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Succubus #1
Succubus
Ian just met the woman of his dreams. Too bad she’s a smokin’ hot demoness in a video game.Ian gets a job working on the biggest virtual reality game online and finds out he can summon a succubus – a sexy female demon who he THINKS will fulfill his every wish.But it turns out Alaria has a mind of her own. When she’s not playfully seducing Ian and then driving him crazy, she’s plotting revenge against shadowy figures from her past.It doesn’t help that Ian’s other demon, a tiny grey imp named Stig, likes to play dumb and create chaos at every opportunity (with occasionally hilarious results).Ian and Stig get drawn into Alaria’s plot, and the three set off on an adventure full of bloodlust, blood, and – well, lust.Revenge has never been so This story has adult situations, profanity, and some violence.
312 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 5, 2018
1350 people are currently reading
866 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 165 reviews
December 24, 2018
I've read a few GameLit stories over the last few years, and most of them have been light and fun, so I decided to take the plunge and just read an actual LitRPG story. I've never actually played an RPG in my entire life but luckily that did not hinder me enjoying this book or getting the jist of the gamer aspects of the story! Outside of a few gameplay elements this actually played out like any other gateway fantasy story I've read over the years. Which is great as a light and fun tale about a character landing in a brand new world was exactly what I was expecting from this story and it delivered on those expectations. The fantasy/game world was fun and the story had a nice mix of action, humour, and romance.
The story premise was fun. Gamer, Ian, lands his ideal job as a Quality Control tech for the worlds biggest virtual reality game Otherworlds Online. They want him to test a brand new fully immersive version of the game. There is only one problem. Once Ian gets into the game he finds the new VR tech makes it feel just like real life and that the new AI has the characters acting much more like real people than the limited NPC's he is used to. It is all fun until he runs into a slight problem. He had no way to log out of the game!!!
It was actually quite a fun story. Ian was a bit whiny at times but he was likeable enough for the most part and he did show a bit of growth as the story progressed. The only other significant characters were his two demon companions. Ian was a Warlock in the game and enslaving demons was his top talent. He started with Stig, a fairly useless imp, and then gained enough power to summon Alaria, a succubus. Since this LitRPG was a mix of action adventure fantasy and romance/erotica if is fairly easy to guess how the story progressed from there. Ian was instantly smitten with Alaria but neither she nor Stig proved all that obedient despite supposedly being his demonic servants!
Markam's writing was pretty engaging which kept the story ticking along at a fast pace but the best thing this book had going for it was the humor. Not all of it worked but a lot of it did so I found a lot of the happenings and banter pretty hilarious.
All in all I felt this was a fun read. Nothing deep and definitely not without a few flaws but still a fun mix of adventure fantasy and light erotica. I'll definitely read the sequel to see how Ian's next adventure in the game goes.
Note: I have to admit that I'm quite amused by the fact that a lot of the LitRPG books I spot seem to be the equivalent of a male romance story. I definitely feel like that is what this book was going for. It just about worked so I'll definitely check out more LitRPG or even GameLit romance stories in the future. It was an interesting change up from reading female aimed romance books.
Rating: 4 stars.
Audio Note: This was narrated by Iggy Toma. I felt like he did a fantastic job with the audiobook. Really got the humor and tone of the story and was even great with both the male and female voices!
The story premise was fun. Gamer, Ian, lands his ideal job as a Quality Control tech for the worlds biggest virtual reality game Otherworlds Online. They want him to test a brand new fully immersive version of the game. There is only one problem. Once Ian gets into the game he finds the new VR tech makes it feel just like real life and that the new AI has the characters acting much more like real people than the limited NPC's he is used to. It is all fun until he runs into a slight problem. He had no way to log out of the game!!!
It was actually quite a fun story. Ian was a bit whiny at times but he was likeable enough for the most part and he did show a bit of growth as the story progressed. The only other significant characters were his two demon companions. Ian was a Warlock in the game and enslaving demons was his top talent. He started with Stig, a fairly useless imp, and then gained enough power to summon Alaria, a succubus. Since this LitRPG was a mix of action adventure fantasy and romance/erotica if is fairly easy to guess how the story progressed from there. Ian was instantly smitten with Alaria but neither she nor Stig proved all that obedient despite supposedly being his demonic servants!
