Boys Love novels!

[Alexis]

Is anyone reading boys love/yaoi novels? Which ones? Or which ones are really good? I heard Kyo Kara Maoh was really cool!

[miyu_chan454]

I am!! I love to read the manga 2!! Right now i'm waiting for only the ring finger know the novel:p

[Adrian_Alexander]

The Gravitation novel! I have read it twice since I bought it! *Hugs the Gravitation novel* Tis such a good read!

[Satsukiyami]

I'm not the biggest fan of boy love... but i did really enjoy Eerie Queerie!

[miyu_chan454]

The Gravitation novel! I have read it twice since I bought it! *Hugs the Gravitation novel* Tis such a good read!
is it good like the manga, cause i want 2 buy it 2

[Countess Cain]

I'm reading the Gravitation novel right now. I'm only on Track One, and I like it so far, but not as much as the manga.

[MikeyS]

Currently I am reading The Last Herald Mage by Mercedes Lackey. She does some boys love novels every now and then. It is a really good book!

[ailanthus]

I just read the Gravitation Novel... It's horrible...wonky plot, OOC characters and a randomness that leaves me staring blankly, not laughing like the original. It's not worthy of the awesome manga that spawned it. if only murakami had written it herself... *sigh*

[MikeyS]

Ummm... Didn't Murakami write it?

[Blu_Moon]

Ummm... Didn't Murakami write it?

Nope. Sony released The Novel, and it was written by Jun Lennon. The art in The Novel is done by Murakami-sensei, and she is listed on the spine (per licensor request.) Jun Lennon also wrote the other novel, Voice of Temptation, which will come out in July.

[miyu_chan454]

I just read the Gravitation Novel... It's horrible...wonky plot, OOC characters and a randomness that leaves me staring blankly, not laughing like the original. It's not worthy of the awesome manga that spawned it. if only murakami had written it herself... *sigh*

oh ok i thought it would be like that

[Blu_Moon]

I just read the Gravitation Novel... It's horrible...wonky plot, OOC characters and a randomness that leaves me staring blankly, not laughing like the original. It's not worthy of the awesome manga that spawned it. if only murakami had written it herself... *sigh*


I'm sorry it wasn't the best experience for you. Novels and manga and anime are all, to varying degrees, different mediums, and therefore have different flavors. Plus, Murakami-sensei is a terrific artist, but she's not a novels prose author, so I believe Sony (the original licensors of The Novel) made the decision to hire a writer who may or may not have been really familiar with the material.

I admit, as the editor, I struggled to find a balance between respecting the integrity of the original, and making the book flow smoothly. For instance, a lot of times heart-shapes were used, and tons of ellipses, and descriptions that were just too over-the-top or so Japanese-culture-centric that it wouldn't have made sense without a mountain of footnotes. (And a lot of bizarre stuff like flying on top of a lamppost and crying an entire waterfall of tears is adorable as a chibi in the anime, but reads a little weird no matter what diction you use to describe it.) I did my best to try and capture Gravitation's playfulness, but this book was a hot and cold rollercoaster ride. Shuichi was in constant doubt of his worthiness as a musician and Yuki's love, and I worried he'd sound too much like an emo preteen girl. Yuki himself didn't have that many scenes, so I tried to extend those, and heat up the smexy stuff between them. I tried to make things like K's craziness and the Port-a-potty scene funny and but fast-paced. It was certainly a challenge, but I enjoyed working on it, as I'm a huge BL fan and have loved Gravi since my undergrad years.

If you have any suggestions at all as to how I could make Voice of Temptation a better read for you, please don't hold back. I really, truly welcome honest con crit.

Thanks for writing in! Kara

[Minerva]

...Wow. Just wow. I read over this thread and the description of the Gravitation novels just horrified me.

I'm a moderate fan of BL. I'm not obsessive and I'm not phobic. The right pairing can get me. I know it's not novel, it's manga, but for example, Tokyo Babylon is one of my favorite pairings [Subaru/Seishirou]. But, things like the Gravitation anime annoy me because it's full of stereotypes [looming/distant/taller seme, cute-emotional/attached/small/fashionobsessed uke]. I've been looking for a good BL novel or something but I'm at a lack of money and it's hard to find good BL. I'm sorry, but I'm very paranoid about cliches. I'm picky about stereotypes. I enjoy stereotypes if they're purposefully bad , but when it's just to be cute and sexy it makes a bad name for people- and it's [i]very hard to avoid this in BL and I do not know why. Perhaps the same reason it's hard to find manga/anime/novels without females that have breasts the size of cantaloupes.

