Before saying anything on this novella, I would like to anticipate that I made a search online with the name of the author, and the only other result I found, other than this book, is a short story in another Torquere Books anthology, so I'm quite sure that Glyn Soitiño is a new author, and so some uncertainty I found are probably to add to this. Said that, I would also like to add that the novella was nice and maybe with the expert hand of a proved writer it could have been more than that: the main story is not so original, the genie who falls in love for his temporary master, but the characters, especially the genie, are what made the story interesting.

Zahir was a magician in an old arabian country. He fell in love for a prince of a near kingdom but their love was doomed and as "punishment", Zahir was imprisoned in a blue bottle, forced to grant the usual three wishes to the man who temporarily frees him, to then come back in the bottle waiting for the next master. This time his master is Aidan, a man who is still mourning the death of his first and only love Richie. Since Zahir can't bring back to life who is already dead, Aidan is not interested in anything else; Aidan is drowning in his sorrow, as often in this case, Aidan doesn't want to stop the pain since it's the only thing he has that links him to his lost lover. For the same reason, Aidan "wears" the scar he has due to the accident in which his lover was killed, as a reminder of what happened and who he lost.

Since here the story is not different from other I read, but at this point it takes an original turn: Zahir is not an "ethereal" creature; everytime I read of a genie in the bottle, I always wonder what is his life inside that bottle? The author gives as an answer, Zahir spends his time watching television and having naughty thoughts on Aidan! At some point, the author also tells us how Zahir takes care of his personal hygiene, and even how he can "entertain" himself when there is not a willing human to do so... all of that allows us to see Zahir more as a human, than a fantsy creature. Anyway Zahir is also "different" from our classical genie, since he is not at all a strong and invincible man; on the contrary, Zahir is more the pretty boy type, who is willing to let the command in the hand of his partner. In his only other relationship, with his doomed lover, Zahir was the older partner, and his partner gave me the impression to be a bit spoiled, and so he preferred to be the cherished one, and Zahir accepted that role, even if it was not his favorite. But with Aidan he can be as twink as he wants. Problem is that Aidan is not exactly the dominant partner, he is more for an equality in life and bad; also with his lost lover, Aidan was at the same level, in age, in work and in life. Here maybe there is a lost chance for the author, to push on the funny side of the story.

When at first I said that the story could have been better, I said that since I have the idea that the story lies in the middle: it's not a full angst story, Aidan's sorrow is not pushed till the edge, and it's not a full funny romp, the twinkiness of Zahir is not fully developed. From my side I would have been inclined for the funny romp, there are some sparks in Zahir that would have made it real nice. Anyway, for a novella and a new author, the story is nice and easy to read.

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