Markam's writing was pretty engaging which kept the story ticking along at a fast pace but the best thing this book had going for it was the humor. Not all of it worked but a lot of it did so I found a lot of the happenings and banter pretty hilarious.
All in all I felt this was a fun read. Nothing deep and definitely not without a few flaws but still a fun mix of adventure fantasy and light erotica. I'll definitely read the sequel to see how Ian's next adventure in the game goes.
Note: I have to admit that I'm quite amused by the fact that a lot of the LitRPG books I spot seem to be the equivalent of a male romance story. I definitely feel like that is what this book was going for. It just about worked so I'll definitely check out more LitRPG or even GameLit romance stories in the future. It was an interesting change up from reading female aimed romance books.
Rating: 4 stars.
Audio Note: This was narrated by Iggy Toma. I felt like he did a fantastic job with the audiobook. Really got the humor and tone of the story and was even great with both the male and female voices!
June 8, 2018
Couldn't finish.
Tl,DR - if you are thinking of getting this book for the sexy adventures, don't. It's not about that. But if you think you are in need of a literary equivalent of an after-school special about how it's not okay to enslave women, even virtual women - than this book is for you.
Longer version:
The Bad:
1. Moralizing from atop a fictional soap-box. Literally.
Came to read a fun combination LitRPG adventure and smut.
Instead got a relatively heavy handed exploration of the immorality of slavery and objectifying women.
Which all fell kind of flat because throughout the whole book I am keeping in mind that the story is taking place in a game, the 'abused girl' is an AI simulation, the long history of abuse being 'avenged' by MC is in fact just a short back story someone at best typed up and most likely was procedurally generated.
So reading about MC going through all that flak and drama of about slavery and rape that's based entirely on a fiction... I couldn't help but question 'Why??" repeatedly.
The starting concept here is 'we designed a game where enslaving demons is core feature of one of our RPG classes... than we made AIs for those demons that actively campaign for anti-slavery and constantly harp on the player for infringing their rights. We also put in explicit sex functionality in the game and the slavery class can summon sexy Succubi.... and than gave our Succubus an AI that berates the player for wanting to selfishly 'use' her for his own pleasure."
In LitRPGs, one of the most common hurdles about making your setting believable is justifying "why would anyone design their game like this...?"
And here the author apparently forgot to care about that foundation at all.
2. LitRPG side of things here is done very poorly. The rules are so sparse they barely exist and are normally irrelevant. And I mean both combat and other game 'mechanics' - the combat amounts to dry descriptions of 'I cast X spell and Y spell and that on all 6 enemies that were attacking me and just kept casting until their HP ran out... they died.'
Than there are also the game mechanics. Example of a situation in story:
"Hold this" I told my enslaved demon that is supposed to follow every literal command I give it. Demon lets the item drop. "Why?" "Well, you didn't tell me to keep holding it.."
So to sum up, author tries to be clever with how demons evade control, but only manages it by relying on interpretations of very literal commands in a ridiculously loose way - it quickly undermines the whole 'enslaved' aspect because after several examples of how loosely they are free to interpret every order, it's obvious that no demon ever has to do anything they don't want to do.
3. MC is an idiot. Like major cretin territory: Summons demon with jiggly boobs "So, 'master, may I do LITERALLY ANYTHING I WANT?" asks the demon. "Yes... of course you can" says MC while looking at boobs, despite dozens of painful recent experiences about demons interpreting commands as they want.
And that's not even making the Top 3 list of the stupidest thing he did within first several chapters.
The Good parts:
Maybe kind of subjective, but outside the soap-box moralizing here, I found the titular character be relatively entertaining. Character antics did make me smile a few times. For a while it was kind of entertaining before the above aspects became overwhelming for me - which is why I give it 3 stars.
Tl,DR - if you are thinking of getting this book for the sexy adventures, don't. It's not about that. But if you think you are in need of a literary equivalent of an after-school special about how it's not okay to enslave women, even virtual women - than this book is for you.
Longer version:
The Bad:
1. Moralizing from atop a fictional soap-box. Literally.
Came to read a fun combination LitRPG adventure and smut.
Instead got a relatively heavy handed exploration of the immorality of slavery and objectifying women.
Which all fell kind of flat because throughout the whole book I am keeping in mind that the story is taking place in a game, the 'abused girl' is an AI simulation, the long history of abuse being 'avenged' by MC is in fact just a short back story someone at best typed up and most likely was procedurally generated.
