Category: LGBTQ Fiction

Some Strange Disturbances written by Craig Hurd-McKenney

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[Image ID: two thin graphic novels laying overlapped on a desk. The cover of the one on top shows a circle of people at the base with their hands on a table surrounded by candles. There are also candles in the middle of the table. Rising from those candles is a green skeletal specter in a hooded robe. In the robe is the book title "Some Strange Disturbances" followed by the last names of the author and illustrators "Hurd-McKenney, Gervasio and Aon" in the bottom left corner the price of the book is listed as $9.99. The volume below is in shades of Blue and White with a few gold chain accents. The central figure is a dark haired girl surrounded flowers and above her is the snout of a dog like creature. In the top left corner the title is listed as "Some Strange Disturbances #2: The Lunchroom Under the Arch." End ID]

Queer Victorian horror. Three words and you instantly have my attention. Furthermore, the graphic novel format is a perfect structure for “monster of the week” style storytelling, which is more or less what we have with “Some Strange Disturbances.” In volume one, “The Rat King of Bedlam” they battle a rat king (the creature, not just a particularly regal rat) and in volume two “The Lunchroom Under the Arch” they get a two for one deal with a real horror and a faked horror.

I should back up. Let’s start with who “they” are and what they are doing. “They” are a group of three queer individuals in 1895 London. In volume one, in addition to battling a rat king, we are introduced to our protagonists and they are introduced to one another. We have Prescott Mayfair, a white gay man who in is more or less closeted and struggling with it; Delilah Quinton, a young, asexual Black woman who is in the patronage of a Lord and Lady who see themselves as white saviors; and the Comtesse, a trans woman whose father thinks she is possessed and has her institutionalized. Volume one, is just as much about them meeting as it is about the rat king, but the end of the story they have created their own found family, which even includes the guard from Bedlam who had been set to watch over the Comtesse.

[Image ID: Two panels the first is the interior of the Comtesse's antique shop. Delilah, a Black woman with short tight ring curls is holding a glass of champagne possibly and speaking to the Comtesse, a tall woman with carefully styled wavy hair, who is also holding a glass. Delilah says, "I must say, Comtesse, the store is lovely." The next panel is a close up of the Comtesse, who replies: "I so did have to find a use for all of Duddy's money, the payoff for burying my old self in the fire. It's best to live, and live well now, in my new life. That's what I intend to do, parents or no." The Snapchat caption reads: "I'm so happy for her" followed by the sob emoji. End ID]
[Image ID: Two comic panels, the first is of a London city street. There are people walking on a side walk against buildings and a horse-drawn cab is coming down the street from the carriage a speech bubble emerges and Prescott Mayfair speaks: "Brandt, I do so hope we're passed the indignity I put you through at Bedlam, knocking you out cold like that." The next panel cuts to inside the cab where Prescott and Brandt are sitting next to each other. Prescott is wearing a suit with a bowler had and a thin mustache. Brand has a very bushy mustache connected to sideburns and a top hat. Brandt has one arm over Precott's shoulder, motion lines indicate that he is patting Prescott's arm. Brandt's other held up in front of him as are both of Prescott's. Prescott continues speaking: "You are important to the Comtesse, and thus important to me. I hope you know this." The snapchat caption below the two panels reads, in all caps "Oh it's that Brandt." and then switches to sentence case for "The Comtesse wooed her jailor, love it." End ID.]

I know I called this “monster of the week” style storytelling, and it is, but there is an overarching plot thread that ties each volume together too. In volume two we see the specter (not a literal specter in this case) of the Comtesse’s mother return in flashbacks and ties to a medallion that is found at the scene of the haunting in the titular lunchroom, part of which turns out to be staged. This remains something that isn’t completely resolved by the end of the story and holds the threads for what will happen in volume three and seems to centrally involve the Comtesse.

[Image ID: Four panels. The first panel is a close up of a medallion, the pattern on it is a skull in and oval within a rectangle and a small diamond and star both above and below the rectangle. The next panel is a close of of a man's nose and eyes. His nose is rather bulbous and his eyes are shocked and wide. Panel three zooms out to show the man pulling the medallion over his head and ratty top hat his eyes are shaky and unfocused. In panel four the man seems coherent again with the medallion around his neck, he turns to a young woman with her hair done up in a bun and a high collared dress and says "Ya think you're better'n me, miss?" The snapchat caption reads: "Wuh oh" End ID]

Volume two also introduces us to new characters, some that will stay and some that don’t. Most notable of these is Nobuyoshi Yamamoto, or Nob, a Japanese man and sumo wrestler who is Prescott’s love interest. It is only through Nob’s actions that they win the day in volume two.

[Image ID: Screenshot of text, the lines that are not the focus are scribbled out in pink. The visible text reads: "The scene simply wrote itsellf. Prescott, in an opium stupor, is running to a meeting and slams right into this sumo wrestler. A sumo wrestler who, in that moment, steals Prescott's heart and his decorum." The Snapchat caption reads, in all caps, "Oh yes." End ID]

Something I really appreciated as someone invested in queer history, is the detail that went into portraying everything. We have afterwards in both volumes that discuss and give insight into the culture of the day. Volume one has sections on Fannie and Stella, two trans individuals; race and the practice of human zoos; and the trials of Oscar Wilde; and volume two discusses how the character of Nob came to be along with the cultural context of Japanese people in London during the period.

