From the Bookshelf of Queereaders…

The Chosen

Ricardo Pinto

Why we're reading this: Epic fantasy with the 2 main characters being male lovers
[close] Epic fantasy with the 2 main characters being male lovers

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Apr 15, 2018 Andrew Peters added it

Shelves: gay-fantasy

Holy crap, I’m glad I tracked down this book. The blurb sounded really interesting, and I had read the story had gay characters, which always appeals to me. Then I quickly discovered it is quite hard to find, expensive to purchase, and was never converted to an e-book. I had to order it through inter-library loan, and I was shocked by the thick, hard cover book that arrived. Whoa. Just a wee bit intimidating.

Now I’ll say, as many reviewers here felt, I had my doubts about the story in the beginn Holy crap, I’m glad I tracked down this book. The blurb sounded really interesting, and I had read the story had gay characters, which always appeals to me. Then I quickly discovered it is quite hard to find, expensive to purchase, and was never converted to an e-book. I had to order it through inter-library loan, and I was shocked by the thick, hard cover book that arrived. Whoa. Just a wee bit intimidating.

Now I’ll say, as many reviewers here felt, I had my doubts about the story in the beginning. I’m not a fan of day-by-day, hour-by-hour accounts of what the main character is doing, and even though Pinto’s writing is vivid and luxurious, even though the world he creates is gorgeously strange and so original, the story backed me into editor mode, questioning how necessary many of the scenes were. There’s a ton of them in which Carnelian simply moves from one place to another when the Masters come to his father’s Hold, and it’s the start of an adventure that almost never gets going.

I am so frickin’ thankful I stuck with the book! The story has some of the most exquisite fantasy workmanship I’ve ever read, and I was excited to review it here. Then I was even more excited to do so after I saw some of the reviews where people pointed squeamishly to the gay storyline. If you weren’t sure whether homophobia exists in the fantasy community, take a scroll downward.

All right. In how many ways can I say I loved this book? First, the setting. Totally bizarre, in that good, I’ve-never-seen-anything-like-this-before way. I suppose you could say it’s somewhat derivative of Frank Herbert’s Dune with its aristocratic houses (the Chosen) that have complex systems for maintaining pure blood-lines, in addition to being horrifically autocratic and flagrantly grotesque. I’d argue that Pinto takes that familiar convention into new territory, with a richly imagined caste society that is both fascinating and terrifying. All the description of the rites and laws feels trampling at first, but it works to great effect. Carnelian’s world comes to life around the reader, with punctilious detail for sure, from the oddities of his grooming, dress, and the masks he must wear to maintain order and power in a deeply devout and horrendously exploitative society. This is most definitely dark fantasy, probably the cruelest and most violent I have seen, so it's not light reading, but definitely worth experiencing in my opinion.

I loved Carnelian. Certainly, it helped that he’s just about the only one of his kind who’s disgusted by the treatment of slaves and inferiors. That portrayal wouldn’t typically work for me, seeming forced or unrealistic, but there’s a compelling explanation for his discomfort with the atrocities of his peers, his wanting to protect his slaves (who in most cases are his half-brothers according to the unsparing rankism in his world). Carnelian was raised in exile with his father, who is also a sympathetic character, so it makes sense that he was sheltered from the savagery and excesses of his class while also establishing a sense of family. He’s a sensitive young man, but he’s also unafraid to stand up for himself and stand up for justice.

I loved his journey and his arrival to Oskarum. Tension builds. Danger builds, and I was literally thinking to myself: how the hell is this kid going to get through this? He could be assassinated from every direction. It’s an affecting journey also in that Carnelian is forced to be more and more isolated. He’s friendless, with no one to trust, and I could picture him nearly dying of loneliness.

Which leads to:(view spoiler) ...more

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