New Book Alert: A Shadow Upon His Soul (The WW2 Hidden Lives Series-Book One) by Ophelie Caton; Bleak and Passionate Look at Male Homosexuality During World War II

 

New Book Alert: A Shadow Upon His Soul (The WW2 Hidden Lives Series-Book One) by Ophelie Caton; Bleak and Passionate Look at Male Homosexuality During World War II

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

I apologize for being so errant with this blog lately. I had a host of personal issues and limited Internet time so I have a lot of catching up to do.

Spoilers: Ophelie Caton's World War II novel A Shadow Upon Its Soul knows how to capture the shadows in wartime: the shadows of family separation, PTSD, hatred, violence, and of hiding one's real identity and sexuality behind societal standards and unjust prejudicial laws.

Karl, a 17 year old Dane has gone into exile to escape the Nazis who will force him to enlist or be sent to a concentration camp.

Kar then finds himself in England where he is taken in by the Hopkins, a kindly couple whose home hosts other borders and exiles. He becomes fast friends with the Hopkins and their son, Paul but his eye is caught by George, a bad-tempered boarder who has problems of his own.

Emotions run rampant in this book and in a stressful time that is to be expected. Karl is an outsider in many ways, even in Denmark. While it appeared to be a happy home that he left, there were hints that suggested otherwise. Later in the book, we learn that his home life was not a pleasant one. It may be a home that should the war end, he may not be able to return to anyway.

This isolation increases when Karl goes to England and spends most of the book trapped by the language barrier. Since he speaks very little English and they know very little Danish, it's hard for Karl to make his basic wants known. Little by little, he begins to understand his host language and communicates in broken English.

Karl finds a surrogate family with the Hopkins Family, new parents and a surrogate brother in Paul. He also finds a temporary rival in George. At first, George is not happy sharing a room and bed with this foreigner. He acts very nasty and rude towards Karl to keep him at arm's length. He is someone who is angry at life because he is estranged from his family and the only person that he ever loved is miles away and in potential danger.

Karl and George's relationship begins when both are at their most vulnerable. George receives devastating news and Karl is confused about his own feelings to this boarder who alternately hates and loves him. They both suffer from pangs of their pasts and those pains are finally laid open for the other to see. Here they are at their most naked and honest towards each other with all defenses down.

Once they open themselves to a real relationship, Karl and George's problems don't magically go away. In fact, they get worse. Karl has to weigh his options about what he wants to do and realizes that the home that he once knew is no longer a home. George's depression continues while Karl temporarily relieved him of that grief. 

Theirs is not a relationship that is built to last but it is one that is meant to change them and bring each other to another level. Karl in particular begins to redefine what the words "home" and "love" really mean.

New Book Alert: Dusk Upon Elysium by Tamel Wino; The Trouble With Technology in Trying Times of Seclusion and Quarantine

 

New Book Alert: Dusk Upon Elysium by Tamel Wino; The Trouble With Technology in Trying Times of Seclusion and Quarantine 

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Tamel Wino's Dusk Upon Elysium may take an alternative view from many of the other science fiction novels that I have been reading that are inspired by the recent global pandemic. However, it is no less thoughtful and provocative with its themes about isolation and technological dependency during times of forced quarantine.

Dusk Upon Elysium is set during a pandemic. No, a different one in the future (probably near future). Government regulations have become even stricter to the point of making people "disappear" if they try to visit sick family members and friends. In fact, people are being forced inside their homes in what the media calls The Migration and makes this house arrest seem like a good thing.

Now, I have my personal reason to disagree with the anti COVID and anti-vaxxers. I won't discuss it, but let's just say that I have personal experiences with the after effects of COVID and am more than aware that it is real and not a hoax. Because of that, I disagree with many of them wholeheartedly. 

However, as I mentioned with other books, I can enjoy a book even if I disagree with the position of the author as long as that position holds a gripping story.  (Of course, I have my limits. See my review of Alexandra Lane's The Prophecy Has Begun: Donum for my views).

 However, anybody could become a dictator in any situation, especially during troubled times. It's not a Party thing. It's a human thing. Our potential inner tyrant could come out if we aren't held back by our laws, the people around us, and our personal values and reasonable mind to keep us in check.

There are opportunists who will take advantage of any type of emergency and force people to act in contrast to their beliefs and surrender their freedoms. This book is a worst case scenario and regardless of what you believe in real life, it is a strong theme to consider and think about.

Anyway, being  under house arrest can get deathly boring. So there is a virtual reality program, called Paradiso which allows users to go on technological vacations, starting with a beach setting. Then they can eventually program any place that they want. This is being experienced by a team that includes Geoff, a researcher.

The descriptions of Paradiso are some of the highlights.

