Eros Ascending

Tales of the Velvet Comet #1

by Mike Resnick

When the Vainmill Syndicate is torn by an internal power struggle, master saboteur Harry Redwine is given the assignment to ruin the Velvet Comet, a luxurious pleasure palace in space, and the lady who runs it, the Leather Madonna

Genres: Science Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Erotica, Space Opera, Fantasy, Fiction

254 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1984

About the author

Michael "Mike" Diamond Resnick, better known by his published name Mike Resnick, was a popular and prolific American science fiction author. He is, according to Locus, the all-time leading award winner, living or dead, for short science fiction. He was the winner of five Hugos, a Nebula, and other major awards in the United States, France, Spain, Japan, Croatia and Poland. and has been short-listed for major awards in England, Italy and Australia. He was the author of 68 novels, over 250 stories, and 2 screenplays, and was the editor of 41 anthologies. His work has been translated into 25 languages. He was the Guest of Honor at the 2012 Worldcon and can be found online as @ResnickMike on Twitter or at www.mikeresnick.com.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Velvet Comet series is set on a brothel in space, but the emphasis on mystery and adventure and intrigue and such is much more like the Babylon-5 television series than anything else that comes to mind. There's no real serious sexual content, at least nothing remotely explicit by current standards. They're fun books and quick reads, though I didn't find them as deep as most of his other work, and I doubt that they've aged as well. The four novels are set many years apart from one another, as illustrated by the titles. The fourth one, Eros at Nadir, is especially interesting as it is the story of a researching author, an archetype that Resnick has used many times. Good for light, fast entertaining reading.

[Ian Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Eros Ascending” by Mike Resnick (1984)

Overall Rating 9/10 – Spicy!

Plot
Our protagonist, Harry Redwine, is sent to the “Velvet Comet”, a space station that is a luxury brothel, to sabotage the “books” in order to bring down the company. Whilst there, he falls in love (and breaks a golden rule) with the Madam. With another saboteur (plant) hidden in plain sight, and a very clever head of security, can he succeed?

Writing Style
Simple prose. Easy sentences, good descriptions and not excessive. Some repetition which is mildly irritating but passable. Relax and watch the movie play out in your mind as you read.

Point of View/Voice
Written in the 3rd Person / Past Tense (standard convention)

Critique
“Books and Covers”. The cover of this book (the first edition anyway) pretty much sums up the style and storyline of the writing. Although billed as erotic sci-fi, it would be more accurate to state it is sci-fi thriller with “some” erotic scenes. Those scenes are not what you might expect but remain mature and consistent with a superb and well-written plot. If you are looking for “smut” then you have the wrong book. Nevertheless, the story is set on a space-station that is a luxury brothel where you can have anything you want, for a price. Luxury shops, casinos and restaurants adorn the innards as well as “Fantasy Rooms” (think of a “Holodeck” on Star Trek and you have it). A complete and rounded “World within a World” that is run and controlled for the discerning patron. The entire creation is totally believable. I walked down corridors, watched holograms and followed the protagonist’s every move. I felt his emotions wherever he experienced them, both the highs and the lows. Much like any thriller, I tried to stay ahead of the plot and although I managed it in some small part, I mostly failed.

My only two real criticisms were; 1) that it ended very suddenly (and unsatisfactorily) as though the author had run out of time and/or ideas. 2) I was reading the book on a Kindle and there were a lot of typos. At first I thought it was bad proofing but then I thought it might be errors that occurred when the written word was converted to digital word. Probably I will never know.

I have to go and buy the sequel now …

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is essentially the story of an dodgy accountant cooking the books of a brothel in space turned out to be a really enjoyable read. Corporate plots and back stabbing, conniving hookers, love and loss. It's all in here and wrapped up in a nice futuristic package.

It's a Pretty Woman mixed in with a good helping of sabotage, scheming, plotting, murder and revenge.

Because of the setting of the story (The Velvet Comet Brothel) I was a bit unsure if this was just going to be fifty shades of Sci-Fi. As it turns out, the nature of the work carried out by the staff on the Velvet Comet was dealt with in a very subtle way and did not distract from the plot.

A nice quick read that definitely makes me want to read more of Mike Resnick's work.

[Norman Howe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a techno-thriller about corporate espionage and sabotage. The tech stands up well even today. Much of it hadn't been invented in 1984, but Resnick has not made any bad guesses about how it would be implemented.
I would have given this a higher rating, but the way the book ended dissatisfied me. Feet of clay, and a bunch of shots rang out and none of the evildoers fell dead, so to speak.

[Jim Davis · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. Pretty boring considering the title and premise.

[jacob.eru · Rating 5 out of 5]

the only thing really scifi here is that it is set on a space station. an industrial espionage turns into a mature romance. characters are deep, and dialogue witty.

[Zlyznajek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spodziewałam się erotyku, dostałam niesamowicie wzruszającą historię o miłości

[Sytze Hiemstra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than i thought it would be. Quite entertaining really.

[M · Rating 1 out of 5]

i just realised that I am really not a fan of Mike Resnick's writing. just doesn't do it for me.

i mean really, brothel in space, sexy girl, a leather madonna mistress, corporate espionage, this could be a fun read
but it doesn't deliver


it shows that it's from the 80s: it actually reads like bad 80s porn ("My name is Karl I am here to fix the Kabel" - you get my drift: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCKOc...)

somehow reminded my of Onopa's Pleasure Tube , but that at least is proper late 70s psychedelic psycho sex weirdness...


Eros Ascending is not really crap, it just has nothing I could recommend it for...

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the setting and the setup - but a couple of issues with the ending cost a star... the scene where the Leather Madonna dies is clumsy and not very credible - If Rasputin was on Harry's side - why didn't he just shoot DeWitt right away - before he murdered her, instead of letting Harry - who he knew was useless - try and save her? And the Madonna *knew* that any threat would be coming from DeWitt - so she sits unarmed and just lets him in??

So, 2 stars for the story and 1 extra star for the excellent narration by Nancy Linari

[melydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harry Redwine has been sent to cook the books of the Velvet Comet, and orbiting pleasure palace singled out for sabotage by an unnamed, power-hungry bureaucrat in the upper echelons of parent company Vainmill. Despite the science fiction backdrop, this is more of a thriller, full of complex power struggles and intrigue. I wasn't all that satisfied with the ending, but it's only the first in a series so I can't really complain too much. Not Resnick's best work, but still a decent read.

[Charl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked it, but I really hated the ending. It felt like Madonna was simply thrown away, sacrificed like a pawn in her chess set. And then Harry's ending really left me going "Huh? Really?"

That cost a star, but it won't keep me from reading the next one. I enjoyed the overall concept and setting, and how the brothel aspect wasn't the main part of the story.

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

A gigantic orbiting brothel in space? And they say there are no new ideas in science fiction. Not as provocative as the title and book cover might lead you to expect, but still an interesting read, if you can find it.

[Bella Crow · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not quite halfway through and while the writing and story seem to be good, the sexual mores really date this book. Everything is very heteronormative and the tiniest bit of kink is more silly than anything else. Oh and the puritanical shame that's everywhere. I'm going to try to finish, but ...

[Jeff Crosby · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mike wrote much better stories than this.

[Phaedrus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tale of a high-class whorehouse in the sky.... Imagine a huge, orbiting brothel, casino, hotel, and shopping mall. Something for everyone! This is the first in a great series.