reviews_and_ramblings | Danube Divide by Jardonn Smith

When I read Let's Get Medieval by Jardonn Smith I was quite candid in stating that while The Bishop of Grunewald was not my cup of tea, I somewhat liked The Tortured Secutor. I like the setting, the roman empire, and I like the relationship between the two men, very explicit and "down and dirty", but with a certain degree of romance, even if not the classic "pick glasses" type of romance.

Danube Divine is on the same level of The Tortured Secuter, and it's also losely connected to the previous story. But instead of in the apex of the Roman Empire, the story is set during its decline and it's not told from the perspective of a glorious and pompous roman soldier, but from the perspective of two "barbarian", Theo and Gregoric, two of the Goth who scattered the Roman at Hadrianopolis. There is also another thing that links this story with the other one, the way it starts: Theo and Gregoric are in a warriors paradise, or walhalla, or in any other place a good warrior went when his time on earth is ended. In this way we know, from the start, that both Theo than Gregoric had a good life, and, despite everything will happen during the story, we know that they will overcome all of it.

Theo and Gregoric are cousins but their similarity ends there. Gregoric is stoic and steady, he has a bigger perspective on life than the immediate day; Theo is more easy, he enjoys the day and little think on tomorrow. After the Battle of Hadrianopolis, Theo is roaming among the dead Roman soldiers, like many other, to find a pair of boot of his size... not exactly an eroic act, but quite normal in that situation. Among the fallen soldiers he finds Drusus and Strabo, two Romans, injured but still live; they are like all the other soldiers, but for Theo they are different, thanks to the medallion they wear, Theo recognizes two fellow Mithras worshipers. I don't know if Theo saves them since they are fellow worshipers or since he is in lust with Drusus, in a way or the other, Theo kidnaps Drusus while leaving Strabo to Gregoric's care.

Gregoric is on the battlefield with Boris, a Christian priest but also a Mithras' worshiper. Boris was Gregoric and Theo's tutor, and when it was time, he became Gregoric's lover. Their relationship is more a Master and disciple one than erotic love, but nevertheless it's deep and involving. Gregoric is willing to die for Boris, but I have the feeling that Boris knows that Gregoric is fated to something bigger. He teaches him everything to let him go to his destiny.

The novel is very long but it's parted in different phases each of them told in first point of view from Theo or Gregoric, and the mood of the story varies according to the narrator. At the beginning it's Theo who told as he met Drusus, and all the focus of the story is on their erotic escapade far from the horripilation of the Battle of Hadrianopolis; there is sex, and it's playful, the mood of the story is light. Then the ball shift to Gregoric, and he remembers as he met Boris. For a good portion, Gregoric recalls what Boris told him about his past, how he was initiated to the Mithras's cult, how he arrives to be a captive of Gregoric's uncle. Then Gregoric goes down the memory lane, his love for Boris, and how he ended in the Battle of Hadrianapolis. All this part of the book is full of historic details, or history mixed to fiction; there is a bit of romance, I really love Gregoric and Boris' relationship, but it always had a sadness inside.

From that moment on, with Gregoric's narration that reached Theo's point, the story continues from Gregoric's point of view, and so it remains on a upper level, less light but more involving for the history lover. There is less sex, even if sometime the author returns to his distinctive point of view on what is sexy and erotic, Boris's torture with Gregoric that almost reveres his body it's at the same time dreadful but so full of love. In the end I think that this is one of the most romantic book I read by Jardonn Smith, and Gregoric and Boris' love is an epic one.

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