#a taste of gold an iron

[twowhoodles]

Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland - Audiobook Review

You know when the main character is greeted by old mates with approximately seven "No"s of dismay, that this book is not going to be a normal ride. Irrepressibly funny, horny (but not in a weird or creepy way), and sweet, this latest entry into Alexandra Rowland's Mithalgeard/Chantiverse world of books is once again unlike all the others. It's rife with satire, references, and puns. The dialogue, the descriptions, and the situations the crew of the Running Sun get into are all literally laugh-out-loud funny at times, interspersed with some real discussion of emotions, what to do when boat cops pull you over, what happens when governments start to consider people "meat", and the most unhinged cake competition you'll ever wish you could attend. On top of all that, it features multiple LGBTQ+ characters in variety of roles and jobs.

Running Close to the Wind is, in part, a love letter to every pirate movie you've ever seen. Its main characters are all ADULTS - over age 30! - who hilariously refer to the single 17yo member of the crew as "an infant, a baby, still wet." It's so refreshing to see adults having adventures and real struggles.

I cannot summarize what happens, but here's some highlights: a spy cursed with luck, a captain having the WORST time, a celibate monk whose main tenet is Rational Thought, a secret pirate cove, giant sea turtles, ghosts, curry, a new ambassador, boat cops, seagulls, cake competition, luminescence, SO MANY TEETH, and a guy carving a giant skull into a mountainside.

I loved this book so much that I can't even write about it in a normal way - this review would become entirely too long if I listed everything I enjoyed about it. There is SO MUCH BOOK IN THIS BOOK! Even outside the plot, it adds a ton more detail to the world of Mithalgeard that Alexandra Rowland has been creating across multiple books (this is the 8th, and completely standalone).

Audiobook notes - Casey Jones from Rowland's A Taste of Gold and Iron returns for this one, and does an absolutely stellar job. There are MANY voices and accents, and Avra is an absolute goblin/gremlin/muppet of a man who absolutely cannot carry on a normal conversation for more than half of this book, and Casey does so well with the weirdness. Avra's annoying - and he's meant to be! - but that's balanced by Captain Teveri and Brother Julian's calmer tones as well as the normal 'narrator' voice. When we have group scenes, each character has different accents AND vocal tones, so everyone is easy to keep track of and connect to. This is among my top 5 audiobooks of all time, easily.

My eternal gratitude to Netgalley and RB Media for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook ARC for Running Close to the Wind!

[ariaste]

So excited to announce my next book!!! If you've never read any of my books before, no worries--this is a standalone, so you can jump right in without any extra context. (And for fans of my previous books, great news! This book is set in the same world, and it's even in the same region as the two novellas SOME BY VIRTUE FALL and THE LIGHTS OF YSTRAC'S WOOD, so you'll recognize some familiar worldbuilding :D) SUMMARY: Tam Becket has hated Lord Lyford since they were boys. The fact that he’s also been sleeping with the man for the last ten years is irrelevant. When they were both nine years old, Lyford smashed Tam’s entry into the village’s vegetable competition. Nearly twenty years later, Tam still hasn’t forgiven the bastard. No one understands how deeply he was hurt that day, how it set a pattern of small disappointments and misfortunes that would run through the rest of his life. Now Tam has reconciled himself to the fact that love and affection are for other people, that the gods don’t care and won’t answer any of his prayers (not even the one about afflicting Lyford with a case of flesh-eating spiders to chew off his privates), and that life is inherently mundane, joyless, and drab. But then, the very last straw: Tam discovers that Lyford (of all people!) bears the divine favor of Angarat, the goddess Tam feels most betrayed and abandoned by. In his hurt and anger, Tam packs up and prepares to leave the village for good. But the journey doesn’t take him far, and Tam soon finds himself set on a quest for the most difficult of all possible prizes: Self care, forgiveness, a second chance... and somehow the unbelievably precious knowledge that there is at least one person who loves Tam for exactly who he is—and always has.

