Buy:fourwalker
03-10-04, 08:33 PM
hey, I thought about posting this in the mature forum............. but hey it definitely is book related and not meant for titillation...... mods I apologize in advance if I should have put it elsewhere.
let me also preface this by saying that I have nothing at all against homosexuality and that there will be some spoilers in here for people that have not read Feintuch's books.
Years ago I read David Feintuch's Seafort Saga, it was about this young teenage guy in a space military (sci-fi) who is forced to take command of a vessel when tragedy strikes. Throughout the series there are some themes that are repeated in the book. The brotherhood of the military, and the usefulness of corporal punishment. Needless to say most of the characters are young teenage guys around Seifert's age (although I think somewhere in the book a chick is added). There is a lot of strong expression of the officers expressing their loyalty, guys telling each other that they love each other, a lot of scenes where they're embracing. Also too Seifert seemed to take a lot of pleasure in the corporal punishment aspect, really getting in to the scenes where young boys are beaten. Also too women are treated pretty harshly in the book. Seafort's first wife goes crazy after losing her child and commits suicide, his second wife sleeps around. You can't help but feel that Feintuch thinks you can only trust your brother in the cot next to you. Seafort does eventually get married, but thats almost something that is just kind of thrown in at the end of the series.
Now I didn't go away from the Seafort Saga thinking that there were homerotic themes in the series. I mean I thought Feintuch was just really in to male bonding, and was a strong believer in corporal punishment.
Then I started to read the "Rodrigo of Caledon Saga". Its about this spoiled prince who is learning how to be a king. As the king he has power through a magical still, which allows him to talk to dead relatives and gain knowledge. To use the the Still Rodrigo has to remain a virgin. How he keeps his virginity is by relieving his urges through having sex with his best buddy Rustin (who is male). Once again there is a lot of corporal punishment which Rodrigo inflicts on young/teenage boys. There is a brief forced romance with a princess that is never consummated, because Rodrigo gets his faced messed up and is now ashamed to speak to the princess. Coveniently this also means that he will continue his relationship with his buddy Rustin. I've right now read the first fourty pages of "The King" which is the second book in the "Rodrigo of Caledon Saga". I'm having a tough time making it through. The amount of corporal punishment in it which is just feeling more and more like S&M, and the way Feintuch keeps on trying to maneuver his supposedly strongly heterosexual character(the kid keeps on whining about not doing it with a woman) is really distracting from the story.
I've stuck with Feintuch because the guy has talent, I've heard comparisons to Robert Heinlein, which by the way I do not agree with, but the guy can definitely tell a story and have characters that are interesting when he wants to.
My question to readers out there who might have read Feintuch's books is do you find it like me that this theme in Feintuch's books is just getting to be a distraction? Do you feel that it is getting in the way of story telling?
let me also preface this by saying that I have nothing at all against homosexuality and that there will be some spoilers in here for people that have not read Feintuch's books.
Years ago I read David Feintuch's Seafort Saga, it was about this young teenage guy in a space military (sci-fi) who is forced to take command of a vessel when tragedy strikes. Throughout the series there are some themes that are repeated in the book. The brotherhood of the military, and the usefulness of corporal punishment. Needless to say most of the characters are young teenage guys around Seifert's age (although I think somewhere in the book a chick is added). There is a lot of strong expression of the officers expressing their loyalty, guys telling each other that they love each other, a lot of scenes where they're embracing. Also too Seifert seemed to take a lot of pleasure in the corporal punishment aspect, really getting in to the scenes where young boys are beaten. Also too women are treated pretty harshly in the book. Seafort's first wife goes crazy after losing her child and commits suicide, his second wife sleeps around. You can't help but feel that Feintuch thinks you can only trust your brother in the cot next to you. Seafort does eventually get married, but thats almost something that is just kind of thrown in at the end of the series.
Now I didn't go away from the Seafort Saga thinking that there were homerotic themes in the series. I mean I thought Feintuch was just really in to male bonding, and was a strong believer in corporal punishment.
Then I started to read the "Rodrigo of Caledon Saga". Its about this spoiled prince who is learning how to be a king. As the king he has power through a magical still, which allows him to talk to dead relatives and gain knowledge. To use the the Still Rodrigo has to remain a virgin. How he keeps his virginity is by relieving his urges through having sex with his best buddy Rustin (who is male). Once again there is a lot of corporal punishment which Rodrigo inflicts on young/teenage boys. There is a brief forced romance with a princess that is never consummated, because Rodrigo gets his faced messed up and is now ashamed to speak to the princess. Coveniently this also means that he will continue his relationship with his buddy Rustin. I've right now read the first fourty pages of "The King" which is the second book in the "Rodrigo of Caledon Saga". I'm having a tough time making it through. The amount of corporal punishment in it which is just feeling more and more like S&M, and the way Feintuch keeps on trying to maneuver his supposedly strongly heterosexual character(the kid keeps on whining about not doing it with a woman) is really distracting from the story.
I've stuck with Feintuch because the guy has talent, I've heard comparisons to Robert Heinlein, which by the way I do not agree with, but the guy can definitely tell a story and have characters that are interesting when he wants to.
My question to readers out there who might have read Feintuch's books is do you find it like me that this theme in Feintuch's books is just getting to be a distraction? Do you feel that it is getting in the way of story telling?