Jon Keys

A new fantasy world like the one Jon Keys has created with his ‘Obsidian’ series is a rare delight. There is some very creative magic around the idea of weaving spells, but more than that, the entire culture of the Talac is built on threads, weaving, and how two opposites work together to make a new whole. Spellspinners are the ones who produce the magic and energy-infused threads, and spellweavers take those to create spells of all kinds. Other than this cooperation they are not show more supposed to interact, they even have a strange disdain for each other.

But then one day Terja, a spellspinner, and Anan, a spellweaver, have no other choice but to work together a lot more closely than they ever thought possible. It is not by choice, and not before they have tried absolutely everything else, and even then it takes quite a while before they start trusting each other, never mind actually like each other. But in a world where they are the last two men left of an entire Talac clan extinguished by Varas slavers, they have no other choice.

Theirs is a tale of the discovery of old wisdom, deciphering and reinterpretation of historical records, and a quest for revenge that comes close to killing both of them more than once. But it is also a journey that teaches them about working together and trusting again, and as they come closer to their goal of avenging the dead of their village, they also discover there is a lot more between them than professional cooperation and a talent to do the unusual, sometimes even the supposedly impossible.

‘Obsidian Sun’ is an imaginative action/adventure and a quest, but it is quite bloody and brutal in places. After all, these are slavers Terja ad Anan are dealing with. A lot of the underlying violence is, unfortunately, quite familiar. The Talac dwell in the wilderness and live close to nature. Their bodies are covered by a fine pelt (except for the spellspinners), and the Varas consider them animals. The Varas live in cities and keep the Talac they can capture as pleasure slaves. There are some more fine details around these two cultures and their societies, but the core elements of their conflict sound awfully familiar. I can’t wait to see how Jon Keys is going to solve this problem – hopefully – in the sequel!

If you like magic and fantasy, if you want to find out how two men fall in love who would have never even been friends under normal circumstances, and if you’re looking for an imaginative read full of fresh ideas about magic and how it works, adventure, action, brutality, and characters who have to learn and grow if they want to survive, then you will probably like this novel. I look forward to the sequel, that’s for sure!


NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews. show less

Falling into a routine, followed by complacency, is a death sentence for any relationship. And unless both partners want to change things and are willing to do the work – on themselves – that may be needed, there is no chance to salvage anything. That is what Keith faces after twenty years with his partner, Shawn. They have developed in different ways since they got together in college and it is evident to me (and to Keith’s new friend, Austin), that Shawn is not interested in saving show more what he used to have with Keith. In fact, the man has become emotionally abusive, and Keith - in my humble opinion – has hung on much too long. This is the story of Keith’s awakening to the truth and his path toward change and a new happiness.

Keith works at a bookstore in a mall, is settled in his routine, and desperately wants to save his relationship. The problem is that he is the only one, and with Shawn not interested in the least, Keith ends up appeasing him by trying to do everything Shawn’s way. Keith’s self-confidence is gone, and it takes a flat tire for him to get to know Austin, the young barista at Keith’s favorite coffee shop. Austin is like a breath of fresh air in Keith’s life, and while they don’t immediately fall into bed, Austin is one of the impulses Keith needs to see the truth – Shawn is an a**hole who is no longer interested in Keith and there is no point in trying to rescue a relationship that has ended quite a while ago. But it’s Shawn’s ultimate act of betrayal that ends it for Keith – and it had me shaking my head (I had expected it after his previous behavior) and I was upset on Keith’s behalf at the same time.

Austin, as an outsider, can see Keith and Shawn’s issues much more clearly than Keith can. He is attracted to Keith, but he bites his tongue, at least at first, not wanting to be a homewrecker. Instead he offers support to Keith when he deals with his “holiday misery”, including the awful annual letter from his religious mother. I respected Austin for that, and I liked how he waited for Keith to be ready for a change. After all he is Keith’s friend at that point, and even though he feels slightly selfish because he is interested in more than friendship, in the end, it is Keith’s happiness that matters to him more than anything else.

