In typical elliptic style-because direct talk of sexual matters was considered unbelievably vulgar-Chinese literature referenced homosexual acts by means of phrases such as ‘cut sleeve’, ‘bitten peach’, or by name-dropping gay historical figures. That’s over three thousand years of a society that occasionally celebrated same-sex love, occasionally denigrated it, but more often than not, just let people get on with it. For me personally, it just didn’t interest me.China has a long history of tolerance towards homosexuality, beginning from the first references to same-sex relationships in the records of the Shang Dynasty (16th-11th centuries BC) and ending (after a rather shaky period from 1740 onwards) with the persecution of homosexuals during the Cultural Revolution. I think the author captures the setting well, and if this time setting interests you, maybe the story would work better. Or maybe being a 44 page novella, we just didn’t have time to explore this relationship (I assume more books will be coming about these two). Maybe I’m trying to compare it to much to Dark Soul or Special Forces. I really didn’t feel connected to the characters or became engaged in the story.
I’m not sure if it is just the setting or that this book just doesn’t hold the emotional impact as the other two series I’ve read by him, but it really didn’t work for me. With the end of the war coming, and the secret thought that Germany might be in true danger of falling, Baldur and Felix take off for a quick break from the war, bringing them closer together. One night, Baldur approaches him and they start a friendship of sorts. From a distance he crushes on Baldur hard, part romantic feelings part admiration for his flying abilities. It’s Felix’s job to get damaged planes in flying condition as fast as possible. His latest release is Skybound, a novella that takes place towards the end of World War Two, featuring Felix, a German plane mechanic, and the man he admires most, pilot Baldur Vogt.
So I’m now determined to read everything he writes. I then went on to read Part One (currently reading Part Two – it is thousands of pages) of his very dark, Special Forces (free on his website, and I reiterate, dark) and loved. I discovered Aleksandr Voinov this year after I read and devoured his Dark Soul series.
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