Best Gay Sci-Fi / Futuristic (2° place): A Solid Core of Alpha by Amy Lane

[reviews_and_ramblings]

A Solid Core of Alpha is way more complex and deep of what I was expecting; not that this author has not used us to stories with a good level of angst (good since it’s never too much to being unbearable), but maybe I was misled by the “Alpha” in the title; I like my Alpha stories, but truth be told they are usually paranormal romances with a certain level of stereotype.

Anderson is 12 years old when he finds himself the only survivor of a mining colony in the space; his sister saved him throwing Anderson in a spaceshift programmed to reach another planet in 10 years. The spaceshift was supposed to be for 30 person, but Anderson is alone, and 10 years are long to pass like that, and so he learns how to program holograms so vivid they start to feel real and to have independent behaviour. Kate, Bobby, Henry, Risa are Anderson’s friends, but when Anderson is 16 years old, it’s time for him to experiment with sexuality, and so Kate and Bobby create Aaron/Alpha.

There is a shift in time and Anderson is now 22 years old while he reaches the first planet with human life; of course as soon as he exits the spaceshift he is taken into custody by a doctor and his brother, C.J. C.J. has always been one to play the field, 100% bisexual, he was in love with Jensen and not that Jensen is married to Molly, he sometime still shares their bed. I think the author wanted to present C.J. in this way to give the perception of how much he changed once he started to take care of Anderson. It’s not an “alpha” way of take care, C.J. doesn’t own or direct Anderson, but it’s more like giving him time and a safe shelter, and the sureness he is there for him and that he will never abandon him. While still in the spaceshift, Anderson hadn’t really realized what he had lost and how much did it influence him.

The author doesn’t bargain with the reader, and when she has to push on the drama button she does it until the end. There are some pretty hard moment to digest, violence that is not on display but nevertheless it’s hurting, and Anderson will have to take some decisions that will be even more hurtful than a physical blow. A Solid Core of Alpha is not a pretty romance about young men falling in love, but it has its romantic moment, and in the end, for how much twisted and scare he is, Anderson is 22 years old and he wants to enjoy his young age.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2445

Amazon: A Solid Core of Alpha
Amazon Kindle: A Solid Core of Alpha
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (August 8, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1613721420
ISBN-13: 978-1613721421



Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle

Comments

[miho li (from livejournal.com)]

This sounds like a fantastic read. Just imagining Anderson's ten years of solitude--sort of--makes me sympathize with him already.

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

that is exactly the feeling of C.J., Anderson's experience makes everyone want to take care of him