Personally, the reason I enjoy, say, the Slayers novels is the opposite of what's described on the gravitation novels. If I want to read a book I want to read a god damn book and if I want an anime with streams of tears I'll watch an anime. I've noticed the good novel series tend to avoid the anime BS.

Can anyone point be to a BL novel/manga that fits this description? ><

[Blu_Moon]

If I want to read a book I want to read a god damn book and if I want an anime with streams of tears I'll watch an anime. I've noticed the good novel series tend to avoid the anime BS.



First off, please watch your language. I'd hate to see the mods ban you over something like that.

Two, there was a lot of that over the top stuff. I did my best to rewrite it without losing the humor, but Gravitation is very anime-ish and cliché. It's still a really popular title, and with good reason. Perhaps it would be a good idea to see the anime, manga, and novel before judgment.

If you read Japanese, there are billions of BL books, just take a peek at JP Queen. If you're looking for something in English, Gravitation is the only one out so far.

[PeNCILz]

I WILL HELP!

MANGA:
Yellow- Published by DMP. Check out the site at yaoi-manga.com. It is set in Japan and the main charatcers are "snatchers" meaning they steal drugs and sell them to the police, yakuza, and etc. The two main characters are loveable right a way. One is gay but not stereotypical. More like a real ga guy you might meet that falls in love really easily. Then his partner who is strictly hetero as they call it is a basic straight guy but not homophobic. This is where the comedy comes in. The main gay guy has fallen for the hetero and the hetero wont let the gay one touch him. This results in alot of hilarious moments. Also there is bunches and bunches-o-butt smex!
Dost Thou Know? - Published by DMP and one of my favorites. It is sort of a BL story that has all the distraughtness of trying to get the one you love when he will not submit. (Tis about kendo too!)
Our Everlasting- As far as I can see there are no stereotypes in the first volume. It is so sweet and it made me freaking cry. It is definately put down as one of my favorites! It starts out following the story of two high school boys. One is the basic surfer guy who loves girls and is basically controlled by his- well lets just say his favorite organ LOL. But one night while his friend was staying over his friend woke up in the middle of the night and confessed his love to the surfer. And kissed him! Soon after the surfer realizes he ahs fallen for his friend and keeps trying to get him but his friend sees him as just pretending and making fun of him. Then there is a wodnerful second story too! But you can find that out for yourself if you want.

Novels:
The Last Herald Mage: I am not sure if you will be able to find this in a book store. My copy is rather old and I found it at a library give away. It is a fantasy style BL with all the torments of coming out and the torments of lost love in the first part. The next too parts seemed to me a little less how do you say... enthralling... but the book is still good. It is by Mercedes Lackey.



Well... That is all I know of so far... There is one stereotype in the novel and it kinda pissed me off. In the novel gay is known as Shay a' Chern. There is an abreviatory slang term known as Shaych. Anyway one of the characters is like "You could probably tell I am Shaych too by the way I talk..." But if you ignore that there are no more stereotypes with in the novel...


Sorry I am still hunting for good BL novels. DMP has really good titles so remember them.

OMG I AM GONNA DIE FROM TYPING SO MUCH! @.@

Ms. Kara replied faster than I could... TT.TT

But she is right you should watch thy language... Not watch by looking at it with your eyes but... AHHH! I think you get what I mean...

[Riotfug]

All this controversy over Gravitation, i MUST have it!

[gynocrat]

Currently I am reading The Last Herald Mage by Mercedes Lackey. She does some boys love novels every now and then. It is a really good book!

Mercedes Lackey making BL works? Since when? I know sometimes there are homoerotic elements in her fiction, but not BL. There's a difference between 'characters are gay' and 'BL from Japan'. :D

I've checked out the crop of licensed BL novels and I have to say I wasn't impressed. Perhaps because the only company bringing over the majority are bringing over the ones aimed at 16-18 year olds. 0_0. I tend to prefer my BL illustrated because it's a visual genre for me anyway, when I read homoerotic prose I tend to prefer it well written and Western.

[PeNCILz]

Yes but it is still a Boys Love novel.

[gynocrat]

Yes but it is still a Boys Love novel.


