“Rymellan Stories” is a collection of rather long stories about Mo and her girlfriend Les, growing up in the rather structured Rymellan society.  Rymellans accept people who are same-oriented (homosexual) or diff-oriented (heterosexual) but only the Chosen Council can decide who you will be paired with for life.  Mo and Les both know that they’re young and they can’t commit to each other, but that doesn’t stop them from wondering if they will be Chosen for each other some day.

Mo lacks confidence and sees herself as short, flat-chested, and plain.  She sees only her shortcomings and constantly worries that she isn’t good enough either for Les, or her own dreams of being a fighter pilot.  Les is tall, pretty, smart, popular, and more confident.  She wants to please her parents and be “strong in the Way” in order to be a Chosen.  The other characters—their parents, families and friends—are solidly written, although there are a few stereotypes.

The first story, “The Dance”, is very much a teen romance.  Girl loves girl, girl listens to the queen bee and her clique, girlfriends fight over a silly misunderstanding.  Mo’s pain and angst makes her feel like a real teenager.  I wanted to shake her and tell her to stop being an idiot.  The other stories have more of the elements of coming-of-age stories.  In “The Military Academy”, entrance exams are coming up and Les has to decide if she’s going to apply to the Military Academy, as she and Mo have planned, or apply to be an Advocate, as her parents want.  “Turning Eighteen” is about their 18th birthdays when each girl finds out whether she’s a Chosen or a Solitary. 

At present there are 5 stories posted.  The sci fi elements are minimal, as is the sex.  So far it’s very Harlequin-in-space, with only kissing and hugging going on.  The stories are fairly light, more young adult in tone, but without any real climax to each story.  They’re also very long.  Each story is composed of 9 to 17 parts.  The author calls them character-driven, but the pace was very slow, with a lot of time spent agonizing over the emotions in each situation.  The girls are often reminded that their relationship is a temporary thing that will end when one of them is notified of her Chosen.  There isn’t a lot of humour to lighten things up, or danger to add spice.  Not much happens.  Each story has a fairly simple story arc but takes a long time getting through it.  You could read every second or third page and still follow the story.

Despite the slow pacing, “Rymellan Stories” is an interesting collection of teen romances set on another planet.  So far the culture is intriguing, the characters feel like real teenagers, and the problems they face mirror the universal decisions young adults have to make.  Unfortunately, the length of the stories may discourage some readers as there isn’t enough substance to warrant the pace.

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