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A review by kaje_harper
One Night in Boukos by A.J. Demas
4.0
This was a charming alternate-historical fantasy, made engaging by the two main characters. Marzana, captain of the embassy guard, and Bedar, the ambassador’s long-suffering secretary, leave their ambassador to his revelry on a Festival night, and head out on their own. Each of them has their own adventure (Marzana is straight, Bedar is gay) and the next morning they're worried to realize the ambassador never made it back home. They each set out to try to track down their wandering (and unpopular) boss, neither of them very concerned at first. And each meets someone who makes their pulse beat faster, and distracts them from their search.
The story progresses slowly, and there's a surprising lack of urgency in their search at first (explained by their disdain for the ambassador and their discovery that he spent the early part of the evening engaging in pleasures frowned on back home.) The world-building is well done, and both men are enjoyable and distinct points of view.
The tone is light and warm, despite the omnipresence of slavery in the story line (Bedar is a slave), and the potential for murder and political unrest. Both M/M and M/F couples get a happy ending (one more tentative than the other) in ways I found satisfying.
The story progresses slowly, and there's a surprising lack of urgency in their search at first (explained by their disdain for the ambassador and their discovery that he spent the early part of the evening engaging in pleasures frowned on back home.) The world-building is well done, and both men are enjoyable and distinct points of view.
The tone is light and warm, despite the omnipresence of slavery in the story line (Bedar is a slave), and the potential for murder and political unrest. Both M/M and M/F couples get a happy ending (one more tentative than the other) in ways I found satisfying.