Book – Casto (Gods of War #1)
Author – Xenia Melzer
Star rating - ★★☆☆☆
No. of Pages – 294
Cover – Gorgeous – but says more science fiction than historical fantasy
POV – All over the place! (see review for details)
Would I read it again – No.
Genre – LGBT, Fantasy, Historical (think Roman, Medieval etc), Gay, Master/Slave
** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK, BY THE AUTHOR, IN RETURN FOR AN HONEST REVIEW **
Reviewed for Divine Magazine
*In the interest of disclosure, I found it impossible to write this review without spoilers, so
BEWARE – THERE WILL BE SPOILERS AHEAD*
*WARNINGS: This story deals with physical and emotional abuse within relationships, often on page. These are classed as “natural” within the slave/Master dynamic and see no punishment for the abusers. The story also deals with spanking.*
For me, this was a confusing book to review. It doesn't help that it ended at 94% and the remaining pages are an excerpt of book 2. There were some really great parts, but some really bad ones too. And, though I hate to say it, some of the bad parts could easily be put down to the fact that this is the author's first book and they didn't have the right guidance to clean it up. It wouldn't have taken much to remove the things that bothered me most – a few great beta readers, with a lot of experience, and an editor who wasn't afraid to say “this doesn't make sense”. But, for you to understand why I'm saying that, I have to really dig into the bad parts, so here goes:
First off, this isn't a full novel. Don't get me wrong, it's laboriously long and 'novel length', but it is NOT a novel. The story ends, not on a cliffhanger, but right in the middle of the story. Literally. This isn't a series, it's a serial, where I'm guessing book 2 picks up immediately after book 1. Which is probably just as well, because book 1 is filled with so much filler that it's impossible to fathom why it's included in the story. Until this abrupt ending, I was willing to rate this a 3 star, because there were so really good aspects to the story. However, the ending which neither makes sense or resolves the story in any way, notched it down to a 2 star review.
CONS
For a start, we get long, detailed recounts of stories that have nothing to with Casto and Renaldo – Sic and Daran's stories, the history of how Aegid and Kalad ended up as Emeris and so many more tales. This novel is basically a collection of stories that don't blend well together. Ideally, I'd recommend that the excess stories, mentioned above, were removed from the novel entirely and placed into an anthology of related shorts. That's the only way they'd be relevant or make sense. This book is trying to tell far too many stories in one novel and not all of them are relevant or helpful in understanding the relationship between Casto and Renaldo.
As main characters, I didn't like Casto or Renaldo. They were both arrogant, heads up their own asses and not at all appealing in any way. They had a few moments where they were sweet to each other, considerate or even with a little chemistry, but they were too little to give these guys a break. Or me, from reading them. It became very same-y with them. Everything was either about fighting or screwing each other and it got boring really quickly. Nothing about their relationship was believable.
For me, Casto's character was nothing more than a tool. We end the book knowing very little about him, with a lot of hints and nudges in the direction of where it might go, but never actually knowing anything but the fact that he's an arrogant sod with a temper. Not exactly endearing. He and Renaldo are the main characters in this novel – supposedly – yet we know the least about both of them. All we see of them is their arguments, them sexing it up and very occasionally having a civil conversation. We get to see nothing of WHO they really are.
The relationship between Casto and Renaldo is exactly what it advertises in the blurb – sort of! The blurb claims it's all about love and war. Well, there's plenty of war between them. Not so much love. In fact, the chemistry between them was going along nicely, not brilliant, but not absent either. Then they had sex (a whole other issue) and suddenly they were at each other's throats more often than before. It made it tiresome to read their stories and I was actually quite relieved (though also frustrated) when at 40% we jumped into Daran's story for a while.
Speaking of Daran, there was no need for his story, that I can see. He's no one important and it really feels as though his entrance into the story is only to justify more sex scenes, to show how a willing slave behaves and to insert a threesome. Other than being an occasional friend to Casto, he and Sis together have absolutely no other purpose than to show the various ways that these barbarians treat their slaves. Mostly with violent outbursts, beatings and, in Daran's case, seducing him into being a willing sex slave.
