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Violet: Thunder (Color Box)

3.79 of 5 stars 3.79 · rating details · 14 ratings · 5 reviews

Wu Jin has both brains and beauty. Though poor, his family are noble enough for Jin to sit the imperial examinations in the hope of obtaining a high-ranking government position at the court of Tang Dynasty China. When his parents are killed, Jin clings to his dreams, and travels to the provincial capital for the exams. Pursued by a sinister horseman into the forest, Jin se...more

ebook, 65 pages

Published March 31st 2010 by Torquere Press

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Sep 07, 2012 Aleksandr Voinov added it

Finally a long story by Kate Cotoner. Kate caught my eye with "Enslaved", and since then we've been discussing history and writing and life, and I recruited her for "Echoes of the Future", so we're writer friends. But her work came first - it's just "unfortunate" that I end up being friends with great writers and then could be accused of not being subjective. Well, I'm the first person to say "this sucks" to a friend. They do the same for me.

"Thunder" is a novella set in Ancient China. I always...more Finally a long story by Kate Cotoner. Kate caught my eye with "Enslaved", and since then we've been discussing history and writing and life, and I recruited her for "Echoes of the Future", so we're writer friends. But her work came first - it's just "unfortunate" that I end up being friends with great writers and then could be accused of not being subjective. Well, I'm the first person to say "this sucks" to a friend. They do the same for me.

"Thunder" is a novella set in Ancient China. I always read stories set in Asia/Japan/China with a little trepidation. Torquere especially has put out some atrocious stuff (I vaguely remember two, I think, were-dragons prattling on for many pages in a very immature style which made my eyes bleed).

This is not one of those stories. This is actually set in a foreign culture, and Cotoner gently guides us through a different world and mindset, and the writing is totally engrossing. I finished this in one go, despite having writing of my own to do, and I want to read it again to get the nuances. This has supernatural elements but is, at the same time, so real that I'd call it a China-set Historical Urban Fantasy rather than a fairy tale.

The men in this story are a young, idealistic scholar and a supernatural being. Both are drawn with great care, and their relationship has to struggle against the divide in what they are, ancient curses, the corruption of the political class, ignorance and superstition. It's a little "Beauty and the Beast", and I'd just love seeing that on film. Cotoner is a very visual writer, a warm writer, you can feel that she actually pours love and care into her stories and characters; too many writers just write some porn and kick it out of the door, but I never get that feeling with her stuff. Meticulously researched and told with verve and heart.

The sex scenes are very hot. There's a scene towards the beginning where our young hero "encounters" a sentient shadow. And, yeah, that scene made my e-reader steam. But the "faceless lover" might just be my personal kink.

It wouldn't be Cotoner if this wasn't also very "plotty". There are many more things going on than "just" the romance. Too much out there is just sex scene after sex scene. Nope. This is a proper, full-fledged story with developed characters, plot, twists, and some very suspenseful scenes that had me eat it all up and wanting more.

In any case, it's well worth checking out. I'll certainly read this again.(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 19, 2010 Rhianon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: m-m, fantasy, need-to-reread

An artfully crafted short that showcases the potential this author's future stories have to offer. [4.5 stars:]

Set in China, this fantasy follows the journey of a young man sidetracked by a magical immortal, a fox spirit. The characters are engaging, the action is well-paced, and the plot has just enough twists to keep things interesting without bunching up the reader's knickers.

I was smiling, but disappointed, when I reached the end. I wanted there to be more, simply because I had fun reading C...more

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Apr 26, 2010 Jenre rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, historicals, m-m, romance

I picked up this book because I'd recently been very impressed with a story by this author in an anthology and I was interested in reading more of her writing. I'm so glad I did, as this book was a real treat and so absorbing it even drowned out the annoying chatter of two women sitting opposite me on the train.

The story begins with a fire in a small village which started at the house of our hero Jin. Standing and looking at the charred remains of his home, with the knowledge that his parent's b...more I picked up this book because I'd recently been very impressed with a story by this author in an anthology and I was interested in reading more of her writing. I'm so glad I did, as this book was a real treat and so absorbing it even drowned out the annoying chatter of two women sitting opposite me on the train.

The story begins with a fire in a small village which started at the house of our hero Jin. Standing and looking at the charred remains of his home, with the knowledge that his parent's bodies lay inside, he turns his back on the devastation and sets off to walk to the city in order to sit his exams. Jin is full of high ideals as to how he will use his brains to pass the exams, make his parents proud and also make a real difference in the world. After being rejected at an inn along the road, he is directed to a small inn in the forest where he beds down for the night. The next day he discovers that he has accidentally stayed at the home of a reclusive nobleman, Zhen, who asks him to stay for a couple of days.

