In the future, on a distant star lives a new society. Ruled by a computer system named Jupiter, men are divided into classes based on their hair color. The Blondies, genetically altered by Jupiter, are the highest class and occupy the capital city of Tanagura. Those with black hair, Mongrels, are forced to live in the slums, Ceres. Iason, the leader of the Blondies, encounters Riki, a mongrel, in the streets of Ceres one night and sets out to own him.

Going into Scoobs-buddy's GLBT bookbox

Taken from Scoobs-buddy's GLBT bookbox.

At first I thought this was manga, and was a bit disappointed that it wasn't, but it does have a few illustrations just to set the tone {grin}, and looks intriguing.

Well... the book starts out very strongly, with a bound youth being tormented sexually by an icily beautiful man, neither of them named. But this seems to be a teaser for the series (this book is the first of, I believe, a six-book series), since there aren't any more sex scenes in this book, and while I think it's pretty clear who the Captive and the Man are, the events of that opening episode aren't referred to again. Even when I began to get an idea of the timeline, from comments made by the main characters later on, it wasn't clear where the opening scene fit in, and while it wasn't important to the story, it nagged at me. [I suppose it was also meant to give the reader a taste of the attraction between the two main characters, but I found it more frustrating than enlightening!]

The main part of the story deals with Riki, formerly the "Charisma" of his street gang, returning after a long absence (presumably as the pet/sex-slave of the Man), and trying to fit in to a life that doesn't seem to interest him much anymore. There's a lot of gang-influence, pressures from old friends/lovers trying to re-awaken the old Riki, and some explanation of the class systems and social/biological limits on this society, but I found it more frustrating than intriguing; for one thing, much of the prose seemed repetitive, with the same points being hammered on again and again. And the characters I found most intriguing seemed to show up and then go offstage for too long - whether that will correct itself in the rest of the series I don't know. And I have to admit that I wasn't sufficiently hooked to want to read the remaining books - but I did look up the plot online, and found that the story-arc seems to be pretty angst-ridden and intense, with a Shakespearian-tragedy conclusion. The plot sounded impressive, but whether it's the English translation or if I just don't click with the author's style, I'm going to pass on the rest of the series.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I'm sending this book to BCer Katekintail in Virginia, who had it on her wishlist. Enjoy!

I picked this up at the post office on Monday. I'm in the middle of a couple books but tempted to toss those aside and pick this one up. heehee Thank you SO much for the RABCK! I really appreciate it.

Ai No Kusabi was the first Yaoi I ever watched (and only the second or maybe third anime ever). So it will always have a special place in my heart. It was rough but sexy and quite moving. It was also thought-provoking and beautiful. Remembering the end still makes me tear up. I was surprised to find out it's in manga now. I look forward to seeing Riki and Iason again in this "reimagined" version!