The Knife of Narcissus Parts 1-2

by Carolyne Chand

Lucius Sentius, along with most people in the city of Rome, assumes that the debauched days of Nero are behind them now that Rome has settled down under a sober new ruler, Vespasian. Lucius may be only the son of a merchant, but his newly arranged marriage to an older widow will bring powerful connections and an enviable life. If he keeps himself on a respectable path.

The upcoming marriage seems impossible when he discovers that his heart lies somewhere not at all his lifelong friend Trio, the reserved and serious son of one of the most reserved and pious families in the city.

As Lucius is pushed along the course of duty to family, to his promised spouse, and to Rome itself, he begins to see under the surface of his city, into a net of intrigues, manipulation, and corruption that can carry him upward in status and power...or destroy both him and the people he loves.

A serial novel in 7 parts.

Genres: Historical, M M Romance

128 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 24, 2014

About the author

Against everyone's better judgement, Carolyne Chand spends a lot of time writing about swords and sandals. Sometimes she writes about Revolutionary War vampires, cross-dressing girl pirates, and elves in spaceships too. Learn more about them at http://carolynechand.com.

Reviews

[Optimist ♰King's Wench♰ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rome…

It's intoxicating, no? I've always been fascinated by the Roman Empire. Certainly, they accomplished a lot, advanced knowledge, conquered, pillaged… they were kind of on the depraved side. God bless 'em.

Bath houses.
Dens of iniquity.
Togas.



Divine, I say. Scrumptious even.

So, yeah, I like Rome and all things Roman including TV shows and movies, which is why I picked these up when they became available and I regret nothing.

Ordinarily, I'm not down with serials, but I have them all so… *shrug* However, this feels much more akin to an epic saga rather than a serial. The Knife of Narcissus' story arch will take time to develop and unfold. I envision many obstacles along the way for Lucius and Trio.

Lucius and Trio grew up together. They think of themselves as brothers as do their families. Boys will be boys and they engaged in some exploratory behaviors growing up, but nothing all that untoward. Somewhere along the way they fell in love, but this is ancient Rome. They both have obligations to their families and those obligations have come due for Lucius.

Lucius' father has arranged a marriage to a wealthy widow, Velleia, which will both further the family business and increase their standing in the community. Lucius understands his obligations, yet he wants to have his cake and eat it too. He propositions Trio and gets rejected. Ouch. This relationship strikes me as the heart and soul of this series. Word of caution: there are ladies in this series. It's Rome. Think decadence or Caligula, whichever you prefer.

Lucius is determined to get his man. His methods are unorthodox and some may say foolhardy, but his devotion is unwavering. Along the way he's… ah, increasing his carnal knowledge. His educational efforts are nothing short of fervent. I admire that sort of devotion all in the name of pleasing his man. In fact, he's so assiduous that he's willing to experience both ends of the spectrum, so to speak. That's dedication, my friends. Hopefully, he's efforts will not be in vain.

The writing is solid. Ms. Chand seems to really know Roman history and it shows in the details. If you're a fan of Ancient Rome, this series should appeal to you.

Stay tuned for the next episode…

Reviewed for

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can’t beat the Romans for a bit of debauchery and a bit on the side with a sex slave. I love my historical stories, I love my romans, so an M/M romance set in Roman times and Carolyne Chand with her first two parts of the series The Knife of Narcissus is on a winner for me – WOOHOO!! An M/M Roman saga.

Lucius and Trio have been friends since they were children, however Lucius is now about to be married, arranged by his father and all in the name of increasing the families social class if it wasn’t already high enough, so even this early on the political dealings begin. The story sets a scene of Rome that I found realistic, well described and I was immediately swept back to an ancient time and walking down the streets of ancient Rome. Since their boyhood fumblings, Lucius has developed a little more than a crush on his best friend and is determined to make love to him. However, Trio is reticent even though he also has very strong feelings for Lucius but has a harder time coming to terms with his emotions than Lucius. I could feel the emotional turmoil taking place inside him. On the one hand his love for Lucius on the other his denial to come to terms with his true feelings. He really is one confused young man, oh I wished he would just throw caution to the wind and accept what is staring him in the face.