There are five stages so far for Paradiso: Visual, Auditory, Somatosensory, Olfactory/Gustatory and Memories. Other future levels include Multiplayer and Creating New Worlds and New Characters. It seems like fun and an interesting way to pass the time.

These are intentionally pleasant scenes and I am sure that I am not the only Reader who would like to go inside the VR system, despite the inevitable problems that would result. 

Unfortunately, Paradiso isn't as perfect as it sounds. It's Science Fiction. When in Science Fiction has any technology ever not had problems?

The problems bring out the characterization and deep guilt of those who experience them.

Geoff and a colleague, Dawn, encounter characters that resemble people in their lives who have died: Dawn's mother and Geoff's life partner, Tim.

At first it's good to see them to reminisce and share deep emotions. But then these simulated characters become possessive, even volatile, wanting Dawn and Geoff to stay in Paradiso with them forever. They also appear to know things that they wouldn't have known in real life.

The most emotional moments are when Dawn and Geoff confront these ghosts in their lives. 

In Dawn's time with her mother, she fails to recognize the shrill possessive banshee figure as the kind nurturing supportive woman who raised her and fell ill. Dawn knows that there is something wrong with this system, but the more the mother simulation berates her, the weaker and more troubled Dawn becomes Someone is using Dawn's bond with her mother against her and enjoys the torture and control that the distorted memories produce.

Geoff on the other hand enjoys his reunions with Tim. He is mostly as he remembers him until he starts getting possessive and controlling. He slowly turns into someone that is far from

the Tim that Geoff remembers. However, Geoff is filled with guilt over things that happened in their relationship and the guilt manifests during his reunion. It gets to the point where Geoff condones Tim's transformation because he thinks that it's the least that he deserves.

Geoff, Dawn, and their colleagues weigh several possibilities over what is happening and some theories are quite provocative.

Something is going on with the system but what? Is somebody changing the codes for personal gain? Are they being monitored and tricked by a far reaching government that is reaching even further? Is Paradiso, an AI program that is adapting and learning too much? Is there a glitch in the Matrix? Speaking of the Matrix, how do they know that Paradiso is the simulation and they live in reality?  Have they been in a simulation all along?

The theories are so fascinating that the actual resolution is somewhat disappointing in contrast. However, it reveals how dependent humans can get on technology and that sometimes what is considered human error is not really an error. It's a reminder that we are human.

New Book Alert: Shaare Emeth The Gates of Truth (The Love of the Tayamni Book 3) by T.A. McLaughlin; Gender Identity, Sexuality, and St. Louis Setting Play A Large Part In Latest Tayamni Outing

 

New Book Alert: Shaare Emeth The Gates of Truth (The Love of the Tayamni Book 3) by T.A. McLaughlin; Gender Identity, Sexuality, and St. Louis Setting Play A Large Part In Latest Tayamni Outing

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Now we come the to latest volume of T.A. McLaughlin's The Love of The Tayamni series, a complex science fiction saga which covers ancient aliens, time travel, intergalactic warfare, racism, sexuality, gender roles, and everything else in between.

The first book, Love of the Tayamni, introduces the concept that the pagan polytheistic gods were an ancient alien race. They mixed their DNA with that of the humans on Earth and created hybrids that were half Earthling and half Tayamni. They possessed several abilities such as traveling through time which proved useful in their intergalactic war against the cruel and manipulative Potacas and Tlaloc species.

The first book centered mostly on Batresh, the daughter of the Matriarch, head of the Tayamni. Batresh is sent forward in time to 1960's Mississippi to protect Denny Shields, a young boy who is the reincarnation of the Matriarch and is destined to accept that role in the future. Many complex themes are introduced, but the main storyline is pretty simple. It concerns Batresh's struggles protecting Denny from the prejudices and racism of the era of which the Potacas and Tlalocs feed off.

The second book, The Judgement of Seth, expands and opens up the concepts explored by the previous book. This book concerns Namazu, Batresh's sister, who travels to other planets to protect the Tayamni and recruit other alien species to take part in the conflicts against the Potacas and Tlalocs.

Book #3, Shaare Emeth The Gates of Truth, is similar to The Love of The Tayamni. The plot is mostly set on Earth and ignores the intergalactic largeness for another story of prejudice and hatred, this time towards the LGBT+ community. Also similar to the first book, most of the action centers on a few characters in one setting. This time the main character that receives the most attention is Denny Shields, who is now a young adult living in 1977 St. Louis.

From the moment during the end of The Judgement of Seth, that Batresh asks the haunting question "What's a gay bashing?" it becomes apparent that the themes of sexuality and gender identity that were in the background in the first two volumes have come forward in this one.

Denny has fled his abusive Tupelo home and his hateful racist father to start a new life in St. Louis, Missouri. As a child, he had been abused by his father, who dismissed his interest in dolls and girl's clothing as "evil." It took until the second book when he is still a child to believe that he is not evil, his father is. 

