Brethren: Raised by Wolves by W.A. Hoffman
Part of 50bookchallenge, book #12 (2007).
1667 Romance In The West Indies.
Wherein, the Viscount of Marsdale, duelist, libertine, dilettante, and haphazard philanthropist, travels to the colony of Jamaica to establish a sugar plantation for his estranged father.
Once there, he finds he has much in common with the buccaneers of Port Royal. Thus he joins them and learns of the strange traditions, tactics, and customs of the Brethren of the Coast.
Falling in Love, he partners with Gaston, the mysterious French madman known as The Ghoul, and discovers another as noble, disenfranchised and scarred as himself.
Together, they explore an end to loneliness, and seek to exorcise the demons of their pasts, in a wilderness torn by war and ambition.
I put off reading this book because despite the glowing recommendations, the plot just sounded... Victorian romance to me, and I received this book not long after Pirates of The Caribbean: World's End was released in the cinemas so I didn't want to feel like I was guzzling everything remotely pirate-y. The first few chapters was alright, I would even say typical. Another review I read on this book recommended that I set aside a few days to finish this book because I would not be able to put it down. I smugly thought that it was over-rated. That is, until I got to the part mentioned on the third paragraph written on the back of the book: when our main character met Gaston. I honest to God, carried this 3 cm thick, slightly bigger than A5-sized book, everywhere. And I do mean everywhere. I lost sleep reading this book.
In his comments on my review of his book, The Syndicate 1 & 2, julesjones mentioned about gay romance classification for his book. I am so totally getting it now. This is a totally different genre from gay fiction, and it makes me wonder about the reader of this genre. julesjones mentioned in his comment that: "The intended audience is slash fans, and romance fans who would like slashy romance if they were introduced to it."
Well, I don't think the audience will primarily be gay males. The same fact that yaoi fans are primarily female with a smattering of male (who aren't necessarily gay-or so they claim). I sort of can't imagine gay guys reading this book except for the fact that I know a gay friend of mine who's crazy about yaoi. So I think this is a definitely different generally with an entirely new (or at least, not traditional) group of audience.
This book is not at all hardcore. There's no graphic description of sexual act, even in the end of the book, Marsdale (the main character) and Gaston has not yet gone 'all the way' because of Gaston's traumatized psyche. The book told me a lot about British colonization, the reason behind it, and the mundane and precarious life at sea. Marsdale theory about the sheeps and the wolves is also quite interesting that sometimes I can just see his concept working in everyday life.
This book is a gem and a damn good read. I am still amazed that someone can write a 541-page book and it's only the first part of a trilogy. I really recommend people to buy it. Love it, love it, love it! I can't wait to buy the second book, but I have to decrease my current book pile first.
Brethren is currently nominated for 19th Annual Lambda Literary Awards.
Related links:
Alien Perspective (publisher) website with excerpts in PDF
1667 Romance In The West Indies.
Wherein, the Viscount of Marsdale, duelist, libertine, dilettante, and haphazard philanthropist, travels to the colony of Jamaica to establish a sugar plantation for his estranged father.
Once there, he finds he has much in common with the buccaneers of Port Royal. Thus he joins them and learns of the strange traditions, tactics, and customs of the Brethren of the Coast.
Falling in Love, he partners with Gaston, the mysterious French madman known as The Ghoul, and discovers another as noble, disenfranchised and scarred as himself.
Together, they explore an end to loneliness, and seek to exorcise the demons of their pasts, in a wilderness torn by war and ambition.
I put off reading this book because despite the glowing recommendations, the plot just sounded... Victorian romance to me, and I received this book not long after Pirates of The Caribbean: World's End was released in the cinemas so I didn't want to feel like I was guzzling everything remotely pirate-y. The first few chapters was alright, I would even say typical. Another review I read on this book recommended that I set aside a few days to finish this book because I would not be able to put it down. I smugly thought that it was over-rated. That is, until I got to the part mentioned on the third paragraph written on the back of the book: when our main character met Gaston. I honest to God, carried this 3 cm thick, slightly bigger than A5-sized book, everywhere. And I do mean everywhere. I lost sleep reading this book.
In his comments on my review of his book, The Syndicate 1 & 2, julesjones mentioned about gay romance classification for his book. I am so totally getting it now. This is a totally different genre from gay fiction, and it makes me wonder about the reader of this genre. julesjones mentioned in his comment that: "The intended audience is slash fans, and romance fans who would like slashy romance if they were introduced to it."
Well, I don't think the audience will primarily be gay males. The same fact that yaoi fans are primarily female with a smattering of male (who aren't necessarily gay-or so they claim). I sort of can't imagine gay guys reading this book except for the fact that I know a gay friend of mine who's crazy about yaoi. So I think this is a definitely different generally with an entirely new (or at least, not traditional) group of audience.
This book is not at all hardcore. There's no graphic description of sexual act, even in the end of the book, Marsdale (the main character) and Gaston has not yet gone 'all the way' because of Gaston's traumatized psyche. The book told me a lot about British colonization, the reason behind it, and the mundane and precarious life at sea. Marsdale theory about the sheeps and the wolves is also quite interesting that sometimes I can just see his concept working in everyday life.
This book is a gem and a damn good read. I am still amazed that someone can write a 541-page book and it's only the first part of a trilogy. I really recommend people to buy it. Love it, love it, love it! I can't wait to buy the second book, but I have to decrease my current book pile first.
Brethren is currently nominated for 19th Annual Lambda Literary Awards.
Related links:
Alien Perspective (publisher) website with excerpts in PDF