All in all, this is a thoroughly researched and beautifully written (and illustrated) series that I would highly recommend to anyone with an interest in Victorian era history, horror, queer comics or any combination of the three.

The first two volumes are for sale here, and, in exciting news, the Kickstarter for Headless Shakespeare Press’ 2022 publishing catalogue, which includes “Some Strange Disturbances: Nob’s Tale” and “Some Strange Disturbances: The Demon Bride,” went live on October 4th! Now could not be a better time to get into this series.

[Image ID: On a black background is an image Victorian illustration of a scene in a church. There are men standing on both sides and in the center a man in fine dress holds the hand of a woman in a coffin that is being propped up, with a priest behind them in a mockery of a wedding. Above this image is the text: "To be continued in Some Strange Disturbances: The Demon Bride." Below the image is the Snapchat caption: "Feral. I simply cannot wait."

Coming later in the month from me will be a mini review of “Some Strange Disturbances: A Cold Winter’s Eve,” a SSD side story and short comic anthology.

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The Route of Ice & Salt by José Luis Zárate, translated by David Bowles

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The cover of The Route of Ice & Salt. Using varying shades of blue and white the background is the bow of a ship moving through water. Over the boat is the author's and translator's name, José Luis Zárate, translated by David Bowles. Over the water is the title in larger font. The Route of Ice & Salt. The snapchat caption reads: Hot vamper summer, followed by a forward facing boat on water emoji.

(Not spoiler free)

It wouldn’t be quite accurate to say I was expecting this book to be less queer than it was, but I was expecting it to be more subtextual. I suppose that’s because I was thinking about the time period in which “Dracula” was originally was written, and how queer readings of “Dracula” all rely heavily on coding and subtext. Not that this is in anyway a bad thing, I loved every queer minute of it and I am so so very glad that we now have an English translation of this wonderful book.

Book quote: "I am the Captain. Impossible that I order one of my men to come to my cabin and ask him to undress, much less insist he stand still and permit me to clean him with my tongue, lightly biting his flesh, trembling with craving for his skin." Snapchat caption: I was expecting the queer aspect to be more subtle than this, but who am i to complain about a book being MORE GAY than i expected.

“The Route of Ice & Salt,” as you may have already guessed, is explicitly queer and you never forget that for one moment. The whole novella is grappling with the overlapping acceptance, shame and guilt of one’s own identity and actions as well as society’s perception of queerness as monstrous. It opens with our narrator, the captain of the Demeter, musing on his mens’ bodies, expressing attraction, but also noting that it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to act on that attraction, and it ends with the captain proclaiming as he faces the monster aboard his ship that he is not a monster for his desires. 

Book quote: "I know that Thirst is not evil in and of itself, nor Hunger a stigma that must be erased by fire and blood. Not even Sin. It is what we are willing to do to feed an impulse that makes it dangerous." Snapchat caption: Yes yes, this

Much like the original novel, “The Route of Ice & Salt” is epistolary, and made up of the captain’s log and his private diary. It is in the private diary that we learn about the captain’s inner life and how he navigates his sexuality. There is a fine balance between erotic and horror, particularly as the captain’s dreams become influenced by the vampire aboard the ship. 

It is in these dreams that we learn about the captain’s lover, Mikhail, who is rather at the center of the captain’s turmoil surrounding his sexuality. He blamed himself for Mikhail’s death, following his brutal murder at the hands of the townsfolk. It is also noteworthy that they treat Mikhail’s corpse as if he were a vampire, cementing the connection between the monstrous and the queer.

There is repeated connection too of vampire bites to the neck and the bruise sucked into the neck by a lover. In fact, when the captain sees such a mark on one of his crew, his mind goes to the later instead of the former. 

My absolute favorite thing about the book, however, was how it brought up various different cultural ideas surrounding vampires, even before the captain knows there is something on board he would call a vampire. The vrykolakas of Greece, the strigoi and vrolocks of Romania, the rakshasa of India. It was an expansion of vampire lore through the lens of these sailors’ own backgrounds as well as lore of the places where they had sailed, which I thought was just… so great and clever.

Book quote: "Is it not said that to kill the vrolocks, the vlkoslak, the bloodthirsty living dead in Romania, one needs only living water?" Snapchat caption: Love how the vampire mythos of various cultures has come up throughout the book.

Some potential warnings to note, in addition to the aforementioned murder:

There are several mentions of age gaps between partners. The captain is noted to have been younger than his lover by some undisclosed number of years, and there are several mentions of ambiguously young sex workers.

Additionally, if you are familiar with “Dracula,” you will know that no one living survives the passage from Varna to Whitby. This is a queer erotic horror story that fleshes out a small piece of the original novel. There is a cathartic ending, but if you’re looking for a fluffy happy ending, this probably isn’t the book for you.