The third book is set during Denny's adulthood where he has removed himself from his toxic upbringing but is still uncertain about himself and who he really is. Coming to terms with his sexuality, he breaks up with a female friend after realizing that he can no longer live a lie. Denny gets accepted into the St. Louis Symphony Chorus and makes some new friends, a few whom he finds very attractive. Meanwhile, Batresh, now in a new form, has caught up to the young man and hopes to guide him to his destiny. Denny also catches the ire of a young homophobe who has intergalactic influences helping him unleash his more violent tendencies.

This is my favorite book in the series for many reasons. One  reason is deeply personal. My family moved to the St. Louis area in 1992 and of all places, this area feels like home to me. So I am filled with childish glee whenever I read something with a St. Louis setting. It's fun and personal when you recognize the place names in which the author describes. 

I know about Powell Symphony Hall with its red hallways, walls, and seats. I have been to Forest Park with its free Art Museum, History Museum, Science Center, and Zoo (in keeping with the time period the Art Museum, in the book, hosts the famous King Tut exhibit.) I visited the Jefferson Expansion Memorial AKA The Arch though fear of heights and crowds with closed in spaces have kept me from taking the elevator. (Unfortunately, I haven't yet been to the new improved downtown area and would love to see what they have done with it.)

I recognize streets like Grand, areas like Soulard, and places like the St. Louis Central Public  Library and Washington University.

The shoutouts to the area are brilliant and allow Readers who aren't familiar to picture it in their heads and experience it vicariously. Readers who have lived there will have fun reliving a place in which they are familiar that is now inhabited by intergalactic aliens.

The other reason that this book is the best in the series so far is McLaughlin's treatment towards the characters by overlapping their personal journies with the larger science fiction aspects that go into play.

Most of this book's plot is something that can be found in any genre: the search for identity, discovering who a person is and where they fit in their world. We, the Readers, know  where Denny's future is headed as do the Tayamni, but he doesn't. He has dreams, flash backs, and maybe flash forwards of being the Matriarch, but he doesn't understand them. Even if he did, right now, he is more concerned about the current issues of being an adult: finding his own path, getting a job and earning money, and forging new friendships and romantic relationships. This is where Denny is right now and McLaughlin is in no hurry to push him forward. In fact, it becomes clear that what Denny perceives as typical experiences could turn out to be important lessons that he will learn and put into practice one day as the Matriarch. After all, his experiences in Mississippi and Missouri teach him a lot about equality, understanding, acceptance, and unity, traits which will be very useful one day.

Denny is on a journey of self discovery and part of that is learning about his sexuality and gender identity. He explains to a friend, Bob, that he was kicked out of his home at 16 years old after his father tricked him into reading a book by a gay author. On his own, Denny read works by authors like Oscar Wilde to realize that his feelings are perfectly normal and innate. It is the heteronormative society that is flawed in their lack of acceptance of different facets of sexual experiences and gender identities.

While in St. Louis, Denny befriends various men like Bob and David, who introduce him to the night life like Llewellyn's and Herbie's, the latter of which boasts that it's one of the few gay clubs with clear and open windows. (Since homosexuality was considered illegal until the late '60's to early 70's, many gay themed bars and nightclubs had covered or blackened windows so no passerby could peek inside and see who was hanging out there.) 

One of the most powerful symbols in the book is Shaare Emeth, The Gates of Truth. Denny sees this sign when his friend, Naomi takes him to a synagogue shabbat and he sees the gates for the first time. He sees it right before the congregation erupts into a hateful rhetoric against Southern Baptists and anyone else who isn't like them (not unlike the church services of Denny's youth which he gladly left). Observing the Gates of Truth, Denny finds his own gateway. He realizes that he must live his own truth and live honestly as an out and proud gay person.

While Denny is going on this personal journey towards truth and self discovery, the science fiction aspects are also apparent in the book. Batresh, assuming the form of Miriam, a fellow Chorus member, has an extended conversation with her late mother's spirit. She reminds her of her task to watch Denny, the vessel which houses her essence. Batresh also discovers things aren't always as they seem as a nunnery near Fontainebleau College is revealed to be a secret organization of female Tayamni who use the convent as a front for their real mission and deity worship.

Of course, the Tlalocs rear their ugly hateful heads when one is bound to Charles, whose homophobic tendencies lead to violence.. This book implies many of mankind's hatreds and prejudices are inspired, egged on, and fed off by the Potacas and Tlalocs. The sad truth is, in reality, humanity doesn't need such outside influences from outer space. We are more than capable of being cruel, divisive, hateful, and violent on our own.

Shaare Emeth is the next step in an involved and fascinating series. It is clear that another volume is on its way and judging by a conversation with McLaughlin, there will be others. If the attention to character, theme, and detail in setting is as brilliant as the first three books, it should be a great, exciting, and well written experience.