Faelon by A.J. Kelton
I have contrasting feeling on this novel, basically I liked the idea, and the setting, but it’s clear the authors are newbie and their skills are not yet refined. Often the same detail is repeated in different sentences, like when Jax was “telling” why he decided to move to Salem, the same theme “I don’t know why I liked Salem, but I did” was developed in different ways. I thought about it and I found two explanations: one maybe that this is a co-authored book, and probably the two authors, instead of parting the scenes, each one developing a different scene, “shared” the same scene, joining their sentences; the second motivation could be that they are newbie authors, and maybe they didn’t cut the plot after the first drafting… I tend to think/prefer more the first explanation, but maybe it’s a mix of the two.
In any case the incipit is good, a 3000 years old nephilim living in the basement of a church under the protection of the priest; for the last 300 years Faelon has never left the protection of the church, after having experienced captivity at the hand of a demon. Faelon is a submissive, he was born a slave and raised to be a submissive by another angel, Delgorio. But, from what I understood, Delgorio doesn’t consider Faelon as his exclusive propriety, and so he basically dumped him in the hand of the church to be guarded by the dangers that are outside. The current priest, fearing is aging will prevent him to continue the task, decides Faelon needs a partner, and he handpicks Jax, a history researcher recently moved to Salem.
Jax is a strange character, not your usually “Master”. He is not at all strong or self-assured, on the contrary, he is often tentative and in need or reassurance; Jax is interested in BDSM, but he has never tried it, and Faelon is basically guiding him through the rope. While Faelon considers BDSM his way of life, for Jax is more a play, his own words, he doesn’t want a 24/7 slave, but he wouldn’t mind to try something different here and there. This and some other events gave me the idea that Jax has still a lot of growing to do, and that he has basically to decide what he wants in life, and what is really important: for example, when he finds out Faelon is a nephilim, he is not really worried that Faelon is an immortal creature, or that he has lived 3000 years, he is worried that Faelon has wings! Well, yes, that can be odd, but really, is it the most disconcerting thing?
In the end there is a great potential in these authors, and I’m sure they will develop into a great pair; Faelon was a nice debut novel, not perfect, but good.
http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=AJKFAELN
Amazon: Faelon
Amazon Kindle: Faelon
Paperback: 250 pages
Publisher: MLR Press (April 5, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1608208605
ISBN-13: 978-1608208609
Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle
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