Book Review: Agincourt

Agincourt, a novel, written by Bernard Cornwell tells the story of young long bow archer Nicolas Hook, who early on gets into serious trouble in his home town and becomes a wanted man. He is forced to leave England and becomes a mercenary archer in Soissons, France and there survives a horrible massacre and rescues a girl from being raped and killed. He and the girl find their way back to Calais and safety and on the way become lovers. Still wary of what waits for him at home, he accidentally meets up with King Henry V and is inducted into England’s army. He returns to fight in France in Harfleur and then in the historically famous battle of Agincourt.

I am in love with a new author. Why, you may ask? I love the way he portrays his heroes. This is the same Bernard Cornwell that wrote the noted Sharpe Series so he certainly has had practice at it and now he is a master at knowing how to make one love his characters. I fell for Nick Hook immediately. His overly strong right bow arm could not only draw his long bow back to his ear but also can punch through a man or pull a beautiful young woman up into an attic to safety. Then of course he is accurate with that long bow too and can shoot so many arrows so quickly. I don’t think I ever read a book about archers aside from Robin Hood! Mr. Cornwell has obviously done his research well.

Mr. Cornwell portrays the battles very realistically and I find myself eating them up. There is also a bit of romance, but enough imagery to make me hot, and a trace of spirituality – just enough to make the story mystical. It is as if Mr. Cornwell has perfected the recipe for the novel and found the ideal for storytelling. All of it is right here in Agincourt. For me, I felt like a kid again reading this book, as if I was rediscovering how to read. Highly recommended.

Now I have begun Mr. Cornwell’s Viking Quartet called the Saxon Stories: I have read The Last Kingdom and The Pale Horseman and am currently reading The Lords of the North and have yet to read Sword Song. Basically, these books are about a 10 year old Saxon boy who is the son of an Earl, whose father is killed by Vikings and he is kidnapped and raised as a Viking. Imagine, being a Viking when you were a little kid! What fun that would be! The Saxon Stories tell the historical tale of how King Alfred took back England from the Danes.

Book Review: The Outlander Series

The series consists of six books to which I was addicted by the end of book two. These are the most compelling historical romance novels I have ever read. The love between Jamie and Claire is like a really great potato chip, once you get a taste of the grease and salt and feel the delicate crunch, you just can’t stop. His character is so appealing. He is strikingly handsome, honest to a fault, yet mentally cunning and a warrior who is expert with any weapon. Also, he is to die for sexy and hung. Both men and women fall for him during the series. But, Claire has won his heart. She, who was a nurse and then becomes a physician, is a healer in the eighteenth century and is also understatedly beautiful. She is wily, smart and resourceful.

Diana Gabaldon has such a rich imagination to take these two characters through so many adventures that had me eagerly reading to see what happens to them next. I cannot wait for her next book to be published. I cannot give high enough praise to Ms. Gabaldon for these books. I am only glad that she is only in her fifties and has many writing years ahead of her. I do hope that she devotes more time to the Outlander Series as well as Lord John, her gay character, whom I also adore.

Outlander (1991 – 640 pages)

Synopsis: Claire Beauchamp Randall, who was an English combat nurse in WWII, returns to her husband Frank Randall, who was an officer in MI6 and a historian before that, after not having seen him for 7 years. They go to Scotland for a second honeymoon. While there they visit an ancient Druid henge. The next day, she returns alone to pick a flower she noticed while there with Frank, wearing only her peony printed shift. She hears humming and investigates accidentally stepping through a cleft in the stones and is unwittingly transported 200 years back in time to the Scottish uprising of 1743. Once there she runs headlong into her husband’s doppelganger and evil ancestor, Captain Jonathan “Black Jack” Randall, who judges her a whore, based on her attire. She is disoriented, but then kidnapped as part of a skirmish by a Scotsman and taken on horseback to a cottage. There she nurses a wounded handsome, red headed young Highland warrior named Jamie. They are forced together and thus the Outlander series and this book is launched. This book is one hot and erotic love story. The tale also evolves into one of war skirmishes and close calls. Claire must make a choice; stay with Jamie or return to Frank. Which will she choose?

Review: I absolutely loved this book. It was the most romantic historical novel I have ever read and I am rereading it now. The love scenes were incredibly erotic and the action had me on the edge of my seat. I could not put this book down. Though Ms. Gabaldon’s descriptive writing does improve with time, I would never have noticed it lacking with the reading of this book alone.

