PAINTED DOLL: An Erotic Science Fiction Novel: [Enhanced Edition]

by M. Christian

M. Christian's claimed BDSM science fiction cyberpunk novel is back in print - a tale of futuristic sexual submission and domination! One of the pleasures of a dystopic future is the erotists, professionals who paint their clients' bared skin with neurochemicals that induce all forms of sensation - even pain. Erotists offer landscapes of ecstasy, sexual extremes, joy, and delight. Few citizens can afford the skills of the talented Domino. Fewer still know her identity is but a mask. Beneath the facade, Claire hides from a vicious crime lord who would not only kill her but her childhood lover. But the mask of Domino is beginning to crack... Strange sexual pairings and strange sexual practices highlight this futuristic noir tale, set in a wildly imaginative erotic future, exploring who we are and the sexual awakenings that occur when we become someone else.




MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK:

* REVIEWS:

* "M. Christian is one hell of a writer. He paints his universes and characters in full, living color, thrills the reader with non-stop action. A no-holds-barred storyteller, he embraces his reader at the start and doesn't let go until long after the end."
* - Mari Adkins, Apex Publications contributing editor

* "M. Christian is the chameleon of modern erotica. One day punk, another romantic; one day straight, another totally perverse and polyamorous. But always sexy and and gripping."
* - Maxim Jakubowksi is the editor of the Mammoth Book of Erotica series

* "A non-stop ride of precise prose and unexpected imagery. Painted Doll is another M. Christian gem; a seamless blend of the erotic with the darkly fantastic. Unpredictable, engaging, and an often startling read."
* - Marilyn Jaye Lewis, author of Freak Parade

* "No matter how long I've been at the erotica game, M. Christian continues to surprise me. With Painted Doll, he again proves that his imagination knows no bounds. The first pages sucked me into the story, and I couldn't stop reading. Who was this woman? Who was she...really? Provocative and unique, Painted Doll is M. Christian at his finest."
* - Gwen Masters, author of One Breath at a Time

Genres: Erotica, BDSM, Science Fiction

211 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 7, 2008

About the author

M.Christian is - among many things - an acknowledged master of erotica with more than 400 stories in such anthologies as Best American Erotica, Best Gay Erotica, Best Lesbian Erotica, Best Bisexual Erotica, Best Fetish Erotica, and many, many other anthologies, magazines, and Web sites.

He is the editor of 25 anthologies including the Best S/M Erotica series, The Burning Pen, Guilty Pleasures, The Mammoth Book of Future Cops and The Mammoth Book of Tales of the Road (with Maxim Jakubowksi) and Confessions, Garden of Perverse, and Amazons (with Sage Vivant) as well as many others.

He is the author of the collections Dirty Words, Speaking Parts, The Bachelor Machine, Licks & Promises, Filthy, Love Without Gun Control, Rude Mechanicals, and Coming Together Presents M.Christian, Pornotopia, How To Write And Sell Erotica; and the novels Running Dry, The Very Bloody Marys, Me2, Brushes, Fingers Breadth, and Painted Doll.

Reviews

[Jim Lyon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an imaginative and literate erotic science fiction story that is neither hardcore nor genteel. Set in a near-future dystopian future, it follows the travails of the lesbian daughter of educated parents as she narrowly escapes to Shanghai on a fishing boat from a disintegrating social order in the Pacific Northwest. The painted doll of the title refers to a disguise she assumes at one point as an erotist, a sort of geisha-dominatrix persona that orchestrates erotic scenarios for her clients with mind-altering body-paint and powerful fantasies.

[Jim Lyon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hollie Jackson's perfectly nuanced narration elevated M. Christian's imaginatively decadent Sci-Fi tale to classic status; destined to become a fan favorite for years to come. Highly recommended for erotic science fiction audiophiles.

[Shawna Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Review based on audible version*

Let me begin by saying that this review will seem quite incongruous with the stars at the top. It's going to sound (in the first few paragraphs) like I hated this book but that's how I write. Start with the bad and finish with the good so, sorry in advance, lets address the elephant in the room.

Too many goddamn words!!! I get that the auther is trying for a certain feel, a certain cold robotic, poetic atmosphere and I'll get to that but you could seriously cut about a third of this book out without losing any of the plot. This is NOT aided by the narrator. She's otherwise fantastic but she reads in such a cool, detached way that it just forms into a list of words that barely connect. I swear she could have added random non-sense in and I never would have noticed. This was especially irksome with lists. Lines like "she passed signs with Japanese, mandarin, Taiwanese, English and as she passed these signs with Japanese, mandarin, Taiwanese...." This isn't high school and you do not have a quota of words to hit.