That said, I would highly recommend this book to fans of “Dracula” and anyone looking for queer horror or queer nautical fiction. 

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Opal Charm: Melody of Astronomical Dusk by Miri Castor

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Snapchat of the cover of Opal Charm: Melody of Astronomical Dusk. Opal and her brother Jermaine are being attacked by pillars of blue ice shards. Opal, is controlling two glowing golden fists to punch the ice while Jermaine is wielding a rope of golden water. Above the scene in soft blue outline is the figure of Samael, the novel's primary antagonist, arms raised like he's controlling the scene. A grey bar across the cover indicates the book is "Not for Resale" owing to the fact that it is an advanced reader copy. The snapchat caption reads: Can we just talk about this cover art? Like... this series has always had top of the line cover art, but this is next level and I'm in love.

Not spoiler free.

This is my new favorite installment in the Opal Charm saga. Everything from cover to the final page left me absolutely thrilled. 

We pick up where we left off at the end of “Hope in Nautical Dusk.” Anza is gone—though she lives on in a way inside of Opal—and Opal is still working as a spy in Samael’s palace as Upala Valora. Our large cast of queer side characters returns, with my personal favorite, trans man Hinata, getting quite a bit of attention—we learn about his motivation and reasons for working for Samael and he gets a bit more sympathetic as far as a guy on the bad side of things goes. 

Now before we get into the plot I would just like to recommend that if it’s been a while since you read “Hope in Nautical Dusk” you should revisit it, because “Melody of Astronomical Dusk” drops you right back into the middle of the action, and oh boy the action.

Excerpt from the novel: "She found Iman standing in front of the band with a bejeweled blade pressed against her cheek. The man with the lump on his back had her pressed to his one side and Ngoc on the other, the smiling boy far too carefree despite being held hostage. His smile remained unchanged as the blade sliced across Iman's cheek." The Snapchat caption: "Oh boy, page 5 and things are already popping off." At the top of the page, the page number is circled in blue.

Opal’s relationships have always been in important throughout the series, but they carry particular weight in this book as they become more complicated. We see Opal struggling with her interactions with her co-workers as Valora, because while these people are working for the man who has tried to kill her and her family, working alongside them means that she is exposed to them as people with all the associated complexities as opposed to simply monsters complicit in a cruel and oppressive regime. 

We also see Opal’s personal life become more and more entangled in her work on Athre with JAEL. A mild reveal is that Opal’s grandmother inherited the family’s power of Twilight, which she uses to cultivate a luscious garden. A less mild reveal is that Opal and Jermaine’s cousin Gabriel, who has been mentioned throughout the books as having gone missing, is embroiled in Samael’s schemes. That reveal was absolutely stunning and had me gasping. I won’t spoil more there, as it’s far to delicious a reveal to spoil in its entirety. 

Novel quote: "Pebbles rained from beneath the chunk of the ground Mira stood on. She leaned up and plucked the ripe mangos from the branches, dropping them into her basket. When the tree was free of ripe mangos, she brought her golden platform to the ground, gently shaking the earth again. 'We have a lot to talk about, don't we?'" Snapchat captain: "GRANDMA'S GOT MAGIC POWERS"

Crucially to Opal’s development with her powers of Twlight, she learns more and finally figures out how to connect with Philomenos, her great-great-grandfather and the source of their powers, after she, Jermaine and Addy travel to Philomenos’ home country of Thesan to determine if the leaders of Thesan have sided with Samael and get a much more complicated and detailed answer than they bargained for (in a good way though). It’s an important step for Opal, who has been struggling for a while with how the revelation of Twilight and her family’s legacy has impacted her sense of identity. 

“Melody of Astronomical Dusk” was released on April 2nd and can be purchased in ebook and paperback format through Amazon. 

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The Whale: A Love Story by Mark Beauregard

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The cover of "The Whale: A Love Story by Mark Beauregard" The back ground is blue, "The" and "A Love Story" are written in pink all caps font, while "Whale" is in white and written larger. Below that is a large white whale over a small house done in pink, at the bottom is the author's name, Mark Beauregard. Snapchat caption reads: "Gay historical fiction my love" with a heart eyes emoji at the end of the line

For those lovers of “Moby Dick” and Herman Melville, “The Whale: A Love Story” is a delightful and compelling work of historical fiction that peers into the life of Melville during the period in which he was writing “Moby Dick,” struggling with debts, and had a close relationship with fellow author Nathaniel Hawthorne. However, prior knowledge of “Moby Dick” and Melville isn’t really required to read the book. I knew very little about Melville and Hawthorne as authors going into this and I have not read “Moby Dick,” and my knowledge of it primarily comes from cultural osmosis. As such, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in queer history, historical romances, and maritime or literary history. 

Melville as a character, is wholly relatable and horribly embarrassing in equal measures. If we were to rate him on the scale of distinguished/functional/disaster gay, he would be solidly disaster. You want both to cheer him on in his work and pursuit of Hawthorne’s friendship and smack him over the head and beg him to please use some common sense.

