Requiem of Janus By Nicole Wilkinson

Janus looks across the room and sees Alcaeus; there's a strange pull there that both of them feel. There is intrigue and power struggles swarm through the country that Janus is not truly aware of, to the risk of his survival.

It's a good, yet complicated story. Both main characters are strong and 3-dimensional and interestingly enough, not entirely likeable! Both are very strong willed and independent, i.e. neither is a chick with a dick.

An interesting story and one I would recommend....4 to 4-1/2 stars. Gay Lesbian, Science Fiction Fantasy, Humor One thing Nicole does amazingly well is a sex scene. Believable, beautiful, meaningful, charged with feeling.

Another thing she does well is character interaction: you feel the characters, you know who they are, you feel their inner worlds, you understand them and love them. No two-dimensional people here.

What this book lacks is that solid world as background. I don't feel the setting too well, and the plot (aside from the romantic one) isn't memorable. But, overall, an enjoyable book and one I'd recommend to people who like gay romances and erotica. (except the ones who like a really, really happy ending; this one doesn't have a really, really happy ending) Gay Lesbian, Science Fiction Fantasy, Humor

Requiem

Janus is a High Priest in a Fantasy society. Even if he is a priest, chastity is not one of the requirements of his job description, and indeed Janus has no issue to “use” his servants in many different ways.

During an important ceremony, Janus notices Alcaeus, a young guard, white hair and red yes (an albino apparently from the description). Of course as expected from his character, Janus immediately wants to possess the young guard, and doesn’t matter if Alcaeus has already a lover; on the contrary it’s probably the lover the key to reach Alcaeus: Baldir, Alcaeus’s lover, is badly ill and he is slowly dying; Janus has the power to heal him, but his services are very expensive and Alcaeus has nothing on him that could be of valor for Janus, if not himself.

Janus barters with Alcaeus for the good health of his lover; indeed Alcaeus loves Baldir, but maybe since his lover has been long ill, or maybe since they have been lovers since they were only little more than children, the passion between them has thinned, and only a “comfortable” feeling is still simmering between them. Alcaeus accepts Janus’s offer and little by little the excuse he gave to himself, that it was only for the love of his Baldir, has very little reason to exist. Alcaeus is attracted by Janus and it would have been the same even if they had met in different circumstances.

Even if Janus did not start has a positive character, I hardly read him like a villain; he gave me more the impression of a man who was captive of his own role. Janus is responsible for a lot of thing, he is apparently wealthy, but he has not really anything for himself. Alcaeus is “something” he can own for his own sake; Janus looks to Alcaeus like a jealous child would do with a coveted toy that his neighbour owns. Janus, High Priest, wealthy and young, is envious of Baldir, poor and ill man, since Baldir “owns” something really important, the love of Alcaeus; even when Janus forces Alcaeus to bed him, he is still not satisfy, since he still doesn’t possess what Baldir does, the love of the man.

The novel is quite long, but even if it’s an heavy fantasy setting, a completely new society, it’s not overwhelmed of details, so that the set doesn’t distract the reader from the story.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003YUCRMC/?... Gay Lesbian, Science Fiction Fantasy, Humor Complicated story with huge amount of feelings. Totally it can not be put in category of easy read. They love and hate, the pull of heart and attraction is to huge. The story is twisted and really well developed. I enjoy it and it's highly recommend read. Gay Lesbian, Science Fiction Fantasy, Humor Hard to rate this book. Somewhere between 2 and 3 stars I think. Going with 3 for now.

What's really throwing me is just how well this book is technically written, the world, the characters, very nicely layered and developed. It's a wonderful, wonderfully long fantasy. Usually I'm a sucker for those. There are parts of it that I loved, I was completely glued to this book for the first half ..... then, *cries* it just got so repetitive. The angst went on way too long and way too heavily for the book to be fully successful. This was not a romance. There was no warmth, no affection (unless faked), no real feelings unless you count desire. And oh yeah the sex, and more sex, sex in the tub, sex in the bed, up against the wall, ugh, buckets of it, it was hot, don't get me wrong but it just became repetious and didn't move the story forward.

