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A Modest Proposal
Hagar is the captain of the cargo ship Midgard Serpent. Most of his shipments are legal, but he has a reputation for being an honest smuggler—a reputation that lands him some troublesome cargo. Shibito, an exiled member of the Nipponese imperial family, meets Hagar on Dunmore Station. Keeping his true identity secret, Shibito tells Hagar he'll do anything to get out of there. Never one to turn down an offer like that, Hagar accepts.
But Shibito doesn't have just any destination in mind, and Hagar is furious when he discovers that his mysterious passenger has altered their course without telling him. With no way to change course a second time, Hagar has no choice but to trust—and face the temptation of Shibito’s request for some rough handling, a proposal Hagar isn’t sure he can resist.
But Shibito doesn't have just any destination in mind, and Hagar is furious when he discovers that his mysterious passenger has altered their course without telling him. With no way to change course a second time, Hagar has no choice but to trust—and face the temptation of Shibito’s request for some rough handling, a proposal Hagar isn’t sure he can resist.
118 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 27, 2011
1 person is currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
Felicitas Ivey
30 books35 followersFelicitas Ivey is the pen name of a very frazzled helpdesk drone at a Boston-area university. She's an eternal student even with a BA in anthropology and history, since free classes are part of the benefits. She's taken courses on gothic architecture, premodern Japanese literature, and witchcraft, just because they sounded like fun. She has traveled to Japan and Europe and hopes to return to both in the future.
She knits and cross-stitches avidly, much to the disgust of her cat, Smaugu, who wants her undivided attention. He's also peeved that she spends so much time writing instead of petting him. She writes urban fantasy and horror of a Lovecraftian nature, monsters beyond space and time that think that humans are the tastiest things in the multiverse.
Felicitas lives in Boston with her beloved husband, known to all as The Husband, and the aforementioned cat, whom the husband swears is a demon, even though it's his fault that they have the cat. The husband also is worried about Felicitas’s anime habit, her love for J-Pop music, and her extensive collection of Yaoi manga and Gundam Wing doujinshi, which has turned her library into a Very Scary Place for him.
Visit her blog at http://Iveys_Tales.livejournal.com and e-mail her at Felicitas.Ivey@gmail.com.
She knits and cross-stitches avidly, much to the disgust of her cat, Smaugu, who wants her undivided attention. He's also peeved that she spends so much time writing instead of petting him. She writes urban fantasy and horror of a Lovecraftian nature, monsters beyond space and time that think that humans are the tastiest things in the multiverse.
Felicitas lives in Boston with her beloved husband, known to all as The Husband, and the aforementioned cat, whom the husband swears is a demon, even though it's his fault that they have the cat. The husband also is worried about Felicitas’s anime habit, her love for J-Pop music, and her extensive collection of Yaoi manga and Gundam Wing doujinshi, which has turned her library into a Very Scary Place for him.
Visit her blog at http://Iveys_Tales.livejournal.com and e-mail her at Felicitas.Ivey@gmail.com.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 3, 2016
CAUTION: Long Review, Spoilers
A Modest Proposal is told in 3rd POV that switches from Hagar and Shibito's perspective. Hagar is the manly top, Shibito is the needy bottom. There's your D/s relationship. The author is strongly influenced by yaoi, so any readers who wants to read a short story of yaoi, this is it.
There are references to rape, but no rape scenes. However, some readers might regard the initial sex scenes as dubious consent. Interestingly, you can argue for either lover as the victim of dubious consented sex. Hagar used Shibitio's desperate situation to get free shagging, and he wanted to see how far he can push Shibito's limit. Shibito as a psychic manipulated—though somewhat unintentionally—Hagar's emotion to enhance their lust for each other.
On a rough estimate, the story is half sex scenes and half no-sex-just-plot scenes. The sex scenes are very graphical, very hot—I was superbly indulged. The plot had good pacing, made sense, and exciting action.
In a short amount of text, the author managed to world-build the story well. So imagine Earth as the galaxy, and Earth's powerful countries as confederations that each rule over a network of planets. I assumed in this story that Earth's countries never united as one, and basically just extended their rule farther into space and over other planets. America, Russia, Japan, etc. each have their own planets.