So reading about MC going through all that flak and drama of about slavery and rape that's based entirely on a fiction... I couldn't help but question 'Why??" repeatedly.
The starting concept here is 'we designed a game where enslaving demons is core feature of one of our RPG classes... than we made AIs for those demons that actively campaign for anti-slavery and constantly harp on the player for infringing their rights. We also put in explicit sex functionality in the game and the slavery class can summon sexy Succubi.... and than gave our Succubus an AI that berates the player for wanting to selfishly 'use' her for his own pleasure."
In LitRPGs, one of the most common hurdles about making your setting believable is justifying "why would anyone design their game like this...?"
And here the author apparently forgot to care about that foundation at all.
2. LitRPG side of things here is done very poorly. The rules are so sparse they barely exist and are normally irrelevant. And I mean both combat and other game 'mechanics' - the combat amounts to dry descriptions of 'I cast X spell and Y spell and that on all 6 enemies that were attacking me and just kept casting until their HP ran out... they died.'
Than there are also the game mechanics. Example of a situation in story:
"Hold this" I told my enslaved demon that is supposed to follow every literal command I give it. Demon lets the item drop. "Why?" "Well, you didn't tell me to keep holding it.."
So to sum up, author tries to be clever with how demons evade control, but only manages it by relying on interpretations of very literal commands in a ridiculously loose way - it quickly undermines the whole 'enslaved' aspect because after several examples of how loosely they are free to interpret every order, it's obvious that no demon ever has to do anything they don't want to do.
3. MC is an idiot. Like major cretin territory: Summons demon with jiggly boobs "So, 'master, may I do LITERALLY ANYTHING I WANT?" asks the demon. "Yes... of course you can" says MC while looking at boobs, despite dozens of painful recent experiences about demons interpreting commands as they want.
And that's not even making the Top 3 list of the stupidest thing he did within first several chapters.
The Good parts:
Maybe kind of subjective, but outside the soap-box moralizing here, I found the titular character be relatively entertaining. Character antics did make me smile a few times. For a while it was kind of entertaining before the above aspects became overwhelming for me - which is why I give it 3 stars.
June 26, 2018
Sometimes funny, sometimes frustrating.
The thing I enjoy most about litrpg books is the commentary they offer about video games and the people who play them. I like the world building and the humor when they poke fun at other video games or pop culture info. This book at times can be very funny and does well offering a few quest lines. But there is too much tell, not enough show. Too often the writer relies on referencing other stories or films in the “it looked like that one movie” description rather then actually describing what happens or how things look. There is, in the second half of the book, a lot of emphasis on the evil of slavery which is applied to the bound demon idea assigned to the warlock class. But sadly the main character is willing to put up with a ton of rudeness from his two demons and all the people he meets in the game. Yet we are never told why the demons feel the way they do or act the way they do. We know that the succubus wants revenge on her past masters for mistreating her. But we never find out why she became a succubus, though we are hinted that she chose to become one, and we are told she wants to serve a human master but never why she wants to serve him. In fact she spends most of the book being a cruel stereotype beautiful woman tormenting him. And even though his demons are bound to him and have to obey him they always disobey him telling them to stop. This the book becomes a very frustrating, juvenile read at times. There is not much depth, not much of a plot, yet so much potential if the author had put in the time.
The thing I enjoy most about litrpg books is the commentary they offer about video games and the people who play them. I like the world building and the humor when they poke fun at other video games or pop culture info. This book at times can be very funny and does well offering a few quest lines. But there is too much tell, not enough show. Too often the writer relies on referencing other stories or films in the “it looked like that one movie” description rather then actually describing what happens or how things look. There is, in the second half of the book, a lot of emphasis on the evil of slavery which is applied to the bound demon idea assigned to the warlock class. But sadly the main character is willing to put up with a ton of rudeness from his two demons and all the people he meets in the game. Yet we are never told why the demons feel the way they do or act the way they do. We know that the succubus wants revenge on her past masters for mistreating her. But we never find out why she became a succubus, though we are hinted that she chose to become one, and we are told she wants to serve a human master but never why she wants to serve him. In fact she spends most of the book being a cruel stereotype beautiful woman tormenting him. And even though his demons are bound to him and have to obey him they always disobey him telling them to stop. This the book becomes a very frustrating, juvenile read at times. There is not much depth, not much of a plot, yet so much potential if the author had put in the time.
