Fiona Patton - The Stone Prince

The royal line of Branion, have been blessed, or cursed, with the power of the Flame, a magic which—if wielded properly—none can stand against. But if called upon by one untrained, the Flame is as likely to destroy its human vessel as whatever foe it has been unleashed against.
Yet even the Flame is less dangerous than Her Most Regal and Sacred Majesty Melesandra the Third, an unyielding and terrifying ruler. No one understands this better than Crown Prince Demnor, who is convinced he is his mother’s most-treasured victim. Often at odds with Melesandra, Demnor knows he will receive no support from her when faced with the prospect of an unwanted, politically motivated marriage.
But all his personal conflicts must be thrust aside when the realm of Branion is drawn into a far greater struggle as the eternally rebellious Heathland plots a bold new campaign of war. Only time will tell whether Demnor can survive the traitors within the Court and the ever-growing rebel forces—even as he strives to master the power which is his birthright.

Comment: When I started reading m/m stories, some were captivating enough to convince me this would be a "niche" I'd enjoy. As with everything, some things/themes appeal, others not really but I did try to check books whose m/m inclusion would be important, especially when it wasn't as trendy. I got this book in 2010 most likely and it had been published in 1997 so I had high hopes for this fantasy, which is a genre that often has fascinating m/m pairings (some I have loved), but to be fair, I wasn't as marveled by this story as I wanted...

In this novel we have the story of prince Demnor, as he goes on about his preparation to, one day, become king despite the pressure and the obstacles in his path and the machinations of those around him. He doesn't have a loving relationship with anyone except his Companion, and he also knows duty must be his goal. He knows he should marry, so his position is strengthened but can he really take such a step when his heart is elsewhere? And how will his dealings with those around be if they think he is weak? At the same time, enemies of the country are looking to conquer more regions and Damnor knows his presence might be key in certain areas, but will he travel into a trap?

I was very eager to read this book and had high expectations about it, especially since this is also the first book by the author I would try to read. I think, as so often happens with many books, the possibilities the blurb, the cover, some reviews seem to suggest were certainly bigger than the actual experience. I liked the main idea used for this book and the effort for new ideas and elements the author has come up with but, at the same time, some of those things confused and disappointed me.

The best thing about the story is the world building. I especially liked this idea people could have companions - there's even a guild of sorts - who can be friends and lovers when someone is of age. The most interesting thing is that I got the impression the companions tend to be of the same gender, meaning prince Damnor's companion is a man too. I saw some references, and after finishing, reviews, by some people talking about the "gayness" of this world but to be honest, I just could not really see any emotional link in any relationship. I think it was partly due to the writing, but if they can keep these companions even after marrying... quite liberating but to me felt an easy way out. 

In fact, the whole story was more like a listing of situations rather than a plot. This was written in 1997 so maybe the style of presenting fantasy novels was similar among many authors, but I didn't feel the connection to the characters I assume the author wanted to male. Everyone acts as if they are always angry or ambitious for some kind of political or power move and there wasn't that much of personal and personality development in any character. Who were these people beyond the roles they played or what we were told? I think we didn't have enough scenes with people interacting or doing things that would show me why they are special.

So much of what the characters do is linked with ambition as I've said, but their thoughts seemed very secretive, as if I had to guess what was the point of that. Sometimes this style works, but here frustrated me. Since so much was about things other than romance or romantic situations, I truly missed the idea of why this is labeled gay romance too. That was the main reason why I wanted to read about these people, perhaps to see how that would play with family interactions but everyone was mean, angry, annoying, secretive, not likable enough for me to care.

There were two other elements I was a little annoyed at throughout the book. First, the constant flashbacks, which I understand are a great way to convey stuff without just the "telling" mode, but more than two in any book feel to me like perhaps that information should be shared in a better way through the plot anyway. Second, the author was incredible in her attempt to play with gender by giving everyone weird names and all the females had male titles, so any lord or duke could be both make and female and so on. Cool, but after countless names and titles and references to people that don't even show up in the story, I admit I started to feel tired and irritated with this.

I feel the story had many good and less good things, all centered around the same issues, but the romance elements didn't feel romantic to me nor to the "rues" the world seems to have, the characters weren't easy to like nor were they developed in such a way I was interested in knowing what would happen to them and the writing was good enough, very rich indeed, but convoluted in some moments, to the point of being repetitive and making the plot moving too slow. I don't feel compelled to read more in this world and after checking some reviews, it seems many confusing details will remain.

Grade: 5/10