Eunuch Books

Eunuch Books

There are so few books of fiction that have eunuchs as the main character. Since I wrote one, I became interested, and have a small collection. They are nearly all historical, a few are very good, others are mediocre. There are also a few books (mostly ebooks) that are very poor indeed.

Of the more important ones that I’ve collected, my favourite is ‘Cry to Heaven’ by Anne Rice. It is about Tonio, a boy who was born to wealth and influence, but was put out of the way by turning him into a Castrato – a singer. While a brilliant book,  the author, Anne Rice, found her real success with books about vampires.

Then there is Mary Renault’s ‘The Persian Boy.’ Again historical, it features Bagoas, a Persian boy made a eunuch and presented to Greek Alexander, conquerer of most of the known world.  

Wilbur Smith has a novel that is written in the first person by Taita, a eunuch. ‘River God.’ Like all of Wilbur Smith’s books, it is an adventure written with enormous colour and excitement. It is set in the times of ancient Egypt. Taita is revisited in a later book, but that was a plot that only a man would be likely to think of. Taita regains his genitalia and somehow manages to ‘sex’ a witch to death. Unlikely in the extreme and maybe the product of male fantasies. Brilliantly written, of course. Wilbur Smith is a great writer.

There are some detective stories that feature eunuchs as the detectives, also historical. There are the John, the Eunuch series, which I do not have, though I’ve read a couple, and The Janissary Tree, by Jason Goodwin, set at the time of the Ottoman empire. But these are primarily detective stories, the eunuch part being very much secondary.  

‘Memoirs of a Byzantine Eunuch’ is by Christopher Harris.

The only one set in modern times that I know of is ‘Eunuch’ by Len Lustgarten.  But the hero, Mohammad Nasser, does not stay a true eunuch. Instead he is given hormone treatment, and winds up a very sexual creature. The novel involves a cloned son.

So books that feature a true modern-day eunuch? Well, I only know my own – ‘Not a Man’ and its sequel,  ‘The King’s Favourite.’  There are two yet to be published in this series of four.

My conclusion:

Out of the very limited selection of eunuch books, these three are the best:
Mary Renault:  'The Persian Boy,'   Anne Rice, 'Cry to Heaven,' and M. A. McRae, 'Not a Man.'

 

The reason that Wilbur Smith's 'River God' does not make the cut is that the story is not really about Taita, although he tells it. (It is written in first person.) 

Good books about a modern-day eunuch?

Just mine, the stories of Shuki Bolkiah.

Look for them on Smashwords and on Amazon, ebooks and paperbacks.

Not being all that conceited - it is just that I know of not a single book other than mine that has a eunuch as the main character and is set in modern times.

   https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/Samray