If you like your Christmas stories with a few complications, if you enjoy reading about troubled relationships that result in life-changing situations, and if you’re looking for a read that goes from depressing and dismal to hopeful, then you will probably like this novella.


NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review. show less

The fantasy world of the ‘Obsidian’ series just keeps growing more fantastic in this second story. ‘Obsidian Sun’ introduced me to the Talac clan of the Kuri with their spellspinners and spellweavers, the Varas slavers who almost killed all of them, and a few very creative ways to look at magic. In this sequel, and please read the first book before this one or you’ll miss a lot of the background for this to make sense, the stakes grow even higher.

There are the Kuri, many of them show more wounded and all of them exhausted, who have to reach their winter camp before freezing temperatures finish what the Varas started. They are led by Terja, a spellspinner, and Anan, a spellweaver, who are twined despite tradition not favoring such a pairing. Then there are the Varas who have not given up and decide to send an entire army after the Kuri. They have got a triad of Ubica assassins with them – a fascinating new culture that is as focused on working with iron as the Kuri are on threads and weaving. And, unfortunately, the Talac traitor, Xain, who made everyone’s life impossible before, managed to survive and is part of the Varas/Ubica force of revenge. This multilayered and complex background made all the personal struggles for survival even more interesting!

Terja and Anan have settled into their twining – and I love the fact that Jon Keys has created a whole language around the way their culture looks at life. They are as determined as ever to get their people to safety, but it isn’t easy. They are two stubborn men who have their struggles as a couple, but considering the dangers they face, that connection only grows stronger. I loved the creative ways they come up with solutions to their ever-increasing problems.

Many of the secondary characters from book one are back and get storylines of their own. And then there are new characters as well – such as the three men in the Ubica Triad. Even though they are Terja and Anan’s enemies, they have a whole fascinating code of honor of their own, and that made their actions not just dangerous, but also understandable and exciting. They are formidable enemies and a lot scarier than the Varas.

If you like magic and fantasy and strange new worlds with slowly unfolding mysteries, if you want to find out how Terja and Anan are doing, and if you’re looking for a suspenseful action/adventure full of drama, an epic struggle for survival and more than one brutal battle between sworn enemies, then you will probably like this novel. This second book ends on another cliff-hanger – and I can’t wait to find out what the next stage in Terja and Anan’s story looks like.


NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews. show less

I'm really on a kick when it comes to holiday stories this year! ;)

Chris owns a holiday tree farm and lost his wife almost a year ago to cancer. He hasn't dated since her death, but when his friend, Wade, comes to visit and get his tree from the farm, Chris wants to change that. Wade, too, is lonely this holiday season; his partner of ten years has recently left him, his business is struggling, and he's feeling pretty miserable. They hang out together, realize there are sparks, and go from show more there.

I liked that this wasn't "gay for you." Chris was an established bisexual and didn't give two shits about anyone who knew that fact. He was also faithful to his wife for thirty-six years, until her death, which I think is great because bisexual characters are often portrayed as being incapable of monogamy (and yes, I know that monogamy doesn't work for everyone, etc, etc, but I don't think it's fair that bisexuals are almost always portrayed as being unable to commit - bisexuality is an orientation, NOT indecisiveness!).

I also liked that both Chris and Wade weren't young twenty-somethings. They've been through a few ringers; Chris is probably in his early- to mid-fifties, and Wade was in his forties. The older I get personally, the more I like to read about characters who aren't young bucks falling in love. ;)

My only real complaint is that the ending felt really rushed. I know that this short story was originally part of an Advent series from Dreamspinner, so the author was rather confined to stylistic elements, including word count, but I really think that the story would have worked better if it was quite a bit longer - maybe not a fully developed novel, but at least another thirty plus pages.

Altogether, however, I enjoyed this short story and would read more from this author. show less