Quite honestly, the amount of sex people have in this book is just ridiculous! I don't know how they have time for anything else. But, somehow, it's used as justification and a soothing apology for the violence so easily and causally perpetrated against those they supposedly care about. So many of the relationships in this story – Casto and Renaldo, Sic and Noran, Daran and his desert brothers – all revolve around brutal conditions, emotional and physical abuse that is then glossed over or forgiven, all being swept under the “understanding” rug with the excuse that they're slaves. As though that is some sort of validation for how they're treated. All it does is perpetuate the domestic violent they're suffering and try to make it seem okay, when it's clearly not.
Staying on the topic of sex. If you like your men faithful, this isn't the book for you. If you don't mind the fact that Renaldo screws SIX people at one feast, on one night – bareback!! - (WITHOUT washing, changing or cleaning himself in between – EW!!), then goes back to his shack to screw Casto, then you'll be alright. Because that really happens. And it's gross. And frustrating that Casto let's it happen. Because, for whatever reason, Casto and Renaldo's “loving” relationship centers entirely around sex. There's little chemistry, no real emotion and nothing at all in this novel to validate why they stay together.
My other problem with the sex, mentioned above, is Casto and Renaldo's first time together (also Daran's, in a way). It is literally Casto's first time. But they throw themselves at each other like jumped up teenagers, practically wrestling each other into bed. They are “too high” on their desire to notice or care about important things. Like, Renaldo doesn't use ANY lube when he fingers Casto for the first time, or the fact that he's in pain when the second finger is added. That won't stop him. No, he just adds a little lube and off he goes. Shoving into Casto and having his way. It's only afterwards that he realises Casto is a virgin. Who gave his POV as being uncomfortable but never in pain. And immediately after round 1, they have 3-4 more rounds of it.
But the most impossible part is that Casto comes while Renaldo is kissing him. Before the sex. Then he comes during sex. Then they start fooling around for round 2 and he comes without being touched, again. Then they go at it all night. This kid must have at least 6 orgasms in one night. WTF??
Don't get me started on the POV. Now, it began just fine. We started with Renaldo's POV, then moved into Casto's with a clean show – the change happened in a different “scene” where we got a new paragraph, divided from the last by a blank line and the first two words capitalised. However, that careful planning, as the story became a dual POV, was wasted. From about 20% onwards, I counted at least 8 different times that the POV changed from 3rd person, one character, to omni-present. Sometimes with 3 character's POV's being included in one paragraph or scene.
There were also too many POV's. I only care about Renaldo and Casto. So the inclusion of some mysterious woman working for the Good Mother, the 'desert brothers' and their new slave, Daran, then Sic's past and all the other times that people were thrown into the mix, is totally unnecessary.
Another sign of how bad the POV's were is that I actually wrote this, when in Renaldo's POV (when there were only 2 POV's) it said “his beautiful brother's”
→ My notes → “Um, arrogant much? This IS Renaldo's POV after all. Or just creepy? That Canubis finds his brother beautiful?”
Because, without previous warning of omnipresent, it really felt as though Renaldo was zonesing after his own beauty or his brother was creepily checking him out. Either way, stuff like this really didn't help make me like the characters. In fact, the few that I actually liked were minor characters that, even when their stories were told in full, didn't inspire much affection – Sic and Darran.
For me, another unnecessary feature was the beginning. That whole history lesson of how the world was created and the long, drawn out explanation of how humans came to be, who Renaldo and his brother were, etc, was pointless. It didn't add anything to the story, it bored me before I even began the story proper and it wasn't anything that couldn't have been added into the story. For example, when Casto really fights against the idea of Renaldo being a God, this would be much more interesting if we didn't already know he actually was one. But even with that, he and his brother talk about being Gods a few times and that alone would be enough – along with the conversation Casto and Renaldo have about the Mothers – to explain the history of the world, without this long winded prologue.
Another con, though you might find it strange, is the use of language. Now, this is a fantasy novel set in a Medieval-esque time, that makes me think of Romans, bandits and whatnot. So why do they use modern slang? Why do any of these words seem appropriate in this setting?
