Original Slash (links)
Nov. 13th, 2011 08:58 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
cyphomandra.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
get_togetherThe file is ridiculously large, so here are the names from it and some links. All the m/m romances except Ginn Hale are books I've read as ebooks; all are legitimately purchased, and I'm so excited about the fact that Stanza has been updated for iOS5 that if you PM me with your email address and requests I'll email you half a dozen or so epub files.
M/M romance
Authors I like:
Jordan Castillo Price – the PsyCop series, in which a determinedly old school psychic (no vampires or werewolves) solves crime with the help and hindrance of an excellent supporting cast, interspersed with explicit sex scenes with his manly non-psychic cop (and not his partner) boyfriend. Excellent plotting and humour, as well as a nice dark edge. She also wrote Zero Hour, a futuristic utopia in which everyone dies at 30 except for hot gay rebels who run coffee shops – read it for free starting here.
Josh Lanyon – very readable thrillers and likeable characters, tends to be weak on plot so best to go for his series books. Adrien English (5 books, complete) is a bookseller who runs into a ridiculous number of murders and the closeted gay cop who keeps investigating them with him; the Holmes and Moriarity series (2 books, think ongoing) is about detective writers who detect. Writers. Really.
Marie Sexton – her Promises series is 6 books (possibly ongoing?) and one of those ones where each book features a new couple getting together as part of a loose group of friends and exes. Strawberries for Dessert (technically 5th but can start there) is my favourite, and hits my “couple start off with casual sex only arrangement that evolves into something more” trope fondness head-on. Between Sinners and Saints is an inspirational novel (God and religious faith ultimately resolve problems) with a lot of hot gay sex, which I gather is unusual for the genre.
Heidi Cullinan. Combines very explicit sex - with at least two books (Special Delivery and Nowhere Ranch) heavy on the BDSM elements - with unbelievably soppy endings. Good and compelling writing. Difficult to read on public transport.
Ginn Hale. Lord of the White Hell (2 volumes, complete) is an excellent secondary world fantasy with a nonwhite well-adjusted gay male lead with a supportive loving family (who don't die!). Fortunately he is attending an engineering academy full of dysfunctional fundamentalists, so there isn't really a lack of tension. Wicked Gentlemen is steampunk with drug-addicted devils, and she has a serial fantasy novel (The Rifter) coming out which is almost complete.
Books I like: (where their other ones either haven't worked for me or haven't been written yet)
Sean Kennedy, Tigers and Devils. The director of a Melbourne independent film festival falls in love with a closeted AFL player. Funny, very Australian, great supporting cast.
K.A. Mitchell, No Souvenirs. Uptight arrogant Korean American trauma surgeon hooks up with laid back surfer type on dive cruise. One of them then follows the other back home. This may possibly have just hit one of my personal narrative kinks.
Jane Seville, Zero at the Bone. The maxillofacial surgeon who witnesses a Mob hit, and the hitman with principles who is forced into taking the job to kill him, but instead goes on the run with him. If you like this sort of thing (and I do) then this is the sort of thing you will like! Good female characters, actually, which I wasn't expecting. Only one out so far by this author.
Amy Lane, Clear Water, Promises series. The Promises series is another trilogy about a group of friends with one couple per book, and is unbelievably sappy (includes the Christmas ornament under the heel of an angry pagan god book) but somehow strangely compulsive. Clear Water is a one-off in which a guy in his 20s with ADHD and appalling taste in boyfriends ends up living on a boat with two marine biologists, one of whom is greatly taken with his yoga-induced flexibility (also, subplot involving mutant frogs).
A.M. Riley, Amor en retrogrado. Established couple (Latino human rights lawyer, rather trendy novelist) break up badly after 15 years, then a year later the novelist is shot and the lawyer is the guy on his hospital paperwork. *And* the novelist has amnesia. Not a book for those who dislike flashbacks.
James Buchanan, Hard Fall. Small town Mormon law person hooks up with climber who needs a firm hand and some kinky sex involving climbing equipment. Very obvious mystery but I liked the characters.
Links to Lambda Fail discussion
What it is:Lambda Fail
Lesley Hastings, On the politics of writing m/m romance here.
Spark in Darkness, Some more poking of the m/m genre here.
Paradox Dragon, Queer Women, the slash debate, and the question of internalised oppression here.
Manga
Links to this are harder. However, if you have the inclination, Shaenon Garrity's Overlooked Manga Festival features a list of multiple timeless classics with lots of scans; particularly of interest to slash fans are From Eroica with Love, Gerard and Jacques, and Banana Fish, while Ricca 'tte Kanji is a very sweet lesbian romance manga.
