Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Sword Dance by A.J. Demas

6 reviews

crystalisreading's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful tense
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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purrson's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Disabled, bisexual main character meets genderqueer/non-binary main character, fights fascists and finds romance. I gave this a try after giving up on Song of Achilles—I wanted something more enjoyably queer—and this was perfect. Really engaging, the romance is so good— I can’t wait for the rest of the series. Slavery exists in the Greco/Roman type, class rather than race-based. 
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cait's review

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dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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cathepsut's review

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Interesting world. Names sound Greek, the architecture sounds a little more Roman. And the far away land of Zash reminds me a bit of Persia, maybe the hanging gardens of Babylon made an indirect appearance?

Damiskos, the main character, is a likeable fellow. Former soldier, not a terribly exciting job, gets sent to the countryside to make a deal about buying fish sauce for the troops. Fishy things start to happen, not just sauce-related. 

“Terza’s head, what a lot of ghastly people Nione seemed to have gathered around herself. Did he really have to stay out the week?“

Apparently he did. If Agatha Christie had ever written Fantasy, this is probably what it would have looked like. The requisite body might or might not have turned up. Damiskos gets support from unexpected quarters and has to pretend to be romantically inclined to towards the sword-dancing eunuch. Things do not go as planned. Do they ever?

Thrown in were some rather odd philosophers, some violence, a little not too graphic sex and various shenanigans. I liked the underhanded humour. Oh yes, and there were some serious topics woven into the narrative, about gender identity, equal rights, racism, power over and perception of others—nicely done.

This is not quick, the pace is rather sedate. Damiskos and the story take their time. It is well plotted though.

The world has potential for some more sweeping stories and there are two more books in this series. Recommended, if you are looking for a relaxed mystery with some action, light humour and a little m/m romance.

„… a dizzying week of intrigue, assassinations, and a fake love affair that—maybe—turned real.“

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actuallyhurry's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

There was some fun character surprises, some amount of political intrigue, and a plot that while fairly simple -- they knew what was going on for the most part and how to resolve it, but things kept getting in the way -- definitely sufficed. And this book introduced me to Varazda, who is possibly one of my now-favorite characters ever.

I went in with lots of reservations (a nonbinary character as a
eunuch
felt a bit alarming at first) but bought it on a whim and read it all in a single day. I didn't like the protagonist at all for the first part of the book, mainly because he needed some character development at the start, and he was a biased narrator when it came to many things. Once he started shaking things up and making his morals/values clearer and figuring out how to verbalize it all, oh, I loved him. The little sparks of dry humor he reveals now and again really are delightful, and his relationship and tension with the love interest was just excellent. None of this impacts my review, honestly, as some of the characters did need to grow by virtue of their position in society and having never truly run into hateful people like the villains of the novel before...or having had to never think of it.

I did, however, want more! I wanted a longer drawn-out relationship between the pairing, more slow burn than
"I wanted to kiss you all along, actually!" sort of things
. It was very juicy all the same, and the antics they get into (the tropes!! the tropes!!!!!) are very much right up my alley. My criticism is definitely on a personal, opinion-based level to that end. 

I will add that the way that the nonbinary character is handled with his past was definitely soothing to me, but still may spark some nervous feelings in others who have different experiences from my own. I will say I found the sequel very liberating for him...but this is a review on the first one. :) 
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pharyngeals's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

nione and damiskos are wlw/mlm solidarity 
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