January 9, 2020
If you've ever wondered how low the bar is for male protagonists, this book is an excellent example of how close to the ground it is. Before I dig in, I'm going to give you a basic summary:
Hard on his luck Everyman-type ends up trapped in a Video Game world through flimsy plot devices, and finds himself in the company of a pair of boobs. But, twist! The boobs have feelings! After many days of being angry at the boobs for not wanting to have sex with him, he comes to learn that rape is when a person who might LIKE having sex SOMETIMES doesn't WANT to have sex and then is FORCED to. He learns this is bad! He also learns slavery is bad, too! The lone white man saves a bunch of slaves and does not rape the boobs. To reward him, the boobs have sex with him. His penis is so magical she almost stops being a Succubus, but doesn't so that there can be more books about our Everyman-type and his beloved boobs. The end.
It's a classic case of faux-woke dude fantasy. The lone female character is entirely motivated by a rape-revenge fantasy. The male character is a Nice Guy(tm) who has to learn through believing that another man is raping her that she is a person with her own agency. The moral of this story is somewhat optimistic, in that it's intended to say idiot men are capable of learning that women are more than a place to stick their dicks. But it fails in this, in that the message that comes through is that if an idiot man can CONVINCE a woman that he sees her as more than a place to stick his dick, she'll reward him by letting him stick his dick in her.
It's a disaster, from start to finish, and that doesn't even get into the poor writing. This gentleman describes the pair of boobs (I'm sorry, his newly-freed sex slave) as crouching between his legs to give him oral sex as he lies flat on a bed, and also he grabs her butt while she's doing it. If I could draw you a picture of what this would look like, you would see that this Everyman-type has arms that would cause his knuckles to drag on the floor. But then, it seems pretty appropriate. The writing is ripe with similarly inconsistent imagery and description. But don't worry, if you're annoyed by the lack of consistency, he'll interrupt you every couple chapters to wax rhapsodic about hit points and manna and experience points, and once every eight chapters or so to remind you of the flimsy premise that put him in the video game world.
Bits of the sex were sexy, and I'm giving it one star for that.
I honestly can't believe there are more of these. I will definitely not be reading them.
Hard on his luck Everyman-type ends up trapped in a Video Game world through flimsy plot devices, and finds himself in the company of a pair of boobs. But, twist! The boobs have feelings! After many days of being angry at the boobs for not wanting to have sex with him, he comes to learn that rape is when a person who might LIKE having sex SOMETIMES doesn't WANT to have sex and then is FORCED to. He learns this is bad! He also learns slavery is bad, too! The lone white man saves a bunch of slaves and does not rape the boobs. To reward him, the boobs have sex with him. His penis is so magical she almost stops being a Succubus, but doesn't so that there can be more books about our Everyman-type and his beloved boobs. The end.
It's a classic case of faux-woke dude fantasy. The lone female character is entirely motivated by a rape-revenge fantasy. The male character is a Nice Guy(tm) who has to learn through believing that another man is raping her that she is a person with her own agency. The moral of this story is somewhat optimistic, in that it's intended to say idiot men are capable of learning that women are more than a place to stick their dicks. But it fails in this, in that the message that comes through is that if an idiot man can CONVINCE a woman that he sees her as more than a place to stick his dick, she'll reward him by letting him stick his dick in her.
It's a disaster, from start to finish, and that doesn't even get into the poor writing. This gentleman describes the pair of boobs (I'm sorry, his newly-freed sex slave) as crouching between his legs to give him oral sex as he lies flat on a bed, and also he grabs her butt while she's doing it. If I could draw you a picture of what this would look like, you would see that this Everyman-type has arms that would cause his knuckles to drag on the floor. But then, it seems pretty appropriate. The writing is ripe with similarly inconsistent imagery and description. But don't worry, if you're annoyed by the lack of consistency, he'll interrupt you every couple chapters to wax rhapsodic about hit points and manna and experience points, and once every eight chapters or so to remind you of the flimsy premise that put him in the video game world.
Bits of the sex were sexy, and I'm giving it one star for that.
I honestly can't believe there are more of these. I will definitely not be reading them.
