Children of Bacchus by Andrew Grey

[reviews_and_ramblings]

The book tells the story of Cembran, a mixed blood Satyr... yes, you heard well, a Satyr, those mythical creatures with horns, tail and goat legs... well told in this way, Cembran seems not to be an handsome guy and instead... well he has very little horns and a very little tail and his legs are human, so he only inherited the better part from his satyr father... and no, I will not tell you what it is.

Anyway Cembran as half satyr is more long-lived than human, and at 300 years old he lives in America now; he left his home in Switzerland when he refused to marry a woman and procreate little satyrs, and he manages to build a small farm in an almost wild estate. The man who owned the land knew about Cembran and when he died he left a will in which he forbad to sell it and now, three generations later, the land is owned by Travis.

Travis used to visit the land when he was a young teenager with sexual insecurities... from a very strict family, he knew that when he would come out he would also loose his family support, and so he searched shelter in the wild land. In one of his visit he sees Cembran from afar and then another time he briefly meets the man. From that day on, Cembran is in his dreams and he actually can't find a man to share his life. Finally as an adult he decides to visit again the land and this time he meets Cembran as a man, and as a man he "seduces" the half satyr. This is the particularity of this novel: Travis should be the naivee one, the young human without experience, and instead he is the seducer. Cembran is a free spirit, a son of nature, a man who lives hundreds of years back in time: for him, in his little farm, the time stopped.

When Travis approaches him, he could be the destruction of this paradise, and instead he becomes the protector of all this, the knight in shining armor who will rescue not only Cembran, but also all the other satyrs who gather around them. Indeed the book is really two books: the first one is all about Travis and Cembran, how they met and loved, and it's somewhat in an undertone; even if it's when there are most of the revelations of the story, the first part flows placid, without shocks, even the sex is almost "innocent" and in second line. The second part instead has all another rhythm: it's almost like the satyrs are now free to express themself; this part is lighter, funnier and sexier. You can clearly read two different moods, the first brooding, the second sparlinkg.

Another things I noticed is that, even if the book is written by a man, it's sweet and romantic, sometime almost too much... sometime Cembran behaves more like a woman than a man! And this is a compliment, since it's made by a woman!

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/currenttitles/childrenofbacchus/childrenofbacchusbuynow.htm

Amazon: Children of Bacchus
Amazon Kindle: Children of Bacchus
Paperback: 308 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (September 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1935192132
ISBN-13: 978-1935192138

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