Rogue by Openhome
Review by Ruibin Rua
Rating: TGenre: Humor/Drama
Characters: Jasper & Alice
Summary: Rogue is the continuation of Coalescence. It is Alice and especially Jasper's journey through the Twilight Saga. Jasper's past intermingles with his present as he comes to terms with himself and his choices.
Openhome’s story begins very dramatically with a human Jasper being forced to master a man’s horse at the age of just four years’ old. We watch how the young Jasper calls out in terror for his mother while she looks on in anguish, prevented by her husband from coming to their son’s aid.
“He is too small, William. Damn you! You'll kill him by forcing him! You'll kill him! He isn't big enough for what you want him to do.” She wrenched at her arm, trying to reach her son, but her husband held firm.
“Get control of him, son,” William called to the child as the horse turned and nearly knocked the small boy off. “Calm him down and get control.”
"Papa!" Jasper shrieked in terror.
“No, boy, you do this on your own. You are strong enough for this, boy. Don't you fail me!”
This scene, where Jasper’s father goes on to rail against showing compassion for others, which he perceives as weakness, is very telling to an understanding of the man, and indeed, the vampire, whom Jasper becomes and undoubtedly exacerbates his long struggle with his gift as an empath versus his desires as a predator.
We move from this snapshot of Jasper’s past to the point in time where this narrative begins. It is 1963, Jasper is a vampire and his existence is brightened by the beauty of Alice’s presence in it.
Her peace surrounded me as we sat under the ancient, twisting oak. The mist around us glowed pink with the rising sun. Once again, I wished for a slowing of time so that my endless life could somehow wrap itself around moments like this.
It is the love of Alice and the Cullens that fortifies Jasper and allows him to endure, but viewing the world through his thoughts, it is impossible not to pity him the daily struggle of being immersed in the emotions of others, while hungering for a food source that brings him nothing but the blackest of pain.
Openhome paints the Cullen family so well and it is refreshing to read such a believable account of their history and to experience it through the eyes of one of the family’s most intriguing members. This story is a continuation of two previous stories she has written concerning the lives of Alice and Jasper (Singularity and Coalescence), neither of which I have read, but this didn’t ruin my enjoyment of what Openhome has written and it has whet my appetite to go back and read the histories she has created for them.
Reading this story is also a first for me, as I have never before read a story where Bella and Edward were not the central characters. I am pleased to admit that I was wrong to think I wouldn’t enjoy such a story!
Openhome has a gift for gentle storytelling and this makes her words very pleasant to read. While her work is rated ‘T’, the absence of graphic violence or overt lemons is not a drawback - in fact, I didn’t notice any real difference! Nor do her romantic descriptions, especially of the deep bond of Alice and Jasper, suffer from lack of illustration
"In all the universe, Alice Whitlock, you will forever be the only one."
At just five chapters in, this is a perfect time to start reading Rogue and to give Openhome more readers, something she richly deserves.
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