Even though the story was scifi and futuristic, there were traditions and ancient culture in play. Nippon Imperium, i.e. the Japanese confederation, have monks, temples, emperors-as-divine belief, and the long-hair-to-signify-nobles fashion. As I understand, the author basically took ancient Japan and push it into the space age.
Shibito was bit of an emo but it was understandable considering his circumstances: His power-drunk, crazy-ass cousin drugged him and left him to die in the badland of space. He was raped while under the influence of the potentially-fatal drug. He couldn't use his psychic power like normal because of that drug. Even though he accepted his sexuality, he still had issues of poor-gay-me and I-can't-birth-heirs and disappointed-family. Last but not least, he was on the run for his life.
All of that and he was still only a bit of emo, at least from my POV. I like Shibito because in spite of it all he managed to get his act together and fix things. He successfully avoided his enemies while on the run for his life. Even though his power were on the fritz, he used his psychic power to hack machines to get where he needed to go. He got enough gumption to do anything for Hagar so that he can acquire safe passage, even if it meant whoring out his body.
In short, Shibito knew what he was doing in order to return home, get help from a trusted friend, confront his crazy-ass cousin, and ultimately save his loved ones from his cousin's madness. That's the kind of protagonist I love to read about, the kind who knows what they're doing and they get things done. It would have way too easy for Shibito to give up, be helpless, and mope. But no way, Shibito overcame his circumstances and beat his villainous cousin's butt.
Oh, and he managed to get a lovable sex fiend of a boyfriend out of the horrible situation. Score!
I like Hagar, I like how he was willing to put with the crazy situation Shibito pulled him in. Hagar could have, at any point, back out and ran far away from the entire madness. Amazing that he didn't and some readers might have a problem with this because the rational thing Hagar should have done was to run away. But Hagar didn't.
Though the relationship started out as purely sex-based, I like how Hagar and Shibito's lust for each other developed into love. They didn't know each other, but they managed to trust each other all the way to end to defeat Kogon. Readers might complain that they trusted too easily, feel in love too quickly, but I had no issue with it. The pacing of the story and the development of its romance was a good fit of speed for me.
A Modest Proposal would have gotten a five-stars rating from me were it not the loose ends. Kogon died and nobody knows who will be the next emperor. Shibito, being the most powerful psychic, seem to the best bet but he doesn't want the position because he doesn't think he could fulfil its duty, like giving heirs for an example (which I think is a lame excuse considering how IVF and surrogacy can fix that easily). Before Kogon died, he also rid six other cousins like he did with Shibito. The story ends with Shibito and Hagar on the journey to rescue them. This made the entire story a HFN which I didn't really like. I sincerely hope the author left the ending open like that because she's starting a series. I hope.
Another gripe I had was the villain Kogon. He was adequately evil, but I didn't really understand why he committed suicide near the end. The story's reason "Kogon killed himself rather than lose" didn't satisfy me at all. I wanted him to be so evil that he would try to kill Shibito and Hagar and everyone else to the very dear, crazy-ass end. I don't care much for villains who self-destruct. It almost reeks of Deus Ex Machina there.
Overall, I like the couple; I really like their sex scenes; and I like how the plot wasn't thin. Giving A Modest Proposal four stars for really-liked-it.
Hagar is the captain of the cargo ship Midgard Serpent. Most of his shipments blah blah blah—The blurb didn't interest me enough to buy the book. That is, until I read Mandy's review.
This book is kind of a cheesy, slutty, mildly D/s space romp. —Blah blah blah— It's heavy on the sex content, lots of 'pounding through the mattress' and 'needy little slut'.That is what interest me. That is what convinced me to hand over my moolah, my wampum, my green notes. I am so there. Thank you MandyM for your very accurate review. Good karma for you. \^_^/
A Modest Proposal is told in 3rd POV that switches from Hagar and Shibito's perspective. Hagar is the manly top, Shibito is the needy bottom. There's your D/s relationship. The author is strongly influenced by yaoi, so any readers who wants to read a short story of yaoi, this is it.