The next gripe I have is with the characters. There's Clair/Domino a sci-fi prostitute with a gimmick that is (lets be blunt) an author's wet dream. She paints your fantasies on your body with chemicals so that you experience them. Great writing device but a boring character. She's the old cliche of a woman in hiding torn between her disguise and her real self. Then there's Flower a cliched street girl who got in way over her head and is in flowery, poetic love. We also have...not sure if he was named...robo-assasin guy. He's not really fleshed out and he's kind of annoying. I feel like there's a backstory there that would be interesting but it never really gets told. By the end of the book I just wanted these annoying, shallow, over-artsy cliches to just die already. Queue up the baker street and let the credits roll...it's Taka Town (that's the name of a gangster? guy who's trying to kill them for some reason that has something to do with money and a possible frame job).

So, why 4 stars? Well to explain that let me say that there are 3 types of book (in my ignorant opinion). There are plot books, character books and feeling books. Painted Doll is the third type. I mention Baker Street (the song) because the essence of this story is a film noir in the future instead of the 20s. For you younger folk who don't know the classic detective film think Sin City with more smoking. It's depressing, it's nihilistic, it's a bottle of cheap scotch in the gutter as the rain starts to fall in time with your tears. Add to this archetype a dream like narrative style reminiscent of The Satanic Verses (a simple plot made "brilliant" because half the time you've no idea what's going on) written with a descriptive style similar to Margaret Atwood (why use 1 verb when 50 will do). It all makes you sad, hopeless, reflective and appreciative that your life is better than those of the characters. A feeling book doesn't need to have a compelling plot and you don't need to like the characters. All it needs to do is make you feel. In that way this type of book is the closest to a real art form and M. Christian certainly knows how to wield that brush.

So, as to the plot, what's to say? Refugee girl meets street wise girl. Love, love, love. Bad deal with mob guy, saved by shadowy guy, run from assassins, have to stay away but can't stop writing letters, think they're free oops they're not, twist I won't spoil, ending. It's nothing you haven't seen before but that doesn't really matter. With this type of book it's all about execution. At the end nothing is gained, nothing is lost. You just feel and feeling is the goal.

That feeling is nihilism. A dull sadness at the futility of hope and the mutability of all that we value in life. The city swallowing up all light, all joy.

"A comedian died in New York"
"I'll cash her cheque in the morning."
"Give it up Homer, it's chyro town."
"Watch her walk."

Baker street plays, a tear rolls down a cheek. I didn't like the plot, I didn't care about the characters but I felt something even if it was artificial. Like one of Domino's clients the fantasy may fade, the details vanish but in a world where real feelings can be few and far between I do value anything that can provoke one within my black little heart and Painted Doll did that.

[Shaun Putaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual M. Christian draws the reader deeply into the story. The characters are complex and the reader soon comes to feel involved. The settings and descriptions are vivid and well drawn while still inviting the reader to use their own imagination as they are brought into this world.

The eroticism of Painted Doll is... different. Most of the erotic scenes involve the characters describing, rather than actually having, sex. It's intriguing and, frankly, hot.

I received a free copy of Painted Doll for review, and honestly the editing and formatting needs some work. There were quite a few problems with my copy, a few that were serious enough to effect the flow of the story. Hopefully the version that is sold has better editing. I will say that even with the editing problems I still recommend this book.

[Liz Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Painted Doll - M. Christian

Quite often I am sad when I finish a book, this time I was relieved. Halfway through the book, I was dreading the times when I needed to continue listening to it, and I'm afraid I dozed off a couple of times while listening in bed. To summarize: this book was not to my liking.
First of all, for an erotica book, I found it very un-erotic. Sure, the scenes where Domino used the paints on clients were erotic, but not in a way that was arousing. That may very well be a choice of the author; it was not something I enjoyed. There was some sex conversation between Flower and Claire, but they felt distant and unconnected.
I didn't really understand the story. Now reading the other reviews I think I understood it completely, but I continuously had the feeling I missed bits of information. Like there had to be more back story or just more to it. To me, the story was very vague, and that confused and annoyed me.
I utterly hated the use of language in this book. Not that it was too blunt or graphic in any way, but because the author used too many words. It was a very flowery way of describing things, like in a poetic style, and I hated it. Just get to the point and tell me what you want to say. He would find five synonyms for one noun and use those five synonyms ten times within a chapter. I understand the use of synonyms to get your point across, but I could not deal with the repetition. It would just make me lose my concentration and the track of the story.
Now on the things I did like. I liked the characters. I liked Flower. She was just a bubbly happy girl, and while I didn't completely understand why she and Claire would fall in love so quickly, I was able to accept that. Claire was a nice woman. I wanted her to settle down with Flower and live happily ever after (which may or may not happen in the story - no spoilers). Mind my language: I 'liked' Flower and Claire was 'nice.' They're not very memorable characters that will stay with you forever. They were okay.
I loved the narrator. She had a pleasant voice to listen to, and her portrayal of the different characters was excellent.
I loved the premise of the book, how you can evoke emotions within people by the use of paint with neuro chemical compounds. My dirty mind quickly turned this idea into many interesting scenarios, and I was disappointed the author didn't go that far. Never does he bring people to real despair or to utter torment. Sure, it's an intense half an hour these people live through at the hands of the Erotist, but I would have loved to see it go much further.
It's not a bad book. The development of the characters is okay, and their world is believable. It's mostly the form of the story that irked me. And to my taste, it could have gone a lot further. If you like a more poetic, non-direct style, then this might be for you. But this book certainly wasn't for me.

