Wicked Gentlemen in A Shot of Ginn

Aug 25, 2008 Josh rated it it was amazing

It's a long time since I've relished a book this much -- or had that sense of having lost myself in another world. Hale's marvellous creation of a Barrie-esque AU England and her wonderful characters held me spell-bound for an entire evening. I was very sorry when it ended as I could have followed the adventures of Captain Harper and Belimai Sykes very contentedly for another 300 pages. ...more

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Sep 07, 2010 Bookwatcher rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, favorites, glbt-gay, demons, few-or-no-sex-scene

First comment: this book is the winner of an award (the Gaylactic Spectrum Award for Best Novel-2008)

... and deserve it!

This unique fantasy M/M book is divided in two stories, with the same characters, but different storyteller.

Book one
the first part of this book is a deep immersion on Belimai thoughts and feelings.
Belimai is a tormented "Prodigal", aka, a half demon. That's all... can't say more. You will discover, at Belimai will, his past and pains. With his unstoppable sarcasm he will le ...more

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Nov 20, 2010 Emanuela ~plastic duck~ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, glbt, rainbow-gay, favorites, steampunk

I fell in love with this book! I loved the world, absolutely adored the characters. They are so wonderfully imperfect and at the same time that's what makes you like them. Their relationship was hot and intense, even if the book was almost chaste.

The book has a very dark atmosphere, but it's not claustrophobic, even if there are a lot of moments when the two characters are confined in small spaces. There are many themes - violence, torture, addiction, religious fanaticism, prejudice, you name i ...more

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Feb 17, 2012 DayDreamer rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favourites, lgbtqa, easy-read, want-more, reviewed-or-kinda, arrogant-mofo, magic, paper, again-and-again-and-again, ____-you-idiot

It was a pleasure to read. I can't get enough of this world.

ETA: I just found this: http://itsaboutthebook.com/2015/07/13... A lovely sequel. ...more

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Mar 28, 2010 ttg rated it it was amazing

Shelves: m-m, reviews, challenge-read

4.5 stars – An excellent fantasy mystery about Belimai Sykes, a demon whose self-imposed isolation after surviving harsh torture by the government's inquisition is interrupted by William Harper, an Inquisition Captain who seeks Belimai's aid in finding his missing sister as well as why the sudden rise in demon murders.

Hale is a gifted writer who makes world building and characterization look easy, and I always come away from her writing feeling awed. She always paints her scenes and characters s 4.5 stars – An excellent fantasy mystery about Belimai Sykes, a demon whose self-imposed isolation after surviving harsh torture by the government's inquisition is interrupted by William Harper, an Inquisition Captain who seeks Belimai's aid in finding his missing sister as well as why the sudden rise in demon murders.

Hale is a gifted writer who makes world building and characterization look easy, and I always come away from her writing feeling awed. She always paints her scenes and characters so richly, that I feel a very strong sense of the rooms and the flawed people walking through them, but I never feel overburdened by unnecessary details or dialogue.

And Belimai and Harper are indeed flawed "wicked" gentlemen, but also it's easy to sympathize and follow them on the two mysteries that build this book. The first, Harper's sister's disappearance, is seen through Belimai's POV, and the second, a lord's niece murder, is seen through Harper's view. Both men are very reticent about their thoughts and feelings (most elusive are the ones growing for each other), but this split POV gives the reader a nice glimpse into both their heads.

The romance is there, but very underlying and subdued, mostly because the characters hold themselves so carefully. (This is a very safe book to read on a crowded plane—-no pages of explicit sex to feel awkward about as the flight attendants peer over your shoulder to hand you a drink.)

This book is often qualified as "steampunk" for its gaslight nature and strange devices that fill this world. Hale's writing style reminded me of something like Sherlock Holmes-—very clever, but restrained, which leads to lots of loaded dialogue between the characters as they carefully dance around the deeper meanings they wish to either evade or allude to.

This was a great read, and it was a real pleasure to visit the worlds and characters that Hale so adeptly builds. If you're looking for a more "emotional" romance though, I would recommend her Lord of the White Hell 1&2. It will you give you a little bit more of the warmth that Belimai and Harper so carefully hide behind cynicism and arched eyebrows.

(I did love the running joke though of Belimai hiding Harper's clothes, and I appreciated that it carried across both mysteries. Those small details just added to the joy of reading this.) ...more

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May 04, 2011 Lola rated it it was amazing

In my opinion, one of the best gay sci-fi steam punk fantasy novel. I really liked it. :) Every other gay writer should tailor their style toward this kind of writing.

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