New recs of a different color

[thrihyrne]

I bring two recs in two genres I don't believe I've ever recc'ed before: original fiction, and Mary Renault's The Persian Boy. Both are authors whom I've come to know thanks to my new foray into Wraeththu fandom, and they are accomplished authors in realms outside of Wraeththu fandom. They're also intelligent, droll, charming individuals I am really enjoying getting to know.

‡ camile_sinensis I got to know thanks to her Wraeththu fanfiction, posted at red_shellac. I absolutely inhaled her stories nearly as quickly as Storm Constantine's novels themselves, and only wish there were more of her stories. I highly recommend any of her fiction there. Today, though, I'm recc'ing (with her consent) a story of hers at her original fiction archive, Stuff in a Cardboard Box. I've only read one story so far, and that's the one I'm reccing, We Move Through Heaven. It's science fiction, a glorious one-shot with achingly beautiful imagery and the kind of uncluttered, yet descriptive prose I aspire to write myself one day. The plot is compelling, the implied backstory/universe is intriguing; it's a short story that packs quite a punch.

The ship is grey, inside and out. Battleship grey. Starship grey. Long and thin, that hateful, phallic shape. Starships should be like dragonflies. Starships should have wings. Starships should hum and flash like small, iridescent birds, sing like whales and be rainbow bright. Starships should look like angels.

They have seven good reasons why Starships look the way they do, the foremost of which is that the atomic power source must be kept as far as possible from passengers and crew.

The atomic power source is a small lump of an isotope of Caesium with enough radioactivity to fog a photographic negative.

Starships are not powered by atoms.

Starships are powered by love.

‡ I've recently come to know elfscribe5 because she is an author's dream: she's left several in-depth, articulate reviews for my recently completed Wraeththu novella, and she's quoted back phrases and images she felt were particularly moving; they are the kinds of reviews you want to share a bottle of wine with, and then cozy up to in bed and cuddle all night long. To my delight I've discovered that not only does elfscribe5, like me, have a years-long background in Tolkien fanfiction and JRRT awe, but she's also written The Persian Boy fanfiction. Last night I treated myself to an all-too-hasty reading of her gap-filler, Oromedon's Lessons. I couldn't help myself; I gobbled it all down and will need to re-read it and give it the more reverential, slower savoring it deserves. It is adult and m/m, a true gap-filler and a sensual delight. Her attention to detail, including having done historical research, is something I've seen most often in Ardaverse writers, and I admire her for it.

Myself, I thought I had seen no lovelier lips than his, soft and plump, like a ripe fig, stained red as with pomegranate juice.

"May I kiss you?" he asked.

I had never been asked before. Always it had been forced on me, angrily, as if the taker despised his own lust. I must have nodded because in the next moment he bent his head and touched his lips to mine, delicately, like a whisper of silk, like a promise of paradise.

There he rested, barely moving, until our lips began trembling together in anticipation. Slowly, as if opening a door to a room filled with treasure, his lips parted, gently forcing mine to follow his. As my mouth opened to him, so too did my will and I felt myself relaxing into his embrace. His tongue dipped within, brushed against my tongue, teasingly, in a soft back and forth caress. A pleasant honeyed sensation began tingling through me.

Then his mouth possessed mine. Our tongues tumbled together, our lips grasped and held, and melded into one flesh.

He tasted of sweet cloves. To this day whenever I smell that spice, I think of him and the moment when I discovered that a kiss can bring pleasure rather than disgust. It was a revelation and a release; the first glimpse of the garden of delight.

I sighed and he laughed against my mouth. "Ah yes, my lovely. You will learn to enjoy it. That I can promise you."

As always, if you enjoy the fruits of these author's labors of love, please let them know! To reach camile_sinensis, you can drop her a note at the end of any story she has posted at her fanfic archive; the Slash Cotillion archive where elfscribe5's Persian Boy story is hosted allows you to leave her a message there which will be forwarded.

Happy reading!

Comments

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

Oh, given your comments, I doubt your ego is that wild and untamable!! ;)

Mary Renault's writing is superb. I hope that you enjoy it; I especially loved The Persian Boy, though I've read and really been enraptured by others of her stories as well.

I hope the spreadsheets soon get full and quit eating your life as well!!