A Lonely Boy

“A lonely boy exploring shadows. It must be beautiful.”

I just finished the first book in the Voyage series by Zachary Bonelli, and I might have a new favorite protagonist. Kal Anders is nerdy, sensitive, and determined to help others more than himself, and refreshingly, the fact that Kal is gay plays little into the plot of the story, besides the occasional lingering glance at an attractive boy. Kal’s main character idiosyncrasies come from his isolation, spending his teenage years away from his family and friends, all alone on a strange planet.

On his quest, Kal might be searching for a way to return home to Earth, but what he’s really finding along the way is a redefined sense of belonging. In each world that he visits, Kal encounters social structures that he can mimic, maybe even embrace, but he has seen too much, experienced too much to fully integrate himself into a new life. Often, Kal is too smart and too caring for his own good and ends up making trouble for himself and, unfortunately, for others.

Kal’s sexuality comes into full play when he goes to college in the second-to-last chapter, on the world Irth. Though more institutionalized, the homophobia of this world is strikingly similar to our own, a world in which the social dogma against homosexuality is as ridiculous as antiquated customs like “No eating squash on alternating Wednesdays and Fridays,” but homophobia is prevalent nonetheless.

Most gay protagonists of fantasy and sci-fi literature struggle with their sexuality through the plot of their stories, while their adventures and quests are the common ground with their straight character counterparts. In Voyage: Embarkation, Zachary Bonelli rejects this standard and inverts the metaphor. Kal’s sexuality is commonplace, while his metaxic adventures are what make him ‘abnormal.’ I wanted to hug him, kiss him, and cry for him, all at the same time. Now I HAVE to read the next book.

“Everywhere I go,” Kal began softly, “I have to explain to people how I’m different, and I have to figure out how to navigate rules I don’t understand.”

http://www.fuzzyhedgehogpress.com/speculative-fiction/voyage/embarkation/