September 24, 2018
Rating 3.5 stars
Not exactly what I was expecting. The story begins with the main character Ian, applying for a job as quality control for a video game company. They are testing a new immersion playing rig that allows a person to spend weeks at a time in the game. They need someone to use the system and make sure there are no bugs. This is actually a pretty standard setup for online RPG stories. Ian is told that he has to start at the beginning as a level 1 character but he has to play a Warlock, which is one of the least played characters in the game to ensure that the AI system is working well. Warlock's summon demons and can use magic. Ian is not very familiar with these characters because in all his previous playing, he has used warrior characters.
So in the game, he starts by summoning an imp, a very low level demon. He is sort of funny. He is required to do whatever his master "says" but not necessarily what his master "means". Something bad happens to Ian and he wants to start his character over, but he finds out there is a glitch in the system (or is it intentional?) in which he cannot log out, or contact his boss. He can receive mail but he can't send mail. He finds another employee in the game who is not in an immersion capsule (who is also a warlock) and finds that he has the sexiest woman he has ever seen as his demon - a succubus. What is more interesting to Ian is that the game is so realistic that the other employee tells him he can have sex in the game and it feels just as good. If Ian got himself a succubus, he could do anything he wanted! Within a couple of chapters Ian has leveled up enough to summon his second demon and get himself his very own succubus.
So far that is pretty much how I expected the story to go based on the title. I then expected a lot of sex and some more game play, however, the story took a different direction and turned into more of a PNR story
While I still thought is was a pretty good read it was less "sexy fun" than I was expected. It was also a lot more Paranormal romance with some LitRPG included than a LitRPG story with romance involved.
Not exactly what I was expecting. The story begins with the main character Ian, applying for a job as quality control for a video game company. They are testing a new immersion playing rig that allows a person to spend weeks at a time in the game. They need someone to use the system and make sure there are no bugs. This is actually a pretty standard setup for online RPG stories. Ian is told that he has to start at the beginning as a level 1 character but he has to play a Warlock, which is one of the least played characters in the game to ensure that the AI system is working well. Warlock's summon demons and can use magic. Ian is not very familiar with these characters because in all his previous playing, he has used warrior characters.
So in the game, he starts by summoning an imp, a very low level demon. He is sort of funny. He is required to do whatever his master "says" but not necessarily what his master "means". Something bad happens to Ian and he wants to start his character over, but he finds out there is a glitch in the system (or is it intentional?) in which he cannot log out, or contact his boss. He can receive mail but he can't send mail. He finds another employee in the game who is not in an immersion capsule (who is also a warlock) and finds that he has the sexiest woman he has ever seen as his demon - a succubus. What is more interesting to Ian is that the game is so realistic that the other employee tells him he can have sex in the game and it feels just as good. If Ian got himself a succubus, he could do anything he wanted! Within a couple of chapters Ian has leveled up enough to summon his second demon and get himself his very own succubus.
So far that is pretty much how I expected the story to go based on the title. I then expected a lot of sex and some more game play, however, the story took a different direction and turned into more of a PNR story
While I still thought is was a pretty good read it was less "sexy fun" than I was expected. It was also a lot more Paranormal romance with some LitRPG included than a LitRPG story with romance involved.
April 27, 2018
Let me start off by saying this book is not for everyone. It deals with a lot of difficult subject matter and their is some sex. So it definitely adults only. It also takes place in a video game so if you aren’t at least a little familiar with role playing games then you probably won’t get this book.
Succubus definitely needs some editing, their are some spelling errors and some paragraphs that were messed up, but over all their weren’t many problems and it didn’t detract from the overall enjoyment of this book.
Was this book perfect? No. But it kept me interested, it had great writing and it was addictive reading. I will definitely be reading more from A.J. Markam. I usually only give five star reviews to books that are perfectly written and I believe other would definitely enjoy, no matter the genre, but Succubus was just so much fun to read and I found myself reading it at every opportunity, I had to give it 5 stars. This is definitely a book that will stick with me for awhile.
Succubus definitely needs some editing, their are some spelling errors and some paragraphs that were messed up, but over all their weren’t many problems and it didn’t detract from the overall enjoyment of this book.
