Liviania’s review of House of Stone by Vaughn R. Dermot
Gay urban fantasy released by Samhain 22 Jun 2010
In a time when I seem to be frustrated by blurbs more often than not, since they’re usually confusing or give half the book away, the Samhain blurbs are usually entertaining. House of Stone caught my attention by being about a Fae noble in charge of a slum. It sounded fun, playing with the expectations of a novel starring a gay faery. For the most part, House of Stone lived up to that expectation.
The opening scene made me worry about what I was getting into. It starts with Richard Fireman, the aforementioned Fae noble, working as a porn star. The scene wasn’t badly written, which kept me going, but it felt like Vaughn R. Dermot was trying hard to be shocking. Also, Richard acts like a jerk, which isn’t the best introduction to the character. That does give him something to overcome.
Dermot does develop an interesting mythology throughout House of Stone. Richard works as a porn star because the Fae are “living dreams” and survive off of the dreams of mortals. Therefore, they boost those dreams by being patrons of the various arts. Since Richard is a viscount of the bad part of town, the booming artistic business is porn. The Fae also don’t get along with demons, who tend to be hard to kill without a magic sword. But the only way for Richard to get his sword working again may be to kill the demon who killed his father . . . who was supposed to already be dead.
In addition to decent world building, there is character development. Richard is charming, despite his entitlement, and having to get up and work hard at something instead of just coasting along brings out the better parts of his character. Simaron, his servant, seems like a pushover at first. But he’s been keeping secrets, and becomes more and more willing to speak his mind as Richard matures.
The plot is fairly labyrinthine, particularly compared to the other Samhain novels I’ve read. It works though. Every revelation makes sense, even if some are awfully convenient. The weakest parts could have been those involving Richard’s new wife, Jen, since most of the twists involving her are the most obvious. Those parts tend to work since Jen, while not a dynamic character, is a fun one to read about. She’s smart and loyal, and turns out to be a better match than Richard could’ve hoped for.
House of Stone is silly at times. But Dermot keeps things light enough to acknowledge that things are silly and should be that way without veering into hipster irony. It was fun afternoon reading. House of Stone seems to be the first book in a series, and I look forward to reading Richard’s continuing adventures.
Grade: B
Summary:
Welcome to the City, where gods run nightclubs, goblins hire out as mercs, sorcerers work their
magic, the Fae hold court over every neighborhood…and humanity is blissfully ignorant of it all.
For minor Fae noble Richard Stone, life is going well. He has a decent fiefdom (okay, it’s a slum), a
budding acting career (okay, so it’s porn), and one of only five magical swords in the City. An arranged
marriage is barely a blip on his worry meter—until his family blade loses its magic. The shame of it puts
his noble standing in jeopardy.
To regain his status, Richard needs help. Fortunately, his new bride is a sidhe knight and his servant
Simaron has, er, his back. Together they embark on a quest to find the demon who slew his father,
investigate a conspiracy that goes to the highest echelons of Fae nobility, and discover a secret family
legacy that could ruin his House.
All while keeping up appearances to a society that demands perfection. And they say a noble’s life is
easy…
Warning: This book contains explicit gay sex, not-so-explicit gay sex, explicitly implied gay sex,
routine breaking of the fourth wall, occasional bouts of Pearl Jam fanboy-ism, and plot. Side effects include
confusion and headaches, and are best avoided by reading the pages therein in numerical order.Read an excerpt here.
