Good traditional scifi with gay characters

Desert World Allegiances by Lyn Gala
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Desert World is a real page turner and I enjoyed the two books (Allegiances and Rebirth) which I'm reviewing jointly as they're really Part 1 and 2 of the same story.

Many of the themes and threads that began in the first book don't reach a full conclusion until the second book. (Particularly the sexual nature of their relationship) so if you were put off book one because of the lack of romance and sex, rest assured there is enough in the second to make up for it. But they aren't sex scenes just for the sake of them. Each one is different, to reflect the changing nature of their relationship and the added trust between the two men.

It probably helped that after reading reviews, I wasn't expecting a traditional mm romance and I enjoy reading scifi.

It's a pity that these sorts of stories suffer from expectations of mm romance readers. And it's a pity that they can't attract traditional NY publishers. However, depending on the success of Captive Prince, mainstream publishers may be a better match for books like this in the future.

And if the theme of slavery turned you off the first book that subject is not revisited much in the second book, however the consequences of what Temar endured and learned to endure are very important in his growth as a person in "Rebirth".

Initially I felt that there were a couple of parts in book 1 where the solution to the predicament got solved a little too neatly (eg Naite riding in to the rescue). But the fact that happened became an important plot point in book 2 so it worked well.

I saw that some reviewers dismissed it because of its similarity to "Dune" but I haven't read that for years. Apart from the dryness of the planet, which would result in a similar ecosystem with limited resources and the importance of water, I don't recall other themes and situations being similar. There were no giant worms for starters.

For me, the only scifi aspect that came across as far fetched was the way and where excess water would have been stored beforehand and how it was going to be used to launch a rocket. That science came across as a bit weird.

But the rest of the world building made up for it.

I liked the way that no characters were fully good and even the evil ones were more to be pitied than condemned.

Forgiveness was an important theme running through the story which used the concept of short term slavery (more indentured labor) and monetary gifts to redress wrongs. Almost like a confession, in that once this was done, both parties could move on. However, the story also dealt wth the difficulty people found doing this in reality. The concept of guilt was explored.

Christianity and religion featured heavily which was apt as they often have an important presence in frontier societies. Funnily enough, I had firsthand experience of this because I read the story while staying in a small Outback town. Even though there were only 2000 residents, they have churches/meeting places for Anglicans, Catholics, Lutheran, Jehovahs Witness, Seventh Day Adventists, Serbian Orthodox, Masons as well as local Aborigines.

Despite the element of religion, neither book could be described as "preachy" and one of the protagonists only went to church to get away from people. It's just an element that adds another layer to the world building and because it's not a "made up" religion, the reader's familiarity with the themes make it easier to appreciate their relevance in the story.

There was even a plausible explanation about why their society accepted homosexuality as being a natural and logical way to live at certain stages of everyone's life, particularly where unplanned pregnancies might be a serious strain on resources.

The nature of diplomacy, terrorism, alliances and trade added an interesting element in Book 2.

I loved the secondary characters who appeared enough to make it real but they didn't overbalance the protagonists. And while I don't think the series needs a book three with the same two protagonists, you still wonder whether Cyla and Naite ever got together, or what happened to the Lieutenant Commander Verly Black and the two lesbians who wanted permission to live on Livre to escape homophobia. Lyn Gala has created a world that could definitely be expanded further.

There were a few typos but not enough to make me deduct a star. We need more books like this.


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