There are references to rape, but no rape scenes. However, some readers might regard the initial sex scenes as dubious consent. Interestingly, you can argue for either lover as the victim of dubious consented sex. Hagar used Shibitio's desperate situation to get free shagging, and he wanted to see how far he can push Shibito's limit. Shibito as a psychic manipulated—though somewhat unintentionally—Hagar's emotion to enhance their lust for each other.
On a rough estimate, the story is half sex scenes and half no-sex-just-plot scenes. The sex scenes are very graphical, very hot—I was superbly indulged. The plot had good pacing, made sense, and exciting action.
In a short amount of text, the author managed to world-build the story well. So imagine Earth as the galaxy, and Earth's powerful countries as confederations that each rule over a network of planets. I assumed in this story that Earth's countries never united as one, and basically just extended their rule farther into space and over other planets. America, Russia, Japan, etc. each have their own planets.
Even though the story was scifi and futuristic, there were traditions and ancient culture in play. Nippon Imperium, i.e. the Japanese confederation, have monks, temples, emperors-as-divine belief, and the long-hair-to-signify-nobles fashion. As I understand, the author basically took ancient Japan and push it into the space age.
Shibito was bit of an emo but it was understandable considering his circumstances: His power-drunk, crazy-ass cousin drugged him and left him to die in the badland of space. He was raped while under the influence of the potentially-fatal drug. He couldn't use his psychic power like normal because of that drug. Even though he accepted his sexuality, he still had issues of poor-gay-me and I-can't-birth-heirs and disappointed-family. Last but not least, he was on the run for his life.
All of that and he was still only a bit of emo, at least from my POV. I like Shibito because in spite of it all he managed to get his act together and fix things. He successfully avoided his enemies while on the run for his life. Even though his power were on the fritz, he used his psychic power to hack machines to get where he needed to go. He got enough gumption to do anything for Hagar so that he can acquire safe passage, even if it meant whoring out his body.
In short, Shibito knew what he was doing in order to return home, get help from a trusted friend, confront his crazy-ass cousin, and ultimately save his loved ones from his cousin's madness. That's the kind of protagonist I love to read about, the kind who knows what they're doing and they get things done. It would have way too easy for Shibito to give up, be helpless, and mope. But no way, Shibito overcame his circumstances and beat his villainous cousin's butt.
Oh, and he managed to get a lovable sex fiend of a boyfriend out of the horrible situation. Score!
I like Hagar, I like how he was willing to put with the crazy situation Shibito pulled him in. Hagar could have, at any point, back out and ran far away from the entire madness. Amazing that he didn't and some readers might have a problem with this because the rational thing Hagar should have done was to run away. But Hagar didn't.
Though the relationship started out as purely sex-based, I like how Hagar and Shibito's lust for each other developed into love. They didn't know each other, but they managed to trust each other all the way to end to defeat Kogon. Readers might complain that they trusted too easily, feel in love too quickly, but I had no issue with it. The pacing of the story and the development of its romance was a good fit of speed for me.
A Modest Proposal would have gotten a five-stars rating from me were it not the loose ends. Kogon died and nobody knows who will be the next emperor. Shibito, being the most powerful psychic, seem to the best bet but he doesn't want the position because he doesn't think he could fulfil its duty, like giving heirs for an example (which I think is a lame excuse considering how IVF and surrogacy can fix that easily). Before Kogon died, he also rid six other cousins like he did with Shibito. The story ends with Shibito and Hagar on the journey to rescue them. This made the entire story a HFN which I didn't really like. I sincerely hope the author left the ending open like that because she's starting a series. I hope.
Another gripe I had was the villain Kogon. He was adequately evil, but I didn't really understand why he committed suicide near the end. The story's reason "Kogon killed himself rather than lose" didn't satisfy me at all. I wanted him to be so evil that he would try to kill Shibito and Hagar and everyone else to the very dear, crazy-ass end. I don't care much for villains who self-destruct. It almost reeks of Deus Ex Machina there.
