical accuracy, the forbidden nature of their “sexual congress” is mentioned as is Todd Webster’s initial confusion over his sexuality.  But he comes to grip with it as Todd does everything else in his life and the way in which the relationship is handled  makes sense in every way.

I loved the ending of the book which culminates in letters written between Todd Webster and his mother, and then his correspondence with his great grandson.  Through the  letters, we learn of the changing times and the life Todd Webster Morgan and Lao Jian managed to achieve together.  I will admit to reading those last chapters several times, mostly with tears in my eyes and joy in my heart.  If I have a quibble with this book, it is that it passes all too quickly in 180 pages. Barry Brennessel packs a lot of life as well as history into this superlative story.  Do not pass this book by.  If you are not a fan of historical writing, this might make you one.  If you are one already, this book will climb to the top of the pile. This book was a Finalist, 2012 Pacific Northwest Writers’ Association Literary Contest.  It deserves that recognition and so much more.

Cover: This cover by Winterheart Designs will be one of the best of the year.  Just outstanding from the design to the sepia tones.  Loved it.