Without being too preachy, Simolke touches on many aspects of what’s wrong and right with our own current society and tells a good tale at the same time. And then along comes Jase-Dawn, another same-gendered boy with the potential to change everything. All of them, however, must deal with the Maintainers–an Orwellian police force with a presence that shapes every move Valchondrians make. Only Taldra’s former assistant, Geln, knows of the twins and the doorway through time, and has his own agenda to turn Valchondria into the world as it should be according to the Book of Degranon. As these twin gay brothers are raised during different time periods, forces force them both along different paths. Taldra & Hachen take pride in knowing their sons Argen and Telius are same-gendered, which was (conveniently) genetically determined at birth. When she and her husband, Hachen, have twin sons in secret, one must be sent back in time to save his life. Taldra is controversial because she advocates a pro-space colonization policy, when Valchondria had abandoned space colonization 1000’s of years ago. Taldra is a scientist who has found a new source of power that opens a doorway in time.

Add a controversial scientist with twin gay sons (one sent back through time), treachery, murder, and redemption and you get one hell of a story. Same-gendered marriage, however, is legal. Colorsighted persons are therefore the ones in the closet. Cured of all illness by a virus that also left them colorblind, the Valchondrians don’t shun gay people–instead, they shun the colorsighted. They are fined credits if they are above optimal weight. While they profess the “Glory” of their society, Valchondrians dare not speak freely lest they be jailed. The story itself begins on the planet Valchondria, where reality greatly differs from ours. Reading Degranon was a welcome change of pace–a scifi story reminiscent of Asimov’s early work, but with undeniably gay sensibilities. Here we go, I thought, another edition of Poofs in Space.

So, when I was sent a copy of Degranon, by Duane Simolke, I didn’t have my hopes set too high. I have found that within the scarce realm of science fiction written by gay writers, a great deal are quite heavy-handed with the gay aspect at the expense of the story.

That’s the most basic thing you should want to know if you’re thinking about reading a book. EDIT: Just found out he has a blog as well. I’ve linked to Duane’s geocities site in the sidebar on the right: you can order books from his site if you’d like. Here’s another book review I originally wrote for HM.

Degranon by Duane Simolke