This book might be for you if:

You like enemies-to-lovers but you think it would be improved by being one-sided and meanwhile the other person is living through a "hopelessly yearning for childhood crush" trope

you like it when two people are so, so, so stupid that they've been fucking for 10 years and Person A hasn't figured out that Person B is in love with him, and Person B hasn't realized that Person A doesn't even know about his feelings

You know how fucking hard it is to Do The Work In Therapy and you want some catharsis about it

you want to read about an imperfect, truly difficult person who still gets loved, because being perfect is not a requirement to deserve affection and care

you know that apologizing for wronging someone doesn't just magically take away the bad feelings and automatically repair the relationship, and you want to read about someone having to do the extra steps that come after the apology

this one's for the wlw: fat harvest goddess milf. my gift to u

you like gods who don't have anything better to do than stick their noses into human business

when you see a gorgeous man holding an infant, it takes you out at the knees

you like queernorm fantasy AND small-town gossip, and you find the intersection of the two delicious and intriguing

a religion based on pre-Christian Brythonic England. That is, they've got henges and standing stones instead of churches and altars. it's cool

plant magic!!!!!

"god of temptation and evil" actually "god of self-care and personal boundaries and taking responsibility for the consequences you consented to".

Stay tuned for the cover reveal next month, when general preorders will go live! If you're already excited and you want to make sure you don't miss that announcement, you can sign up for my newsletter or join my Discord server: https://linktr.ee/alexandrarowland.

And if you'd like to preorder an autographed copy from me directly, just fill out this form! :) (Signal boosts are very much appreciated!)

[kindnessinsilver]

Does anyone else have a penchant for m/m romance with main character who have interesting sexualities and submissive streaks a mile wide? Or is that just me?

Alex Rowland has had me eating out of the palm of their metaphorical hand for the past several months because of some of their main characters. Anybody who has known me for really any amount of time and ever heard me talk about my taste in books will know that I have a tendency to find a power dynamic reading in almost any pairing I really like, but Alex made it easy with some of these guys. They make me want to cry in the best ways because it is so beautiful to feel seen.

Running Close to the Wind:

Avra Helvaçi, absolute feral gremlin brat who just wants to be teased and pitied and mocked and for all his friends to be just a little mean to him all the time as long as they think it’s endearing or hot. I relate to this so strongly it’s almost not even funny, but I can’t say that because Running Close to the Wind is one of the funniest books I’ve ever read. Avra’s sexuality is “yes please how soon?” except for the rare times when it’s “actually can you please just hold me I am sad and tired.” He has been in an on-again-off-again relationship with his best friend and biggest bully for 15 years, and they understand each other and tolerate each other in ways that no one else on the planet ever could.

A Taste of Gold and Iron:

Evemer Hoşkadem shows us a completely different version of submissive leaning that also calls to my soul. He is dedicated to service, honor, and protocol. He is a core guard of the royal family, and he has been chasing this goal for years because he believes that it is something great and noble. Fealty comes more naturally to him than humor or general affection. He believes in the trappings of power but also in the responsibility of power. Power has the responsibility to care for people, live up to their expectations, and accept the service that is its due. He is seeking, trying to find purpose and trying to find someone worthy of his service and his devotion. Evemer wrecks me because I swear I’ve lived those moments and because I’ll always be a little jealous of characters who get to prove their loyalty by risking grievous bodily harm. His sexuality is “meh” and “shoulders” and “competency kink”. Mood.

When I tell you that I hardly included half the incriminating quotes from the internal monologue of Evemer, I mean it. Read this.

Yield Under Great Persuasion: (under a read more because this book came out a month ago)

Tam Beckett, in Alex’s newest book, definitely doesn’t have the same level of obvious submissive streak, largely because it is covered up by a huge swath of bitter and lonely. Still, the interesting sexuality part applies, and he’s got a few lines that sing to me in similar ways. He has been in love with this one guy for 20 years but also he hates him. But also if he goes longer than a week without his dick, he might die. But also if the guy invites him for a second round, he might throw himself out a window. He is angry at Lyford and angry at his favorite god. He is angry at death and the passage of time. The instant he is given a chance (or 2 or 4) to make up for what a shitty human he’s been for years now, he jumps at it. He wants to be good, he wants to be loved, he wants to be worthy. But also he’s an asshole with a sharp tongue and he will push Lyford’s buttons until the man snaps if that’s what it takes to see his real reaction. He’s also got a similar level of touch starvation and need to be held and loved that Avra has.

