Book Review: Paleolithica By Nando Gray

“‘Look,’ Cascade said seriously. He gripped Entin by the shoulder and peered into his eyes imploringly. ‘If you come with me, there will be no turning back. Captives who abandon before the war will be killed. I won’t be able to protect you if you step outside of the rules. And you should know that The Wolves are real. And dangerous.’”– Nando Gray, PALEOLITHICA

PALEOLITHICA BY Nando Gray is a captivating blend of contemporary language and a deep dive into the lives of humans in the Stone Age and their tribal communities. The narrative delves into their fascinating interaction with a mighty volcano, which they revere as a deity. The plot unfolds through the intricate lives of two prehistoric queer men who become lovers (don’t read about this every day!) and three distinct cultures and tribes: Summerhome, Mountainhome, and “The Wolves.” Oh, and there’s a witch scheming amongst these tribes, driven by a lust for power. 

First, I want to speak on Gray’s use of modern verbiage in the narrative. While this is Historical Fiction, the story is within the M/M genre, first and foremost, so I understand why the author frequently used more accessible language instead of giving us Clan of the Cave Bear or Quest For Fire. What he’s attempted to do (and I feel he’s succeeded) is create a more fluid reading experience and provide his readers with an efficient, quicker way to connect with his characters. Choosing a more simplistic style of speech runs the risk of making the character interactions and scene descriptions unengaging. Also, as this isn’t a 500-page saga, Gray doesn’t overly complicate his writing by attempting to create a unique dialect (or dialects) to match the primitive era.

Text that requires too much translation or inference can be exhausting if one is looking for an easy-to-relate-to romance narrative. And text that is too “basic,” again, doesn’t allow an accessible bridge to really get into the characters’ moods, reflections and intentions. Mixing contemporary language with terms and verbiage one would expect from a novel set in the Stone Age is the best compromise for reader comprehension, allowing for more complexity in character development but still providing a feeling of era authenticity.

Entin, a member of the Summerhome tribe, experienced significant loss at a young age with the death of his parents and the disappearance of his twin sister. Despite facing overt rejection from his tribe to the point of humiliation and being forced to learn the ways of the tribeswomen as a form of emasculation for what everyone believes to be his homosexual nature, Entin remains kind, holds a deep love for nature, and opposes violence. Isolated from his peers, his only friend and ally in the tribe is Aiel, a kind girl who was his missing sister’s best friend. [Image On Right Property Of Nando Gray.]

Cascade, the son of the Mountainhome Tribe’s chief, is a skilled hunter known for his strength and compassion. Cascade is intelligent and innovative, having created a useful tool—basically, the bolo—though he never intended it to be used as a weapon of violence against others. Nonetheless, it became a tool for hunting and fighting in his tribe. The Mountainhome tribe is obsessed with destroying “The Wolves,” a dangerous, competitive tribe.

The story, and especially the romance, truly begins after the Mountainhome tribe raids the Summerhome tribe. This results in the destruction of the Summerhome village and the capture of its inhabitants to be held as slaves. This is where our two lovers meet, as Cascade essentially saves Entin from death, primarily via his violent uncle, Harlak.

As this is an M/M novel, there’s the expected man-on-man sex, and it will absolutely titillate those readers of the genre looking for gay romance to go hand in hand with a satisfying degree of gay smut. Male anatomy is large and in charge, my friends. “Entin screamed in pleasure. The sound of their ensuing rutting would be unmistakable to anyone within miles of the mountaintop.” I love it when an author uses the term “rutting,” which works in the time period. And yes, before these sentences, contemporary terms like “pre-cum” are used. Still, like I’ve previously stated, it speaks to the modern reader, allowing them to instantly get into the eroticism of the text without it feeling cumbersome or oddly unsexy with archaic verbiage or made-up terms. And I was into our two lovers connection! Werk, Nando! [Above Image Is Property Of Nando Gray.]

And yes, our modern society places great emphasis on cleanliness and pleasant scents, and I’m one of those people, but it’s best to focus on something other than the most likely reality of the situation on the page here. If it reads hot, go with it! 

Now, some M/F sex scenes exist within the narrative involving a psychotic witch—with an agenda all her own! So, this might be jarring to those not expecting any graphic depictions of this type of sexuality in an expected M/M text. I feel this is where the Historical Fiction aspect of the narrative takes a firmer grasp, allowing the author to add more complexity to his story and widening the narrative and character development beyond just the relationship of our two gay male protagonists.

As a gay male author who also has M/F scenes in some of his writing (not that I have any personal experience with it, but that’s where research and the personal accounts of others help tremendously), I’m not bothered by the author’s decision to expand the sexual activity of more than just his gay male characters. However, if you only want to read about completely M/M experiences, well, you’ve been warned.

I was pleasantly surprised to find stunning illustrations preceding each chapter in Gray’s novel. Each image beautifully depicts the upcoming setting or scene, adding a layer of visual charm to the book.

Paleolithica is a story about survival, betrayal, empathy, and love/passion between men. It contains themes of violence vs. perseverance, tenderness vs. terror, and revenge vs. justice. It’s a fascinating depiction of ancient tribalism and early human interaction and life in a time before 10,000 BC. Gray’s writing is never dry or muddled with excessive world-building and overwrought exposition of character intent and drive, which can make for a very laborious read. There is world-building, as one would expect from a book depicting a world practically alien from our modern time, but its delivery is captivating, imaginative, and succinct. [Above Image Is Property Of Nando Gray.]

What Nando Gray has done here with his novel, Paleolithica, is bold and visionary: incorporating a modern gay love story into an era where instinct, procreation, and survival seem to our modern eyes to be the main impetus for the purpose of human life. But what if? Gray goes beyond what we know regarding queerness in ancient Greco-Roman Love; this is the unknown possibilities of Prehistoric queerness emboldened not by traditional, conventional, expected motivators but by an organic desire for connection, companionship, and love. 

The novel’s ending suggests further adventure, and the Epilogue, set in current times, holds an intriguing twist! This is only Book 1 of 2, and I think we are in for an even bigger tale yet to be told. Can’ wait!

Paleolithica is available for purchase online at amazon.ca & amazon.com. For more information about this author, follow Nando Gray on Instagram and Facebook. Also, check out his linktr.ee!

 

 

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