Book Review: Chase
I was among the privileged folks who got to read an advance copy of Chase and Other Stories edited by Ginger Mayerson. This is a amazingly fun compilation of homoerotica short stories. The unique twist here is that all the stories in Chase are written by women for women.
I can’t imagine a set of stories more aligned with my particular interests. Most of the stories involve science, sci-fi, fantasy, futurism, etc. Some have intimate relationships that develop between men and other men, droids, aliens, etc. The explicit sex scenes that appear throughout the book are well written and engaging. (Not like the drivel that appears in typical gay smut novels.)
Null Gravity involves a futuristic military guy having shore-leave sex with a sex-droid that automatically assumes the appearance of his john’s deepest desire. In this case the droid assumes the military guy’s subordinate Jiminez. But there’s a twist, and I’m not telling you what it is. You’ll have to read it to find out for yourself! Jewel of My House is a fantastic Star Trek-esque romance between two crew members from different ships and very distinct species. In Chiaroscuro two VR game testers meet and fall in love despite the post-apocalyptic wasteland the Earth has become. Two astronomy PhD students in Hawaii fall head over heels for each other and have some of the most passionate sex I’ve read in Humu Humu .
The title story Chase is one of the most interesting fantasy worlds I’ve read before. There are two species of humanoids: The predators (or Hauks) and the prey (the Rahbets). Bizarre circumstances lead a captive Rahbet named Bryer and his captor Hauk named Cyril to develop feelings for each other. The story is intriguing and unique until the end, when the whole story takes a major twist. It wraps up a little too neatly without sufficient care, time, and explanation.
My favorite story of all was The Fall. In this one, a magician from a far off century and dimension drops out of the sky and into the life of a college student named Adam. Luke (the strikingly handsome magician) has survived a massacre of his wizarding clan by teleporting out of his own space/time. Adam becomes emotionally entwined with Luke as they strive to admit their feelings for one another in the face of a perilous struggle to survive.
If you like your homoerotica with plots, character development, and well-written passion, then this book is for you. I enjoyed it immensely and I recommend it to one and all. (Yes, even you sci-fi/fantasy loving straight boys might enjoy these stories. Who knows… test your limits. You might be surprised!)
Thank-you for the review! I’m glad you found my story, “Chase”, interesting!
It’s rather ironic that you found the end too quick, with not enough explanation: when I submitted it to Iris Press, the editor had complained that there was far too much exposition at the end! She asked me to rewrite it, and I did, and she said it was *still* too expositiony, so she turned it down!
It didn’t occur to me until after Ginger had put the book together that, since I no longer was bound by a word count, I could have expanded it more, and by then I didn’t have the time (or energy) to do it. Ah well, live and learn! I’m working on a novel that is set in the same universe as “Chase” (I actually started the novel first). If you’re interested, I’ll send you an advance digital copy — when I ever manage to finish it!
November 14th, 2007 at 2:49 pm