The first two parts of this series for me really deals with Lucius discovering his homosexuality or “gayness” and exploring the possibilities, almost like a gay sexual awakening. He avoids contact with women even though his father sends him to brothels, but he always manages to avoid the deed. Fascinated by Greek poems and drawings he is determined to discover more. Thank goodness there are slaves like Perseus who can teach and mentor him in the ways he wants. So gradually he becomes more experienced. I like the way that Carolyne gets the balance, as of course I’m sure back then, using and abusing the slaves for sex would have been a daily occurrence and nobody would think twice about it. It was all about just getting your rocks off so to speak in some respects. Separating the emotional feeling of love and the physical sex act with no emotions. After all what were slaves and brothels for in those days anyway? Obviously a time I feel that was a lot more in touch with their basic animal instincts, for want of a better phrase, before society and conventions started to impose more rigorous behavioural codes. That makes reading an M/M romance in this period for me personally raw and gritty, also no one needs to get upset about cheating as there wasn’t any in the sense of how we see it today. Your marriage was one thing, one of duty and responsibility; getting your end away with the slaves or in the brothels was another.

Lucius is married off to Velleia Aeliana who was married before to a much older and wealthier man who has died and is now widowed. She is barren and obviously this is just a marriage of convenience. However, family expectations of the wealth she will bring with her into the marriage are obviously of great benefit. However, he can still not bring himself to sleep with her, he knows that his inclinations and attractions are definitely with men and one in particular. I could just feel Lucius’s fear almost of having to perform the act to seal the marriage, but he can’t bring himself to do it. Constantly making up excuses in order to avoid the issue. I could so sympathise with him, after all I wouldn’t be able to either, even if it was a case of close your eyes and think of England. I would probably have to think of a great deal more than England – lol! Velleia is of course more than aware of what's up although she never broaches the subject directly. Marriage to her is just a duty too. But poor Lucius, caught and trapped between duty and his true emotions. For some reason I don’t trust Velleia and whether or not she’ll turn out to be a snake in the grass later will remain to be seen.

Now here we come to the deal with serials in my opinion. The first two parts end for me on a somewhat bitter sweet note. Is there a spark of hope for Lucius and Trio, or is it all going to back fire on them? Lucius is left and high and dry, no resolve, so the question is how does it continue from here? Is Velleia going to be a problem? How is Lucius going to manage his marriage and still try and find love with Trio? So the first two parts end with lots of questions left. I wouldn’t call it a cliff-hanger, but more lose ends that still need to be tied together. Personally, I love serials as it keeps you on the edge of your seat and gives you pause for thought before the next book comes out. I personally have no problem with this although I appreciate some do, but I see it a little bit like the literary version of a soap or sitcom. Even some of the most successful TV based programmes are serials, like Downton Abbey to name but one as an example. So no I don’t have a problem with serials in literary form either. Just keeps me interested and hungry for more.

[The Novel Approach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carolyne Chand’s Knife of Narcissus (1-2) is a refreshing departure from the kind of historical gay novels to which I normally gravitate. I’m a big fan of 19th century (early, mid, and late) and Edwardian gay fiction (not necessarily romances) and have read maybe one or two books set in ancient Rome a long time ago. And I must say, this is a wonderfully written historical gay romance, the first two books hitting the ground running as they introduce us to a world that’s both colorful and sensual in more ways than one.

Chand knows her Ancient Rome very well – I’ll not nitpick historical details, but suffice it say there’s enough information there as to not just the day-to-day comings and goings of Romans, but also nifty tidbits pertaining to food, entertainment, and even (and this is significant) attitudes and behaviors. Even what might initially look like a throwaway scene such as the one where two children are tussling in the street, little fists flying everywhere, and adult onlookers are actually placing bets on who wins…

Nice little details like those add so much color, texture, and layer to the environment in which Lucius and Trio grow up. They also remind us that we’re peeking into a world that’s wildly different from ours but at the same time, curiously similar in so many ways. And Chand performs a great balancing act in engaging our senses because she seasons her books with history without saturating it and overwhelming us. One of the dangers of writing historical fiction is the temptation to overdo descriptions and details, the urge to show off a writer’s research and knowledge of her/his chosen period so that the book turns into a plodding, boring history lesson rather than a novel that’s supposed to engage us from cover to cover. Knife of Narcissus shows us how things should be done.