Quote: "...but now that he had almost completed the book, he saw that it was badly conceived and poorly written." Snapchat caption (or snaption): "God, what a mood"
Quote: "Hawthorne said he would be honored to sleep wherever Herman would suffer him to lay his head, a comment Herman found excruciating." Snapchat caption: "Herman Melville is a disaster gay of the highest order"

It is a marked difference from Hawthorne’s own personality, which is reserved and measured even in his exuberance. Hawthorne is also very much influenced by a Puritanical upbringing and struggles to place his feelings for Melville alongside his feelings for his wife. 

Quote: "Herman realized with heart-stopping joy that he needed by turn his head slightly to kiss Hawthorne." Snapchat caption: No no no, that is a very bad idea Herman

This is the only book I think I’ve ever read where I was begging the main couple not to kiss, because I could tell that it would spell disaster. That’s not to say that the book doesn’t give us a thorough and beautiful portrayal of Hawthorne and Melville’s relationship though, it’s just a very 19th century gay relationship and all the caution and trepidation that could entail. All of the tender longing and yearning is there from both parties (though we get rather more from Melville, since it is his point of view), and we are given a delightful ending that had me pressing my face into my book to muffle my quiet screaming. 

Quote: "Can't you just say plainly how you feel?" / He [Hawthorne] turned around to face Herman again. "I know that you are unlike anyone I have ever met. When I am around you, I feel at liberty to express myself completely as I see fit, because I am quite sure you will understand me. It's a freedom I have longed for, but I also know that what you want from me, I cannot give." Snapchat caption: "Oof, that hits me right in the gay"

The epilogue (which should most definitely be read) gives us a look into the research done by the author, and it was fascinating how he worked to incorporate the letter correspondence between Melville and Hawthorne that was interspersed throughout the chapters. Most of the letters from Melville to Hawthorne (with a handful of exceptions) are real letters. However, none of Hawthorne’s are, because we don’t have any of his letters from this period. What the author did instead, was use the letters of Hawthorne’s we do have to create the fictional replies we see from Hawthorne in the book, which I think is a terribly clever way to get around the missing letter problem.

A genuinely lovely and tender piece of fiction, I would highly recommend it to anyone interested. The book can be found in a variety of locations online, including new and used through Bookshop.org. 

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The Adventure Zone: Petals to the Metal, by Clint, Griffin, Justin and Travis McElroy and illustrated by Carey Pietsch

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Cover for The Adventure Zone: Petals to the Metal. From left to right, Merle, Taako and Magnus are leaning against the front of a battlewagon. Merle is holding the adamant spanner, Taako has the umbra staff and is twirling a ring of keys and Magnus is tossing a D20. In the top left corner, Griffin McElroy in a gaming headset waves a checkered starting flag. The snapchat caption reads: "Hell yeah, here we go."

I really adore the Adventure Zone graphic novels. They’re a really fun supplement to the Balance Arc of the podcast. Though it’s hardly required to listen to the podcast to read the graphic novels. There’s no additional information to be found in the graphic novels save for changes made due to the adaptation process. 

For example, Wizards of the Coast LLC, the company behind the game Dungeons & Dragons, has copyright on things like place and spell names in the game. So in the graphic novels the town of Neverwinter has become Eversummer, and other things like that. For me the biggest tragedy was losing the name Klarg. However, some of the other changes, in my opinion, improve the story.

If you aren’t familiar with the Balance Arc of The Adventure Zone, the three main chucklefucks, Merle, Taako and Magnus, are recruited by the Bureau of Balance to retrieve seven dangerous artifacts to save the world, but there are other secret goings on too. “Petals to the Metal” is the third act of the story, and our heroes converge on the town of Goldcliff looking to retrieve the Gaia Sash. 

I really love the art for these books, it’s expressive and stylized in a way that is really fitting for each character. Since The Adventure Zone started out in an audio only medium, the fandom surrounding his has an absolutely huge range of ways that each character is drawn, so cementing one look for the graphic novel had to have been a challenge, and I really appreciate that they’ve included other art in the back of the book that shows different takes on the characters. 

In the panel Magnus slams open the door to the Director's office declaring "I want to report that one of your vendors is selling tainted unicorn dick!" The Director has a rather shocked and exasperated expression the introduction card for her reads: "The Director; Race: Human; Class: Director; Proficiencies: managing clandestine organizations, keeping secrets, being patient with pains-in-the-ass (pain-in-the-asses?)" The snapchat caption reads: "I have a lot of feelings about how expressive the art is for both comedic and serious scenarios."

In this book, I was particularly struck by how Captain Captain Bane was drawn. I don’t think I’d ever imagined him particularly clearly, but it was definitely nowhere near the tender eyed beefy o’ burley we got. I’m definitely not complaining though, I really love what was done with Captain Bane in the graphic novel. Because podcast as a medium doesn’t really allow for concurrent storytelling and interactions between NPCs in D&D can get weird, because it’s just the DM talking to themself, we didn’t initially get a huge amount of relationship development between Captain Bane and Lieutenant Hurley, and it was really nice to see more of Captain Bane throughout, especially considering how his character ends the book/act.

