Genre: Sci-Fi
LGBTQ+ Category: Gay
Reviewer: Lucy
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About The Book
Vale Darrow likes routine. He likes knowing what will happen on each of his days, and isn’t fond of surprises or upheaval of any kind.
He lives alone in a house he loves. He expects to always be alone because he isn’t an easy person to know. He never expects that to change, until it does.
After serving for many years the Companion to the Oracle dies. The Oracle reaches out, in his grief, touching on an unsuspecting Vale. With that touch, everything changes.
Vale swears he will not give in to the Oracle if chosen as Companion.
Will the Oracle force him to accept a life cut off from everything and everyone he loves? Or will Vale choose death rather than submit to the Oracle’s whims?
Warning: Forced companionship.
The Review
Vale Darrow is a grumpy jerk, and I totally adore him.
I loved everything about this book. The premise is unique take on a classic religious mythos. A non-corporeal omnipotent, omniscient being known as the Oracle resides on the planet of Finholm, along with the human residents. The Oracle doesn’t communicate directly with the citizens of the planet, but relies on his Companion as an intermediary. When the current companion dies, Vale Darrow is chosen, despite his protestations.
Dragon gives us a beautifully discordant character in Vale, a man set in his ways and is often described as irascible and intractable. Many who know him are concerned that he will anger the Oracle and bring doom raining down across the planet. But besides his sparkling personality, Vale has a quality that intrigues the Oracle: his capacity for love.
This is a wonderfully told story of love in its many forms – between families, friends, and lovers. Vale gives us hope that everyone can be accepted for who they are, regardless of their tendencies to be difficult or their propensity toward anxiety or social awkwardness.
The characters range from sweet and charming to awkward and anxious. The author weaves a lovely tale of growth in relationships as, Vale learns how to navigate his role as Companion while developing a new romance, and coming to realizations about his interactions with his parents and siblings.
Vale is the first novel I’ve read by C.J. Dragon – an excellent introduction to the author’s craft. I will definitely look for more from this author in the future.
The Reviewer
I’m an avid reader who loves pretty much all genres except math textbooks. As a kid, my parents exposed me to everything from fairies, hobbits, and dragons to the biographies of interesting people around the world, interspersed with poetry, plays, and music. Into adulthood, I spent a lot of years with my nose buried in various textbooks. Now, I read whatever grabs my fancy.
