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From This Night by L.E. Bryce

[Review by Annie Dean]

Grade: B+

Well, before I started reading Ms. Bryce, I would have said m/m stories weren’t my thing at all. The few contemporaries I’ve looked at always seem to feature an alpha top and a mega-femme bottom, who is a worse pussy than any TSTL heroine. But Ms. Bryce whisks her characters away to lush worlds where our gender roles don’t hold water. Each of her stories takes place in a richly realized fantasy setting that evokes comparison to Arabian Nights, Scheherazade and her 1001 tales.

In From this Night, we meet Suryo and Alasson, a couple who has been betrothed from birth. You see, their fathers hit the bottle heavy one night, and in the way of all “I love you, man” and “No, I love you more” drunks, they pledged before gods and men that their next born children would marry to unite their families and end an old feud. The gods clearly have a sense of humor because their next born children were both boys.

Poor Suryo has been groomed to be a bride from birth because his family is afraid of insulting the gods. He isn’t precisely happy about it, but he faces his fate with a grace that renders him quite an appealing character. For his part Alasson doesn’t want any part of wedding a boy, but he’s willing to take one for the team (although not in the butt like Suryo). They decide they can surely muddle along for a period of one year, long enough to satisfy the gods, and then Suryo will be given to the priesthood.

What follows is a spare, sensual story of two people who fall in love under adverse circumstances. Their slow-blooming passion is as unlikely as it is delightful. I won’t give away anymore plot details, but it’s certainly worth a read. Ms. Bryce writes with confidence and elegance, and in places her prose is truly transportive. For instance:

His kiss tasted of twenty years of priesthood and, beneath that, long winter nights that had belonged to Alasson alone.

That line is beautifully evocative of longing and separation, of abstinence and distant, heated memories. Lovely. I didn’t grade this an A because I wasn’t wild about the end. To my mind, after all the anticipation it wasn’t quite fleshed out enough. Nonetheless, it’s a beautiful story and extremely well-written.

~Annie Dean

You may buy this book here.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 15th, 2007 at 7:54 am and is filed under Books, Grade: B, Romance: Sci-fi/Fan, Reviews by Annie. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

11 Responses to “From This Night by L.E. Bryce”

  1. Barbara B.
    Posted: Mar 15th, 2007 at 9:15 am
    1

    Thanks for the review, Annie. I just bought the book on the strength of your review. I love m/m so very, very much! I don’t much like subordinate femme roles in either straight romance or gay romance.

  2. L.E. Bryce
    Posted: Mar 15th, 2007 at 9:27 am
    2

    Thanks, Annie! About the end: there really wasn’t any other way the story could end, as much as I would have liked it to.

  3. shuzluva
    Posted: Mar 15th, 2007 at 9:55 am
    3

    Annie, fantastic review! I have got to get my hands on this, it sounds great.

  4. Ann(ie)
    Posted: Mar 15th, 2007 at 9:56 am
    4

    Barbara B, I think you’ll enjoy it. I did.

    You make a good point about femmes, though. I just hate seeing a man turn into a whiny little bitch. Just because he’s gay why does that mean he can’t be a strong man? I hate pussy little bottoms.

  5. L.E. Bryce
    Posted: Mar 15th, 2007 at 10:11 am
    5

    Just because he’s gay why does that mean he can’t be a strong man? I hate pussy little bottoms.

    That’s why she loved Sephil in My Sun and Stars sooo much. ;-p Don’t worry, Annie. I’m making it up to you in the sequel.

  6. QB
    Posted: Mar 16th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
    6

    Annie, I just added it to my blog’s Decadent Desires list just from your recommendation. Thanks!!

  7. Wylie
    Posted: Mar 16th, 2007 at 8:30 pm
    7

    Great review — congrats L.E.!!

  8. Wylie
    Posted: Mar 16th, 2007 at 8:31 pm
    8

    …and can I also add a ‘WOOT’ for the non-hideous L.A. cover?

  9. Katie Ann
    Posted: Mar 16th, 2007 at 10:53 pm
    9

    I’ve never bought an ebook but this sounds really great. How long is it?

  10. L.E. Bryce
    Posted: Mar 16th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
    10

    It’s not long, about 20,000 words, or 25 pages. You could probably read it in an hour. I’ve got some great stuff coming out in May and September, too.

  11. Dawn
    Posted: Mar 23rd, 2007 at 9:57 pm
    11

    Thanks! On the strength of your review I bought it and love it. It’s a wonderful and oh so poignant look at love, life, and the Gods’ cruel jokes. The writing is gorgeous. I really felt for both Alasson and Suryo. The ending is perfect, but terribly bittersweet - it will haunt me for a long time.

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