AoS m/m Rec
I assume that, as my friends, at least some of you are interested in m/m AoS fiction. (That's Age of Sail homosexual romance for the abbreviationally challenged.)
I recently picked up the e-book version of "Captain's Surrender" by Alex Beecroft, on a whim. Well, not quite a whim. You see, I wanted to see how similar it was to Grayfly, the novel I am working on. Last week, I was pierced with the awful thought that the book I am writing will end being a retread of someone else's AoS and I will have spend six months on nothing. It occurred to me that I should just buy and read every AoS m/m novel out there and read it, since I read so fast it wouldn't really be an investment of time and e-books are relatively cheap.
So I started with Captain's Surrender, inspite of it's romancy title, as it's been lauded by a few people I think are the bee's knees.
Wow, was I glad I did.
Wow, I really need to get over the fact that romance novels generally have romancy titles.
Captain's Surrender is the story of two star-crossed lovers aboard a British ship of the line during the Napoleanic wars. Their Captain is a paranoid bastard, punishing people as often as he can for whatever infraction he can invent. He takes a particular dislike to the two main characters of the story.
Now, before you start whining at me that you've seen that story before and it's called Hornblower : Mutiny starring Ioan Gruffudd, the Hornblower similarities end (mostly) there.
The two main characters, Josh and Peter, are wonderfully unique and really don't remind me terribly much of Horatio and Archie. Physically, they don't look like Horatio and Archiem which goes a long way. I mean, who wants to read about someones luscious dark curls and spanish chocolate eyes for the 80th time. (I Do, but I am pretending to say I don't to sound cool.) They sometimes act similarly to how I think Archie and Horatio would act, but well, they are gay sailors after all. Similarities are to be expected and cherished.
Their romance is complicated further by another pair of lovers, Emily and Mr. Robinson, who are seperated by class rather than by gender .
Alex is wonderfully adept at writing hot action scenes, and by that I of course mean Naval battles. The world is wonderfully realistic, as through the eyes of Emily I could visualize things first hand, the way a newcomer would. Along with her I marvelled at the pitch of the ship, felt waves of nausea as she viewed the gore of battle, and experienced the flickers of attraction from the scores of potential suitors aboard. She noticed things and made mistakes that a polished sailor would never take notice of, so it was a refreshing take on a familiar scenario.
The sex, of course, was great. I could have used more of it, but it probably would have detracted from the story so I am grateful she is a disciplined writer. There is a lot of build up to the romance plot, so it was refreshing when the barriers finally broke and the two main characters got together. However, with all the obstacles set against them, their romance is complicated and tested many times.
It was a great read, and I absolutely reccommend it for any fans of the genre - or if you've been curious about the genre but unsure where to hop in. You won't be disappointed!
Info here : http://www.lindenbayromance.com/product-captainssurrender-143-145.html If the excerpt doesn't convince you to buy it , I don't know what will!
In the end, I realized that I probably SHOULDN'T read a ton of AoS because it's bound to influence me, that I should just get my story out and have that be that, but I am so glad I read this book, cause it really encouraged me and reinvigorated my AoS love. It was the right read at the right time!
I recently picked up the e-book version of "Captain's Surrender" by Alex Beecroft, on a whim. Well, not quite a whim. You see, I wanted to see how similar it was to Grayfly, the novel I am working on. Last week, I was pierced with the awful thought that the book I am writing will end being a retread of someone else's AoS and I will have spend six months on nothing. It occurred to me that I should just buy and read every AoS m/m novel out there and read it, since I read so fast it wouldn't really be an investment of time and e-books are relatively cheap.
So I started with Captain's Surrender, inspite of it's romancy title, as it's been lauded by a few people I think are the bee's knees.
Wow, was I glad I did.
Wow, I really need to get over the fact that romance novels generally have romancy titles.
Captain's Surrender is the story of two star-crossed lovers aboard a British ship of the line during the Napoleanic wars. Their Captain is a paranoid bastard, punishing people as often as he can for whatever infraction he can invent. He takes a particular dislike to the two main characters of the story.
Now, before you start whining at me that you've seen that story before and it's called Hornblower : Mutiny starring Ioan Gruffudd, the Hornblower similarities end (mostly) there.
The two main characters, Josh and Peter, are wonderfully unique and really don't remind me terribly much of Horatio and Archie. Physically, they don't look like Horatio and Archiem which goes a long way. I mean, who wants to read about someones luscious dark curls and spanish chocolate eyes for the 80th time. (I Do, but I am pretending to say I don't to sound cool.) They sometimes act similarly to how I think Archie and Horatio would act, but well, they are gay sailors after all. Similarities are to be expected and cherished.
Their romance is complicated further by another pair of lovers, Emily and Mr. Robinson, who are seperated by class rather than by gender .
Alex is wonderfully adept at writing hot action scenes, and by that I of course mean Naval battles. The world is wonderfully realistic, as through the eyes of Emily I could visualize things first hand, the way a newcomer would. Along with her I marvelled at the pitch of the ship, felt waves of nausea as she viewed the gore of battle, and experienced the flickers of attraction from the scores of potential suitors aboard. She noticed things and made mistakes that a polished sailor would never take notice of, so it was a refreshing take on a familiar scenario.
The sex, of course, was great. I could have used more of it, but it probably would have detracted from the story so I am grateful she is a disciplined writer. There is a lot of build up to the romance plot, so it was refreshing when the barriers finally broke and the two main characters got together. However, with all the obstacles set against them, their romance is complicated and tested many times.
It was a great read, and I absolutely reccommend it for any fans of the genre - or if you've been curious about the genre but unsure where to hop in. You won't be disappointed!
Info here : http://www.lindenbayromance.com/product-captainssurrender-143-145.html If the excerpt doesn't convince you to buy it , I don't know what will!
In the end, I realized that I probably SHOULDN'T read a ton of AoS because it's bound to influence me, that I should just get my story out and have that be that, but I am so glad I read this book, cause it really encouraged me and reinvigorated my AoS love. It was the right read at the right time!