Customer Reviews

Sigil: Volume I

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

 

 

"The Sigil", according to the preface, is an online community for writers interested in alternative sexuality in speculative fiction. However, the resulting stories in the anthology are all male-on-male, and most seem to have been written by women (a few using male pennames), so that makes this the ideal work for fans of "slash" or "yaoi".

On first reading I was struck by the quality of the stories; they were mostly written by amateurs, but few of them *felt* like the works of amateurs. I've read many commercially published stories that were far worse. Some in particular stood out to me, like:

-Colin Dunne's "Wizard's Moon." This surprisingly elaborate tale starts the anthology on a high note, with a traditional-fantasy tale of a warrior playing a dangerous game, and the boy he buys and uses as bait. Yummy sex scene to counteract the icky torture scene further on.

-Bet Lorysse's "Messenger." This story has a marvelously ancient-Japanese feel, taking place in a world ruled by harvest gods, quiet temples, and fox spirits. One young boy, raised in a temple to serve the god Ynnda, discovers just how pleasurable serving a god can be.

-Jan Kafka's "Candleglow". Another elaborate tale, this one a Renaissance-era fantasy that's hard to summarize. Somewhere between Ellen Kushner's "Swordspoint," Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and a Woody Allen movie.

-Ronda Searls' "Persephone Ascending". Handsome-but-weird Captain Nemo type, leading a swashbuckling ship of weird magic assassins, finds and recruits a beautiful-but-also-weird youth named Vole. Did I mention it's weird? But that's a *good* thing. Felt very original to me.

There are other stories in the book, and like any anthology some are hits and some are misses---more of the former than the latter, fortunately. The book is a very professional-looking paperback published "print on demand" by iUniverse. Self-published, but it's hard to tell by the quality, in all ways.

I'm not usually a fan of anthologies, but I had this one thrust on me by a writer friend who knew that I enjoyed fantasy/sci-fi, and that the subject matter of the stories was of personal interest to me. Overall, I would recommend this, though some stories clicked more than others, as I suppose is true with most things of this nature.

The most enjoyable reads were "Wizard's Moon," and "Candleglow" with definite reread potential on the latter. I don't think it's a coincidence that these two stories were written by the editors who put together the anthology. They seemed the most professional, the characters the most engaging.

Honorable mention to "Midnight Confession" because it felt real (if I had to hazard a guess, pen names aside, I'd say this was the only male author among the crew) and touched on issues that took it to a higher level than simple pleasure reading.

I had a hard time wrapping myself around the novel-sized cast presented in "Persephone Ascending" but the setting was fun, if a little reminiscent of Final Fantasy.

"Centauri" and "In the Dark" needed a little more development to feel like complete stories.

"Messenger" on the other hand was longer than it needed to be, and I didn't find the narrator a memorable character. Still, the concept of the fox-god lover was fun.

"Once Upon a Time" started out slow but picked up once Alex was introduced. A decent, casual read, though some of the humor felt forced at times.

I'm not big on contemporary fiction, but "Temporary Gifts" was a well done piece, that acknowledges that monsters in the woods aren't what horror is really about.

As I said, all in all, I would recommend this anthology, but I'm not going to give it a five stars for two reasons. First because the majority of the male characters didn't ring true to me as a male reader, and I realize that oddly enough I may not be the target audience, but most of these guys honestly didn't feel very manly. Second because most of the stories glossed over the fact that being gay means being different and not quite fitting in... always a powerful theme that deserves exploring.

"I wish to buy a boy," the stranger said.

And these beguiling words lead readers into the vaguely forbidden, yet enchanting realm of alternative sexuality in fantasy and science fiction. This anthology, compiled from a gathering of writers in the online community, tell stories of fairy tales, mythology, dark horror, war, conspiracy, and fantasy/science-fiction adventure. Each plot is unique, interspersed with intriguing characters and events, such as revenge, assassins, chivalrous duels, and flying ships. All are linked together with the theme of love between men...mortal or immortal.

The nine stories display distinct difference in stylistic writing, a few more light-hearted than dark--and vice versa. Some hold shocking twists in their endings, others traditional happy endings, while another leaves the reader in wonder, though quite a few whisper with the possibility of more stories to come. "Wizard's Moon" was one such piece. Some readers may hope that the authors would write more of their intriguing worlds in another anthology, if not expound upon their creations later.

Another enjoyment to read in these stories was the interplay between the characters. The teasing suitor in "Once Upon a Time" was quite a delightful charmer that was an easy favorite. Subtle exchanges between the two main characters were charged with lively tension. It was an unconventional take on accomplishing impossible feats in classic fairy tales. I would be partial to reading more pieces from this authoress.

Originality of world creation in each was rather surprising. "Persephone Ascending" was a shining place of bejeweled colors. There was just the right amount of vivid imagery within that story to picture the events and actors playing across the stage of imagination.

Though some pieces in the anthology were too short, only lasting transiently in memory, most of the stories were easily gratifying. There is hardly anything terribly philosophical in the stories, but they are not necessarily "fluff" reads either. My only valid complaint was that some stories were not long enough for a reader to receive a clear impression of the characters and their motivations. Understandably, that is more difficult to accomplish within a short story. An idea to consider might be that some stories are written more for fleeting outcomes and style than for a full, developing story effect.

If there were a second anthology to arrive soon in the near future, I would sincerely consider looking into buying it. These entertaining pieces are short enough to be read in a brief sitting, and used as a pleasant break. I would hope that the editors might consider future anthologies to include original sketches or images, as well. Alternative sexuality fiction and art are products of a veiled culture within the internet that is gaining in popularity and acknowledgement. With a bit of luck, the increased recognition of more books in this genre will cause it to appear in more conventional bookstores.

I found Sigil to be a good anthology, although it wasn't completely suited to my tastes. I didn't honestly realize when I began reading it that all of the protagonists would be male, and while I'm no man-hater, I generally find myself gravitating towards works which feature women. This book was a change of pace for me. Not bad at all, but not necessarily what I expected or would usually have chosen to read.

Most of the stories were fairly well-written, and some were very engaging. I'd love to know, for instance, what happens next with the characters featured in Colin Dunne's story "Wizard's Moon." And "Persephone Ascending" by Ronda Searls felt like the beginning of a novel come on, don't stop there! It certainly works as a short story, but I wanted more. If either of those authors ever expand on those stories, I certainly hope to read their efforts.

Robert A. Sloan's "Midnight Confession" was a little more sexually explicit than I usually prefer, but the content was entirely appropriate to the story. It brought an interesting view of vampirism, and I think those who miss Tanya Huff's Victoria Nelson stories might want to keep an eye out for more work from Sloan.

"Once Upon a Time" by Olympia provides an interesting twist on the fairy tale convention of a suitor who must prove himself worthy of a royal partner. I found "Temporary Gifts" by Randall Ivey to be very disturbing just as, I think, the author intended. And Bet Lorysse's "Messenger" was completely different from anything else I've read.

I came away from the book glad I'd read it, and having enjoyed the new (to me, at least) voices of the various authors. I definitely recommend it to others and in fact, I have two friends waiting to borrow my own copy.

... if you can get your hands on it perhaps a bit cheaper. I didn't hate it, but I was disappointed overall that the quality of the stories were literally all over the board--truly inspired to achingly derivative, wonderfully charming to oh-god-my-eyes-are-bleeding bad. I bought this so I could enjoy some original m/m fiction away from my computer and to support m/m writers that are using this as a stepping stone to bigger and better things. I don't regret buying it, but I would advise anyone who is considering buying the book to first think about what else they could do with the money they would spend on it.

Usually I avoid buying anthologies and I cannot say this book convinced me I am wrong.

First of all two of the stories are horror and not fantasy, not even dark fantasy. The sense of an anthology is to regroup the same genre and even if you disagree with this the cover states this book be a collection of queer fantasy short stories.

No one of the tales is a real hit: Wizard's Moon is fairly interesting but needs more polishing; Candleglow is about the same only a bit confused by the richness of events. Persephone Ascending has enormous potential but suffer under the ovious restraint of space and in fact we are told the author is working to expand it.
Once Upon a Time, Messenger, Centauri and Midnight Confession are interesting but severely flawed.

I do not wish to be misunderstood: these attempts are not unworthy, they have their merit and are better written than many novels around: simply they are not worth all the money the book costs.

Being of an alternative bent myself, I was looking forward to this anthology. I was pleased to find homosexual fiction that was not only the usual pornography without plot, but combined with my favorite genre, fantasy.

My faves, in ascending order:

Once Upon A Time. A charming fairy tale with a bit of wit and wry humor that reminded me of Shrek.

Candleglow. A Jane Austen tale if told by Oscar Wilde. Delightfully Regency.

Persephone Ascending. This should indeed be a full-length novel. Ms. Searls writing style is that of a cheerfully demented Jules Verne. That's a good thing.

I had high hopes for this book, since I often read yaoi and slash fanfiction online. However, I couldn't even get through this anthology due to cliched plots that have been done much better online (slaves, fantasy, etc), and just overall low-quality writing. Some of the short stories even disgusted me, and I don't usually consider myself squeamish when it comes to yaoi/slash. This was a good idea and a noble attempt, but it only brings out the worst in slash fanfiction :(.