Review - The Other Side of Winter by G.B. Gordon

It’s been a year since Bengt returned to Skane from Santuario after helping Alex solve a murder case. Although their affair was brief, Bengt still misses Alex. Now, the borders are finally open between the two colonies and Alex, as promised, is on the first flight out. But starting over is never easy and Alex has a lot of demons to exorcise. Is Bengt really willing to put up with the walls Alex has had to build to survive in Santuario?

“The Other Side of Winter” is the recently published sequel to Santuario, which I reviewed way back in 2015. It almost works as a standalone novel, but I would still recommend reading the first book before this one to get a better feeling for Alex’s background and the clash of cultures between Santuario and Skane. As in the first book, science fiction only sets up the basic plot of a future planet colonized by two different cultures from Earth who have had very little to do with each other until recently. This is really a story of two people with a strong connection but little experience with relationships trying to bridge the cultural gap to make it work. Also, like the first book, a mystery provides the driver to keep the two men in contact even when they’re not sure where the relationship is going.

Alex is a complicated man, but it’s easy to empathize with a lot of what he is going through. Alex has turned his life upside down by leaving the place where he grew up. It may not have been an easy life, but Alex knew the rules and how to get by. In Skane, he doesn’t really know anyone except Bengt; he doesn’t have a job, and he doesn’t like being idle. Alex’s journey of self-realization is at the very heart of this story.

The narration switches between Alex and Bengt from chapter to chapter. Bengt is the man that turns Alex’s world upside down. He wants to help Alex, but it’s frustrating trying to help someone who isn’t used to relying on, let alone trusting, anyone. It’s easy to sympathize with Bengt’s situation as he tries to deal with Alex. It would be easy to describe this as a “men don't talk about their feelings” story. While that is a big part of the drama, both men have very good reasons for holding back. Bengt and Alex are very complex characters — realistically depicted human beings, in other words.

“The Other Side of Winter” is available from Smashwords or Amazon (commissionable link).