In the manga I like but would possibly not recommend depending on your non-con threshold, Loveless is the contemporary Japan where everyone has cat ears and a tail until they lose their virginity one, The Tyrant Falls in Love is an excellent dysfunctional romance between a homophobic post-doc and his much put-on grad student, Gravitation is a fairly insane romance between a high school student who suddenly becomes a pop star and a grumpy romance novelist with a ridiculously angsty past, and The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese is a quarter-life crisis with adultery and blackmail (and great art!).
In the stuff I would recommend regardless, Fumi Yoshinaga is consistently excellent. Antique Bakery has lots of explicit pastries and is more of an ensemble book, but she has plenty of other yaoi titles (which tend to follow a two volume pattern of vol 1 plot, vol 2 sex). Her current series, Ooku, is a historical AU of Japan in which a plague kills off most of the male population, and does not really fit into this description (although there is gay sex in it) but is being mentioned here because the art is incredible and the story amazing (sadly, the English translation is written by someone who thinks that throwing “thou” and “ye” into every second sentence gives it that authentic feel).
Kou Yoneda – good at low-key dysfunctional relationships between guys in dead-end jobs with poor communication skills. Possibly this is another personal kink. Scans here.
Original slash: free on the internet
Freece, Captive Prince.Excellent twisty historical AU, in progress but can be read as somewhere in book 2 of (I think) a projected three. The first two chapters read a bit like a standard slave fic (forced bathing and rubbing with oils, etc) but then it settles down into complex, close character work, with lots of fascinating interpersonal politics and not infrequent fight scenes. If you like Dorothy Dunnett you should be reading this (if you haven't read Dorothy Dunnett, you can start with that or this!).
Manna, The Administration series. Dark dystopia, governmental torturer hooks up with computer genius for kinky sex. This for some reason reminds me of Blakes' 7, only from the Federation's side; I was disappointed that the inevitable revolution was much less successful.
Shousetsu Bang Bang. Original slash on-line zine with illustrations. Themed issues including femmeslash – journal site is here, archive here,tumblr here. Lots of very, very good stuff. I recommend anything by Shukyou; Shinko Hisada is also good if you really enjoyed Mercedes Lackey but wanted a bit more explicitness in your sex (S2B2 will bounce your stories back if they feel you have not achieved an R rating).
And, finally, the Fanart that looks drawn by a five year old contest –link to all entries by fandom.
M/M romance
Authors I like:
Jordan Castillo Price – the PsyCop series, in which a determinedly old school psychic (no vampires or werewolves) solves crime with the help and hindrance of an excellent supporting cast, interspersed with explicit sex scenes with his manly non-psychic cop (and not his partner) boyfriend. Excellent plotting and humour, as well as a nice dark edge. She also wrote Zero Hour, a futuristic utopia in which everyone dies at 30 except for hot gay rebels who run coffee shops – read it for free starting here.
Josh Lanyon – very readable thrillers and likeable characters, tends to be weak on plot so best to go for his series books. Adrien English (5 books, complete) is a bookseller who runs into a ridiculous number of murders and the closeted gay cop who keeps investigating them with him; the Holmes and Moriarity series (2 books, think ongoing) is about detective writers who detect. Writers. Really.
Marie Sexton – her Promises series is 6 books (possibly ongoing?) and one of those ones where each book features a new couple getting together as part of a loose group of friends and exes. Strawberries for Dessert (technically 5th but can start there) is my favourite, and hits my “couple start off with casual sex only arrangement that evolves into something more” trope fondness head-on. Between Sinners and Saints is an inspirational novel (God and religious faith ultimately resolve problems) with a lot of hot gay sex, which I gather is unusual for the genre.
Heidi Cullinan. Combines very explicit sex - with at least two books (Special Delivery and Nowhere Ranch) heavy on the BDSM elements - with unbelievably soppy endings. Good and compelling writing. Difficult to read on public transport.
Ginn Hale. Lord of the White Hell (2 volumes, complete) is an excellent secondary world fantasy with a nonwhite well-adjusted gay male lead with a supportive loving family (who don't die!). Fortunately he is attending an engineering academy full of dysfunctional fundamentalists, so there isn't really a lack of tension. Wicked Gentlemen is steampunk with drug-addicted devils, and she has a serial fantasy novel (The Rifter) coming out which is almost complete.
Books I like: (where their other ones either haven't worked for me or haven't been written yet)
Sean Kennedy, Tigers and Devils. The director of a Melbourne independent film festival falls in love with a closeted AFL player. Funny, very Australian, great supporting cast.
