Customer Reviews

Fortunes Of War

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've read Aquamarine and Ice, Wind, and Fire, and thought they were just so-so - but Fortunes of War is one of the best historical romances I've ever read, gay or straight (and I've read a lot of them). And if anyone is sick of the cliches of the standard heterosexual romance novel, this book is a great breather, very fresh and unique. The plot is not as predictable or naive as in some other Keegan novels, and there are more twists and turns than I would normally expect from him. The characters in this book are painstakingly developed, the setting feels completely authentic, and the writing is really a notch above that in Aquamarine and Ice. There are also fewer typos.

What's best about the novel is the intensity of the relationship between the heroes. They are hot, they are passionate, they are believable, and their relationship is believable. It makes sense that they are in love, a point a lot of romance novels neglect. The sex is hot too - not as ubiquitous as in Ice, and better, more intense, than in Aquamarine.

Somewhere among the pirates, battles and other thrills and adventures, there is a more serious gay theme. The heroes suffer for their love and are forced to make hard choices and big sacrifices in a world where homosexual love is not always welcome.

As usual, Keegan's dialogue is a bit stilted and odd in places, and some of the secondary characters are a little shallow, but whatever weaknesses this novel has are swept away by the desparate intensity of the heroes' relationship. It's impossible not to fall in love with them both, and little flaws can easily be overlooked when you're in love.

I'm a fan of Mel Keegan, one of the world's most irritatingly non-prolific writers, so I get lured into reading things I ordinarily would not. Like--er--pirate stories.

In FORTUNE'S OF WAR Keegan abandons contemporary thrillers (please don't do this, Mel!) and sci fi thrillers to turn his attention to historical adventure. This is the tale of half-Spanish mercenary Dermot Channon and his love for young Robert Armagh, the son of an English earl. As the blurb on the back of the book puts it, "The couple's adventures together on the Spanish Main make a swashbuckling romance in the best gay pirate tradition." That reads for sex, dueling, sex, sea battles, sex, revenge, deadly fevers...did I mention sex? In short, plenty of action of all descriptions.

Keegan has a keen eye for sensuous detail, and a gift for creating warriors with a tender side. His stories are wildly imaginative, romantic and fun.

So am I now a fan of pirate stories? No. But I'm still a fan of Mel Keegan.

Fortunes of War was my first Keegan's book. It is so good that it prompted me to acquire all other Keegan's books which are available. Sadly none has come close to Fortunes of War. I do not care for the Spain vs England background. It is the story of the two lovers which gripped me and held me till the end. Our two lovers are such likable beautiful young men, their characters solid and almost real. When they were forced to be separated I felt a tug at my heart and just had to keep on reading until 3 in the morning to savor their reunion. Their love for each other is lusty, breathless yet tender and touching. I am a straight woman and have not touched a romance novels for years. However Fortunes of War has become one of my top ten favorites. I hope the book will be savored by a wider audience and not just men in love with each other.

This author is addictive! As soon as I finished this book, I simply turned it around and began again, it's that good reading. Fine story, adventure, South Seas, yellow fever, fighting, blody pirates and so on, and the sweetest sex you can imagine. If a man can bring himself to call another man "Mi querido!" or "sweeting" and, at the same time, have the urge to gut his enemies "like a haddock" (a bit messy, but a good "pirate thing" to say huh?), and swordplay like any d'Artagnan, then, as the saying goes "God is in his heaven, and everything's alright". It's a love story fit to soothe the soul, the heart and the guts of any reader, makes you all mellow inside...

Let's set things straight: this is a great book. Any of the criticisms I shall list below is perfectly true but does not diminish its value.

Fortunes of War is a long, satisfying gay romance with an interesting historical setting: I am no scholar and cannot say whether Mr Keegan has his xvi century history right but the setting is nonetheless perfectly convincing.
The plot may look like a classic (straight) romance but it is well paced, action packed with many pages dedicated to dialogue and love making, vastly different from the usual stuff you get in straight stories of courageous damsels in distress meeting the charming rogue.

The writing is fine, much better than what you usually get from gay-themed novel. The first pages are outstanding: they unfortunately set so high a standard Mr Keegan is later no longer able to keep up to: a pity, we could have a real literary classic now and not "just" an excellent novel.
Dermot and Robin are wonderful characters: charmingly flawed, passionate, proud, strong willed and utterly vulnerable. I fell desperately in love with both of them and greatly enjoyed their sex: extremely well written, quite explicit, emotionally intense and tasteful.
There are many side characters, many of them well rounded and useful to push the story forward and give it more depth.