Excerpt (from the consummation of their wedding vows):

“Where did you learn to kiss like that?” I said, a little breathless. He grinned and pulled me close again.
“I said I was a virgin, not a monk,” he said, kissing me again. “If I find I need guidance, I’ll ask.”
He pressed me firmly to him, and I could feel that he was more than ready to get on with the business at hand. With some surprise, I realized that I was ready too. In fact, where it was the result of the late hour, the wine, his own attractiveness, or simple deprivation, I wanted him quite badly.
I pulled his shirt loose at the waist and ran my hands up over his chest, circling his nipples with my thumbs. They grew hard in a second, and crushed me suddenly against his chest.
“Oof!” I said, struggling for breath. He let go, apologizing.
“No, don’t worry; kiss me again.” He did, this time slipping the straps of the chemise down over my shoulders. He drew back slightly, cupping my breasts and rubbing my nipples as I had done his. I fumbled with the buckle that held his kilt; his fingers guided mine and clasp sprang free.
Suddenly he lifted me in his arms and sat down on the bed, holding me on his lap. He spoke a little hoarsely.
“Tell me if I’m too rough, or tell me to stop altogether, if ye wish. Anytime until we are joined; I dinna think I can stop after that.”
In answer, I put my hands behind his neck and pulled him down on top of me. I guided him to the slippery cleft between my legs.
“Holy God,” said James Fraser, who never took the name of His Lord in vain.
“Don’t stop now,” I said.

Dragonfly in Amber (1991 – 752 pages)

Synopsis: Claire, now a physician, has traveled to Inverness, Scotland with her daughter Brianna. They had lived in Boston with her husband Frank for 22 years, who since has died. Her intent is to find out if Jamie has survived the Scottish uprising of 1745 and let Brianna know who her real father is. This book covers what has happened over the 22 years to both Claire and Jamie and how Claire breaks it to her daughter who her real father is. Claire introduces Brianna to Roger Wakefield MacKenzie, a historian, and they begin a relationship.

Review: I read this book so quickly because I wanted to get to the part when they were reunited that I don’t even remember what was in it. But it was really good. It just flew by!

Voyager (1993 – 880 pages)

Synopsis: Claire returns through the stones to find Jamie who is now a printer of seditious pamphlets in Scotland. He goes into a dead faint at the sight of her and their love is still true. His young teenage cousin Ian is with him and Ian is kidnapped by pirates while diving off shore to retrieve some hidden treasure, and taken to the West Indies. Claire and Jamie follow dutifully to bring him back. Adventures that kept me on the edge of my seat ensue.

Review: Finally they are reunited! What a reward for the reader! Hurray! It was good for me, was it good for you too? Then, the author has to tease us with their happiness. You know, by making them have these little spats and breaking up. So unfair to us! But then, oh no! Cousin Ian is kidnapped! And then the adventures continue and the fun resumes. I loved this book. I have to admit, I was totally addicted by the time I got to this one.

Drums of Autumn (1996 – 896 pages)

Synopsis: Brianna and Roger Mackenzie, the historian that Claire introduced her to in Dragonfly in Amber, are in love. Roger is a descendent of the clan MacKenzie. Still following the history of the Fraser’s in America, separately they discover that the Fraser house in North Carolina burns down in 1776 and both Claire and Jamie are killed in the fire. Brianna risks going through the stones to pre-revolutionary American times to warn them without telling Roger. Roger follows her, but misses her boat leaving for the Americas and takes another. They meet up, but then an event happens that sets the theme for the next three books. Jamie and Claire’s stories are also continued.

Review: This book was pretty captivating. Roger and Brianna are not as striking as characters as Claire and Jamie are, but very interesting things happen to them that will captivate you. All in all, this book was mighty compelling.

The Fiery Cross (2001 – 992 pages)

Synopsis: Jamie is charged with rounding up troops for the King’s side of the American Revolutionary War. But, he knows from his time traveling relatives, that the King will lose. He must plan carefully to fall on the right side of things as he gathers the clans to war.

Review: This book has lots of details of what life is like in pre-Revolutionary times. I like that kind of stuff, so I liked this book. It covers how Claire prepares medicines and treats patients, and I find that fascinating. It held my attention plus I really enjoy hearing about happy couples in their fifties since that is my age!

A Breath of Snow and Ashes (2005 - 992 pages)

Synopsis: All the questions are answered in this book. Jamie publicly declares himself for the side of Freedom and Liberty at last and takes what lumps come with that. Roger and Brianna have another baby.

Review: You will not regret reading this book as it is the final and most compelling book to date. The love between Claire and Jamie continues strongly, and the passion is as hot and erotic as ever, even though they are both in their fifties. There are many adventures in this one to keep you on the edge of your seat.