I guess we can agree to disagree on that, because I don't consider Western works with homosexual relationships in them 'borizrab'. Yet if you wish to term them as BL or 'Western Yaoi' [ouch!] then there are many titles to consider.

On the Light side is Aryan Rising books from Judith Tarr.

There's The Chosen by Ricardo Pinto, Cry to Heaven by Ann Rice, the works of Poppy Z Brite, Kirith Kirin by Jim Grimsley, and for 'Alexander' Bagoas fans--The Persian Boy by Mary Renault.

[PeNCILz]

What are the Aryan Rising books about? *Is making a list for the book store he he*

[gynocrat]

The Fall of Princes is the one you're looking for, but I think Amazon sells them all in one book. 0_0. Anyway, I don't like 'hinted' at m/m and when the m/m is suddenly made m/f and tres acceptable because of gender-swapping...

You want something fantasy and hot, stick with The Chosen. Again though, like most mainstream books not 'gay' specific in plot...this one saves the best for last and you don't get the m/m till near the end.

Cry to Heaven is superb. m/m erotica throughout, but the end was a bit of a dissapointment because again...'vagina' saves the day and makes all right in the world. (>_>)

[PeNCILz]

I am not just interested in the hot m/m action... So yeah... Also... That last sentence made me bust a gut!

[kudakitsune]

is it good like the manga, cause i want 2 buy it 2

I advise you not to buy it unless you are okay with very little intimate moments. If you want a lot of sweet and tender moments, I advise you to get Hybrid Child. It's really good and it's a shounen ai, not yaoi. That's if you read soft boylove.

[zero12]

My Japanese isn't good enough yet, but I would like to read the Junjou Romantica novels. Here's hoping the manga will sell well enough for BLU to consider licensing them. ^^

[kudakitsune]

My Japanese isn't good enough yet, but I would like to read the Junjou Romantica novels. Here's hoping the manga will sell well enough for BLU to consider licensing them. ^^

I think BLU licensed them already. I heard from a scangroup that it has been licensed. I'm not 100% positive but am quite sure.

[zero12]

Sorry, I worded that a bit unclearly... ^^;; What I meant was, I'm hoping for BLU to license the novels as well, and not just the manga.

[PeNCILz]

BL NOVELS MAKE ME WATER AT TEH MOUTH!

[vanilla_frosting]

Only the Ring Finger Knows...*huggles her copy*. I need to find more though...

[kudakitsune]

Oh! That's okay. BLU is cool. I love that company. Oh, is Only the Ring Finger Knows good?

[Rem Akimichi]

Well, I don't know if it counts, but Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez (and the rest of the series, plus Hard to Say, which isn't part of the Rainbow books but still teh same author) are some of my favorite BL books. I don't know if they count as BL, though, since its more about growing into yourself. But the definatly have their moments ^__^

[ChrisRenHeb]

Currently I am reading The Last Herald Mage by Mercedes Lackey. She does some boys love novels every now and then. It is a really good book!


That series was so good. It made me cry so hard I got a nosebleed. She really is an incredible writer, very talented. Her books just pull you into the world she creates.

[martinaSMO]

I've just started reading M/M novels, and I must say I've been quite lucky because 2 out of 3 were absolutely great!! ^__^ They were *hot*, but fresh and heartfelt, which is something i can't say for most of the yaoi I've read XD

They're available in e-book format:

- A Gentleman of Substance
by Julia Talbot
http://www.torquerepress.com/cart/cart.php?m=product_list&c=189
(Fruity Award Winner! 2006)

Michael St. James is something of a cad, and now he’s paying for it, banished to a backwater, post-colonial Virginia town for his sins. Happily, he finds something to occupy his time in the form of Daniel Calhoun, a stiff-necked local squire who simply begs to be taken down a notch for his arrogance. The two begin a torrid affair, and Michael pushes them to the very edge of social extinction with his wild ways, drawing Daniel into mischief at every turn.

Eventually Michael realizes that he teeters on the very brink of ruining Daniel’s life as thoroughly as he has his own, and decides to do the honorable thing. Will it be too late for him to convince Daniel he can do the right thing? Or will Daniel Calhoun decide perhaps he doesn’t want a gentleman after all?

