Book 49: Black Sun Rising by C.S. Friedman




THE MOST METAL BOOK I OWN!!!!!

When I was a kid, my mother occasionally went to a large recycling center, I think in Oak Park or Niles, and dragged me along. Eventually I was old enough to venture into the trailer there full of old free books, and this novel was one of the few there that looked any fun. I was probably 15 or 16 when I took it, my mother complaining that it "made us look poor" 🙄. I reread it a few times in high school and college; this was probably my 5th time rereading it, but the first in a decade at least.

I have very few novels because I find romance to be very boring, and many novels have at least some element of romance. There's a little bit of romance at the beginning this Black Sun Rising but it ends quickly. It's a dark fantasy/sci-fi story involving demons, aliens, vampires, the fae, swords, and magic crossbow bolts. And it would be totally different if it was written today rather than 1991 it would have a lot more romance...but not in the way you'd expect!

After rereading the first few chapters, I checked the reviews of Black Sun Rising and its sequel (this is part of a trilogy, which I didn't know until goodreads existed and told me). I tried reading the sequel in college but it dragged on and on with nothing happening so I quit. But the reviews pointed out a dynamic in the novels that hadn't occurred to me back when I was super-sheltered: the protagonist and anti-hero are obsessed with each other and a LOT of what they say to each other is innuendo. Friedman doesn't seem aware that she wrote a gay enemies-to-lovers story, and I didn't know that was a trope when I was in school so I didn't pick up on it! Now that I've reread it, it's super-obvious! The protagonist is a magic warrior-priest, and after he makes a lifelong magic bond with the vampiric anti-hero, the anti-hero sneers while saying "it's been a long time since I've tasted priest." WHAT ARE YOU DOING, FRIEDMAN?!?🤣 This dark fantasy/sci-fi novel is very smutty without even realizing it! 

The most metal book I own has accidental gay smut 

 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36159.Black_Sun_Rising

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