A Strange and Stubborn Endurance

By: Foz Meadows

Narrated by: James Fouhey, Vikas Adam

Length: 18 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

“Many a reader longing for a sense of homecoming in the realm of romantic fantasy will find it in A Strange and Stubborn Endurance.”—Jacqueline Carey

“Stolen me? As soon to say a caged bird can be stolen by the sky.”

Velasin vin Aaro never planned to marry at all, let alone a girl from neighboring Tithena. When an ugly confrontation reveals his preference for men, Vel fears he’s ruined the diplomatic union before it can even begin. But while his family is ready to disown him, the Tithenai envoy has a different solution: for Vel to marry his former intended’s brother instead.

Caethari Aeduria always knew he might end up in a political marriage, but his sudden betrothal to a man from Ralia, where such relationships are forbidden, comes as a shock.  

With an unknown faction willing to kill to end their new alliance, Vel and Cae have no choice but to trust each other. Survival is one thing, but love—as both will learn—is quite another.     

Byzantine politics, lush sexual energy, and a queer love story that is by turns sweet and sultry. Foz Meadows's A Strange and Stubborn Endurance is an exploration of gender, identity, and self-worth. It is an audiobook that will live in your heart long after you finish listening.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books.

©2022 Foz Meadows (P)2022 Macmillan Audio

An ambitious and enjoyable read.

I read the advanced preview chapters of A Strange and Stubborn Endurance earlier this summer. Normally I’m not one for heavy trauma focused books, so I wasn’t sure I would like it. However, I found the premise and protagonist interesting. I also hoped, since the main trauma happens early, that the rest of the book would focus on recovery and not just be endless trauma porn. On that front, my hopes were well rewarded. Velasin is a compelling and sympathetic lead, and watching him regain his spark was very satisfying.

On the surface Velasin seems like an unlikely victim. He is a noble, good looking, able bodied, wealthy, intelligent and a cis male in a conservative patriarchal society. He is also a gay man. He has been living the life of a trustfunded 3rd son in the capital. Away from the prying eyes of his family, he enjoyed a precarious freedom… think Oscar Wilde and the bohemian culture of victorian era London. It all comes crashing down when he is outed to his family in a particularly brutal and heartbreaking way. He is then basically exiled from his homeland into an arranged political marriage all before the end of chapter 3.

Before even reaching his new home he is embroiled in a cesspool of murder, politics and backstabbing. On the bright side he excels at political intrigue, a skill his new husband lacks. And in his new husband, he discovers a kind and understanding ally.

Caethari wasn’t as well developed. He’s sweet, but a bit slow on the uptake. Which is weird because he’s described early on as a great warrior and leader. I had the villain figured out so quickly I thought it must be a red herring, but nobody else even suspected.

This is an ambitious novel. When writing about such complex issues as homophobia, gender identity, sexism and ableism, it is easy to cross the line from advocating to patronizing and preachy. However they are tied together nicely as part of Valesin’s own journey to overcome societal and internalized homophobia with an emphasis on intimate partner rape, gaslighting, and the associated trauma related guilt and shame made worse by societally enforced toxic masculinity. There are several instances in the book where Valisen has mental breakthroughs and shows growth regarding his own preconceived notions and societal conditioning, such as realizing it’s now acceptable to show affection and hold his husband’s hand in public or recognizing the abilities of female soldiers.

Overall I I really like this book. My only real nitpick is that I sort of wish I had read it instead of listening to it. I bought the audiobook so I could listen to it while working. The narrators were very good. However, this novel introduces many different gender pronouns, titles and similar sounding complex names. Very often people are addressed by title or pronoun as well as name making them sound similar. I found myself multiple times struggling to keep the characters straight in my mind. I don’t think I would’ve had this issue had I read the book instead of listening to it. However other readers may not have the same issue depending on their learning style.

Looking forward to more from the author.

This story should be read first, not listened to

I've been waiting for this to come out for months. I love Vikas Adam's narrations and looked forward to this one. Unfortunately the book fell a little flat for me.

The main reason it fell flat was due to the naming conventions in the book. Let me state - the conventions were good. HOWEVER, since there were so many names in Kikitai, where everyone was referred to by their station first. Tiern Caethari, Tar Reiki, Ren somebody-or-other... And there were tons of tierns, tars, rens and others. Which made it difficult to tell the names apart while listening. It was a bit like listening to a xanxia novel for the first time without having read the book and thus being so familiar with the names I could them recognize them, I would have been lost. And I was often lost in this book. So many names mentioned constantly and some of them were similar enough sounding (though probably not in spelling) that I kept getting confused as to who they were talking about. I feel if I had read the book first, I wouldn't have been as confused.

