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Santa Claus Chronicles #2
Santa Claus Conquers the Homophobes
Santa Claus and stepdaughter Wendy strive to remake the world in compassion and generosity, preventing one child's fated suicide by winning over his worst tormentors, then attempting, with the Easter Bunny's help, to eradicate homophobia worldwide in one magical night.
361 pages, Paperback
First published August 6, 2008
8 people are currently reading
145 people want to read
About the author
Robert Devereaux
36 books75 followersRobert Devereaux made his professional debut in Pulphouse magazine in the late 1980's, attended the 1990 Clarion West Writers Workshop, and soon placed stories in such major venues as Crank!, Weird Tales, and Dennis Etchison's anthology MetaHorror.
Two of his stories made the final ballot for the Bram Stoker and World Fantasy Awards. Robert has a well-deserved reputation as an author who pushes every envelope, though he would claim, with a stage actor's assurance, that as long as one's writing illuminates characters in all their kinks, quirks, kindnesses, and extremes, the imagination must be free to explore nasty places as well as nice, or what's the point?
His first novel Deadweight interweaves a King-like plot, penile implants, and splatterpunk extremes of sex and violence, managing all the while to be a sensitive, spot-on portrayal of an abused woman incapable of relinquishing her role as victim.
Walking Wounded, his next novel, explores the dilemma of a good woman able to heal with her hands, but also to harm even unto death, whose discovery that her husband is cheating on her moves her, against her every humane impulse, to activate his Huntington's Disease and take him down.
Robert went on to shock the bluenoses with Santa Steps Out, in which Santa Claus's gradual recall of his prior existence as Pan leads to an affair with the Tooth Fairy, while a voyeuristic Easter Bunny tries to twitch and wiggle his way into Mrs. Claus's good graces. Santa Steps Out, which won much praise for its mythological underpinnings and the breathtaking sweep of its transgressions, also had the honor of being banned in that cultural backwater of intolerance and censoriousness known as Cincinnati.
Robert's fourth novel, Caliban, borrows a page from John Gardner's Grendel to retell Shakespeare's Tempest through Caliban's eyes.
Robert lives in sunny northern Colorado with the delightful Victoria and their melodious cat Sigfried, making up stuff that tickles his fancy and, he hopes, those of his readers.
Two of his stories made the final ballot for the Bram Stoker and World Fantasy Awards. Robert has a well-deserved reputation as an author who pushes every envelope, though he would claim, with a stage actor's assurance, that as long as one's writing illuminates characters in all their kinks, quirks, kindnesses, and extremes, the imagination must be free to explore nasty places as well as nice, or what's the point?
His first novel Deadweight interweaves a King-like plot, penile implants, and splatterpunk extremes of sex and violence, managing all the while to be a sensitive, spot-on portrayal of an abused woman incapable of relinquishing her role as victim.
Walking Wounded, his next novel, explores the dilemma of a good woman able to heal with her hands, but also to harm even unto death, whose discovery that her husband is cheating on her moves her, against her every humane impulse, to activate his Huntington's Disease and take him down.
Robert went on to shock the bluenoses with Santa Steps Out, in which Santa Claus's gradual recall of his prior existence as Pan leads to an affair with the Tooth Fairy, while a voyeuristic Easter Bunny tries to twitch and wiggle his way into Mrs. Claus's good graces. Santa Steps Out, which won much praise for its mythological underpinnings and the breathtaking sweep of its transgressions, also had the honor of being banned in that cultural backwater of intolerance and censoriousness known as Cincinnati.
Robert's fourth novel, Caliban, borrows a page from John Gardner's Grendel to retell Shakespeare's Tempest through Caliban's eyes.
Robert lives in sunny northern Colorado with the delightful Victoria and their melodious cat Sigfried, making up stuff that tickles his fancy and, he hopes, those of his readers.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 14, 2021
So if you compare it to book 1, its a 2, on its own its a 3. The first book was much more depraved, which was fun. This one is lacking in that area, but a good, well written story. I was just hoping for more, like the 1st book. Seems book one was maybe about lust more, and this one was about addiction or just the sins of man. More of God/Zeus in this book as well. The 3rd will be interesting to see where it goes.
April 8, 2024
First off, this review is for the audiobook version, which doesn't seem to be listed on Goodreads.
Santa Steps Out is one of my all-time favorite books, and I reread it every year at Christmas. When I learned that Robert Devereaux had written two sequels, they were automatically added to my TBR, but upon hearing they weren't as bawdy as the first book, they weren't a priority, but I would get to them eventually.
All of the characters you came to love (or hate) in Santa Steps Out return in this sequel, which picks up several years after the first book. The newly immortal Wendy has been tasked with visiting a select number of children who she feels show exceptional promise, but when she returns distraught from one of her visits, she entreats Santa to help her with a problem. You see, part of her gift as an immortal is to look into the future of these select children, and she finds that one, Jamie Stratton, commits suicide before he reaches adulthood because of the bullying he receives over being gay. So Santa and Wendy set out to change not only those who are responsible for Jamie taking his own life, but all of the homophobes all the world over. And waiting in the wings to thwart Sant and Wendy at every turn is the Tooth Fairy, still butt hurt over Santa's ultimate rejection of her.
