Remnant

I haven't actually read any of the Caldwell & Feximal stories and am coming at this solely from being a fan of Whyborne & Griffin (and just Hawk's writing in general). While it is so much fun to see Whyborne and Griffin from an outsiders perspective, all this short story has really done is strengthen my interest in not reading any more of Charles' books - because too many of them have skirted the rape-y side way too close.

Case in point: There were no preliminaries. He barely did more than jerk clothing out of the way, and grab for the bottle of oil by the bedside. He did not give a damn for my pleasure, or take any time for the simple courtesies of lovers. He simply held me down and pushed into me with brutal strokes of possession, his fingers gripping my flesh without mercy, and the words that issued from his lips were a great deal more like threats than endearments.

Which is a shame, because prior to their sex scene, I was leaning towards a five star rating for this short story because it is nice to see Whyborne and Griffin out of their element and - as aforementioned - from an outside perspective. As well as the case being interesting in that it benefits from Whyborne's knowledge of languages but doesn't really need his knowledge of sorcery. Which was a super fun change.

But...well...

An interesting read. I love Whyborne and Griffin but it's my first introduction to Robert and Simon. While I enjoyed the story, I reserve my opinion about Simon until I have a chance to read his first story.