It felt like Cae wasn't very well developed as a character. In fact, most weren't. Valison and Markol were the most well drawn and after they reached Kikitai, I felt like Markol kind of fell off the map for the most part. Plus, once they arrived, the story became too much about Cae's and Valison's relationship. Cae was almost 'too good' as far as characterizations go. Too nice. Too accommodating. Just too much of everything. Come on. Give him a flaw... besides not being able to see the forest for the trees, that is.

The villain was apparent from the moment they appeared 'on screen'. I didn't know how Cae could have missed it. Or anyone, for that matter. The villain made it apparent from the beginning. I'm guessing the author didn't want anyone to claim they hadn't given any clues, but the clues were so large they were impossible to miss.

Of the narrations, I enjoyed Vikas Adam's narration, as always. James Fouhey was too gravelly for me. Often I wasn't sure who was speaking since he didn't have a lot of difference in his male voices.

So disappointing as I was looking forward to it. Part of me wants to read the book to see if, once I was able to recognize the names, if the book would have been better, but not at the price. The prices of ebooks from large publishers is hideous.

So 2 out of 5 stars for the story, but I can't help but think if I had been able to recognize the names that it would have gotten 3 stars.

3 out of 5 for narration. 4 stars for Vikas Adam. 2 stars for James Fouhey.

Good representation

The characters were endearing and the worldbuilding was original. I think the traumatic event happens a little early. Some plot points were seemingly added just for the drama and the author reminds the reader of clues a little too often which makes it feel like you’re being led to the conclusion. The ending is very abrupt. But I like the non-binary society and the inclusion of a character who signs. Both narrators are very talented. I’d have preferred it written entirely in second person point of view though.

i think this author plays d&d

Not quite a 4 star, more like a 3.5, though I do want to give it that for Cae and Vel, and their relationship. This book took a long time getting around to things, and I wish more of that padding had been spent with Cae and Vel's relationship - though what we did get was cute and sweet and spicy.

There's an A/N at the beginning of the book warning about rape, suicidal ideation, and self harm, but I also wish they had mentioned animal death in that list.

Interesting story with compelling characters

Heed the trigger warnings. I recommend downloading a sample of the ebook and skimming chapter 2 to see if this book will be too much. The characters are fascinating and the world building is interesting. Two different societies are introduced and the story gives you bits and pieces as it moves alomg.

The 'oh no someone tired to kill us' then 5 minutes later 'oh no someone else tried to kill us but we didn't put any protective measures in place since the last time this happened' trope gets old after about the third time but I enjoyed the protagonists and mystery enough to overlook this.

Loved it

i loved the way it handled triggering topics and the overall story and writing was great. However, the ending felt rushed.

More please!!!!

Oh my word, I loved this book more than I can say. It’s so beautifully, casually, lovingly queer. It’s beautifully written. The narration performance by both narrators is absolute perfection. It’s everything you could want from high fantasy, a la Juliet Marillier, except more queer and more sexy. Content note for rape, trauma, animal death, and murder. The audiobook version opens with a content note that is just right - it tells you what to brace for, and let’s you know that the overall story arc is one of healing and hope, which I appreciated the hell out of. This is how content notes/trigger warnings are supposed to work- they literally helped me be prepared, rather than surprised; and so I was able to enjoy the book, instead of be victimized by it. Thank you so much, Foz Meadows, for a beautiful story, written with so much care and talent, for people like me.

I eagerly await the release of the next book this December!!

Love this!

Story was good! Characters were like able and it was a simple plot that was easy to follow along! Has a lot of action and plot twists!

Narration was very well done and I was captivated the moment it started.

Inspirational

Wow. Incredible. The author has taken difficult subjects and woven them beautifully. Treated with care, consideration, and inspiration, we come out feeling refreshed and whole.
Honestly one of my favorites. A story to return to again and again.
Also, we hope to see more of these characters again in future works!!

Couldn’t put it down

I couldn’t put this book down and didn’t want to leave the world when I ran out of pages. The narration is excellent, and the story is everything I didn’t know I was looking for in a fantasy world.

Amazing and very well narrated

I'll preface this by saying this is probably my favourite book – it really moved me and made my heart ache so many times.. It's really something to read a book with a range of characters this wide and inclusive, and I much prefer it to the awkward queer coming of age stories out there. Dignified, beautiful, slow burn (who doesn't love a good slow burn?) I'm not going to go into the plot for fear of spoiling buuut..

In my opinion it's a great read, and definitely worth getting. 10/10

a good read!

This was great! Similar to Captive Prince series. Great narration. Give it a go!