[Adam Bourke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite liked this story - but it's nothing like what I was expecting.

The basic premise is that Domino is an "Erotist", someone that arouses clients not using their body, but using special "paints" to simulate them sexually and in other ways. You'll see when you read it. It's an interesting idea, I will say - and something I can see why people might want to try. The other main storyline is of why Claire and Flower are apart - which comes to a rather unexpected conclusion for those two - although I'm not really sure what happened to the antagonist (possibility for sequel).

It is a sci-fi book, so it fits into this blog, but only just. It's set only shortly in the future - or seems to be- and although it has some nifty things called iGlasses, it doesn't really focus on the technology as such - although there is software that can be programmed to control people, which is mentioned a bit. And then there is the paints of course. So while it's not Star Trek, and reads as if it's set in modern times - the technology is quite advanced.

The book is also meant to be Erotica. I didn't realise that until it actually arrived, but it says it on the back of the book. Either way - i'm not really sure it was. There were some fairly explicit scenes, and the book was about sex in a way. But there wasn't any actual sex by a main character. There was a guy who had sex, but he wasn't really paying attention. The main focus of the books was the characters, and the amount of sex lessened as the book continued. However, some of the scenes involving Domino and her painting clients lived up to the genre - despite not actually involving sex. It was quite interesting to read, actually. The scenes involving the the two main women seemed a bit cruder, less elegant than with the clients though. But I'll say it's kind of erotica.

The characters weren't bad. Not incredible either, but not bad. I didn't really feel the love between Claire and Flower in their Letter-Dialogue. It was just about sex really. Maybe that's something to do with the erotica part of the genre, but I wish there had been more tangible emotion. However, the emotion that Claire felt when she was alone was done a lot better, and I felt myself pitying her somewhat - although at no point was I empathetic, which is why the characters were only good ones.

The main problem I had with it was the formatting. There was quite a few typos, and often at the end of letters in the book, the style was not changed back to the narrative style. That meant that I was confused often, and often disappointed when a letter started, as I was weary of the ending. If these issues weren't there, then I would have enjoyed this book much more. In addition, the page numbers were on the inside, except on chapter openings where they were at the bottom. That was kind of annoying when trying to find a certain page.

So overall the book was enjoyable enough, although it wasn't quite what I was expecting, and it's genre is questionable. The formatting errors were quite major though, and I hope the publisher sorts that out as soon as possible. Although I can see only a thin reason for a sequel, I would be interested in reading it. Formatting Permitting.

[Saskia Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

PAINTED DOLL is set in an eerie future world -- the type of world that always gets under my skin and unnerves me, where things are both similar to what we know but also not of our experience, so that the vivid images we encounter tease along our perception uneasily. In this future world we encounter the story of The Painted Doll, a woman who works as a dominatrix in order to hide a secret past and her true identity.

As the story progresses and The Painted Doll slowly removes the layers of her mask for us, we find out her story and the reasons why she’s had to take on a new identity and hide. I don’t want to say too much and spoil the plot, but The Painted Doll is on the run from some very bad people. Most importantly she has had to leave and hide in order to protect her lesbian lover from those very bad people. At several times I found it was not an easy read, but it would not let me go. The novel is compelling, gritty, erotic, and at its centre lies an intense love story.

M. Christian is an author who straddles genres with apparent ease, as well as writing with literary panache. In this novel (and in his previous works) he plays with the recurring themes of sexuality, gender, and identity, questioning them by setting them at odds with what we know and understand. PAINTED DOLL resonates. It will stay with you.