An Echo in the Bone (expected 2009)

Book Review: Lord John and the Private Matter

I found this book to be hysterical. Lord John, who is a major in the British army of 1757, is at his favorite club behind a Chinese screen taking a piss, when he notices his cousin’s betrothed has a sore on his privy member. He immediately wishes he was not one to surreptitiously check out other men’s packages, but he is, because as I have mentioned before, he happens to be gay.

Diana Gabaldon has outdone herself with this one. You see, as a member of the military, one of his duties is to inspect the troops for all manners of venereal diseases, so he knows the clap when he sees it. At that point in history there was no cure, and one would be discharged immediately for having it. Also, there was no proper way of addressing it in the society that Lord John belonged to without creating an unacceptable scandal for his cousin that would make her unmarriageable and ruin her reputation. These things just were not done at that time and to be avoided at all costs. Moreover, he worried that his even noticing such a thing would out him as a homosexual. This situation was highly entertaining and how it is worked out is very clever. Also, there is the matter of missing military documents that Lord John is charged with finding.

This is the first book in the Lord John series and Lord John is physically described as is Lavender House, and he meets his paramour that is in Brotherhood of the Blade. Also in this book he hires his valet, Tom Byrd.

I highly recommend this book as a historical mystery.

Book Review: Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade

Okay, so I volunteer two hours per week at our little small town library and while there I read lots of books by many different authors. The other day, I picked up this book by Diana Gabaldon, Lord John and the Hand of Devils, which turned out to be three short stories, but it was marked as historical mystery so that was fine with me. It takes place in the 1700’s when Britain was allied with the Prussians against the French and Austrians in the Seven Year war. So I am reading it, and I get to like page 20 or so and there is this line that reads something like, “He noticed the man’s piercing blue eyes and he knew that he had seen them before. Then it came to him where, it was at the Lavender House.” I was thinking, well that sounds rather gay. Oh my! It was true, this protagonist, Lord John, was gay. So, I read the entire three stories rapaciously for gay sex, and there wasn’t any. But the stories were compelling, the character intriguing, and all in all it was quite fun to read.

I got onto Amazon quickly to see what other books about this character there were (and most importantly if any books had gay sex in them). Low and behold, there was one; Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade had gay sex in it. The customer reviews were highly entertaining. Apparently her devoted readers did not approve at all, some calling the gay sex “gratuitous”. You see, she was a New York Times best selling author with her Outlander series prior to developing this minor character. The following day, I raced back to the library to see if they had BOTB and they did! Needless to say I took it home and read it forthwith.

What can I say, I loved it! Ms. Gabaldon is a wonderful writer. She deftly executes military action scenes that had me on the edge of my seat as well as lovingly depicts erotic rendezvous between Lord John and his paramour. Her character development is exquisite, especially that of Lord John. In this book, Lord John attempts to solve the mystery of who assassinated his father, the Duke of Pardloe, who was killed seventeen years ago and is forced to deal with another perilous situation regarding with his own sexuality. This book is most interesting because it supposes (based on research) what life would be like for homosexuals back in the 1700’s and in the military. Lord John and the Hand of Devils is worth reading too, because it determines the cause of a military accident in which Lord John was seriously injured in BOTB.

I am hooked. I now plan to read the first book about Lord John, Lord John and the Private Matter and then perhaps the entire Outlander series. I highly recommend BOTB to anyone looking for an entertaining historical mystery with homoerotic passages.

Code of Conduct Redux

Rich Merritt has informed me that more Code of Conduct readings/book signings are planned. These are really fun to attend, as I can personally attest! The schedule is as follows:



Sat., Jan. 26, 2:00 PM: Providence, RI - Borders, Providence Place

Tues., Jan. 29, 7:30 PM: Princeton, NJ - Barnes & Noble, Marketplace Fair

Wed., Feb. 6, 7:00 PM: NYC - Bluestockings Bookstore, 172 Allen Street

Thurs., Feb. 21, 7:00 PM: NYC - KGB Bar, 85 E. 4th St.

Recently, Rich was interviewed by Logo:



Also, here is a video on whether the book is a gayer Top Gun:



Order your copy here.

Book Reading: Code of Conduct

As thanks for the Amazon and blog reviews I have written for both Secrets of a Gay Marine Porn Star and Code of Conduct, Rich Merritt invited me to a reading he was doing at Barnes & Noble in Chelsea. I was really excited and just had to attend! Of course I wanted Sean to come with me.

In the meantime, Sean caught this horrible cold and I could tell that he wouldn’t be well enough to come with me. All of my friends and my sister had to work. No one could come with me. I had to go by myself. But, Sean was well enough to drive me to the train station in New Haven which saved me that energy. Without that, I probably wouldn’t have been able to do it from a stamina perspective.

