erastes

ETA: ebook at the moment - paperback on its way!

"Winds of Change" is the sequel to Lee Rowan's "Ransom" and continues the adventures and misadventures of Lts William Marshall and David Archer after their capture and escape in the book of that name.  And it's a very good read.

The two men are transferred to a new ship, together with their captain; a "Trouble ship" where there is unrest and sabotage. A method of smoking out the sabateur is proposed but it is not without a great deal of risk for David and William, and for their growing relationship.

The characters are wonderfully drawn, they would slide into any of the Hornblower novels without even causing the slightest bow wave. William is a career man and his duty is every bit as important to him as it is to Nelson himself.  He puts his heart and soul into everything he does, whether it's managing a 74 gun ship of the line, or loving the love that dare not speak its name. David is my favourite, I have to say, for his innate love of life despite everything he's been through.

For my money, this book has everything. It's a wonderful love story, without underplaying the very real danger that homosexuals faced in His Majesty's Navy in the late 1700's and early 1800's. It's meticulously researched, but Lee writes in a way that doesn't bore you with facts of the time, she writes simply as if she were writing in that time, and the period detail becomes as unobstruvive as if it were a contemporary novel. It's a mystery, a thriller and it has lines that made me giggle, parts that made a hard boiled cynic like me cry (twice) and some wonderfully tender sexual moments.

If you found Ransom a little slow, then you'll be happy with WoC, as it's faster-paced, tighter and there's a very real tension throughout.

If I had one tiny quibble, I was dissapointed that the ending of the mystery was done off screen, I was expecting as much adventure in the last part of the book as I'd read in the first part, but in reality, what Lee decides to concentrate on in the final pages doesn't spoil the story at all.

In the growing genre of homosexual historical fiction, Lee Rowan is at the forefront.  She never sacrifices period detail or excellent writing in an attempt to dumb down at any time.

Very highly reccommended.