First of all, stop right now if you haven't first read The Chosen (Stone Dance of the Chameleon, Book 1), for The Standing Dead by Ricardo Pinto, is Book 2 of what is scheduled to be a three-part series, The Stone Dance of the Chameleon and it is important to understand, as the author says, of the series as a whole, "It is not, for example, strictly, a trilogy, but rather a single novel in three parts."

It is an important distinction to make for if you pick up The Standing Dead without having first read The Chosen you will enjoy the story being told, but you will lose the enormous enjoyment of (and at times be lost from) a lack of understanding how what is happening in the now of this volume relates to a much larger, and more complicated, picture.

You should also refrain from reading the balance of this review if you have not yet read The Chosen and plan to do so, as it is impossible to review this volume, without "spoiling" the first.

Carnelian woke to find someone lying against his chest, only half awake, he assumed it must be Osidian, until he realized he could feel him lying against his back. He allowed the confusion to sit unresolved in his mind as he turned to regard the dark morning sky through the branches of the mother tree. At last, he found the will to sit up. Whatever it was curled up against him grunted as it adjusted its position. Gently he put his hand out and felt a small head. Peering, he saw it was a child. Poppy. He stroked her hair, drawing comfort from her warmth. He could just make out Osidian, his breathing fitful. Carnelian wondered whether Osidian would have the strength even to stand up, never mind to labour in the heat under the Bloodwood Tree.

The Stone Dance of the Chameleon is set in a world ruled by a class of humans who are taller than any others on the planet, where skin pigmentation, or actually as large a possible a lack thereof, is the determining factor of who forms the ruling class, with "The Masters," those with the least pigmentation, whose every word is law, and a society with a set of complex rules for social and political interaction, where infractions mean death by crucifixion, or one of a number of disfigurements, based upon the nature of the offense and the relative ranks of the parties involved.

The Standing Dead picks up where The Chosen left off. Our heroes, both members of "The Chosen," Carnelian and his love interest Osidian, the "God Emperor elect," have been kidnapped and left to die. Circumstances ensue giving the young men a reprieve, but free they are not. Both ill, they travel with an Earthsky tribe, one of the many tribes of the plains who are part of the underclass that Pinto has created for the "Masters" to rule.

They are taken into the tribe as the lesser of many evils, as they are still sought by those who would have killed them, and the tribe's very existence would be forfeit for having looked upon these men. Not all in the tribe are happy with these decisions, nor is all well between Carnelian and Osidian.

Once healed, Carnelian and Osidian have different reactions to life with the tribe, and each begins to make plans for their own futures, which may or may not include the other, and which will certainly have an effect on the people amongst whom they are living, and their world as a whole. The relationships they each create, and their changing relationship with each other, are the drawing board upon which the relationship of the Earthsky people, and other indigenous groups, is explored, both within each group itself, and also in relationship to each other, then, ultimately, in relation to "The Masters."

This second volume is clearly setting up the third, which will no doubt be a stunning conclusion to this very different sort of series. We may have some time to wait however, as Pinto is taking the time to get it right (there were three and one half years between the first two books). He has had to wait longer however, so it is probably best not to complain. He notes on his website, "By the time that it is completed, THE STONE DANCE OF THE CHAMELEON will have consumed more than ten years of my life."

You'll enjoy the book, and the series, not just for the unique world Pinto has created, but also for the almost casual inclusion of same gender relationships. It is not the unbelievably syrupy, "Everybody is just wonderful, fine, and dandy" world that some gay and lesbian authors create, but a more realistic world, where the relationships exist, are acknowledged, and whatever trouble those relationships may, or may not, encounter or create is not due to their nature alone. There is little or no embarrassment regarding same gender feelings, and any who do look askance seem to do so more out of jealousy or a need for heirs to be provided (or provided for), than from a "This is inherently wrong" place.

If you enjoy the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre, and you are tired of reading the same old same old, do yourself a favor and read The Chosen, then The Standing Dead, then sit on the couch next to me whilst we twiddle our thumbs and await the third, and final, volume.