Two comic panels. The first is a shot of an empty finish line, there are some vaguely drawn characters in the bleachers. The second panel is a close of up three figures in the bleachers, the two characters in the background are leaning forward eyes wide in anticipation. The character in the foreground in Captain Captain Bane, a man with a large square jaw and chin, bushy brown mustache and swept back collar length brown hair. He is looking through binoculars and appears very concerned. His speech bubble reads: "C'mon Hurley..." The snapchat caption reads: "I love how much more we get of the Hurley and Bane friendship in this."

Lastly, I do want to talk about Hurley and Sloane, our tragic antagonist. They were a lesbian couple from the moment they were introduced, however, in the podcast it was predominantly subtext. In the timeline of things I think this was where Griffin, the DM, was beginning to sort through adding queer characters into the show. The book makes it explicit, they were girlfriends before Sloane was corrupted by the Gaia Sash. 

Furthermore, as I mentioned before this was written at the beginning of the gay character learning curve for the boys. So in the podcast Hurley and Sloane fall pray to the Bury Your Gays trope. Hurley is mortally wounded and Sloane turns them both into a tree. Learning from his mistakes, Griffin brought back Hurley and Sloane as dryads in the Balance arc finale “The Day of Story and Song.” The graphic novel takes that one step further and makes explicit that it is Sloane’s intent to turn them into a dryads in order to save Hurley’s life. By the end of the book, while Tres Horny Boys don’t know that Hurley and Sloane are alive, we the audience get to see Hurley and Sloane as the dryad protectors of Goldcliff. All in all I think it’s a really beautiful fix to what was initially the ignorant usage of a bad trope. 

Full page, Hurley and Sloane standing next to each other, smiling and blushing in the first panel, and looking determined in the second. Hurley is the halfling on the left with short light pink hair (with tufts on the tops of her feet) and Sloane is a half elf with long black hair. Their skin is brown and lined to look like wood, they both have flowers in their hair. The snapchat caption is in rainbow bubble letters and reads: "Resurrect your gays."

One, uh, “warning.” There are three pages of Merle (played by the McElroy father, Clint) seducing some vines. It’s not NSFW or anything, but it’s an experience I think one might want to be prepared for is all, especially if  you’re coming in having not listened to the podcast. In conclusion:

Merle, a dwarf with brown skin and white hair and beard, stands in a pool of water while yelling at the Gaia Sash, a grey sash that appears to be woven together from vines. His speech bubble reads: "I don't need your help to fuck an onion!" In the background, Taako, Magnus, Captain Bane, and other members of the Goldcliff militia stand around watching the scene in confusion.

“Petals to the Metal” as well as the previous two books, can be found here.

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Chasing a Legacy by D.A. Ravenscroft

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The cover of "Chasing a Legacy" by D.A. Ravenscroft. A young blond woman in a green 19th century dress stands against a railing, she is holding a locket in her hands. The snapchat caption reads: More incredibly sexy queer historical fiction.

“Chasing a Legacy” comes as a sequel to “Chasing a Ghost,” which is itself an unofficial sequel to Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables that reimagines the character Enjolras as a gay transgender man. “Chasing a Legacy,” unlike its predecessor, is much less unofficial sequel and much more original fiction. The few characters from Les Miserables remain, Grantaire, Combeferre, Courfeyrac, Marius, but the vast majority of the cast are new, original characters, in large part the children of the aforementioned  Les Mis characters who were first introduced as children in “Chasing a Ghost.” 

The central two characters are Marianne and Camille, the two remaining children of Enjolras and Grantaire. Both queer in some respect, Marianne has made a name for herself as a bohemian and courtesan and Camille followed in his father’s footsteps to become a lawyer. Marianne has tried desperately to be nothing like Enjolras, who she feels abandoned her, and Camille has done his utmost to emulate him while simultaneously blaming himself for his father’s death. The plot takes them through a complicated mess of political and social maneuvering and drama against a backdrop of complex familial trauma and present day trauma.

Quote from "Chasing a Legacy": Chapter 1, title, The price of a single shot may be a coat or a man Paris, Francis, 1966 First line of the first chapter: "Slow your breathing. Do not show fear. Be like Father."

The complexity and messiness of the relationships in the book is indescribably good. They feel realistic and raw and they are so well constructed as they change and evolve that you truly feel the catharsis at the end.

"Chasing a Legacy" quote: "You don't need to be him, Marianne; that's something I wish your brother would understand," Grantaire said. "You don't have to make the same mistakes he did. But do not deny parts of yourself because you resent him. Please." That same tender hand that had touched her face found her shoulder, clasping it firmly. "Take what he gave you - and do better." Snapchat caption: The way this book handles complicated parental relationships is exquisite.