The story itself is enjoyable, even if the reader is hit repeatedly over the head with the message to book is conveying. My issue with the book, remember, this is the audiobook edition, lies with the choice of narrator. Mr. Williamson does an excellent job with the narrative portion of the text, but his characterizations are inconsistent and sometimes run together, so it often makes it difficult to tell which character is speaking. Other times the characterizations are quite distinct.
The only other drawback to this sequel is it lacks the bawdy irreverence that made Santa Steps Out so deliciously naughty.
Santa Steps Out is one of my all-time favorite books, and I reread it every year at Christmas. When I learned that Robert Devereaux had written two sequels, they were automatically added to my TBR, but upon hearing they weren't as bawdy as the first book, they weren't a priority, but I would get to them eventually.
All of the characters you came to love (or hate) in Santa Steps Out return in this sequel, which picks up several years after the first book. The newly immortal Wendy has been tasked with visiting a select number of children who she feels show exceptional promise, but when she returns distraught from one of her visits, she entreats Santa to help her with a problem. You see, part of her gift as an immortal is to look into the future of these select children, and she finds that one, Jamie Stratton, commits suicide before he reaches adulthood because of the bullying he receives over being gay. So Santa and Wendy set out to change not only those who are responsible for Jamie taking his own life, but all of the homophobes all the world over. And waiting in the wings to thwart Sant and Wendy at every turn is the Tooth Fairy, still butt hurt over Santa's ultimate rejection of her.
The story itself is enjoyable, even if the reader is hit repeatedly over the head with the message to book is conveying. My issue with the book, remember, this is the audiobook edition, lies with the choice of narrator. Mr. Williamson does an excellent job with the narrative portion of the text, but his characterizations are inconsistent and sometimes run together, so it often makes it difficult to tell which character is speaking. Other times the characterizations are quite distinct.
The only other drawback to this sequel is it lacks the bawdy irreverence that made Santa Steps Out so deliciously naughty.
November 22, 2022
Nov 21st: I’ll revisit this to write a review. Currently my head hurts too much.
Nov 22nd: Ok, my head still hurts, but not quite as badly, so I’ll just make a few comments now (hopefully that make sense).
After the sexual content of the first book, I was surprised that there wasn’t any in this second book. But since I wasn’t in it for that content anyway, I enjoyed this second book just as much as the first. I still love the lore behind holiday characters and the Christian God/Jesus/Angels evolving from the Greek pantheon to suit the evolution of humankind - Santa used be known as Pan, God was known as Zeus, etc. The Tooth Fairy is still our “bad guy”, and still bent on revenge and causing all kinds of devilry for Santa and humankind in general. But of course, the triple tag team of Santa, Wendy, and the Easter Bunny (who I’m glad has redeemed himself from the last book) manage to set everything right. I’m looking forwards to the next book, I just hope it arrives in time before Christmas.
Nov 22nd: Ok, my head still hurts, but not quite as badly, so I’ll just make a few comments now (hopefully that make sense).
After the sexual content of the first book, I was surprised that there wasn’t any in this second book. But since I wasn’t in it for that content anyway, I enjoyed this second book just as much as the first. I still love the lore behind holiday characters and the Christian God/Jesus/Angels evolving from the Greek pantheon to suit the evolution of humankind - Santa used be known as Pan, God was known as Zeus, etc. The Tooth Fairy is still our “bad guy”, and still bent on revenge and causing all kinds of devilry for Santa and humankind in general. But of course, the triple tag team of Santa, Wendy, and the Easter Bunny (who I’m glad has redeemed himself from the last book) manage to set everything right. I’m looking forwards to the next book, I just hope it arrives in time before Christmas.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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December 18, 2023HELP
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December 25, 2019Here purely for the lolz
January 15, 2009
In this tale, Santa and his holy brood become disgusted at the hatred and violence being perpetrated, in the name of the sacred, upon those born with homosexual proclivities, and they decide to take action. To go into any real detail would rob you of the book’s many, many pleasures, but rest assured it’s a rousing story, masterfully told, full of wit and wisdom, and consistently moving.
This book isn’t nearly as profane and transgressive as Devereaux's first Santa tale, SANTA STEPS OUT(and may therefore be an easier read for those with tender sensibilities), but it is full of notions that challenge the status quo in forthright and rich ways. Poppy Z. Brite said about the first book “The only two rules in SANTA STEPS OUT are that everything is sacred and nothing is sacred,” and that is absolutely true about both books. They boldly rip apart the things civilized folk consider proper and sacred, but at the same time wholeheartedly embrace that which is truly sacred, both in the religious sense and the humanistic.