Back to the angst because, of course in the midst of all this sex was angst over it.... For Janus it was: summon Alcaeus, have sex, angst over continuing to want him, feel guilty, do something hateful to distance self, rinse, repeat. For Alcaeus it was: wait to be summoned, feel guilty of wanting it, angst over lying to Baldir, justify actions to self over why he's doing it, rinse, repeat. Literally 80% of the book felt like this, it was exhausting.

At the end, Janus just continued to not develop how I was really hoping he would and didn't seek Alcaeus out to at least, I don't know, atone in some way or apologize. For me, I really needed him to do that to provide some much needed redemption for his character.

There was some dialog near that end that resonated with me for all the wrong reasons and it was then I knew this book wasn't going to be salvaged. It was during the so-called reunion, in that scene Janus said, Want and lust are nothing to begin a relationship on, not with our history, you fool yourself if you believe otherwise. You don't even know me. When he said that, I caught myself nodding and knew the potential for this book just wasn't fulfilled. This couldn't be, because like Janus, I don't buy it either.

This book mostly just left me, well, unsatisfied really. This felt like the, dare I say it, beginning of a romance, not even happy for now, definitely not the end and considering what you had to get through to get to this point I couldn't imagine what the rest of their story would look like, not that I'll be reading it. Hmmmmmm, maybe. Gay Lesbian, Science Fiction Fantasy, Humor Rating: 5 stars

Requiem of Janus is not an easy read. The characters are well developed as is the world, with a new society and a fantasy setting.

Janus is a priest, a wealthy man who is ready to die in his service, this is the price the priest pay if they use their power to often.
When he sees Alcaeus he instantly wants him, as something or someone who is just there for him. Unfortunatly for him Alcaeus is already taken. This little fact does not derail Janus however and he more or less blackmails Alcaues in his bed with the promise to heal Alcaues ill lover, something that will cost Janus a lot if he does it.

There is intrigue going on around the palace and while they might find to each other they are also running out of time while the plot of murder and deceit thickens around Janus.

Alcaeus and Janus are both complex characters and both are alpha-males used to get what they want. While Janus appears to be the physically weaker of the two, he is strong willed and does not give up easily on thing he wants.
Gay Lesbian, Science Fiction Fantasy, Humor Janus, a very young High Priest with a lot of power, takes notice of a temple guard Alcaeus and immediately knows he wants Alcaeus, he needs to have him. What Janus wants Janus gets. Janus learns Alcaeus' lover, Baldir, is wasting away due to a terminal illness, it is doubtful he has much longer to live. Janus decides to exploit Alcaeus' weakness. The bargain: Janus will heal Baldir by using his magic. In exchange, Alcaeus will be in Janus' service until Janus decides to release him. Janus' intention was to keep Alcaeus as his plaything of the moment until he got bored. It didn't work out as planned....

Frustrating, no silliness and not very much black and white here. I was torn throughout most of it. Torn because these were not very likeable MC's, although I loved that I didn't like them, and I couldn't begin to figure out how this could possibly end well with the kind of start these two had. Janus is arrogant, manipulative, cold, selfish, dismissive, sometimes cruel and makes no excuses about it. And even though Alcaeus starts off in a very tough situation, you soon realize he's not that much of a victim. There was one character who truly turned out to be strong of character and heart, he really surprised me and got to me. There were other characters I enjoyed as well for different reasons.

Danger, political intrigue, evil plots lurk in the background of this story. Those were interesting and later explosive without overwhelming the story. I also found the fantasy aspect very believable and easy to follow. There were a few minor niggles here and there, otherwise I enjoyed it much more than I expected. Gay Lesbian, Science Fiction Fantasy, Humor

Nicole Wilkinson ☆ 7 summary

Janus, the high priest of the Lady Queen Sybaris, has always received what he desired, no matter the price. When his eyes fall on Alcaeus, a soldier already promised to another, Janus vows to do whatever it takes to make Alcaeus his, even if it means losing everything he holds sacred.

Janus persuades Alcaeus into a relationship, enticing him with an offer he can’t resist. Their liaisons begin with only physical desire, but the more Janus indulges himself, the deeper he falls into obsession. As Janus clings to his wants and his pride, he remains unaware that disaster lurks in the background. Someone’s out for blood, determined to destroy everything Janus has fought to establish, including Janus himself. Requiem of Janus