[xiaq]

You know when a book or a fic is so good that you keep delaying reading it? Because it will be over too soon and you want to linger. Like, no, no, slow down, let's set it aside after this chapter. I need to walk the dog. Clean the tub. Take out the trash. Lets savor this journey a bit longer. I love that feeling.

[heyitsrink]

you're a godsend

[noahhawthorneauthor]

these are some of my favorites ✨🏳️‍🌈📚

[dinoari]

Your left hand or your right?

[thesebooksaremytherapy]

A Taste of Gold and Iron is so funny because Evemer goes from thinking that everything Kadou does and says and looks like is a sign of his weak character and immorality and flightiness while Evemer literally grows in rage with every little interaction.

And then by the end of the book Kadou is mounting his horse with “breathtaking grace”, filling Evermer with pride with every tiny action, and making Evermer want to fall to his knees and press Kadou’s hands to his forehead in worship of his Lord.

[labelleizzy]

Dedication by Alexandra Rowland in the front of A Taste Of Gold And Iron.

I thank you all, too. I wouldn't have gotten to writing and letting people read what I wrote, without all of you writers and fellow readers.

I am looking FORWARD to THIS!

[asmolbirb]

I cannot explain the noise I made when I went to the ATOGAI tag on AO3 and sorted by kudos and saw a 10,000-word coda written by Ariaste themself

We are FED and WATERED my good friends!! No one is doing it like them!!

[patroclusdefencesquad]

running close to the wind by alexandra rowland is very good very funny very crack very queer i need six more just like it immediately

[ariaste]

THREE WEEKS LEFT until my pirate comedy comes out, set in the same world as A TASTE OF GOLD AND IRON!

Avra Helvaci has just accidentally stolen the most valuable secret in the world, and he's heading to a remote pirate republic find a buyer. And to see the cake competition.

Also featuring such questions as:

What to do when your ship is pulled over by the fantasy sea cops?

How can a jump-rope contest be heavily plot-relevant?

What happens when a government stops considering you a person and labels you just meat?

Who is the most avid and passionate communist in this little island town?

It's out on June 11th from @torpublishinggroup!

[aliterarydance]

Queer Fantasy Book Rec

Absolutely judge this book by its cover!!! It’s just as freaking beautiful and soft and lovely as the cover suggests!! It’s all fealty and reciprocal devotion and a love so pure it’ll worm its way into your brain and re-wire you!! All the side characters are also amazingly memorable! It takes place in a fictional Ottoman Empire-like kingdom in a queer-normative world where a third, gender-neutral pronoun is totally normal, and about a third of the characters are actually referred to by it. No one has issues with any kind of sexuality at all. It’s just such a beautiful world to be the backdrop of this absolutely addicting love story.

It also handles anxiety and perceptions - both of ourselves (the people we think we are and who we’re aiming to be) and that of other people (who we expect them to be and who they really are) - with nuance and care.

I read this first as an audiobook. But about a quarter of the way in, I knew I had to have a physical copy of the book and immediately ordered the hardcover. The book came in the next day after I finished the audiobook. And when I tell you I immediately picked up the gorgeous book and reread it in its entirety, I mean IMMEDIATELY!

@ariaste thank you, thank you, thank you for my new favorite book!! I’m telling everyone in my real life to read it ASAP!

[mielmoreland]

My greatest accomplishment of 2024 to date. Possibly the best thing I'll do all year.

("Assistant" is of course a loose general term for the relevant characters. And Csethiro is wonderful. But I'm queer, and AO3 understands my need for Csevet fic.)

[heyitsrink]

Kadou and Evemer from A Taste of Gold and Iron

[jamieswoodenspoon]

i cannot express to anyone enough how much cc cooked changing white cordelia verlac to brown it girl cordelia carstairs genuinely sounds ridiculous when i try to explain this but herondaisy and the verlac family would not have had the same oomph hear me out