This feeling of catharsis at the end is added to by the fact that there a lot of very heavy subject matter in “Chasing a Legacy” that is handled very well. Sexual assault is a big player in the criminal side of the plot and PTSD is another large theme, but the trauma is handled tactfully and respectfully, and any ableist, misogynistic, or victim blaming language is both incredibly limited in usage and the narrative punishes those who use it very effectively. By the end, the relief and catharsis of justice done is palpable, though it’s hardly an easy road.

"Chasing a Legacy" quote: "If a fox gets caught in a trap it is not a failure on the fox's part," Elodie said. "It is the doing of whoever set down the snare. My brother is charming and clever, Nothing of this is your fault." Snapchat caption: Ugh this is such a good metaphor.

I will note, that while none of the traumatic events are explicitly shown, they are discussed in quite a condensed and rather intense way in a trial toward the end. If you have trouble with this sort of thing, I would recommend perhaps skipping over Marianne’s trial, (Camille’s, which takes place first, is a laugh riot), or reading slowly and in increments. There is a full list of potential triggers in the back of the book. 

It has been a long time since I have been so utterly hooked by a plot. “Chasing a Legacy” is over 700 pages and I found it nearly impossible to put down. I read the book in its entirety in two solid three-hour stints. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such a complicated and extensive plot unravel so perfectly. I hardly know what I can say about it for fear of ruining the mystery! I’ll leave it at this, D. A. Ravenscroft has done what many a creative writing major, myself included, dreams of, writing the perfect multi-protagonist novel without the story being overwhelmed by one character or another. It is beautifully balanced and the plot has been interwoven exquisitely.

 Some other things that were done phenomenally well: 

1. I know I mentioned PTSD before, but I really cannot stress how well this was managed. We saw different manifestations of PTSD, sympathetic responses from medical professionals, period appropriate treatments that were good and effective.

2. Camille is autistic! Now the language surrounding this obviously not modern day language, but the indicators are there if you know what to look for. Camille is overwhelmed (overstimulated) by the ringing of the bells of Notre Dame. Has a particular coat (a plot important coat) that is just the perfect texture and feeling that it’s irreplaceable. 

Quote from "Chasing a Legacy": "He would mourn this coat - it had been his favourite, handsome and well-fitted with an inoffensive texture..." The snapchat caption reads: My autistic son!

3. We get a major endgame mlm and wlw relationship with Fabien and Camille and Marianne and Elodie. You don’t have choose if you want to read a book about one or the other cause this book gives you both.

4. Fabien, love of my life, Camille’s love interest, is a trans man and Jewish, and his Jewishness isn’t a one off passing mention either. Although Fabien is a secondary character, he is an important one and we are afforded a look into his family life, his community and by the end…… stop reading if you don’t want a spoiler…… 

Camille converts to Judaism over the course of their relationship. We don’t see this, but it is explicitly stated in the epilogue. I just about screamed. 

This beautiful beautiful book with it’s beautiful beautiful cover art, can be found here, in several different editions: A two volume paperback, a two volume hardback, a single volume, brick-sized paperback, and an ebook.

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I Married a 2,000 Year Old Lesbian Bogwoman by June Williams

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Cover of "I Married a 2,000 Year Old Lesbian Bogwoman" by June Williams

Do you ever see a book with a conceit so wonderfully wild that you know you just have to read it? I’ve seen Chuck Tingle’s books floating around with their wild and wacky titles, but I’ve never been struck with the impulse to actually read one. With Ms. Williams’ work, however, I knew I had to read it immediately and I was well rewarded for my impulse.

The story is pretty much exactly what it says on the tin. It promises you marriage to a 2,000 year old lesbian bogwoman and boy does it deliver. Now this is erotica, plain and simple, if you’re looking for a plot look elsewhere. We meet our protagonist (Tamiko) and the mummy (Boggie) on page one and by page two thing are getting spicy. (Note: exact pagination may differ depending on the settings of your e-reader.)

Set in the world of an academic researcher, the story follows a fairly standard formula when it comes to delivering the plot, (relationship troubles and a little magic leads to… etc.), which I find helpful because it doesn’t belabor the intent of the story, ie. gratuitous and hilarious smut. It also allows for the reader to simply be whisked away with suspension of disbelief and laugh their own ass off when the mummy’s first words are complementing the Tamiko’s ass.

I hurried to the back of the trailer for a special gauze pad to clean Boggie. My wound could wait. As I rummaged through the supplies a croaky voice rasped, "You have a fine ass."

Hilarity ensues throughout as Tamiko and Boggie adjust to Boggie’s suddenly being alive in the 21st century. There were so many times I had to pause reading because I was laughing too hard to continue. I found the physical descriptions of Boggie to be particularly evocative, as we see her being compared to a “favorite leather jacket broken in just right” and “single malt Islay Scotch.” The last one really bowled me over, because that is a taste my friends, not smell, and I’ll let you read to find out just what is being tasted. This may be erotica, but I like to keep my reviews fairly clean.

Her tongue was cool and supple. A favorite leather jacket broken in just right.