Devereaux is a wonderful writer, and constantly amazes with his inventiveness. His treatment of what you might call the mechanics of wonder, the way magic actually works in his literary world, is earthy in its matter-of-factness and lovely in its effects. His characters are full-bodied and layered, his depiction of the sacred both accessible and transcendent, and his allowance for redemption for any and all entities, no matter how saddled by personal weakness they may be, is more truly spiritual than any boxset of Touched By An Angel could ever be.
SANTA STEPS OUT and SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE HOMOPHOBES are masterworks of fantasy and sacred fictions. Devereaux has crafted a literary universe unlike anything else on the shelves, and it’s a universe I’ll revisit any chance I get.
This book isn’t nearly as profane and transgressive as Devereaux's first Santa tale, SANTA STEPS OUT(and may therefore be an easier read for those with tender sensibilities), but it is full of notions that challenge the status quo in forthright and rich ways. Poppy Z. Brite said about the first book “The only two rules in SANTA STEPS OUT are that everything is sacred and nothing is sacred,” and that is absolutely true about both books. They boldly rip apart the things civilized folk consider proper and sacred, but at the same time wholeheartedly embrace that which is truly sacred, both in the religious sense and the humanistic.
Devereaux is a wonderful writer, and constantly amazes with his inventiveness. His treatment of what you might call the mechanics of wonder, the way magic actually works in his literary world, is earthy in its matter-of-factness and lovely in its effects. His characters are full-bodied and layered, his depiction of the sacred both accessible and transcendent, and his allowance for redemption for any and all entities, no matter how saddled by personal weakness they may be, is more truly spiritual than any boxset of Touched By An Angel could ever be.
SANTA STEPS OUT and SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE HOMOPHOBES are masterworks of fantasy and sacred fictions. Devereaux has crafted a literary universe unlike anything else on the shelves, and it’s a universe I’ll revisit any chance I get.
September 19, 2024
The difference between this and the first is 99% drop off in sex.
December 13, 2010
The characters from Mr. Deveraux's "Santa Steps Out" -- Santa Claus, his wives and stepdaughter, the Easter Bunny and the evil Tooth Fairy -- are back in this follow-up novel.
In this story, Santa's stepdaughter Wendy looks into the future of a boy named Jamie Stratton and sees how he will be made to suffer for being gay, and ultimately will commit suicide.
Kind-hearted Wendy enlists Santa's help in changing Jamie's destiny, which leads to a larger mission: curing the human race of homophobia and intolerance. Santa and Wendy are aided by the Easter Bunny, God the Father Jesus and the archangel Michael.
This novel explores the pagan roots of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, God, Jesus and Michael as did Devereaux's previous Santa novel. It is a great story as well as an all-out (and much needed) attack on the hypocrisy of religion and society.
In this story, Santa's stepdaughter Wendy looks into the future of a boy named Jamie Stratton and sees how he will be made to suffer for being gay, and ultimately will commit suicide.
Kind-hearted Wendy enlists Santa's help in changing Jamie's destiny, which leads to a larger mission: curing the human race of homophobia and intolerance. Santa and Wendy are aided by the Easter Bunny, God the Father Jesus and the archangel Michael.
This novel explores the pagan roots of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, God, Jesus and Michael as did Devereaux's previous Santa novel. It is a great story as well as an all-out (and much needed) attack on the hypocrisy of religion and society.
September 19, 2014
I really wanted to not only enjoy, but LOVE this book, really I did. Its predecessor, Santa Steps Out, remains one of my favorite books ever, so of course, reading further tales of these characters, and adding the storyline of combating bullying and homophobia, and of course I was in! Well, not sure what it was about this book, but for me, it felt forced, and the 100+ pages I did get through just didn't grab me. My 100 page rule is being enforced here, so I've thrown in the towel and will just move on.
August 24, 2012
Spoiler Alert: The title is accurate.
In addition to the straight up homophobia that Santa puts an end to, there's an ongoing metaphor running through the book that's a little heavy handed, but on the other hand that metaphor brought me closer to understanding the visceral negative response that some people have to the idea of homosexual sex than anyone has ever done before or since. That's useful.
But don't read the book because of that. Read it because Devereaux is a damn good writer.
In addition to the straight up homophobia that Santa puts an end to, there's an ongoing metaphor running through the book that's a little heavy handed, but on the other hand that metaphor brought me closer to understanding the visceral negative response that some people have to the idea of homosexual sex than anyone has ever done before or since. That's useful.
But don't read the book because of that. Read it because Devereaux is a damn good writer.
April 9, 2013
This is the sequel to Santa Steps Out, which was wrong but good. This book is not quite as wrong, definitely not as good, and has a very obvious agenda. I really had to force myself to finish it, would not read it again.
March 15, 2015
Preachy is preachy and no mater what side you are coming from it gets boring. Loved the first book. This one had it moments, but the point of view was hammered home and was tiresome.
February 4, 2017
OK, that was interesting... Not as weird as expected. Some really good stuff, some really kitsch stuff. Particularly enjoyed the mixture of mythologies and a good positive message.
July 27, 2012
Blah follow-up to Santa Steps Out. Too politically-correct for this author.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews