Sursein Judgment By Jet Mykles

Blurb:

Rynn made a mistake in taking the drug hextasy with his fiancée. It was supposed to be the ultimate sexual high, except that you have to sleep with the one you desire most. If you don’t, your body won’t be satisfied and you’ll die. Rynn lived, Lynnette didn’t, and now her parents want someone to pay. Either luck or Surseine, the god of justice Himself, takes pity on Rynn by putting his trial in front of one of His judges. Sursei are graced by the god they represent with the power to see truth and Sursei Shasertai finds Rynn innocent of murder.

But the drug is still out there and Shasertai and the people who travel with him are determined to root out the drug lord responsible for its existence. Shas invites Rynn to join them. He goes willingly, fascinated by the judge who gave him a second chance at life.

Rynn might be innocent and straight, but Shas isn’t. He’s gay, happily so, and very much drawn to the farm boy whose simple innocence is a balm to one who can hear through the lies. What he hears is that Rynn’s not gay, so he vows not to get involved. Until another drug, another time, gets in the way…and then he and Rynn will have to deal with the each other’s truths and their growing attraction.

 

 

Review:

Jet Mykles has created a new world that blends elements of magic and fantasy with a steam punk like atmosphere. The setting is not entirely true to any of the aspects thus creating something new that won’t alienate fans of the genre but also won’t overwhelm those not familiar with such terms. Add in engaging characters with just a hint of mystery and the paranormal story is likely to be a solid hit with fans. Although the characters do have an angst overload towards the end of the story, the majority deftly weaves the mystery with growing romance. Slight problems existed with telegraphed and unlikely elements used as necessary progression devices and well, too much emo at the end. However for the most part, this is a solid Mykles story that will appeal to a lot of fans.

The blurb is rather accurate about the plot and gives a lot of background information that is repeated within the body of the story so you know what you’re getting into at least. The plot revolving around chasing the drug dealers is interesting and unfortunately left hanging. The epilogue does try to wrap it up somewhat but the later part of the book really drops this storyline entirely to focus on the relationship aspect. Even though the name, hextasy, isn’t terribly original the idea of the drug is unique and interesting. Here is the description:

 

“That it was both a drug and a spell. The drug by itself would make the sex better. With the spell, it’d make it the best you ever had, but only if you were with the person you most desired.”

[…]

“That if you weren’t with that person, your body wouldn’t be satisfied. That you’d want to keep going, that you’d have to. You wouldn’t be able to stop.[…] That eventually your body would wear out and you’d die.”

 

So hextasy is a drug and spell that will kill you if you don’t have sex with the person you most desire, both dangerous and sexy of course. This drug plays heavily into the book not only with Rynn’s past and Shas’ search but in many other ways as well.

The character of Rynn is a very classic type for most of the book. He’s innocent and young, only ever having sex with his childhood best friend who he believes he loved deeply. His fascination with Shas confuses him but he doesn’t really fight it all that hard and falls in love with the beautiful judge rather easily. At this point, which is late in the book, Rynn changes from an innocent, easily manipulated and confused man to confident and self-aware. This was a welcome change even if the added commentary about how Rynn visits a brothel to have sex with men several times was out of character. Rynn is clearly a “gay for you” character with his devotion to Rynn so the added suggestion that he had sex with several other men was disturbing and out of character.

Shas was a true delight with his unabashed sensuality and almost flamboyant behavior. His confidence and almost arrogant demeanor are tempered with a playfulness and strength that keep him from being annoying or over the top. Although he changes from a confident, self-assured man to emotional and dependent at the end of the book, Shas is still eye catching and scene stealing. His emotional change lingers for almost one third of the book, which had the angst and drama level too high in my opinion for the pace of the story. This dragged somewhat as the answer to the problem was obvious and ignored as well as the side plot with the drug completely dropped to focus on Shas’ emotional meltdown. But the ending does resolve with a happy ending for all the romance fans as well as a clue on how the side plot of the drug is wrapped up.

The interesting futuristic/science fiction setting is used well but the various side plots aren’t resolved very well. The secondary characters slide in and out of scenes without much to distinguish them even though they each have interest and an intrigue of their own. The relationship between Shas and Colt was left incomplete as the dark looks and lingering tension was dropped rather than addressed. Additionally, the highly dramatic scene where Shas is attacked is completely ridiculous. The place Shas is attacked is well guarded, hidden, and supposedly so safe his own bodyguard takes the night off yet an unknown, insane man who is cackling and laughing manages to break his way in to attack the judge out of the blue without any explanation. While this was clearly a device to progress the relationship between Rynn and Shas, it was utterly ridiculous and given no realistic reasoning to how or why it happened. None of this is ever addressed either.

For the problems I had with the book, I still enjoyed reading it. The yaoi elements to the characters and even when they flipped towards the end are enjoyable themes to read and the futuristic setting was well crafted. While certainly not the best offering from the author, a solid angst filled romance nonetheless and may even be the start of a series considering the unresolved aspects to the book. Especially intriguing is the world of the Sursein and his avatars. The concept of how they distribute justice and their ability to see truth was fascinating and one of the most original and unique parts of the book. Also while there was definite erotica, it was kept to a minimum so the focus could be on the characters and the story for much of the book. Fans of the author will likely enjoy this offering. 

Get it HERE!

 

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