Perhaps the best thing to me about books one and two is the fact that the angsting of the lovers over their unlawful feelings for each other is kept at a minimum. In fact, Chand limits the heartbreak and despair to Trio, who isn’t the POV character, so that we’re blessed with Lucius, who’s deeply in love but goes about dealing with his troubles in a very pragmatic manner. He doesn’t spend page after page bemoaning his fate, of being born at the wrong time, of being born gay. Oh, heck no. He slyly goes about learning how to be the perfect lover for Trio and is even very candid about it when confronted by his horrified/mortified/utterly-turned-on dreamboat. Whether by older slave, younger slave, or even a female contortionist – Lucius’ sexual maturation isn’t treated lightly, either. For every experience he enjoys, he gets something out of it, not just in the physical sense but in the mind and the heart as well. The female contortionist is nothing more than curiosity satisfied, and the clinical coldness of the moment – one that’s even slightly edged with wry humor – makes for a sharp contrast to the more sensual and more physically and emotionally gratifying man-on-man scenes. It’s an education that not only eases him into his nature, but also allows him to help Trio overcome his own fears and doubts.

Lucius might put up with a lot from Trio, but he’s no pushover, and it’s that determination – childish in many ways and edged with poignancy in others because of his too-natural fear of being alone – that makes this series a real treat to read.

That’s not to say that the side characters are ignored. Besides Trio, we’ve got a rich group of supporting characters whose personalities are vivid enough in varying degrees to add even greater nuance to Lucius’ relationships with them. Velleia, the widow whom Lucius is being forced to marry, is also a subtly written character. As I’ve only read two installments of the series so far, the jury’s still out as to her full characterization. However, from what I’ve read, it’s pretty easy to see that there’s a lot more to her than what Lucius allows himself (and, therefore, the reader) to see. Velleia drops a hint or two as to how she really feels about the match, and I suspect her to be just as reluctant – perhaps even embittered – by her prospects not just as a woman but as a wealthy one who’s also barren. She’s also well-educated and regarded as a bit of a curiosity because of it, and being treated no differently from chattel is nothing less than a hard, demeaning blow. That said, she’s not written as one of those dreaded danger-to-our-gay-lovers clichés. There are some hard words exchanged between her and Lucius, but it looks to me that she’s very much justified in her attitude, and I’ll find out once I move on to the next books in the series.

There are also Lucius’ father, Perseus (the older slave), Arpalycus (the young slave), Trio’s parents, among others – each one of them nicely fleshed out with distinctive personalities and quirks that add to the nice, tightly woven tapestry Chand has created for us. The first two installments of Knife of Narcissus are a fantastic introduction to a vividly rendered Rome of ages past. The writing is smart, nuanced, erotic, and affecting without the weight of melodrama bearing it down. There’s nothing overly sentimental and breathless about it, but the strained dignity with which the heroes (and some side characters) sort through their deeper conflicts makes their stories all the more compelling. A highly recommended read.

[Heather York · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Knife of Narcissus was originally published as a 7 part serial but I read the complete Omnibus edition. I loved the quality of detail the author used to put the reader right there in Ancient Rome experiencing Lucius & Trio's journey along with a very interesting cast of secondary characters that at times add so much more than secondary plotlines. I will admit that there seemed to be a lot of moments of repetition in regard to Lucius' inner monologue, but this is my first serial so perhaps that is more common with the writing style of serials as a nod to the "previously on . . ." beginnings of the serials out of Old Hollywood. Definitely a great addition to my Ancient Rome library.