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Renegayd
How far would you go to reach global equality faster? Every gayborhood on Earth hides a closet door to a magic world. Sam is not the first to discover it, but when he does it's in the early days of a violent revolution for LGBT liberation. The Queen of Witches is building an army, and Sam doesn't know what's more frightening: the fact that his "real" world may be in danger, or that he isn't sure he wants to save it. Renegayd shows the yin-yang struggle of global LGBT rights by dipping it in glitter and asking the cost of progress.
244 pages, Paperback
Published April 25, 2018
About the author
David Kraine
3 books11 followersDavid Kraine is the author of top selling sci-fi/fantasy multimedia The Plague book and Ezekial comic. His newest book, Renegayd, explores the yin-yang struggle of LGBT equality. To learn more about David and his books, visit RenegaydBook.com.
David was born and raised in Texas but now lives and writes in San Francisco, California with his husband.
David was born and raised in Texas but now lives and writes in San Francisco, California with his husband.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 8, 2018
A Joyfully Jay review.
4 stars
Okay, I have to mention this because it really affected how I understood the story: the book is presented in the advance review copy as a nonlinear telling—but I don’t know if that is intentional or not because the chapters were numbered, but they were not in number order. It’s probably just an editing thing, but when I was about 20% through the book and suddenly landed on chapter 18, I had to stop reading and check all the chapter headings to confirm they were out of order. I could tell by the way the action kept jumping around that the story telling was nonlinear, but the chapter numbers made me question if I didn’t some how get a corrupted copy or something.
I do want to discuss this nonlinear quality. Generally, I’m a fan of this kind of story telling. I like how it kept me on edge in this story, always waiting for the details to be filled in. In this particular book, the big “what happened?!” for me centered on the Sam/Brun-Brun relationship. The first chapter introduced us to Sam as being split up from Brun-Brun; the next chapter flashed back to when they first met; the third chapter shows how obviously Sam is pining for Brun-Brun; the fourth chapter shows them getting to know each other—and on and on for the first half of the book or so. It’s like building a puzzle from the outside in. As conceptually entertaining as this was, once the two timelines meet up towards the middle of the book and we shifted into linear story telling, it’s clear that the plot is going to dominate the action moreso than any interpersonal relationships. There’s a bit of romance and a lot of pining, but it’s pretty tame and not very well substantiated considering all the build up I thought we got. Personally, I rather liked how the Sam/Brun-Brun ship sailed off into the sunset—but it’s not a HEA or even a HFN ending in the romance department, so be forewarned (but, er, no one dies or ends up hating anyone else, either, so there’s that—it is, in short, the kind of ambiguous “end” that flames the fires of fan fiction).
Read Camille’s review in its entirety here.
4 stars
Okay, I have to mention this because it really affected how I understood the story: the book is presented in the advance review copy as a nonlinear telling—but I don’t know if that is intentional or not because the chapters were numbered, but they were not in number order. It’s probably just an editing thing, but when I was about 20% through the book and suddenly landed on chapter 18, I had to stop reading and check all the chapter headings to confirm they were out of order. I could tell by the way the action kept jumping around that the story telling was nonlinear, but the chapter numbers made me question if I didn’t some how get a corrupted copy or something.
I do want to discuss this nonlinear quality. Generally, I’m a fan of this kind of story telling. I like how it kept me on edge in this story, always waiting for the details to be filled in. In this particular book, the big “what happened?!” for me centered on the Sam/Brun-Brun relationship. The first chapter introduced us to Sam as being split up from Brun-Brun; the next chapter flashed back to when they first met; the third chapter shows how obviously Sam is pining for Brun-Brun; the fourth chapter shows them getting to know each other—and on and on for the first half of the book or so. It’s like building a puzzle from the outside in. As conceptually entertaining as this was, once the two timelines meet up towards the middle of the book and we shifted into linear story telling, it’s clear that the plot is going to dominate the action moreso than any interpersonal relationships. There’s a bit of romance and a lot of pining, but it’s pretty tame and not very well substantiated considering all the build up I thought we got. Personally, I rather liked how the Sam/Brun-Brun ship sailed off into the sunset—but it’s not a HEA or even a HFN ending in the romance department, so be forewarned (but, er, no one dies or ends up hating anyone else, either, so there’s that—it is, in short, the kind of ambiguous “end” that flames the fires of fan fiction).
Read Camille’s review in its entirety here.
May 5, 2018
Such a fun, fantasy novel that explores the struggle for LGBT equality in a creative world. The characters are complex and colorful. Really enjoyed it! Check it out.
June 2, 2019
3.5*
Well, that was a story!
Initially told in a flashback style, but with the chapter numbers showing where they would be if chronological. It does work and actually that part seemed to flow quicker than when we moved to chronological.
The story is about the search for global equality for all LGBT peoples, but orchestrated by a queen in an magical alternate universe. You can see the fervour of wanting this tempered by arguments against radical action to the effects of what is basically full on war, so quite enlightening in ways.
Lots of points made on what is and how to, if you can, get full acceptance and equality.
There is a wide range of characters so keep them straight as they disappear and come back with the chapter structure! Sometimes funny, sometimes sad and with lots of pathos.
Well, that was a story!
Initially told in a flashback style, but with the chapter numbers showing where they would be if chronological. It does work and actually that part seemed to flow quicker than when we moved to chronological.
The story is about the search for global equality for all LGBT peoples, but orchestrated by a queen in an magical alternate universe. You can see the fervour of wanting this tempered by arguments against radical action to the effects of what is basically full on war, so quite enlightening in ways.
Lots of points made on what is and how to, if you can, get full acceptance and equality.
There is a wide range of characters so keep them straight as they disappear and come back with the chapter structure! Sometimes funny, sometimes sad and with lots of pathos.
June 16, 2018
A magnificent journey
This book is more than just about magic and revolutions, it's about the struggle to be who we really are. I found it a wonderful journey that takes the reader into a new world. It's a struggle of the LGBT rights, and community in this wonderful story into the closet. The metaphors of life are well defined and brought into this adventure and journey. Sam is a remarkable character, and I thoroughly enjoyed this story.
This book is more than just about magic and revolutions, it's about the struggle to be who we really are. I found it a wonderful journey that takes the reader into a new world. It's a struggle of the LGBT rights, and community in this wonderful story into the closet. The metaphors of life are well defined and brought into this adventure and journey. Sam is a remarkable character, and I thoroughly enjoyed this story.
October 8, 2018
Extremely entertaining and a thought provoking read. I was hooked from the back cover synopsis and knew I had to read this book. Admittedly, the jumping right into it with the first chapter (Chapter 14) was a lot to handle and figure things out. After the first few chapters I finally got comfortable with the storyline, but it was hard to follow at the beginning with them jumping around. But I don't think I could have read it any other way. Highly recommend.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews