ffantastik

More books from the gay library. I'm reviewing as I read, so I can keep track and make recommendations for patrons, and maybe put together suggested reading lists. Nerd fun. So you guys are coming along for the trashy lesbian ride.

Branded Ann
by Merry Shannon

Lesbian. Pirate Captain.

Too say any more is overkill, but i'll go ahead and push the envelope. Lesbian pirate captain. Hot lady taken captive. Haunted treasure. Cryptic maps. Bermuda Triangle. Precocious stowaway. Mutiny!
Oh, its pirate-y alright.

But while there is plenty of swashbuckling to be had in Branded Ann, there is also a surprising amount of angst, tinged with weird undertones of sexual violence. The amount of discussion around rape, not raping people, protecting people from being raped, and the violence of prostitution is rather startling. To be fair, the attention to these issues does flow directly from the experience of the characters, and yes, they're living in a violent world that is especially agressive toward women. But it would have been a more unabashedly enjoyable book if some of these sexual trama issues were left aside. Perhaps for a sequel, "Branded Ann Starts a Sexual Assault Crisis Center."

Another downer is the fucking restraint the two main chicks feel the need to put on themselves. Granted, there are some issues to get past, even beyond the trauma stuff. Branded Ann DOES kill the hottie's husband (in the first chapter, don't worry, no spoiling here) and almost work her to death. Twice. But jeez. For two people who are hot for each other, stuck on a ship together and then stranded on a deserted island together, it takes them FOREVER to get it on.

In general I liked this book. It was decently written and the author managed to keep a ton of characters and subplots in the air with creditable, if not exactly deft skill. I'd certainly recommend it to people who want lesbian pirate action. But I do wish it had been just tad more lighthearted.

read a sample chapter here
www.merryshannon.com/brandedann-sample.html

Madam President
by Blayne Cooper and T. Novan

Madam President is an interesting case. I actually read this years ago as a peice of uber-Xena fanfic. It was an awesome peice of fic, it was certainly the first time I had seen any representation of a lesbian president of the united states, and it was one of the stories that prompted me to do my master's thesis on the performance of language in online fanfiction. So when I stumbled across the story in book form at the gay library last week, I was psyched to reread it, and see how the physical book might change my experience of the story.

Its 2020 and Devlin Marlowe (cause the butchier lesbians in these books always have the weirdest, gender non-specific names) has just been elected president of the United States. She's a widow, her wife was killed by a drunk driver, and she has three young children. As a politician, she's a maverick (I know!). As a mom, she's loving, but way too busy. As a lady, she's hot lesbian sauce on a plate.

Devlin hires her favorite auther, Lauren Strayer, to write the presidential biography. Lauren is well known for her biographies, but Devlin really loves her secret pulp mysteries she publishes under a pseudonym. Lauren is short, Southern, fiesty and divorced (from a man). After some wrangling, she moves into the White House to have full access to this historic queer female presidency. Of course, its a short walk from professional interaction to personal affection for the two women. Lauren and Devlin soon become the best-est of friends...which we all know is actually a form a lesbian foreplay.

Its fun to read about a lesbian president, and the interaction between Lauren and Devlin is really sweet and likable. Thinking back, I believe that's what appealed to me the most the first time I read this, and actually what I liked alot about Xena, the font from which we're stemming here. I was a young, not quite out lesbian. I didn't really have any fuctional lesbian couples for role models, or as friends. To read about or see two women being comfortable, domestic, loving partners in life was more than enough to thrill me.

But...its really not that great of a book. The premise is cool, but it drags on, and shows its fanficky underpinnings. Also, after a while, the presidential-ness takes a back seat to the romance, which stretches the limits of believability. I want them to get together, but I just can't believe that a president has nothing more to attend to than early morning runs, a few papers to sign and then rest of the day is free for sexy playtime and family boardgame night.

Also, since this stems from Xena, there's SO MUCH made of their friendship. They are SUCH GOOD FRIENDS its ridiculous. And beyond obvious that they should be fucking. There's just no need for much of the angst. Just fucking fuck.

But the ending is cute. AND you can read the book for free, cause its still online as fanfic. Which is a better medium for this tale. You forgive more than you do with a book in your hand. Cause the books we usually hold have editors.

Madam President
http://www.academyofbards.org/fanfic/a/advocate_tn_madampresidentprolog.html

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I guess that's what I'm learning about a lot of these books. They need better/existant editors. And the angsty romance formula frustrates me, especially when overlaid with the traumatic self denial that characterizes these lesbians tales. I wish there were more that focused on the functional part of a relationship, without spending 200 pages on being just friends or getting over literal or psychological battle scars. I wish there was a more lighthearted partnership from the get-go, and then the women could face troubles together with some confidence, instead of the majority of the narrative being about longing and fear. There's a sequel to Madam President called First Lady. Maybe that one starts off in a more positive place.

First Lady
http://www.academyofbards.org/fanfic/a/advocate_tn_firstlady1.html

Is any queer narrative inherently a narrative of trauma? Jen told me yesterday that someone got killed in Bushwick in a gay bashing. He was walking down the street, arm in arm with a man. Turned out the man was his brother, but the guys who jumped out of a car and beat him to death with a baseball bat didn't know that.

But. It might be a genre thing. The lesbian YA books seem to be able to take being a homo in stride a ton better than the romances do. I'll have to read some of those next. BACK TO THE GAY LIBRARY!

Tags: lesbian books, lesbian romance