An East Wind Blowing

Fanfiction
Title:	An East Wind Blowing
Author(s):	Jane of Australia
Date(s):	April/May 1992
Length:
Genre(s):
Fandom(s):
Relationship(s):	Bodie/Doyle
External Links:
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An East Wind Blowing is an 86-page Arthur of the Britons/The Sword/Baedann/Dera story by Jane of Australia. The characters (Baedann and Derai) are AU stand-ins for William Bodie and Ray Doyle.

It was published in Fantazine #4 in 1992.

Summary

Following 'The Sword.' Always restless, Baedann and Derai cannot resist the call to arms issued by a young warlord in the westcountry. They find themselves in a land held under siege from the Saxon, yet a land filled with love and the strange magic which is wrought by the Druidai... Arthur, the Bear, chieftain of a clan of Celts, general of an unruly, wilful army which will seldom follow orders; Kai, the Saxon who was left for dead as a child, raised by the Celts as Arthur's brother, only to become so much more; LIud, who was like a father to both of them - the veteran warrior with the silver hand and unshakeable honour; Mark of Cornwall, built like a bear, he has the heart of a lion in battle but is stubborn and unprincipled out of it; Rolf The Preacher, a former never and pillager who placed his faith in the God of Abraham, only to find his beliefs shaken once again; Connach, lately returned from Eiru, a powerful Druid - almost the last of his kind; Arthur's kinsman and his guide through a time of hardship; Cerdic, the Saxon warlord whose eyes are fixed on Celtic lands; Yorath, the Jute, Arthur's uneasy ally; Rowena, daughter of Yorath, in love with Arthur and dealt a bitter awakening when she discovers for herself the truth... ...Baedann and Derai find themselves in the midst of a ferment of passion and upheaval, where powerful men and mighty egos clash, love is battled for, hard won and jealously guarded, and where the key to the survival and liberty of the Celtic peoples is the young Arthur Of The Britons.

Later Published as Pro Fic

From Mel Keegan's website:

AN EAST WIND BLOWING is an adventure romance set in the fifth century, when Saxons and Angles are raiding into the Britons' country shortly after the Roman Legions departed, which puts it at something like the middle of the fifth century. In fact, the same era as the 'historical' King Arthur. Of all the gay historicals, only AN EAST WIND BLOWING is not yet available from Dreamcraft, but you can almost certainly pick with one up as a used book via Amazon, eBay or Alibris. (Don't pay silly prices, though, because this novel will be available from Dreamcraft in 2008 or 09.)

Fan Comments About the Pro Fic Version

[1999]: I'd buy any Keegan book like a shot - there is no such thing as a BAD Mel Keegan novel- but all I can say is, I hope it was writing another masterpiece that distracted him from his work on this one. Keegan's incredible strength as a writer comes from his power of characterisation: these two lead characters just don't come to life for me. Neither of them have any real past, where as most of Keegan's characters come with a history that makes them move as real people. And there isn't much chemistry between them or even any real friendship, although the historical setting is very well done as usual. Very often Keegan's more complex books pay off with more reading- even over time- but this one is definately on the tepid side. Roll on the next release!

[2001]: This story begins on a tantalizing note with a wonderful description of our young hero Ronan hunting for his family's dinner. Keegan quickly brings change to our protagonist's life as he sweeps Ronan into the neighboring town where a chieftain "hires" him to train a new horse. The chieftain's son, Bryn, who is Ronan's soon-to-be-lover, is unlikeable at first (as a character). I have to give Keegan a lot of credit here, because he got me to change my mind about Bryn. Whereas, at first I was hoping Keegan wasn't seriously going to bring Ronan and Bryn together, I soon found myself cheering for them as they grew closer together. This is good character development.

Keegan's wonderful description made it easy to imagine the hardships and relative simplicity of these early Britons' lives. I love Keegan's work and once again he took me to another place and time with great ease and a terrific sense of pacing. Despite Ronan and Bryn not having quite the same dynamic or past as for example, Robin and Dermot in "Fortunes of War," I found the pair in this novel quite sweet together and their transformation from enemies to lovers profound. As their world changed, so did their stations in life, and their feelings for one another. Their relationship is turned upside down and it's this growth and change amidst fighting to survive against the invading Angles and Saxons that is so compelling.

I was quite pleased to read another of Keegan's historical works and to find this one set in an age not overly written about in fiction. It was a delightful read with a very satisfying conclusion.

[2007]: A pity that such an original setting -British early Middle Ages-, a plot with good potential and Mr Keegan's great skill should be wasted with such a light heart.

Let us skip the ridiculous art cover, there are still so many typos as to disturb even comprehension and the blame of this belongs mostly to Gay Men's Press.

Mr Keegan though shares just as much of the blame.

In most of the pages we are faced with what looks like a summary of the story: in a third person narrative the POV shifts constantly with each paragraph and quite often even within the paragraph leading to incredible confusion.

The same facts are often repeated, often with amendments that contraddict what has already been said half a page above. This leads to many inconsistencies in plot events, characterizations and in minor but disturbing details such as people's looks.

Then, suddenly, we are faced with nearly perfect pages that hint at Mr Keegan's undoubted abilities and leave the reader with a bitter aftertaste.