cyphomandra | FF Friday

The Second Mango, by Shira Glassman

Secondary world fantasy, in a tropical world in which everyone is Jewish; Shulamit, the new queen of Perach, is grieving her father (who died in an elephant-related incident), desperate for a girlfriend and suffering from food intolerances that her servants believe she is fabricating. She sneaks out of the palace and into a brothel in search of a potential girlfriend and is kidnapped. Fortunately she is almost immediately rescued by Riv, a sturdy northern warrior/mercenary, who is in fact Rivka, who has a tragic backstory (and is, even more tragically for Shulamit, straight) and a horse that can transform into a dragon. Complications ensue.

What this story has going for it is cheerful enthusiasm and originality, which to be honest takes it pretty far, and I enjoyed reading it. I wish it had had one more edit to smooth out all the graunching plot jumps and holes (how come Shulamit thinks that the best thing after being rescued is to head off again with Rivka - this time, looking for horny lesbians who have joined religious conclaves to escape heterosexuality - without apparently telling anyone where she is going or asking anyone to rule on her behalf? Why have a bad guy who exists entirely off-stage? Would the queen's servants really all - except one very caring one with impressive breasts - refuse to cook food according to her wishes?) and at a plot level it is very simplistic. But I like the characters and I like the food, and there are at least four queer sequels which my library does not, annoyingly, currently have.