The General And The Horse-Lord (2013) - Plot & Excerpts
This book hit so many right notes for me: appealing main characters, interesting plot, robust secondary characters, and genuine emotions. John and Gabriel have retired from the military, and are now trying to make lives for themselves in Albuquerque. Having had a relationship they had to hide for their entire military careers, they're now figuring out how to move forward. The feelings on the page came across as very real to me, not only the love they share for each other, but also for the other people in their lives.I particularly loved John's nephew, Kim. As he told his uncle as a child, his soul is the color of butterflies, and it's a perfect description for him. The other men and boys surrounding these men are varied and unique, and add depth to the story. I ended up staying up well past my bedtime, wanting to see how things worked out, and I was happy I did. I always want to love Sarah Black; she's a very capable writer. But there was way too much going on for the word count she has here--like a dozen different plots and subplots that never all fully resolve--and I was really put off by the ambivalent treatment of a 25 year relationship that continues into a fundamentally adulterous marriage. It's not that I don't believe that it could happen--I certainly do--but the wife was made out to be this awful bitch when her husband married her being in love with someone else, and then within a month of his marriage picked up his sexual relationship with lover again and into the present. That really soured my sympathy for the main pairing characters, even though I liked them. I was reasonably satisfied with the fear and treatment of DADT and UCMJ investigation; however, a handful of retired flag officers came out even before DADT was repealed, and I found it hard to believe that John, as a general officer, was so separated from the military (after professing his devotion to his service repeatedly) that he wouldn't have been aware of that public knowledge. It seemed like this was meant to be a plotty romance novel, and there was plenty--too much--plot with so many threads left hanging; as well as a struggle of a romance that painted the person most hurt by the situation--Gabriel's wife--as unreasonable when in fact she had a perfectly understandable reason to be that upset. Even aside from the whole lifetime love affair deal, bringing extramarital sex into the bedroom with an unaware partner is just--shitty. Any sex positive advocate would say the same. I don't know what to do with this one. It has a lot of the Sarah Black details I love, but more problems than are usually found in one of her works. I was disappointed, but not as disappointed as I could have been.
What do You think about The General And The Horse-Lord (2013)?
I loved this story. All I can say is the 'dancing' will stay with you. It's just perfect.
—Ada
Loved this. Definitely one of my favorite's from Sarah Black.
—GloriiBee
