Dark Robe Edges: Dark Robe Society 2 by Jason Edding

Again reading this second novels in the Dark Robe Society series I had the feeling to be brought back in time while I was reading a sci-fi story... why the apparently contrasting feelings? Since the futuristic world by Jason Edding has a late '60 feeling in it, like those Star Treck television fiction or 2001: A Space Odyssey. There is a war and there are killings, but it's all aseptic, the killings are neat, the dead bodies almost clean... it's like real emotions are extinct in this futuristic world. But then, between the main characters and inside closed bedrooms, those lost emotions come out again, and the sex, and love, between them is very much physical, the details are almost graphic, and all the repressed feelings burst open. The impact is even more violent due to that aseptic environment the characters move around when they are alone.

In this novel Jack and Edge, from book 1, continue their story and at first they are the only real couple. But then two other men start to sniff around each other. Tees is an important officer, another apparently cold man who well adapts to the world outside. But again when Tees is alone in his bedroom he indulges in the pleasure of 'real' life, a glass of red wine and easel, brush and colors to paint: how strange it's to see an old-fashioned visual media like painting in a futuristic world... again the author plays with contrast. Another thing that Tees takes hidden in his bedroom are his feeling for Toren, another officer. Toren has a strange relationship with another man, and other than that, Tees has never had an homosexual relationship, and so, for now, he only dreams of the man. But then a sudden event frees Toren of his bonds, and Tees is finally free to love him. Since Toren is more experience than Tees, you would expect from him to take the lead on their relationship, but, in a way, the military hierarchy are respected also inside the bedroom, and Toren unveils to be a gentle and submissive lover.

Both couple, Jack and Edge, and Tees and Toren, are nicely developed, and their personal story is well balanced with the futuristic plot; there is a rebellion to bring on, and a war to fight, and the book doesn't underestimate it... don't blame me if I'm more interested on the personal side of the plot, enough to say that who likes more the other side, will not be disappointed by the novel.

Beyond Duty by James Buchanan

The second book in the anthology is exactly at the opposite in feeling to the first. Beyond Duty has not that aseptic emotion, if I had to do a comparison, Jason Edding is a Stanley Kubrick and James Buchanan is a George Lucas. The world of this second book is full of strange creatures, a melting pot of culture. And due to this melting pot, there are no higher or lower classes, only different shades. Alad is an officer, but he is not exactly a by the book one. During a night out, he is searching for a thrill, from sex or fight doesn't matter, even if he had to make a choice, he probably would prefer sex. And when he met Hirah he finds both and also something else. But even if an odd one, Alad is a soldier, and at the end of the night he has to partake from Hirah; the hope to see him in the future is a nice one, but unlikely... other than discover that his next assignment is under Hirah's command! Alad and Hirah are soldiers of a futuristic Army, but they behave like today man, when it's time to fight, they fight, when it's time to love, they love, and the sex is fast and dirty, without nicety, since you don't know if you have a tomorrow.

After the first initial surprise, practical Alad understands that it would be useless to deny that he is attracted by Hirah, and proposes the man a pact: outside their bunk, they are superior and subordinate, but inside it they can be lovers. Hirah accepts, but this doesn't mean that he will be fully open to Alad, it's not in Hirah's nature. Again it seems that all the emotions are voiced through sex: it seems like Hirah needs the physical contact, like a thirsty man with water, like it's something that he was deprived for too long. Alad doesn't push, he gives without questions, and their mission allows them to be even more near.

Again there is an adventure plot, an old betrayal ready to come out again, and enemies to find and fight... but again, sorry, I was more interested in the romance side of the story. As I said the sex has a main role in it, and again it's hot and detailed. A thing I noticed in both books, despite the futuristic setting, and the odd nature of some of the characters, the sex remains plain and simple, without any strange device or similar. It's like find something familiar in an unfamiliar situation.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608200426/?tag=elimyrevandra-20