R. W. Day - A Strong and Sudden Thaw

erschienen bei: Iris Press
ISBN: 0978753119
Preis:  € 12,95 A Strong and Sudden Thaw at Amazon.com

Die deutsche Fassung dieser Review befindet sich hier.

Iris Print is a small and very idealistic american publisher. Finally their books are also available in Germany via Amazon - they are more than wellcome over here. Iris Print specialises in the "boys' love" genre - gay romance written especially for women - which is a first in the western world. Their first novel release, however, seems a bad choice. A Strong and Sudden Thaw by R. W. Day is anything but a yaoi-manga gone novel.

Whoever might want to establish boys' love as a new genre can hardly argue that its roots lie in japanese comics. Over there, the so-called yaoi or shounen-ai manga have existed since World War 2. They revolve around a gay couple and are aimed directly at a female readership. Being the counterpart of works like Love Hina, which are made especially for male audiences, yaoi tries to show as many good-looking, confused men as possible. The love story plus a possible coming-out and the difficulties that result from it are the center of attention, the characters have a distinct female touch that makes them discuss their feelings for several pages, while the main plot is mostly clichéd and foreseeable. People read yaoi to enjoy beautiful men without having resentiments towards the female protagonist, not to follow a complex storyline. If there is a backstory of any kind, it literally remains in the back and serves as an excuse to make the characters wear exotic costumes or to put new obstacles in the path of their love.

So whoever might buy Thaw looking for a gay alternative to a dime novel, should rather save their money for the newest copy of Kizuna. Well, of course Thaw is also a romantic novel. The homosexual relationship between the two protagonists gets a lot of attention, but it isn't there for it´s own sake. Even though the story opens quite clichéd with 17-year-old David meeting the town's new healer Callan and suddenly wondering how this stranger's hands might feel upon his body, without actually knowing what kind of feelings he's experiencing - it's a very traditional exposition that should already tell the experienced reader everything he needs to know. David having to meet the love of his life, for example, and in theory also how the role assignment is going to be. After all it's quite typical for the yaoi genre to picture one of the protagonists as the weaker partner with a rather a female character, who might even cry quite regularly, while his counterpart would take the role of the strong male protector. David seems destined to - literary - carry the soft and educated blond healer for the rest of their lives. Only a couple of chapters later however, it's obvious that the chliché doesn't work for Thaw. Both boys are multi-layered characters, both have their strengths and weaknesses, and both are most obviously men. Their homoerotic romance which is actually strictly forbidden in the middle-age world that might expect us in two hundred years, turns out to be the vehicle for a larger, more important plotline. Dragons are in town after all, killing little children. You heard that right - dragons.

If you saw a flying dragon in Virginia nowadays, it would make all newspapers and legions of scientists would head out to catch and dissect it. That is no longer the case after a not further explained catastrophe has practically thrown mankind back to before the invention of electricity. The weather conditions remind of Sibiria, with winters that make leaving the house life-threatening and summers that hardly reach 20 °C. Since the change obviously came overnight, most scientific and social achievements were lost in the following years of panic. The rebuilding is prevended by a lack of steel and other crucial ressources, as those have been used up by our generation. The people went back to extended families living in farm houses and subside on what they plant or catch themselves. Penicillin and electric light seem unreachable, even though signs of a different time, the "Before", are omnipresent. And David, part of the second generation in these new conditions, is not overly excited about the dragons. They are life-threatening beasts and seem impossible to kill!

It's the ever-present feeling of helplessness surrounding the protagonists, that makes the novel a difficult read. David isn't of age yet, Callan is hardly older and close to being banished from the city - there isn't an adult in Moline who would listen to them. Both have legal guardians and even in spite of the obvious mutual attraction, for a long time it's not clear if they may ever be together. As Callan leaves on an extremely dangerous trip and David follows, it's not an act of bravery, they simply have no choice. The oppressive, shadowy atmosphere is multiplied by the neverchanging cold, wet weather, that lies over Moline like a curse and dictates the daily routine. The only real weapon against the cold is one own's heart's warmth. But it isn't clear yet, if this warmth could ever be enough to melt down the hostile surroundings.

Where does the breakdown of civilization leave people? This has to be the question R. W. Day had asked herself along with many before her while working on the novel. Imagine The Day After Tomorrow one hundred years later. One of the almost-apocalypse's consequences are panicking christians who have abolished just about every moral achievement of our century. "Sodomites" are threatend by death penalty, this is now the law in the whole country. Most books end up being burned in the mass panic at the beginning, as people set everything flammable on fire to heat their homes. Only few remain: Mark Twain, Dostojewski, Dante... But those are no longer avaible to everyone. Most families possess no more than a Bible. David's world has narrowed, and unfortunately, minds have narrowed along with it, explains the author. I do think that the right crisis could propel us backwards pretty quickly. I read somewhere that civilization is three meals away from collapse and I agree with that.

With this background, men and women marrying to extend their fortune and get children, David's blossming feelings for Callan seem even more touching and tender than they might in a contemporary setting. The plot itself is mostly suspenseful and well-told, enough questions remain unanswered until the end. A Strong and Sudden Thaw never gets boring. However there are enough clues that despite having published several short stories, R. W. Day is still at the beginning of her publishing career with this first novel. The characters, as attentively and lovingly they may have been created, soon turn out to be black and white. Especially the first person narrator David, who discovers his first love, real literature and the hardships of being a grown-up, should change more as the story evolves. His very distinct, oft grammatically wrong language needs getting used to. The choice of David's perspective also limits R. W. Day's ways of describing the world - the main character remains a hunter who has never travelled further than the neighbouring town. Callan and indirectly also David's grandmother provide further explanations. Those however lack subtlety, especially at the beginning the feeling of being lectured is prevalent. Luckily this problem disappears as soon as the story begins to evolve and there's literally no time left for further commentary. Not without a reason, actually, because after all the sequel is already written and waiting for a publisher. I see it a bit like the way J. K. Rowling approaches the Potter books, said Day, the initial books are focused on Harry and his friends, and only gradually do we see the larger world beyond Hogwarts. Not that I'm comparing myself to Rowling!

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Interview with R.W. Day

Text Copyright Darina Goldin
Cover Copyright Iris Press