Overall, I like the couple; I really like their sex scenes; and I like how the plot wasn't thin. Giving A Modest Proposal four stars for really-liked-it.
August 21, 2018
Shibito is on the run, and Hagar is the guy with the ship … it doesn’t hurt that sparks of lust ignite almost at once, and soon they’re in space, making a fast run away from Dumore Station – with Hagar not knowing what he’s running from, or getting himself into.
SF is always one of my favorite genres. I’ve read an enormous amount, and I know what I like – and A Modest Proposal is actually an interesting story set against a backdrop of galactic civilization that was cleverly designed, though the narrative actually quickly spins off into erotica ... and someone somewhere called it “cheesy.” It may or may nor be cheesy (confession: I enjoy classic SF, so probably have a rather “high cheese threshold”), but it sure is Deep Space Erotica.
The Dreamspinner Press blurb puts the scenario in a nutshell:
Hagar is the captain of the cargo ship Midgard Serpent. Most of his shipments are legal, but he has a reputation for being an honest smuggler—a reputation that lands him some troublesome cargo. Shibito, an exiled member of the Nipponese imperial family, meets Hagar on Dunmore Station. Keeping his true identity secret, Shibito tells Hagar he'll do anything to get out of there. Never one to turn down an offer like that, Hagar accepts.
But Shibito doesn't have just any destination in mind, and Hagar is furious when he discovers that his mysterious passenger has altered their course without telling him. With no way to change course a second time, Hagar has no choice but to trust—and face the temptation of Shibito’s request for some rough handling, a proposal Hagar isn’t sure he can resist.
The other thing I adore along with SF is Japanese culture (not to mention food), so I was attracted to this book. I haven’t read anything else by Ivey, so was unprepared for how the story would be written. By golly, there’s a heck of lot of sex between them thar stars. I think there might actually be too much … and “rough handling” puts it rather mildly. But Shibito gets off on this kind of sex, and it's true that a lot of readers do --
Not my usual reading, but what the hey? I'll give almost anything a chance. Also, I see the sexual aspect of this story as flat-out fantasy, because what Shibito goes through at Hagar’s hands (or other extremities!) would take quite some getting over, while the sex in this book is strictly “no conseqences” – meaning, nobody ever gets sore, much less injured and rushed to the nearest clinic. O...kay. Fantasy, along the lines of the way videogame characters bounce when they fall off a roof.
A Modest Proposal could have been much longer, with proper development of a story and universe that had the potential to be complex, rich and rewarding for an SF fan. It’s still a decent enough little book, but seems to be over rather too quickly, after whopping amounts of the narrative involved Hagar and Shibito getting it on.
The action scene at the end was well done, demonstrating that Ivey can definitely write action as well as build an SF universe that I, for one, wanted to see more of. The fact is, I reckon she knows her readers: knows what they want. And what they want is loads of sex, most of it rough, with that neat fantasy recovery trick.
The best parts, for me, were the backgrounding and the Japan-in-Space futuristic society. The weakest parts came around because the sex soon got extremely repetitive, and as I admitted above, this isn’t really my style. I speed-read the sex to keep the gist of how the relationship between Hagar and Shibito develops (which it does). Past that, I did enjoy the actual plot … which is to say, there’s a lot of plot in a very small space here.
The good news is, Ivey leaves the book open ended, with Hagar and Shibito together, flying off to new adventures. In such adventures, Ivey could develop the universe that caught my attention when I saw this one on the now-defunct All Romance eBooks. I wonder if her usual customers might be able to live with a bit less sex, to make the resulting book better balanced? Just a thought. Sorry, guys. So –
If you’re a fan of erotica with a D/s theme, you may love this and give it four stars, because it (yep) “wastes time on plot, plot plot” between the bonking scenes. On the other hand, if you’re a fan of old fashioned SF and you know how to skip across sizzly bits that repeat themselves, or aren’t really your cup of latte, you’ll be giving it two or three, for obvious reasons. I’ll have to leave it to you to choose which star shines brightest for you. One group will skim over the plot to get to the sex, and the other group will skim the sex to get to the plot! So … happy skimming!