Let's see the flaws now:
- typos, many of them.
- many minor but irritating inconsistencies, such as Robin's hair which suddenly turns brown to turn red again; at times he is muscled, at times nearly thin.
- clumsiness in character's and plot's development: the novel is long (could have been longer though, the story and characters have enourmous potential) and sometimes Mr Keegan seems to lose its grasp on it. Plot twists and characterization details are not always to the point and not really convincing.
- there are some paragraphs whose writing is not as good and polished as always.

I wish the author would find a competent editor and put his feather back to his work again: this novel is worth such an effort and it is an outright shame no one is willing to publish it again for the sake of any reader, gay and straight.

I don't really like "historical" novels but it is impossible to get "gay romance" or "gay adventure" without going back a couple of centuries or so (what is WRONG with publishers)? FORTUNES OF WAR is better than a lot of "Historical" romances because Keegan is not afraid to put in just as much LOVE as you find in a heterosexual novel (though with better sex). His plots tend to wander or lose steam in this genre, and I personally prefer his contemporary thrillers like ICE, WIND & FIRE, but this one is delicious as a box of Valentine's day chocolates.

Mel Keegan is at the top of his game with this book. After I read this book I read Aquamarine and Ice, Wind and Fire, but they were disappointing by comparison. As far as historical romance goes, straight or gay, this is by far the freshest, most unique book I have ever read of that genre. The characters are the best I have seen from Keegan - painstakingly developed, absolutely appealing and yet convincing enough not to fall into that category of obviously way too hot to be true romance novel heroes. The historical setting is well researched and vividly evoked. The plot is more complex and much less predictable than readers of other Keegan books might expect, and the ending is romance novel perfect without being cliche. The dialogue, as usual, is ever so slightly stilted, and at times the characters seem a bit naive, but all of that is far outweighed by the intensity of the romance. For those who need action, there's plenty of that too. And yes, there's sex - not so ubiquitous as in Ice, Wind and Fire, but more and better than in Aquamarine. I've read more historical romance than I care to recall, and this is definitely one of the best.

Despite the cheesy cover (the aged maxim holding true!) I remained irresistibly, aye, uncontrollably captivated! The depth and lustre of these very textured and animated characters, Dermot and Robert, fanned timbers long ago extinguished.

My first experience with Mel Keegan (me thinks). But Oh! How pleasurable was this? I'm amazed at the seeming accuracy of Mr. Keegan, as well as his ability to be so unabashedly passionate - and moistly intimate. The fear of suffering through a tawdry, orgiastic pool of man-stuff was pleasantly mowed over at the first hint of Dermot Channon requiting his uncle, Mauricio.

But just when I thought the story was beginning, I was desperately floored by Dermot's soul puncturing faux-pas: unwittingly seducing the earl of Armagh's son, his amante, his Robert.

FORTUNES OF WAR prompted wonder and beauty and anticipation at every turn of the page. Thank you Mr. Keegan. I've not felt this rewarded since INTERVIEW. And then some!

Fortunes of War is a real triumph in the traditon of historical novels. The fact that the main characters are gay only adds to the fun. This is fiction in the traditional sense - one of characters and plot. The story is spellbinding in the combination of love, lust and adventure. What a nice change from the teenaged Angst of most of those coming out novels. Read it for the pure enjoyment of a story well told.

"Fortunes of War" was my very first Mel Keegan book, and I absolutely loved it. The story was rich and engaging, both the main and the supporting characters were endearing (if a bit shallow at times), and the descriptions were lovely.

In fact, I only had two problems with this book, both of them pretty minor. First, the numerous spelling errors got on my nerves a little, and second, Keegan wrote the book referring to one of the main characters by his last name. It confused me a little in the beginning when in dialogue, Dermot was called by his first name, but in the rest of the book, he was referred to as 'Channon'. I think I would have preferred it if Keegan had used 'Dermot' instead of 'Channon' when talking about that character.

Other than that, this book was wonderful. Almost every other gay novel I'd found before reading "Fortunes of War" had been bittersweet, often with a disappointing or sad ending. "Fortunes of War" was a breath of fresh air to a hopeless romantic like me, and I think it will be to anyone who loves to see a happy ending.