The Assignment
Evangeline Anderson
http://www.loose-id.net/detail.aspx?ID=210

Detective Nicholas Valenti, tall, dark and stoic, has been best friends with his partner, Sean O’Brian for six years. The two men have seen each other through divorce, disaster and danger and saved each other’s asses more times than Valenti can count. Exactly when he started seeing his blond, intense partner in another light, Valenti isn’t really sure. He only knows that he wants O’Brian in a way that had nothing to do with friendship and everything to do with possession. It is a desire he will have to hide forever because O’Brian is undeniably straight.

Just as Valenti is coming to grips with his new, unacceptable feelings for his partner their police Captain puts them on a new case that could blow Valenti’s cover once and for all. He and O’Brian are going undercover at the country’s largest and most infamous gay resort to bust a notorious drug lord and stop the shipments of poison cocaine that are flooding the gay bars all over the city.

Now Valenti will have to make a choice between friendship and desire. He and O’Brian will play the roles of gay men that will push the limits of their relationship to the breaking point. Will their time at the RamJack forge a new bond between them or destroy their partnership forever?

The first (A Gentleman of susbstance) is definitely my favorite M/M book, highly recommended!! At first I was quite wary of ebooks, but I must admit these were better than some novels I read in print!!

[I know it sounds a bit like spam, but I'm in no way affiliated with the authors or the publishers, I'm not even American XD]

[Manga_Addict]

Is anyone reading boys love/yaoi novels? Which ones? Or which ones are really good? I heard Kyo Kara Maoh was really cool!

Yeah surprisingly it doesn't bug me in the least. I am a big fan of Boy Princess and Let Dai. Although Let Dai is such a tragic and yet beautiful realistic (sorta) story. Both are excellent.

[kokorochan]

Is anyone reading boys love/yaoi novels? Which ones? Or which ones are really good? I heard Kyo Kara Maoh was really cool!

*sigh* KKM isnt yaoi or shonen-ai or BL, but Gravitation and Dont worry mama are BL, and dwm is a hard BL *drool* i cant wait for the new book *_*

[Tajtan]

This is worthy of a *bump*

Ai no Kusabi novels are avilable now. The second one was just released.

The only other "novel" I've read that is BL is Torrid which was actually the first I read and wasn't bad. Short and sweet but I liked it.

[Eskel]

Is anyone reading boys love/yaoi novels? Which ones? Or which ones are really good? I heard Kyo Kara Maoh was really cool!

OMG YES THEY ARE.

The plot! The plot in the novels are SO much deeper than the anime -- the anime seems to shallow when you hear about all the plot twists and threads in the novels...and the ANGST. There is angst in the novels! Which, of course, you can't have in the anime because it's broadcasted on national tv and can't be too deep and scary. *pouts*

Well, at least Temari Matsumoto has drawn the manga so that it follows the manga closely...

And yeah, it's not BL strictly speaking...but that's not going to stop the fangirls, oh no! XD

[HINAICHI]

I don't understand English very well. So forgive me if I made a mistake about using it.

There is a question.
How does the coterie magazine( DOZINSHI ) read?

An anime and manga and a novel.There is various coteries magazine about them in Japan.
It is amateurs to draw them, but many professionals are produced by there.
There is the coterie magazine whom a professional publishes secretly.
The most are stories of the BL.
For people liking BL, it is popular than a regular publication.

They perform an event every month in Japanese many places.
The big event is performed in summer and winter.

Form JAPAN:cool:

[AlexD]

Ai no Kusabi novels are avilable now. The second one was just released.

Actually I'm reading that series right now. I've heard some reviews that the translation wasn't the best that it could be, but I'm enjoying it so far. Its a little random in how it jumps around in time & events. I probably wouldn't picked it up, if it wasn't for the anime.

(This anime was definitely pretty hard core - definitly NC-17 material)

[Tajtan]

I think the books would be confusing if you didn't see the anime first. Since I've seen the anime, the books just fill in the blanks so I find the books very interesting. The translation seems fine to me so far. I haven't been confused yet or anything.

[aisuamatsubu]

Is anyone reading boys love/yaoi novels? Which ones? Or which ones are really good? I heard Kyo Kara Maoh was really cool!
squuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuueeeeeeeeeeee of course that one is good....ummmm i don't know wbout novels...but in the way of mangas there is eerie queerie which has it's moments but isn't to hardcore...or then again maybe u might want to try a cross dressing one where there not really yaoi but in a sense they are...it's kinda hard to explainh....umm e.g. hana kimi