SF is always one of my favorite genres. I’ve read an enormous amount, and I know what I like – and A Modest Proposal is actually an interesting story set against a backdrop of galactic civilization that was cleverly designed, though the narrative actually quickly spins off into erotica ... and someone somewhere called it “cheesy.” It may or may nor be cheesy (confession: I enjoy classic SF, so probably have a rather “high cheese threshold”), but it sure is Deep Space Erotica.
The Dreamspinner Press blurb puts the scenario in a nutshell:
Hagar is the captain of the cargo ship Midgard Serpent. Most of his shipments are legal, but he has a reputation for being an honest smuggler—a reputation that lands him some troublesome cargo. Shibito, an exiled member of the Nipponese imperial family, meets Hagar on Dunmore Station. Keeping his true identity secret, Shibito tells Hagar he'll do anything to get out of there. Never one to turn down an offer like that, Hagar accepts.
But Shibito doesn't have just any destination in mind, and Hagar is furious when he discovers that his mysterious passenger has altered their course without telling him. With no way to change course a second time, Hagar has no choice but to trust—and face the temptation of Shibito’s request for some rough handling, a proposal Hagar isn’t sure he can resist.
The other thing I adore along with SF is Japanese culture (not to mention food), so I was attracted to this book. I haven’t read anything else by Ivey, so was unprepared for how the story would be written. By golly, there’s a heck of lot of sex between them thar stars. I think there might actually be too much … and “rough handling” puts it rather mildly. But Shibito gets off on this kind of sex, and it's true that a lot of readers do --
Not my usual reading, but what the hey? I'll give almost anything a chance. Also, I see the sexual aspect of this story as flat-out fantasy, because what Shibito goes through at Hagar’s hands (or other extremities!) would take quite some getting over, while the sex in this book is strictly “no conseqences” – meaning, nobody ever gets sore, much less injured and rushed to the nearest clinic. O...kay. Fantasy, along the lines of the way videogame characters bounce when they fall off a roof.
A Modest Proposal could have been much longer, with proper development of a story and universe that had the potential to be complex, rich and rewarding for an SF fan. It’s still a decent enough little book, but seems to be over rather too quickly, after whopping amounts of the narrative involved Hagar and Shibito getting it on.
The action scene at the end was well done, demonstrating that Ivey can definitely write action as well as build an SF universe that I, for one, wanted to see more of. The fact is, I reckon she knows her readers: knows what they want. And what they want is loads of sex, most of it rough, with that neat fantasy recovery trick.
The best parts, for me, were the backgrounding and the Japan-in-Space futuristic society. The weakest parts came around because the sex soon got extremely repetitive, and as I admitted above, this isn’t really my style. I speed-read the sex to keep the gist of how the relationship between Hagar and Shibito develops (which it does). Past that, I did enjoy the actual plot … which is to say, there’s a lot of plot in a very small space here.
The good news is, Ivey leaves the book open ended, with Hagar and Shibito together, flying off to new adventures. In such adventures, Ivey could develop the universe that caught my attention when I saw this one on the now-defunct All Romance eBooks. I wonder if her usual customers might be able to live with a bit less sex, to make the resulting book better balanced? Just a thought. Sorry, guys. So –
If you’re a fan of erotica with a D/s theme, you may love this and give it four stars, because it (yep) “wastes time on plot, plot plot” between the bonking scenes. On the other hand, if you’re a fan of old fashioned SF and you know how to skip across sizzly bits that repeat themselves, or aren’t really your cup of latte, you’ll be giving it two or three, for obvious reasons. I’ll have to leave it to you to choose which star shines brightest for you. One group will skim over the plot to get to the sex, and the other group will skim the sex to get to the plot! So … happy skimming!
April 21, 2012
Originally posted at: http://whippedcream2.blogspot.com/201...
