2 out of 5 stars
Kindle Edition. 1st edition. 30 pages. Published December 1st 2018 by Dreamspinner Press
Blurb:
Being gay and pagan can make for a lonely holiday season, as
Ian knows well. He’s used to celebrating alone. The last place he expects to
meet a like-minded guy is at LAX during a twenty-nine-hour layover.
Ian’s never felt so comfortable or compatible with another
man, even if there is an air of mystery to Race.
Race is no stranger to holiday isolation, and he decides they
should seize the opportunity they’ve been given and observe the Saturnalia the
way it was meant to be. A grand celebration ensues, where every moment is
special and every meal a feast. The ancient traditions take on new meaning as
the men find meaning in each other. But each of them has a destiny and for
their paths to continue together, it’ll take a kind of magic that hasn’t been
seen in centuries.
A Story from the Warmest Wishes: Dreamspinner Press 2018 Advent Calendar
Likes:
- Pagan celebration.
- Ending was interesting.
- The clues to Rase’s real identity were well placed.
Dislikes:
- Didn’t keep my attention.
- Started off with a scene from later in the story.
- Lots of jumping around.
- Didn’t develop the characters.
- Too much telling and not enough showing.
- Insta-love.
- Not enough info on the paganism.
- The outside violence.
- The blurb didn’t hook me.
The blurb didn’t interest me, so I put this story off for a while. I wish I could say that my feelings of disinterest were proved wrong, but I can’t.
I am not a fan of stories that start off with a scene from later in the story, otherwise known as prolepsis. Frist of all, they’re almost never labeled as such, so I end up confused. Second, it feels like the author doesn’t have the confidence that the reader will continue to the end unless they’re shown something flashy right from the start.
Technically, this book did label the prolepsis by saying it started 6 minutes before eternity. But, as this came at the very beginning of the story, I assumed the time was counting up from 0 to 29 hours, instead of down from 29 to 0, so the labeling didn’t help at all. I still ended up confused, thinking I had somehow missed the part when the two main characters met.
Still, the prolepsis did make me wonder how a happy ending was going to be achieved given the amount of outside violence. It should have clued me in that destiny and magic referenced in the blurb weren’t just hyperbole.
I liked that this story has pagan overtones, but would have liked more explanation. Like when Race gave Ian a gift of two little figurines – a pitcher for merriment and “the die should be self-explanatory.” Well, it wasn’t self-explanatory for me, thanks. A lot of the other pagan moments in the story, like he holly bush and evergreen boughs, were also not explained, which gave the story an air of pagan window dressing without the substance behind it.
As for the men, they were fine. I honestly don’t know much about them since they weren’t fleshed out. Especially Rase. His history was meant to be a mystery, and that meant that he didn’t get much character definition. He was described physically, but that’s about it. Ian was a little more fleshed out, but not much.
I will give credit where credit is due. The clues to Rase’s real identity were well placed. Obvious after a while, but that’s not a bad thing. His part in the ending was also interesting. Admittedly not my favorite thing in the world, what with leaving so much pain and suffering behind as he and Ian flounce off to a happy eternity, but whatever. It was a happy ending for them, if not for all the people who died.
In the end, this story just didn’t work for me on multiple accounts. The sheer amount of telling and not showing, the jumping around in time, the insta-love. All that would have dropped the rating even without my other complaints. I think the ideas in this story simply aren’t suited to such a short page length.
Find the Warmest Wishes anthology review here and the full list of stories here.
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