Now not all erotica is for everyone, so I’ll give a few content warnings before I wrap things up.

1. Dom/Sub relationship, with some mild BDSM.

2. Grad Student/Professor relationship, comes in at the end.

3. Not erotica related, but there is brief discussion of Donald Trump and some of the political events of the past four years. 

All in all, I would rate this book 10/10 and recommended to anyone who’s interested in this kind of comedic erotica. If you’re a fan of Chuck Tingle’s works, you’ll almost certainly enjoy this. 

“I Married a 2,000 Year Old Lesbian Bogwoman” is one of, I believe, three short ebooks written by June Williams and can be found on Amazon here.

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99% Chance of Magic: Stories of Hope & Strength for Transgender Kids from Heartspark Press

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The cover of "99% Chance of Magic: Stories of Strength and Hope for Transgender Kids"

This book is a delightful collection of stories geared toward trans children. Of course, readers of all ages can enjoy it, but the stories themselves are specifically designed to be accessible to a younger audience. I was reminded on occasion of the American Girl diaries that I read when I was younger. There’s an extensive genre of literature to inspire young cis girls, the American Girl and Royal diaries, Winx Club, W.I.T.C.H, Nancy Drew, etc., and “99% Chance  of Magic” is beginning to fill that niche for young trans girls and other trans children. I make this specification because the vast majority of the stories feature explicitly trans girls or transfeminine characters. This isn’t 100% the case, however, Violet, from “The Sisters from the Stars” (Amy Eleanor Hart), is noted to sometimes prefer not having a gender at all, and Neshnaj, of  “Neshnaj, the Gentle Grey Giant” (Xemiyulu Manibusan Tapepechul), uses they/them pronouns, as does Ziggy in “The Unicorn of the Sea and Me” (Jun Almar’a).

"From that night onward, Violet was, as they say, forever changed. Nobody questioned her name or pronouns again, even when Violet decided not to have a gender at all. As for Hailey and Violet, they remained the bestest of friends. And wherever they went and whomever they met, both stars shined their love and beamed with pride. 'Hello, world! We are Hailey and Violet, starhearts of the light, the Sisters from the Stars.'"

While many these stories do have young protagonists, they range from grade school age to middle/high school age, and in some stories, such as “A Shapeshifting Spell” (Misha Lynn Moon), “Can’t Stop the Princess” (Anya L. Archer), and “Melody Song & the Hymns of Infinite Sadness” (Amy Eleanor Hart), the protagonists’ later adult lives are touched on as well. I particularly enjoyed the message of “A Shapeshifting Spell,” which uses the metaphor of shapeshifting to show how the process of becoming oneself is process driven by your own will. I’m also, as a trans person myself, very weak for shapeshifting metaphors. Other stories leave age more ambiguous, such as “My Story, the Wolf” (Abbey Darling), a reimagining of the Little Red Riding Hood story, and “Night Light” (Duna Haller). 

Although these stories are designed to be uplifting, they don’t shy away from dealing with difficult subject matter. Children are smart and marginalized children are going to experience difficulties regardless of how much you might want to shield them from that. “99% Chance of Magic” tackles bulling, race issues, disability and death and grief, alongside stories of reclamation, love and community.  

"Sometimes parents are little more than glorified babysitters, and occasionally even monsters. But for Melody, Papa was her very best friend. This made life after his departure from the planet more than unbearable. The only saving grace were the stories he left behind, the whispers that never stopped singing inside her heart."

All the stories in the collection are incredible and the illustrations that accompany them are beautiful. I cannot recommend this book enough. It’s a great book for trans children and cis children alike. It allows trans children to see themselves in stories and will help cis children to understand that they may have friends who are different like that. In an age where politicians want to criminalize trans children, books like these are more important than ever. 

“99% Chance of Magic” can be purchased here.

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Rainbow Reflections: Body Image Comics for Queer Men edited by Phillip Joy, Stephanie Gauvin and Matthew Lee

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Rainbow Reflections: Body Image Comics for Queer Men Co-editors: Phillip Joy, Stephanie Gauvin and Matthew Lee Caption: I am super looking forward to this

I’ve struggled with body image all my life, a combination of weight anxiety and dysphoria. The dysphoria is mostly managed these days, the weight anxiety, not so much, particularly as I’ve been gaining weight in a more sedentary life style now that I have an office job and don’t walk everywhere anymore. Resources for men struggling with body image can be hard to come by, I remember vividly a body workshop my university put on that was supposedly geared toward everyone, but heavily advertised for women only. The flyers were covered in silhouettes of a variety body types… but they were all clearly supposed to be women. 

This is why resources like “Rainbow Reflections: Body Image Comics for Queer Men” are so important and delightful to find. Through discussions of experiences and tips and advice to help sort through feelings and anxieties, the book is compelling and genuinely helpful.

And it’s not just weight that the book covers either. This is made clear just from the cover, where you see people of various race, ability and weight. The anthology includes both fiction and nonfiction comics that cover a vast array of masculine body types and issues. It really feels like a book that has something for everyone. 