I took the Metro North to Grand Central Station and arrived at 5:15 pm. I walked to 6^th Avenue to the Barnes & Noble. It was early and I had time to go to Cosi and get a tandoori chicken sandwich. Then I returned to Barnes & Noble and bought two books; one was a bargain. It was a hardcover signed by the author marked down from $23.98 to $4.98. What a deal! It is a novel called The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani and it is about a young woman in 17^th century Persia whose father dies and she goes to live with her uncle who is a rug maker for the Shah. I hope I like it.

Then it was 6:30 pm and Rich showed up. I went and introduced myself and we shook hands, but he recognized me from my blog. He was very nice and was busy saying hello and setting up for his talk. So I sat down. When the talk began, there were about 80 people there. It was well attended. Rich began by saying “Picture that it is this time next year and the war with Iraq is over and President Bush has completed his term and President Clinton is in Office.” There was spontaneous applause from the audience and some cheers. Rich continued “That was what it was like in 1992 when this book takes place. But, it was before the don’t ask don’t tell policy was in place.” Rich then read three compelling parts from his book. Here is a video of one from a reading that was taken back in October of last year:

Here is another video trailer that was made to advertise Code of Conduct:

After the reading, there were questions. Rich had mentioned that the book tour had taken them to Australia and one audience member wanted to know how they were received there. Rich said that they were very well received in both Sydney and Melbourne and that both were very literary cities. There was a chuckle from the audience.

I said that when I was reading the book it felt as if it just poured out of him. As if the book just wrote itself. He replied that he wrote the book 15 years ago and that at that time he felt that he was the only one in a position who could write it. He felt it was a book that had to be written. So, essentially yes, the book just poured out of him. There were no more questions.

Since I sat in front, I was second in line for the book signing. Rich signed my book “To Sue, thanks for all your wonderful support, Semper fidelis, Rich Merritt”. We chatted a bit and he commented that I was a real trooper for traveling all the way from Connecticut. Then we had our photo taken with his camera.

I told him to take care, we shook hands again. I looked back and realized that he had 80 more patrons waiting to have books signed. I decided to leave. I looked at my watch and it was only 7:30 pm. I walked back up to Grand Central Terminal and made the 8:04 express train back to New Haven.

The next day I was as sick as a dog with Sean’s cold. But it was worth it.

Book Review: Code of Conduct

Here is my book review straight from Amazon:

Code of Conduct

Could not put it down, January 5, 2008 Code of Conduct takes place right after Clinton was elected President and before his "Don't ask, don't tell" policy was put in place. I could not put this book down. That is how exciting it was. It covers the lives of a group homosexual men and women in the Marines and Navy who are friends and their relationships and how these relationships are affected by the policies of the military towards their sexual orientation. The novel first grabs you with a murder mystery, then two romances. When a serious accident occurs on during an air show, a gay pilot is blamed as part of a government cover up. The novel explores love, loyalty, courage, dedication and honor in a very moving way that you will never forget. At that time, there were witch hunts for gays in the military, and you might wonder, who would endeavor to catch folks in the act of sodomy? Self loathing closeted gays would, that's who. You may say, oh, but those don't exist do they? Just have a look at the news recently and you can see that they do. Rich Merritt's book is full of compelling characters such as these and more. My question is who is going to produce the movie? The novel certainly has enough action scenes to support a feature film. This is a very important book for all Military personnel to read so that they will understand how their gay counterparts feel about having to hide or worse yet, lie about their sexual identities to serve their country. This book serves that purpose perfectly as does Rich's first book, Secrets of a Gay Marine Porn Star. All Americans with any interest in the Military in this country or in Politics should read this book.

Book Review - Secrets of a Gay Marine Porn Star

Pre-blog, I was searching for material to help me understand all aspects of the gay experience. I happened across this memoir by Rich Merritt and decided to read it to understand the gay perspective on "don't ask, don't tell". Boy was I ever glad I did. Here is the review that I wrote for Amazon after reading the book:

Brutally honest, August 2, 2005

I loved this book. It is a brutally honest account of a gay man's struggle through fundamentalist Christianity, the US Marine Corps, porn, alcohol, drugs and much more. A true understanding of what it is like to grow up gay in America is conveyed. There is enough detail that you feel like you are there.

All US citizens should read this book to understand that not all of our fellow countrymen and women have the same rights as others. It is a very important book and a fresh and amazing look at this remarkable man's life.

Many better written and more comprehensive reviews have been added since mine. If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it and you can buy it here.

Since then, Rich has written a novel, Code of Conduct. You can read more about that book here. I intend to buy that book and read it when it is available. You can pre order it from Amazon here and it will be available in bookstores everywhere after January 8, 2008.


I cannot wait to read this book! Of course I will review it afterwards.