Trasmundo: Escape ★★★★★ | guest post, review, and giveaway

I'd like to welcome Varian back to my blog and wish her a very happy launch day of her new book Trasmundo: Escape

Read Varian's guest post about the link to art in Trasmundo, stay to take a look at my review of the book, and then comment for a chance to win an ecopy of the novel (winner will be chosen randomly on Monday, Aug. 10 2015).

 Without further ado... bestselling author, Varian Krylov!

Art and Trasmundo

KO by Zdzisław Beksiński
KO by Zdzisław Beksinski

Thanks for inviting me for a chat. *Waves to Bey and friends.*

Bey asked me to talk a bit about the importance of art in Trasmundo: Escape. First off, for those who don't know, Bey not only designed the beautiful book cover, but also created the wonderful pieces of Luka's art that appear in the novel. I was elated when Bey said he was up for creating some paintings to go in the novel, and I love how they turned out.

Probably because I identify with the need to solve life's puzzles by playing with words and images, and that compelling urge to connect to the people around me by sharing the alternate realities that hatch in my imagination, the protagonists in my novels are often creative souls: musicians, writers, photographers. Luka, the main character of Trasmundo: Escape is an artist. Largely because of how people have treated him all his life, he's a solitary and introverted person, so in some ways, his drawings and paintings are Luka's way of reaching outward and communicating. But art is also an escape from a cruel and violent world. The surreal landscapes he creates are worlds he retreats to when his reality becomes too lonely, painful or scary.

Apart from the importance of art as an aspect of Luka's character, I wanted to use references to other artists as a way of expanding and layering the tropes of war, exile, and identity in the story. A few years ago, I read an essay by Milan Kundera, and there's a line where he calls literature a silvery bridge linking distant lands and strangers, “the last observatory from which we can embrace human life as a whole.” That line really resonated with me. Since I first started reading literature from other parts of the world, it's been my way of trying to understand other cultures, and people from different places and times. Unlike reading a history book, or a newspaper, when I read a novel set in nineteenth century Russia or France, or contemporary Iran or India, novels show me how like me these people are, despite our unique cultures, languages, and historical circumstances.

Trasmundo by Remedios Varo
Trasmundo by Remedios Varo

In Trasmundo: Escape, I wanted to use the quotes that head each chapter, as well as a lot of other borrowed phrases that are woven into the story itself, and the works of the artists Luka admires, as a way of tying Luka and what he goes through, with the horrors of twentieth century history that happened decade after decade, all around the world. Because, even though Trasmundo takes place in a fictitious country, it reflects atrocities that really took place, like the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust, what the Khmer Rouge did in Cambodia, and the genocides in Rwanda, and Yugoslavia. Some of the artists who are inspirations to Luka are people who lived through similarly traumatic moments in history. Uruguayan-born Remedios Varo fled Franco's Spain during the civil war and remained in exile in Paris; German artist Edgar Ende had his paintings confiscated and destroyed by the Nazis; Zdzisław Beksiński endured the Nazi invasion, and later the Soviet occupation of his native Poland.

I wanted to bring references to these artists, along with quotes from people like Walter Benjamin and Czesław Miłosz, together like threads, and weave them together into a unifying tapestry in Trasmundo: Exile, because when we are lucky enough to live in a time and place where we feel safe, conflicts that happen in places like Rwanda or Yugoslavia can feel so remote. Like they have nothing to do with us, who we are as individuals, and as a society. But unfortunately, I think the frailties that allow people to fall under the spell of the Hitlers of the world are universal, and we all need to be vigilant against those who are constantly circling, watching and waiting for a chance to use our fear and resentment of those who appear different from us, to expand their own power.

De Profundus by Edgar Ende
De Profundus by Edgar Ende

For me, this issue meshes perfectly with an m/m romance that also touches on homophobia. Ethnic cleansing focuses a population´s anxiety on religion and culture, but the hatred it foments is intimately twined with the same weakness that drives people to ostracize and persecute LGBT people. And Trasmundo: Escape is about two men, on opposite sides of an ethnic conflict, who look past the pointless hatred stirred up by leaders on both sides of the war, and find a friendship that slowly turns into something else. Something Luka, the young artist, never thought would be his.

 

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My Review - ★★★★★

trasmundo-final-900x1350I was so chuffed to collaborate with Varian and do the cover and other art for Trasmundo: Escape because this was such a great read for me. I haven’t read many books where one of the central MCs is an artist—as an artist myself, that alone made the book a fascinating read. However there is so much more to it.

For one, the tension in this book was very thick at times, which I loved—the stress of waiting to see whether war’s grasping claws would reach Luka, the worry over whether the risky escape would succeed… even the very precarious beginnings of the main relationship were all driving me forward, the words of the story compelling, and imagery vivid. However, the tension was tempered by Tarik’s calm confidence and the wonderful way that the two MCs came to find solace in each other.

luka-treeYep. I liked it even though it was romantic. No… wait… maybe because it was romantic.

Don’t get me wrong, the book is set against the dark, terrible backdrop of war and the ruthless, degenerates who are drawn to take part in it—but what Luka and Tarik have together spreads warmth and light across that sombre canvas, shaping a story that is both wonderfully sexy and beautifully touching.

I can’t wait for the next one.

 

 

Review of Grif’s Toy by Joseph Lance Tonlet

This is definitely not my normal sort of read.

How the hell do I rate this? I have no real experience with romances, and this is definitely romantic.

Yet, here I sit here with a grin on my face, heart hammering, feeling a little dazed and in need of a very stiff drink.

I’m going to rate this according to my gut (and, I suppose, other parts of my anatomy) and go with five stars.

On one hand, it’s incredibly hot, full of some of my very favourite things. The fact that Wes and Grif are such an ideal match makes their D/s relationship intensely satisfying (and envying) to read about.

[Am I greedy for wanting more Chocolate?]

On the other hand? Well, it’s one hell of a great fantasy—the kind that is crafted from a deep well of desires, each detail lovingly chosen before it’s polished like a prized possession and placed in just the right sequence to make for a really gratifying story. I found it all terribly attractive, both in plot and execution. A lot of care went into it, and a lot of soul.

As much as the relationship between Grif and Tate was bittersweet… well, what Wes and Grif forge between them is like finding home. And, before I get too sentimental, let me wrap this up:

The truth is, I had a hard time putting Grif’s Toy down, and that felt damn great.

I am eagerly looking forward to the next one.

Good job, Joseph.

Order it here and then add it to your TBR on Goodreads

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