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The Ishtar Ignition
The erotic and exciting adventures of Charlotte Frost, Tantric Aviatrix, continues...
In a world where sex is magic, Captain Charlotte Frost is confronted with the mystery of her world's origins. Having narrowly escaped the Matriarchy with the enigmatic, sentient, and shapeshifting Doll, they now find themselves trapped in the mysterious Temple of Ishtar, long buried in the past under the sands of the Syrian Desert.
Together, Charlotte and the Doll must face the trials and tribulations of a secret past about the magic of the Aviatrixes that threatens both their beliefs and their very survival.
In a world where sex is magic, Captain Charlotte Frost is confronted with the mystery of her world's origins. Having narrowly escaped the Matriarchy with the enigmatic, sentient, and shapeshifting Doll, they now find themselves trapped in the mysterious Temple of Ishtar, long buried in the past under the sands of the Syrian Desert.
Together, Charlotte and the Doll must face the trials and tribulations of a secret past about the magic of the Aviatrixes that threatens both their beliefs and their very survival.
136 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 14, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 7, 2024
Genre: Erotic SF
Description: this is a novella continuing the adventures of aviatrix Charlotte Frost (personal motto: ‘fuck it or kill it’) who is being pursued (for reasons not in this book) by the Matriarchy at the urging of the Godmother AI. Her space ship has somehow landed in a massive hangar, which is where the action takes place. It is full of potentially lethal tech, which has been largely powered down. The tech is vaguely familiar to Captain Frost. Undaunted, Frost straps on her tool belt, and she and her trusty sex Doll (the gender shifting Arslan-Tash) get to work on an exit strategy.
Author: Black’s Amazon bio reads thus: “Born a modern-day nomad in the Deep South, Timothy Black wandered through most of the southern United States in an attempt to find his life, love, and home. After studying Geology, Astronomy, and the Occult, he found himself with a degree in Philosophy and a habit of writing odd things. A serial killer of coffee and whiskey sours, he has since found his den in the Pacific Northwest with two raucous bird ladies that peck him when he gets too far out of line. That's a whole lot of beaking.” There is another Timothy Black on Amazon, who is a retired teacher. He is not this Black.
Appraisal: this is a lot of fun. Captain Frost’s space ship is called the Harlot’s Promise and is powered by Really Great Orgasms produced by the practice of tantric sex. The plot is small but perfectly formed: the girl on girl action is clever. Black has corralled a number of ancient middle eastern deities, myths, tantric energy, and alternative religious and political pathways to create a complex military matriarchal state in opposition to a majority patriarchy to power this SF adventure. All these little dogies, hitched together, gallop along very nicely indeed.
The only problem is that this is book 2 and it doesn’t really stand alone. So now you know that, do start with the first one, 'The Clockwork Courtesan'.
The third book in the series ('The Engines of Eros') was published in August 2024. So with the whole trilogy now available, the frustrating deficiencies I experienced should melt away. I did feel the lack of the grounding that first book would have provided. But I had a very nice time all the same, thank you very much.
*this review originally prepared for Big Al's Books and Pals: received a complimentary soft file for the purpose*
Description: this is a novella continuing the adventures of aviatrix Charlotte Frost (personal motto: ‘fuck it or kill it’) who is being pursued (for reasons not in this book) by the Matriarchy at the urging of the Godmother AI. Her space ship has somehow landed in a massive hangar, which is where the action takes place. It is full of potentially lethal tech, which has been largely powered down. The tech is vaguely familiar to Captain Frost. Undaunted, Frost straps on her tool belt, and she and her trusty sex Doll (the gender shifting Arslan-Tash) get to work on an exit strategy.
Author: Black’s Amazon bio reads thus: “Born a modern-day nomad in the Deep South, Timothy Black wandered through most of the southern United States in an attempt to find his life, love, and home. After studying Geology, Astronomy, and the Occult, he found himself with a degree in Philosophy and a habit of writing odd things. A serial killer of coffee and whiskey sours, he has since found his den in the Pacific Northwest with two raucous bird ladies that peck him when he gets too far out of line. That's a whole lot of beaking.” There is another Timothy Black on Amazon, who is a retired teacher. He is not this Black.
Appraisal: this is a lot of fun. Captain Frost’s space ship is called the Harlot’s Promise and is powered by Really Great Orgasms produced by the practice of tantric sex. The plot is small but perfectly formed: the girl on girl action is clever. Black has corralled a number of ancient middle eastern deities, myths, tantric energy, and alternative religious and political pathways to create a complex military matriarchal state in opposition to a majority patriarchy to power this SF adventure. All these little dogies, hitched together, gallop along very nicely indeed.
The only problem is that this is book 2 and it doesn’t really stand alone. So now you know that, do start with the first one, 'The Clockwork Courtesan'.