In some ways this fantasy story follows the idea of the Noble Quest. Jin is the innocent young man, who has lived a quiet, studious life in his small village and through tragedy sets out into the unknown to make his name. Jin's naivety is appealing, but it's his mix of idealism and pragmatism which I really liked the most. He burns with righteous anger towards the man who was seen near his house before the fire began, a man who Jin had rejected as a lover, and yet instead of rushing off to confront the man and perhaps put himself in danger, he resolves to go to the city to gain qualifications which would provide an opportunity for him to do good in the world. As with many quest stories the hero is sidetracked along the way, in this case by Zhen. As the book is written from the point of view of Jin, we don't know much about this enigmatic man at first, only that he offers a safe haven for Jin and an opportunity to help him with his studies.

Another aspect of the story with worked well was in the sexual chemistry between Jin and Zhen which is sizzling. I liked that there was a slow build up between them, slight touches, longing looks and conversation before they succumbed to their attraction.

The fantasy part of the story worked well too. I'm not familiar with Japanese mythology but this part of the story was so well explained that I soon picked up on what was happening. I especially liked the way that the different realities were shown to intermingle through Jin's perception and corner-of-eye glances. The use of the colour violet was used to heighten the fantasy parts, giving the descriptions of Zheng and his powers a visual sensuality which matched the sexual tension which ran as a undercurrent through the interaction between Jin and Zhen. It was all rather cleverly done.

The story continues with the quest theme and ends, as you might expect, with a much wiser, less innocent Jin, who is now a man of the world, but also still a good man. It was nice to see that this growth in character didn't entirely crush Jin's idealism, but rather added a practical, realistic edge to his dreams.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed this story. The fantasy aspects were interesting, the character of Jin appealing and the setting unusual. If I have any niggles it was that the discovery of the talisman and its retrieval at the end of the story was perhaps a little convenient, but that certainly wasn't enough to spoil my enjoyment of what was a pretty gripping tale of innocence lost, and love found. Highly recommended(less)

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Apr 08, 2010 Mara Ismine rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, fantasy-sci-fi, historical, male-male, romance

A very enjoyable and evocative story set in ancient China. I will probably have to read again to catch all the nuances and grasp some of the explanations fully. The justice-is-served Happy Ending was very satisfying and might leave room for some follow-up on how Jin's plans work out.

1 like · like · see review

Apr 25, 2011 Indigo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: m-m, fantasy, historique

Magical story set in historical China.

like · see review

May 20, 2013 Bookbee marked it as wish-list

Shelves: hmmmm, p, historical, short-stories

May 07, 2013 Ashlee added it

Feb 17, 2013 Viv marked it as to-read

Shelves: must-have

Dec 22, 2012 Kellie Dennis marked it as to-read

Shelves: my-books

Nov 16, 2012 Pj marked it as to-read

Nov 01, 2012 Helle marked it as to-read

Feb 15, 2012 momokaachan marked it as get-this

Jan 19, 2012 yohtan marked it as to-read

Dec 03, 2011 Lara added it

Oct 26, 2011 Yuki Luka marked it as to-read

Aug 21, 2011 Jerry marked it as to-read

Aug 19, 2011 Eisheth marked it as to-read

Jul 24, 2011 Saskie- marked it as to-read

Jul 21, 2011 Pamela marked it as wishlist

Shelves: pers-shifters, gen-fantastico-magico

Jul 10, 2011 K. Anderson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Jun 19, 2011 Sadonna marked it as to-read

Shelves: pdf, mm

Jun 09, 2011 Catharina marked it as to-read

Oct 27, 2011 Katie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: m-m, read-in-2011

Jan 28, 2012 Kiki marked it as 0-tbr-mm

May 16, 2011 Ozlem marked it as to-get

Shelves: fantasy, m-m

Jan 31, 2011 Shanna marked it as wishlist · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, m-m, under-100pgs, color

Jan 30, 2011 Cole Riann marked it as to-read

Shelves: m-m, m-m-short

Jan 29, 2011 Anne marked it as tbr-mm

Jan 02, 2011 Neyjour rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: species-demon, species-human, species-shapeshifter, genre-erotic-romance, genre-fantasy, genre-historical, book-length-novella-17500-40000, gender-pairing-gay-mm, theme-age-gap, theme-interspecies, char-ethnicity-asian, species-canidae, pub-torquere-press

Jan 02, 2013 Mammarella marked it as maybe

Shelves: mm, mm-fantasy, mm-historical

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About Kate Cotoner

Kate Cotoner lives in the north of England with her OH and a demanding bonsai named Mr M. She has a fondness for Asian men tempered with a love of hunky Germanic and Mediterranean types, and manages to combine love for all three types whilst watching Formula One motorsport. She loves history, needlepoint, reading, watching brainless blockbusters and meaningful foreign films, staring at US crime sh...more

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