K.A. Mitchell, No Souvenirs. Uptight arrogant Korean American trauma surgeon hooks up with laid back surfer type on dive cruise. One of them then follows the other back home. This may possibly have just hit one of my personal narrative kinks.
Jane Seville, Zero at the Bone. The maxillofacial surgeon who witnesses a Mob hit, and the hitman with principles who is forced into taking the job to kill him, but instead goes on the run with him. If you like this sort of thing (and I do) then this is the sort of thing you will like! Good female characters, actually, which I wasn't expecting. Only one out so far by this author.
Amy Lane, Clear Water, Promises series. The Promises series is another trilogy about a group of friends with one couple per book, and is unbelievably sappy (includes the Christmas ornament under the heel of an angry pagan god book) but somehow strangely compulsive. Clear Water is a one-off in which a guy in his 20s with ADHD and appalling taste in boyfriends ends up living on a boat with two marine biologists, one of whom is greatly taken with his yoga-induced flexibility (also, subplot involving mutant frogs).
A.M. Riley, Amor en retrogrado. Established couple (Latino human rights lawyer, rather trendy novelist) break up badly after 15 years, then a year later the novelist is shot and the lawyer is the guy on his hospital paperwork. *And* the novelist has amnesia. Not a book for those who dislike flashbacks.
James Buchanan, Hard Fall. Small town Mormon law person hooks up with climber who needs a firm hand and some kinky sex involving climbing equipment. Very obvious mystery but I liked the characters.
Links to Lambda Fail discussion
What it is:Lambda Fail
Lesley Hastings, On the politics of writing m/m romance here.
Spark in Darkness, Some more poking of the m/m genre here.
Paradox Dragon, Queer Women, the slash debate, and the question of internalised oppression here.
Manga
Links to this are harder. However, if you have the inclination, Shaenon Garrity's Overlooked Manga Festival features a list of multiple timeless classics with lots of scans; particularly of interest to slash fans are From Eroica with Love, Gerard and Jacques, and Banana Fish, while Ricca 'tte Kanji is a very sweet lesbian romance manga.
In the manga I like but would possibly not recommend depending on your non-con threshold, Loveless is the contemporary Japan where everyone has cat ears and a tail until they lose their virginity one, The Tyrant Falls in Love is an excellent dysfunctional romance between a homophobic post-doc and his much put-on grad student, Gravitation is a fairly insane romance between a high school student who suddenly becomes a pop star and a grumpy romance novelist with a ridiculously angsty past, and The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese is a quarter-life crisis with adultery and blackmail (and great art!).
In the stuff I would recommend regardless, Fumi Yoshinaga is consistently excellent. Antique Bakery has lots of explicit pastries and is more of an ensemble book, but she has plenty of other yaoi titles (which tend to follow a two volume pattern of vol 1 plot, vol 2 sex). Her current series, Ooku, is a historical AU of Japan in which a plague kills off most of the male population, and does not really fit into this description (although there is gay sex in it) but is being mentioned here because the art is incredible and the story amazing (sadly, the English translation is written by someone who thinks that throwing “thou” and “ye” into every second sentence gives it that authentic feel).
Kou Yoneda – good at low-key dysfunctional relationships between guys in dead-end jobs with poor communication skills. Possibly this is another personal kink. Scans here.
Original slash: free on the internet
Freece, Captive Prince.Excellent twisty historical AU, in progress but can be read as somewhere in book 2 of (I think) a projected three. The first two chapters read a bit like a standard slave fic (forced bathing and rubbing with oils, etc) but then it settles down into complex, close character work, with lots of fascinating interpersonal politics and not infrequent fight scenes. If you like Dorothy Dunnett you should be reading this (if you haven't read Dorothy Dunnett, you can start with that or this!).
Manna, The Administration series. Dark dystopia, governmental torturer hooks up with computer genius for kinky sex. This for some reason reminds me of Blakes' 7, only from the Federation's side; I was disappointed that the inevitable revolution was much less successful.
Shousetsu Bang Bang. Original slash on-line zine with illustrations. Themed issues including femmeslash – journal site is here, archive here,tumblr here. Lots of very, very good stuff. I recommend anything by Shukyou; Shinko Hisada is also good if you really enjoyed Mercedes Lackey but wanted a bit more explicitness in your sex (S2B2 will bounce your stories back if they feel you have not achieved an R rating).
And, finally, the Fanart that looks drawn by a five year old contest –link to all entries by fandom.
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no subject
Date: 2011-11-13 11:13 am (UTC)(and ty also for the warnings. difficult to read on public transport is good to know.)
no subject
Date: 2012-02-04 12:20 pm (UTC)