The Nitty Gritty: Sigmund Sussman is a twenty year old nerd. The pudgy computer geek living not with his mother (thank you for that) but with his dad. He is that IT guy. The voice at the other end of the line asking you "Have you done control, alt, delete?" The lonely one with the armpit stains. He plays dungeons and dragons and he has two best friends who happen to be girls. Oh and he can always tell one someone is lying.
Then Lain walks into his life. That sexy new IT it guy. Sigmund's life takes a sharp left into Norse mythology and while Sigmund resisted the detour at first he grabbed a hold of his destiny and his first male on male kiss with both hands.
As the romance blossoms between the total delicious Lain and the plump Sigmund something is right about Lain and fate comes crashing down in the form of the Wyrd. An ancient force that throws Lain and Sigmund into a proverbial blender on pulse. Unwilling for the adventure Sigmund is warned that "only fools mess with the Wyrd. Why? Because the Wyrd messes back."
Opening Line: "Everything is true, especially the lies."
The Good: This books gave me a newly found love or trope, the reluctant, ordinary hero or rather person is Sigmund's case. Yes we've seen this trope in television and in other genres, but in fantasy we get the farm boy yearning for adventure, or the chosen one being prepped since birth or the kickass warrior woman or girl itching to make some nasty beast her bitch for the night, but we never really see the reluctant hero in fantasy. I think it was a little cliche to make him a nerd. As if nerds are the only reluctant people in the world. I though that was an easy out for the author, but there it is.
Sigmund Sussman, just couldn't be bothered to care really. His singular goal in life seemed to be to make his father proud. As proud as a lowly IT guy can make his father. He was almost an extra from Office Job, which was an hilarious movie for me, but Sigmund seemed less funny and more sad.
I really liked that this is an urban fantasy novel which 1) not set in the United States or Victorian England 2) highlighted a gay romance 3) had minority main characters. We need more of this, we need more diversity in our books. Franklin gives us that.
Sigmund has a gift. No he isn't a Stackhouse psychic, or a Potter magician, or a Dresden wizard. Sigmund can tell when people are lying. That's all. Nothing something that will make him a hot commodity in the "world beyond the veil" and is able to tell when people are lying. Something I learned to love watching Agent Jinks on Warehouse 13. *sniffle* I miss Pete. But I digress, Sigmund doesn't think his gift is a big deal, he's lived with it his entire life, but he doesn't full grasp the breadth of this gift because he doesn't yet understand himself. I like that. Even as an adult he has room to grow he is still learning about himself. We always expect adults to be set in stone, to know who they are and to conquor the world. Teens are the ones always in flux, but sometimes we adults still don't know who we are, or more importantly who we want to be. Sigmund is that sort of man.
The Bad: The romance, while not insta-love just didn't seem to go anywhere. I'm not familiar with the mating rituals of gay men but I know that something has to happen. This was just page after page of awkward glances and a camping trip that was the perfect place for a Brokeback Mountain kiss and reference but we didn't get that. I think Franklin really missed an teaching moment here. There are a lot of people who haven't been exposed to a gay relationship, especially in fantasy. This could have been that book. Give us the same you would with a hetro relationship. Not insta-love, but give us more.
You know that I am a stickler for great character names and Sigmund Sussman just rubs me the wrong way. Like he should be the subject of a episode of Criminal Minds, not a gay IT guy on the brink of a intergalactic war between the Norse Gods. And frankly he does sound like a fat guy. Like the name screams I'm a tub or lard who likes to close down the Sizzler. Even though Sussmen just has a little extra poundage in the belly area. I will give Franklin brownie points on a non-traditional main character though.
I am getting a little tired of low self esteem man characters and more so when its a guy. Just because guys aren't forced to live up to the unrealistic expectations that girls are. So for Franklin to go on and on about Lain's golden hair, beautiful hair and how plain jane Sussman is was a little grating and very Bella Swan/Ana Steele.
Along comes Lain. Lain is hot, funny and attractive and the newest member of staff in Sigmund's team. And of course Sigmund is attracted to him. But poor, nerdy Sigmund has never had a boyfriend (surprise) only has two friends is not in the same league with Lain. Oh surprise, surprise there. Give me a break. Why is it so hard to either a hot main character to fall for another hot character, or to have two plain janes be attracted to each other. Or better yet different kinds of beautiful. For me there is nothing sexier than a tall, skinny, slightly pale nerd with a flop of hair in his face. For someone else a ginger with a mass of freckles all over her face is the perfect vision of Venus. I'm so sick of the golden haired, blue or green eyes god with a chiseled chin and chest. There is more than one way to build a beautiful man.
My Final Thoughts: I think I would read the next book in the series. I like that we are getting a different set of gods and that it's not a group of teenagers, but then when it is the world make a little more sense. I want Sigmund to really get his footing, grow some balls and really get with the program.
But if you like decently written urban fantasy with a dab of gay romance, a sprinkling of Norse gods, battles, monsters, and things that go bump night and sometimes in the day, then this is the book you need in your life.
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