The creeps, pissed, butt, you know, booty. None of these words belong in a historical/fantasy novel. It completely jars with the Spartan, Roman, Medieval vibe of the rest of the story. This, again, is where some beta readers and a good editor is required.
Also, not to hate on this book too much, but the fighting and sex scenes desperately needed work. Not only were the fight scenes confusing and not well described, but the sex scenes were brutal, clinical and basically involved violent terms, like ramming, spearing etc. There were very few tender, actual loving moments. The entire story was completely devoid of romance. At the same time, there were way too many people involved in the fight scenes, which really didn't help when trying to understand who was doing what. The first scene, in particular, where Casto didn't know anyone, got really confusing because it was just “this guy” and “that guy” and lots of horses. It all blended into one, until it was hard to tell who was who.
Along with the fighting, I found a lot of stuff quite unrealistic. Like Renaldo hitting Casto in the head, with the butt of his knife, at a great distance. Now, how the heck does he know that the blade isn't going to sink into him instead? It just doesn't seem realistic, since all kinds of variables are involved in that kind of consideration and not all of them can be calculated. There's also a moment when Casto claims he's going to take advantage of Renaldo's 'moment of weakness', but there's no sign of weakness. In fact, he's lashed out at Renaldo's horse, but due to the lack of description in a very important place, we see no moment of weakness.
There was no separation of dream and reality. I hate this, so much. It's like the author is trying to trick us into believing something is real, only to then reveal that it's not. I find that really annoying and rude, personally. No one believes it. So why not just italicise your dreams and make it clear what they are?
PROS
What I did like about the story was that the world and the idea were fantastic. It just wasn't pulled off that well. There was a lot of detail in some parts that were completely unnecessary, with little detail about other things that were really important.
As a “historical” book, I can almost forgive the fact that Casto is 16 when the book begins. Thus making him either 16 or 17 when he and Renaldo start having sex. Which is another issue altogether. I get that in medieval times (to which the author themselves relates the book) kids were married off or considered adults at this age, so I'm going with it, even though it makes me feel icky. I just imagined Casto as at least 18, inside my head.
There were moments when I actually needed and wanted to know what was next for Casto, for Daran and Sic. Sadly, I never got it, but part of what made me initially want to give this a 3 star review was that I was invested in their stories. Despite being bored for a lot of time and being bombarded with confusing storytelling, I actually wanted to know more.
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OVERALL
I had high hopes for this one. I've read some fantastic MM and non-romantic fantasy novels with a similar premise and had hoped this would follow that line. It didn't. “Casto” is an incomplete story, disguised as a novel, that waves all over the place. It has no set root of a plot – though it seemed clear until 50% in that Casto and Renaldo's relationship would be that – because it puts too much emphasis on this world that has been built, and detailing every single character's place within it and their purpose in Renaldo and Canubis' lives.
When I want description, to better understand something or see more of the main characters, I don't get it. Yet, I get a massive history right off and a lot of back-and-forth between present day and past times, with no separation in storytelling (no italics or time frame mentioned) that will help me orientate myself in the timeline. There isn't just far too much going on in this story and none of it comes together the way it should. The author decided to pick and choose what to explain and that didn't tally with what I, the reader, wanted to know.
Unfortunately, this book is too much of a mess. I won't be continuing with the series and I won't be revisiting this novel unless some major editing and storytelling changes are made.
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IMPORTANT: Justifying abuse because of a slave/Master dynamic may be harmful to any readers with experience of domestic abuse. This isn't your BDSM practice, though the spanking is consensual. Casto actually asks to be hurt, is beaten and then thanks Renaldo for it, even though he was emotionally vulnerable at the time. There are also countless incidences where characters are beaten as punishment, including whipping, slapping, and beatings (kicking, whipping and more). ALL of which are shown on page.
I'm really not sure the author understands this or the implications of the characters actions, but it even made me uncomfortable and I have no personal experience with it.
I would have liked a warning, at least, that this book contained that kind of violent behaviour and cheating, as these are two subjects that I most definitely don't approve of or want to read about.
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