The third book in the series ('The Engines of Eros') was published in August 2024. So with the whole trilogy now available, the frustrating deficiencies I experienced should melt away. I did feel the lack of the grounding that first book would have provided. But I had a very nice time all the same, thank you very much.
*this review originally prepared for Big Al's Books and Pals: received a complimentary soft file for the purpose*
January 13, 2024
Picking up immediately where The Clockwork Courtesan left off, Timothy Black slows the pace with The Ishtar Ignition and delves deeper (quite literally) into the history of the Matriarchy and the magic of its Tantric Aviatrixes.
Where the first book was swashbuckling sci-fi, this one is more pulp sci-fi adventure, taking us beneath the sands and into the ruins of the long-buried Temple of Ishtar. It’s a dark, dangerous place, complete with a magical suppression field that drains the life from both Captain Charlotte Frost and the Doll – in both its forms. With evidence of past Matriarchy involvement, the ruins of artificial monstrosities, and strange writings everywhere, we’re presented with a locked room puzzle that Charlotte must risk hastening her own death to solve.
Black explores various levels of his world-building and mythology in this second volume, exposing myths and secrets along the way. Not all of the answers are ones Charlotte will want to hear, especially the final one that leads into an even better cliffhanger than the first, and we’re left with enough doubt to trust any of the answers. We learn more about the Doll as well, with Arlan’s identity suppressing Tash for much of the story, and it both evokes new sympathies and fresh fears. Again, the answers are couched in doubts and secrets, but even the questions we’re left with are huge.
Two books in, and I can confidently say the Tales of the Tantric Aviatrix saga is well worth the read. It’s a wonderful blend of adventure, science fiction, and erotica, with a pulp/steampunk feel . . . except it’s magic, not steam. I’m still hoping the see the story open up a bit and give us more insight into the other Aviatrixes, but that’s a desire, not a complaint.
https://sallybend.wordpress.com/2024/...
Where the first book was swashbuckling sci-fi, this one is more pulp sci-fi adventure, taking us beneath the sands and into the ruins of the long-buried Temple of Ishtar. It’s a dark, dangerous place, complete with a magical suppression field that drains the life from both Captain Charlotte Frost and the Doll – in both its forms. With evidence of past Matriarchy involvement, the ruins of artificial monstrosities, and strange writings everywhere, we’re presented with a locked room puzzle that Charlotte must risk hastening her own death to solve.
Black explores various levels of his world-building and mythology in this second volume, exposing myths and secrets along the way. Not all of the answers are ones Charlotte will want to hear, especially the final one that leads into an even better cliffhanger than the first, and we’re left with enough doubt to trust any of the answers. We learn more about the Doll as well, with Arlan’s identity suppressing Tash for much of the story, and it both evokes new sympathies and fresh fears. Again, the answers are couched in doubts and secrets, but even the questions we’re left with are huge.
Two books in, and I can confidently say the Tales of the Tantric Aviatrix saga is well worth the read. It’s a wonderful blend of adventure, science fiction, and erotica, with a pulp/steampunk feel . . . except it’s magic, not steam. I’m still hoping the see the story open up a bit and give us more insight into the other Aviatrixes, but that’s a desire, not a complaint.
https://sallybend.wordpress.com/2024/...
November 20, 2023
A Joyfully Jay review.
5 stars
This second book in the Tales of the Tantric Aviatrix series picks up where the last book ended, and explores with more thoughtfulness the idea of agency — Tash is a creation of gears and metal, not human; she is bound to obey Charlotte due to her programming so how much consent can she give? Where do you draw the line between property and person? It also examines the reality of the manipulation Charlotte entered into when she used Arlan, the male personality within Tash’s complex mind, using his body against him in order to charge her dying ship.
The world building is so well done, as the mystery is slowly unspooled, with hints and herrings and the revelation of the magic system beyond sex metals that need sex by sexy people to charge with sex power. The first book was more tongue in cheek, but this book is wonderfully grounded (for a book about airships and tantric magic) and I enjoyed every moment. I can’t wait for the next book in the series!
Read Elizabeth’s review in its entirety here.
5 stars
This second book in the Tales of the Tantric Aviatrix series picks up where the last book ended, and explores with more thoughtfulness the idea of agency — Tash is a creation of gears and metal, not human; she is bound to obey Charlotte due to her programming so how much consent can she give? Where do you draw the line between property and person? It also examines the reality of the manipulation Charlotte entered into when she used Arlan, the male personality within Tash’s complex mind, using his body against him in order to charge her dying ship.
The world building is so well done, as the mystery is slowly unspooled, with hints and herrings and the revelation of the magic system beyond sex metals that need sex by sexy people to charge with sex power. The first book was more tongue in cheek, but this book is wonderfully grounded (for a book about airships and tantric magic) and I enjoyed every moment. I can’t wait for the next book in the series!
Read Elizabeth’s review in its entirety here.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews