Welcome back to Augusta Li! Not only did she love us enough to want to come back for a second week in a row (yayy), but she’s here with a gift this time! Her recent book from Silver Publishing, The Ballad of the Burning Year, has one of my favorite pairings — brothers. I shall be posting my review this week, so for today I leave you with Gus:
Thanks for having me back! I’m thrilled to be here to talk a little about my new book, The Ballad of the Burning Year, and bro-cest in general.
What is it about incest between brothers that entices so many readers and authors? Fan fiction writers have explored this taboo for years. You don’t have to look far to see many people exploring these themes with a variety of characters: Sam and Dean, Thor and Loki (I know that one technically doesn’t count), Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, Hetalia, the Weasleys, and even the Jonas Brothers! People enjoy these relationships, but why?
One of the first pairing I personally discovered and enjoyed was Sasuke Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha, two characters from the Naruto manga. In the hands of the most skillful writers, their relationship took on so many dimensions that can only exist between brothers. Sasuke looked up to his older brother and admired his skill, but he also felt a measure of jealousy and a strong drive to surpass Itachi. Sasuke wanted to be successful independent of his legendary sibling. He both appreciated and resented the protectiveness Itachi showed him as a child. Even when he hated his brother the most, Sasuke couldn’t quite sever the bond between them.
As an author, there are just so many more dynamics to explore between brothers than are ever possible between men who meet and get to know each other later in life. One of my beta readers for The Ballad of the Burning Year asked me why I would make my protagonists brothers. He wondered why I didn’t just make them friends and thus appeal to more readers. To be honest, I considered it, especially in the current climate of censorship. I knew many sites would decline to review my work or even offer it for sale. Even so, it didn’t take me long to decide against changing the relationship between my characters. The love they feel for each other is part of who they are, and it drives their decisions they make as well as the story. The emotions they experience for each other are drastically different from what they might feel if I’d just made them friends.
I couldn’t cut their sibling ties any more than I could make one of them a woman, at least not without cutting out a lot of their heart.
From the time he was a small boy, my character Kei looked up to his older brother, Ju, almost to the extreme of venerating Ju as perfect. Ju has been with him as long as he can remember, and that bond just can’t be duplicated in any other relationship. The brothers have seen each other at their best and worst, and have shared many more triumphs and tragedies than even close friends could have. Therefore, as Ju crosses line after line in an attempt to liberate their oppressed people, it comes as quite a blow to Kei to realize his brother isn’t as infallible as he thought growing up. He has to reconcile his love with the flawed man Ju really is.
Kei and Ju make many sacrifices as they attempt to free their people. Their forbidden relationship is one of the first and the hardest to relinquish, but they know nobody will respect or follow them if they find out about what they’re doing. This is a prevalent theme in the novel, Kei and Ju sacrificing their personal needs for the greater good. Again, the conflict couldn’t really work except between brothers.
I had to ask myself: Is it okay to enjoy this? I believe it is, for a few reasons. First of all, and most obviously, it’s fiction. Fiction is a safe place to explore unconventional fancies and taboos. No one is hurt. My book is a fantasy, and Kei and Ju aren’t exactly human, so I’ve put a little added cushion between their situation and reality. Even if they existed, their relationship wouldn’t hurt anyone. There is no victim, largely because they’re both men. I hate to cite a double-standard, but incest that can’t result in deformed offspring just doesn’t feel as serious. I don’t want to give too much away, and I hope I don’t squick anybody out, but the sexual dynamic between them was really fun to explore. I also enjoyed playing with the aesthetics of their similar coloring…
I know The Ballad of the Burning Year won’t be every reader’s cup of tea, but in the end, I had to be true to my characters even at the expense of sales. I have really tried to handle the relationship tastefully, growing it from emotional needs and mutual desire rather than exploiting it for shock value. Kei and Ju enjoy each other physically, but their connection is much deeper than that, and I hope it will resonate with some readers.
Please note, the winner of my giveaway will receive the ebook as a gift from Silver Publishing. (Giveaway Rules at the bottom!)
Here’s an excerpt from The Ballad of the Burning Year:
Kei-Go and his brother had barely explored half the island in the year since they’d washed up on its nameless shore. The beach and surrounding jungle felt familiar to Kei after spending so much time there, but Ju-Go craved novelty, and ventured farther into the dense, foreign wilderness each day. Kei often worried he’d encounter something unexpected, maybe something he couldn’t handle alone. He wished his brother would see reason and stay to the well-trodden tracts, but Ju’s nature dictated otherwise.
Kei, having finished his chores around the little, cylindrical shelter they’d built from branches and the large, leathery leaves of the native trees, wandered up the shore to check his traps. Along the way, he observed the lush vegetation of the home imposed upon him. It reminded him of the forest he’d left behind, far across the ocean, the place where he’d been born, raised, and then torn away from. Dense underbrush, alight with large, colorful flowers, surrounded the thick, twisting trunks of the trees. Their broad leaves, as large as he was tall, cast shadows over the berry bushes beneath them. Kei had already harvested the sweet, purple fruits of the dense shrubs, so he ignored them in favor of his cages. Ju loved the meat of the blue-shelled crustaceans Kei caught in the traps he’d fashioned from flexible undergrowth fronds. Kei hoped he’d find one of the baskets full.
He made his way down the jagged, flesh-pink stone on the shore until he stood knee-deep in foamy salt water. Kei waded farther out, the warm waves lapping at his waist and chest. He found the rope he’d twisted together from the dense vines draping the trees, and followed it into the sea until the surf brushed his throat and chin. The strong tide churned around him, tugging his long, turquoise hair away before whipping it back into his face. The seabed beneath his feet felt soft, shifting, and uncertain, littered with rocks and shell fragments that threatened to slice his bare soles, though he’d become used to navigating it and could almost anticipate the terrain. He hauled up the line and the traps attached to it. Three of them stood empty, but the forth contained a sapphire-shelled creature the size of his forearm. It had swum into the opening he’d made and been unable to find its way out. Kei reached inside to retrieve it by the tail, mindful of the single, sharp claw. He and Ju would eat well tonight.
The creature had stopped thrashing by the time Kei reached the dwelling he shared with his brother. They’d built the round structure by lashing branches together with vines. It reminded Kei a little of their lost home, which had been a living, hollow tree, far larger than their hut. His family dwelling had been spacious, comprised of several ancient trunks forming different rooms. It had risen four stories, complete with wide branches serving as balconies and terraces. Many generations of his and Ju’s line had improved the structure, carving spiral stairs from the sweet-smelling wood and embellishing the walls with intricate decorations. It lay in ashes now.
Burying his melancholy, Kei set his catch down on a stump they used as a table and added a few pieces of deadfall to the fire. Ju insisted they keep the blaze going at all times, so a passing ship might see it and come to their rescue. Kei didn’t hold much hope of being discovered, wasn’t sure he even wanted to leave, but now he needed a healthy fire to prepare their supper. Also, if the flames granted his brother hope of rescue, he’d tend them for that reason alone. Ju suffered here, suffered with so many memories and bad dreams. Hatred and regret poisoned Ju’s spirit. Kei knew his brother shouldered the blame for events he couldn’t have swayed. Back home, they’d called Kei a healer. Here, lost, he found he could do little to help the person he knew best, the person he loved best.
Kei wrapped the shellfish, along with some berries and a few tree-fruits with thick, deep green rinds, in a large leaf and pushed the package into the coals. Soon a sweet, savory smell rose from his makeshift hearth. He hoped his brother would return while the food was at its best. Where was Ju, and what could he be doing?
Letting his eyes flutter shut, Kei reached out with his mind. His connection to Ju grew stronger by the day, no matter how his brother pretended it didn’t exist. Before long, he found Ju’s thoughts, looked out through Ju’s eyes at the tops of trees, and saw ground mist rising to engulf them with the retreat of the sun. Ju must have found a lookout atop one of the highest spines of pink stone, and Kei knew he’d been sitting on it for quite some time. Ju’s mind felt blank, almost peaceful, to Kei, not the state he’d grown accustomed to sharing. His brother didn’t seem to be obsessing over past wrongs or planning future vengeance. Still, if he pressed, Kei found the undercurrent of anger and confusion. Thankfully, his brother didn’t acknowledge it at the moment. Ju simply watched the light bleed out of the world as they knew it. The island had become their entire world about a year ago, and Kei didn’t know if he wanted that to change. At the moment, even Ju seemed at ease with their new home. If only his contentment would last.
Kei wandered toward the sea and perched on a piece of driftwood. A film of salt covered his skin and made his peacock-colored hair tangle terribly, but he wouldn’t waste their drinking water to rinse it away. Also, he was more concerned about his brother than the state of his hygiene. Ju had been gone since morning, and soon the sun would set, bathing the island in pinks and oranges with a brilliance they’d never witnessed in their forest home. The sea would appear on fire, molten. Had Ju taken water, or stopped at the stream to fill the canisters they’d constructed from the shells of tree-fruits? Certainly, he hadn’t eaten anything beyond berries or mushrooms.
“Come back. Dinner is almost ready,” Kei thought, making the words a psychic shout. He felt Ju stir from his reverie and stand. He watched a little longer as Ju found the path down the steep cliffs, gracefully jumping errant rocks and fallen trees. Then he turned his attention back to fixing their meal.
Buy link: https://spsilverpublishing.com/product_book_info/new-release-c-1/products_id/1183/
GIVEAWAY RULES
Please leave a comment below to win an ebook copy of The Ballad of the Burning Year. The giveaway will last until Midnight CDT on Sunday, September 9. I will choose the winner using Random.org and email the winner who will then have 48 hours from the time of the drawing to reply to my email. I will then forward the winner’s information to the author so they can receive their book.
Please enter the email you’d wish me to contact you at in the comment form, or if you prefer, leave it in the message.
Thank you and good luck!
Filed under: Giveaways, Guest Post Tagged: Augusta Li, Silver Publishing, Twincest/Brothercest
