Title: Shenji’s Gift
Author: Edward von Behrer
Publisher: Dreamspinner
Genre: M/M Historical, Paranormal
Length: Daydream (29 pdf pages)
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
A Guest Review by Cole
Review Summary: A nice story that was sweet and sad, but was based on a premise that I utimately couldn’t find believable.
BLURB
When Alex was a child, his grandfather’s wonderful stories set his imagination on fire, but as he grew older, distance and maturity put distance between them. After his grandfather’s death, Alex inherits a trunk full of papers telling a strange tale of a very special naval unit and the impossible love it had fostered, a tale that challenges the way Alex looks at the world around him.
REVIEW
Alex is estranged from his father, who from a young age was desperate to be American in every way. His father renounced the old ways and his Japanese ancestry and only allowed Alex’s grandfather contact with him periodically. Alex remembers when he was really young the stories his grandfather would tell him about parallel universes and the magic in the world, but over time he grew up and lost that connection to his grandfather. Now, after his grandfather’s death, he is going through his grandfather’s things and finds a journal detailing his grandfather’s days in the Emperial Army of Japan and a secret bond of brothers put together by the Emperor. They were a submarine crew that were paired (a la Sacred Band of Thebes) and lived on the ship nude and cycling their erotic energy through the art of tantra. Thus details the life of Shenji, Alex’s grandfather and his paired warrior, Daiki, with whom he fell in love.
This story was beautifully written with wonderful characters that would have worked for me if not for one problem — I have no doubt that this would never happen. Now, it would have been very possible to believe this had it been made out to be of a paranormal aspect of the story, but we find out that it is not. This was a big problem for me. I have no problem believing in the Band of Thebes, a brotherhood of male lover warriors, because that was based in a society that valued male worship. But, I lived in Japan for a while and can categorically confirm that, while very comfortable with nudity, the Japanese are not comfortable with gays. Sure, there is progress being made there just like other places in the world, but they still hold to long standing traditions in a way that much of the West does not. Also, this was from an order down on high — The Emperor. Like I said, I had a hard time suspending my beliefs.
If it were not for that one glaring factor, this would have been a wonderful little gem of a story, but as it was, I’m not sure I’d recommend it unless you love to read anything with Japanese characters or military stories.
Hmm. I don’t think this one is for me. It’s historical which is really not my thing and does sound a bit like you need to use your imagination to get past some of the cultural issues.
I know in more ancient China and perhaps Japan and author who writes in those periods (Kate Cotoner maybe?) said that homosexual relationships were quite accepted, especially for nobles, but that was waaaaaaay back, not in the 20th century and we all know how ideas change over time.
Really? I didn’t know that, I’d love to read a story in that setting. I’ve never read anything by Kate Cotoner but I really want to read Fall of a State, which I suppose is what we’re talking about. Let me know if you know of any others.
Thanks Tam!
This is the review that Val did at Obsidian Bookshelf where Kate spoke about the accuracy of it all historically.
I did Olive Green: The Imperial Cat which has a paranormal element set in ancient Japan that I enjoyed, but I assume some of the historical elements were accurate.
Thanks Tam! I was actually thinking about asking for Imperial Cat and Basilisk for review. Whether or not I end up reviewing any I can’t wait to read some of her books!
Thank you!
Hi Cole,
isn’t this a Bittersweet, too?
I agree, the premise is simply too strange to buy. Otherwise this sounds like a nice story.
Hey Feliz,
Actually, its not listed on Dreamspinner as a Bittersweet Dream, although it should be, because there’s certainly no HEA, in fact, quite the opposite.
Thanks Feliz!
They were a submarine crew that were paired (a la Sacred Band of Thebes) and lived on the ship nude and cycling their erotic energy through the art of tantra.
Wow, now that’s original! But your point is so valid. Modern Japanese aren’t going to go for nudity, so there would need to be a good explanation for this in the story.
Lol, that’s what I thought, too. Definitely original, but I wish I could believe it! Modern Japanese definitely go for nudity, though not in this setting, thats for sure 🙂
Thanks Val!
I don’t understand why authors don’t do the necessary research when they’re writing stories about other cultures. It’s pretty easy to do on the Internet. The story sounds good but was it originally listed as paranormal? If so, then we can suspend disbelief because anything can happen in a paranormal world. 🙂
Kate has written a couple of historical books based on Asian culture which I thought were well researched.
Yeah, but that was the biggest problem that I had with this story, Wave — It is listed as paranormal, but then *oh well, spoiler* in the end it is plainly said that, no, this actually happened in the real world with evidence and all, it wasn’t attributed to the paranormal aspect of the story at all. Thats all the author had to do, and I would have loved the story, just made it from a parallel universe or something…
as it stands.. it doesn’t make sense.
I’d like to jump in for a minute and quote a wonderful author Sedonia Guillone. In the beginning of her book Flying Fishes here is her quote “The practice of manlove,called shudo or nanshoko,was widely practiced among samurai and a completely natural part of the culture, and so a samurai with a lifelong male lover would not be questioned or looked down upon in his
society.
Also I’ve read that in Japan they don’t have the same problem with homosexuality as we do in the States. Looked at all the manga and anime.
I’m the first to admit that my experience living in Japan was limited. I was 16 when I lived there and too afraid to come out to my host family 🙂 Also, I lived in Okinawa for most of the time, which has a different culture than the mainland. It seems though, that there is probably a bigger dichotomy in the beliefs there. I know that there is a bigger rebellion amongst the younger generations because the older generations are so entrenched in culture. Also, there was a huge upsurge in interest in America and the West in the children of those that fought in WWII.
Its a really interesting topic!