Far from home and trying to return, Shibito offers ship captain Hagar a deal he can’t refuse. Penniless and lost, Shibito knows he doesn’t have much to offer Hagar for a ride on his somewhat illegal shipping vessel. However Shibito doesn’t let that sway him as he offers Hagar the one thing the captain can’t refuse – free use of Shibito’s excellent body. The voyage turns out to be an experience neither man expected nor one they want to give up.
A Modest Proposal is a fun and entertaining erotica trip with just enough background and setting to keep the story interesting between numerous bouts of sex. The main purpose of the story is erotica and a lot of it. Shibito offers Hagar free use of his body in any way the other man wants. This leads to a pseudo D/s relationship with Hagar calling the shots. Shibito is all for it though and in fact he’s just as greedy and wanting as Hagar. Together the two have explosive and kind of repetitive D/s laced sex. It’s not heavy BDSM. It’s really light and only hinted at; a situation both men enjoy quite a bit.
The backdrop to all the sex is Shibito’s journey home and confrontation with his cousin, the man who psychically injured Shibito and shipped him off to a far away planet. There's a sci-fi element in that the setting is clearly futuristic, more so than science fiction/fantasy. The writing is very good and tries to include some complicated personal dynamics between the various relationships. This is all a backdrop to the focus, which is the sex and burgeoning relationship between the two men.
The ending is left somewhat hanging as Shibito’s future is uncertain and the two men are off on an adventure. What will happen to them and Shibito’s people is presumably going to be addressed in future stories. The characters are somewhat developed but, like the actual plot, this all seems to be secondary to the sex scenes. The world building is perhaps the best aspect of the story and the sex is hot and plentiful. I prefer the author’s more developed, complex novels and this novella fell short of my expectations with its focus on so much sex and not enough character development. However for a short novella, fans of D/s-tinged erotica may like it.
Far from home and trying to return, Shibito offers ship captain Hagar a deal he can’t refuse. Penniless and lost, Shibito knows he doesn’t have much to offer Hagar for a ride on his somewhat illegal shipping vessel. However Shibito doesn’t let that sway him as he offers Hagar the one thing the captain can’t refuse – free use of Shibito’s excellent body. The voyage turns out to be an experience neither man expected nor one they want to give up.
A Modest Proposal is a fun and entertaining erotica trip with just enough background and setting to keep the story interesting between numerous bouts of sex. The main purpose of the story is erotica and a lot of it. Shibito offers Hagar free use of his body in any way the other man wants. This leads to a pseudo D/s relationship with Hagar calling the shots. Shibito is all for it though and in fact he’s just as greedy and wanting as Hagar. Together the two have explosive and kind of repetitive D/s laced sex. It’s not heavy BDSM. It’s really light and only hinted at; a situation both men enjoy quite a bit.
The backdrop to all the sex is Shibito’s journey home and confrontation with his cousin, the man who psychically injured Shibito and shipped him off to a far away planet. There's a sci-fi element in that the setting is clearly futuristic, more so than science fiction/fantasy. The writing is very good and tries to include some complicated personal dynamics between the various relationships. This is all a backdrop to the focus, which is the sex and burgeoning relationship between the two men.
The ending is left somewhat hanging as Shibito’s future is uncertain and the two men are off on an adventure. What will happen to them and Shibito’s people is presumably going to be addressed in future stories. The characters are somewhat developed but, like the actual plot, this all seems to be secondary to the sex scenes. The world building is perhaps the best aspect of the story and the sex is hot and plentiful. I prefer the author’s more developed, complex novels and this novella fell short of my expectations with its focus on so much sex and not enough character development. However for a short novella, fans of D/s-tinged erotica may like it.
July 23, 2012
A Modest Proposal is an easy to read, light erotica tale. It has a touch of D/s, lots of sex and a thin plot mainly as a vehicle to turn pages and have more sex. It’s a fun enough read for something empty but satisfying – if you’re looking for a lot of sex and a little bit of futuristic yaoi world building to round it out. It’s not really that memorable or interesting for me but it’s a decent read and hits the spot for those wanting more erotica than romance.