Choosing favorite stories to narrow in on was really hard, there are so many wonderful stories, but I’ll talk about the three I felt the most impacted by: 

“Masc Man” by Ollie Rollins deals with the pressure on trans men to “look like a masculine man,” even when you may be happiest in more feminine/androgynous clothing, which is something I’ve struggled a lot with over the years. This can often be compounded by working jobs where you’re only safe if you’re stealth or have a specific dress code that doesn’t allow that kind of freedom. 

Comics panels: Panel 1 (partial) reads "I even saw others like me." Full panel 2: "Your body is a man's body, no matter how it looks. It belongs to you."

“The Grass is Always Greener” by Corey Morgan is a comic that deals in how we compare ourselves to other people. The first man looks in the mirror and thinks he’s ugly, the second man see’s the first man is taller than him and feels bad about being short, the third man sees the second man’s muscles and feels bad about being weak. I found this particularly compelling as a trans person, because especially when the desire is to be read as a man, you can often find yourself in a loop of endless comparing yourself to cis men. 

Lastly, I want to mention “Fitting In” by Loch Arambula which is about the trials of being a short trans  man with odd proportions. I felt particularly called out by the panels about trying to get pants. I’ve never met men’s pants that fit me in any comfortable way. If they fit my waist they’re too tight in my hips, if they fit my hips  they’re huge around my waist and far too long. (I recommend getting pants at Costco, they have women’s pants that are pretty non-gendered, the pockets might be smaller but they have a better leg/waist ratio I’ve found).

Panel of two men standing next to each other in the same shorts, one short and one tall. On the tall man the shorts come to mid thigh on the short man they come to the knee. Text: Most clothes comes with the constant reminder that I don't look like the average man. (Same shorts). Caption: I've never been able to find men's pants that fit me.

Note: This book does have nudity and sexual themes as there is a section on sexual health.

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Wayward Sisters: An Anthology of Monstrous Women edited by Allison O’Toole

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"Wayward Sisters: An Anthology of Monstrous Women" Forward by Faith Erin Hicks. Caption: Ya'll read for monster ladies?

“Wayward Sisters” is an incredible anthology that contains a wide variety of monster women stories (almost typed wife variety and that’s true too). 

Quote: "Sadly for me, Marvel writers didn't have much use for Marrow, and eventually, she was depowered and prettified. I have chosen to ignore that part of the story. Nothing in comics is permanent." Caption: Ain't that the biggest Marvel mood.

I knew I was going to love this anthology from the moment I opened it, because in the forward, before I even got the comics because there was a wonderful drag of Marvel for being shitty to your unloved favorites. If that was the set up vibe for the book, I could only be in for a treat and I was right. 

The book opens on a rather dark story,  “Love and Fury” by Aimee Lim and Sam Beck. Three demon sisters who punish the wicked, sometimes by request, sometimes because it needs to be done and how sometimes it’s hard to punish the wicked when it’s family. 

Something I really loved about the stories in the anthology was just how much the female characters were allowed to be morally ambiguous and vicious and make mistakes, and not be shamed for it. You side with the little witch in Mandy James’ “The Purrrfect Solution” when she turns the townsfolk into cats, because even though her ‘help’ wasn’t the most helpful, this is her story and she gets her happy ending. Another example would be “White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant” by BC Holmes, Dee Williams and Meaghan Carter,  which is about a, you guessed it, WASP couple, who lure men into being surrogates for their offspring.

There is very much a theme throughout the book of, do what is best for you, regardless of what others think. And that’s something a lot of people need to hear, a lot of women need to hear. This is wonderfully illustrated in the story “The Wife’s Shadow” by Janice Liu, where a young wife has been struggling to sleep because of noises in the night and she eventually finds her escape from her married life by becoming a bat creature. 

There are many other wonderful stories and I wish I had time to talk about them all, but also just briefly mention a few of my absolute favorites. 

“Leon’s Return” by Zoe Maeve is about a lion from a medieval manuscript returning home a very different creature than they left and in return their home is very different as well. It’s a very fun and silly story, but also manages to tell an incredibly moving story about change. Also goofy looking medieval manuscript animals is like iconic. 

Two page spread of "Leon's Return" Caption: Medieval animal shenanigans!!!

“Ugly Cinderwench and the Very Angry Ghost” by Xavière Daumarie is another one with a pretty funny bent, but this one ends with justice for a wronged ghost when a shaman attempt to summon a demon to get rid of the ghost, and summons the wrong kind of demon. Her mood isn’t helped by the fact that she was summoned in the middle of her bath.

Lastly, I want to mention “Date Night” by Alison Bannister, Ronnie Ritchie, Meaghan Carter and Nikki Powers. It’s about a human man who takes a T-Rex lady out on a date, except he doesn’t really pay much attention to her and then ghosts her when she steps out for a second to save the town from a rampaging robot. The cute lady T-Rex does get a happy end when the waitress asks her out.

In conclusion, go buy this book now and also don’t ditch your amazing superhero T-Rex girlfriend.

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