The plot is somewhat thin and mainly serves as an excuse to have sex, sex, and more sex between the characters and a possible sequel. The world building is pretty ambitious but at the same time lacking since there are just enough details. We get an idea of the world or galaxy of futuristic worlds but not enough specific details. For the purpose of the novella, this isn’t a huge problem since the focus is on erotica and less on a complex, well developed plot and world building. Instead there are enough details to likely keep the readers’ interest in between the bouts of light D/s sex.
If someone is looking for erotica without much romance, then this is where aMP shines. The sex is plentiful and pretty much the same. Hager is the rough top and Shibito the eager, slutty bottom. The tone and frequency of the scenes tend to remain the same throughout as Hager uses Shibito over and over and over again, to both men’s delight. The scenes are definitely fantasy as there are no real world concerns so the two men can go at it rough constantly and repeatedly. The author knows how to write entertaining scenes, though they do get a bit repetitive since the logistics and positions rarely change.
The thin plot about Shibito’s powers and his corrupt emperor cousin are interesting enough. They provide a nice backdrop to the frequent sex and also give an open ending, likely pointing to a sequel. There’s not enough information or development here to really make these element of the story pop or grasp the reader too much. The main focus is clearly the sex and developing emotions from the sex so everything else is background at best.
It’s not a bad story for erotica with more plot than the average D/s sex-fest.
The plot is somewhat thin and mainly serves as an excuse to have sex, sex, and more sex between the characters and a possible sequel. The world building is pretty ambitious but at the same time lacking since there are just enough details. We get an idea of the world or galaxy of futuristic worlds but not enough specific details. For the purpose of the novella, this isn’t a huge problem since the focus is on erotica and less on a complex, well developed plot and world building. Instead there are enough details to likely keep the readers’ interest in between the bouts of light D/s sex.
If someone is looking for erotica without much romance, then this is where aMP shines. The sex is plentiful and pretty much the same. Hager is the rough top and Shibito the eager, slutty bottom. The tone and frequency of the scenes tend to remain the same throughout as Hager uses Shibito over and over and over again, to both men’s delight. The scenes are definitely fantasy as there are no real world concerns so the two men can go at it rough constantly and repeatedly. The author knows how to write entertaining scenes, though they do get a bit repetitive since the logistics and positions rarely change.
The thin plot about Shibito’s powers and his corrupt emperor cousin are interesting enough. They provide a nice backdrop to the frequent sex and also give an open ending, likely pointing to a sequel. There’s not enough information or development here to really make these element of the story pop or grasp the reader too much. The main focus is clearly the sex and developing emotions from the sex so everything else is background at best.
It’s not a bad story for erotica with more plot than the average D/s sex-fest.
July 14, 2012
I guess this is somewhere between a 3 and a 3.5. It ended well enough for now, but it's definitely only the first part of the story, like Star Wars: A New Hope - it ended well enough, but Vader and the Emperor were still out there to be dealt with, ya know? There are things left to be dealt with before the story is finished. (I felt the same way about An Uncommon Whore before When I Fall was released. Haven't read When I Fall yet, though.)
Characters were fine, though I don't know how much of an impression they'll leave. Definite dominance from the seme and submission from the uke, but it only comes out as really rough sex, so not BDSM in any other respect. No leather, whips, knives, candles, ropes, gags, etc. You get the picture. Lots of sex, and while I understand its purpose to the story, it still felt a bit superfluous at times.
Not bad. Just... unfinished. I guess that's why I don't feel more satisfied.
Characters were fine, though I don't know how much of an impression they'll leave. Definite dominance from the seme and submission from the uke, but it only comes out as really rough sex, so not BDSM in any other respect. No leather, whips, knives, candles, ropes, gags, etc. You get the picture. Lots of sex, and while I understand its purpose to the story, it still felt a bit superfluous at times.
Not bad. Just... unfinished. I guess that's why I don't feel more satisfied.
October 17, 2011
2.5 stars
January 7, 2012
2.5
The idea and plot was interesting, but I felt it wasn't developed enough. It didn't feel right while reading.
The idea and plot was interesting, but I felt it wasn't developed enough. It didn't feel right while reading.
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