Was this book perfect? No. But it kept me interested, it had great writing and it was addictive reading. I will definitely be reading more from A.J. Markam. I usually only give five star reviews to books that are perfectly written and I believe other would definitely enjoy, no matter the genre, but Succubus was just so much fun to read and I found myself reading it at every opportunity, I had to give it 5 stars. This is definitely a book that will stick with me for awhile.
April 13, 2018
No thanks.
So this guy was a high level pro before his reset to lvl 1 and is steady baffled by game mechanics.
He is basically a door mat in human form. He is a very awkward man child that will talk to a woman's boobs, also he totally "had a girlfriend"...
Lite on game mechanics. Lite on sex... Which is weird for a litrpg novel based on sex demons. Read if you you like guys who stutter and stammer their way through life.
So this guy was a high level pro before his reset to lvl 1 and is steady baffled by game mechanics.
He is basically a door mat in human form. He is a very awkward man child that will talk to a woman's boobs, also he totally "had a girlfriend"...
Lite on game mechanics. Lite on sex... Which is weird for a litrpg novel based on sex demons. Read if you you like guys who stutter and stammer their way through life.
July 6, 2018
Writing was pretty rough in places, the pacing was a little off, and the MC occasionally made me want to strangle him. I almost gave up a couple of times. But, I’m very glad I didn’t, as it really did pay off in the end. The writing smoothed out and became more polished and everything started clicking together quite nicely. The last few chapters brought the story arc together very satisfactorily while still leaving it open for a sequel.
There were also some genuine ‘laugh-out-loud’ moments (as my wife can corroborate) which always makes me happy.
Probably a 3.5, but the potential and sense of humor makes it real easy to round up.
There were also some genuine ‘laugh-out-loud’ moments (as my wife can corroborate) which always makes me happy.
Probably a 3.5, but the potential and sense of humor makes it real easy to round up.
April 16, 2018
Mediocre
Characters were irritating and morality was forced at best. Pretty typical litrpg story with nothing to recommend it unless you have a juvenile obsession with breasts. Nothing special, and fairly dull. The writer should have spent more time working on making the fights interesting and less time obsessing over nipple color.
Characters were irritating and morality was forced at best. Pretty typical litrpg story with nothing to recommend it unless you have a juvenile obsession with breasts. Nothing special, and fairly dull. The writer should have spent more time working on making the fights interesting and less time obsessing over nipple color.
July 20, 2018
What really goes on at the inn
A fun and entertaining read. If you enjoy world of war craft or any other fantasy-based MMO then this novel putting new and fun and entertaining spin on the old genre. The characters are entertaining nice set up and I look forward to their future adventures.
A fun and entertaining read. If you enjoy world of war craft or any other fantasy-based MMO then this novel putting new and fun and entertaining spin on the old genre. The characters are entertaining nice set up and I look forward to their future adventures.
July 16, 2018
Excelsior!!
Very good book. Not what I expected, even better. Sex, action, and adventure. What else could you ask for? Besides another book in the series?
Very good book. Not what I expected, even better. Sex, action, and adventure. What else could you ask for? Besides another book in the series?
January 11, 2019
A guilty pleasure that somehow surprised me.
World: The world building is basic, it’s like World of Warcraft and the beings and places are tropes of the genre.
Story: I was expecting a guilty pleasure book that would be so bad it’s good and make me giggle. What I actually got was a nice self aware book with nice banter and also a shift halfway through the book that made it not so much about the male wish fulfilment and actually was a quest book about freeing slaves. The story was still very heavy handed and the gender issues of the book (I knew I was getting into this going in) are still there but it’s like the Edgar Rice Burroughs book ‘Cavegirl’ the hero is a nerd that is likeable and it makes it somewhat okay (even when it’s really not). Pure wish fulfilment that actually had some depth in the story. I’m surprised. It’s not great fiction, it’s still junk food of the highest order but it was on par with your standard Shounen Manga in terms of depicting male/female relationships.
Characters: Ian is a typical archetype for this genre nothing special here. In fact all the characters in this book are firmly stuck in the tropes and cliches of the genre. The banter is quite good though and that kind of made it more enjoyable then the norm.
It’s pure wish fulfilment and it is what it is, worts and all but I kinda like the story and the banter in this book and I was surprised. But this is clearly a guilty pleasure.
Onward to the next book!
World: The world building is basic, it’s like World of Warcraft and the beings and places are tropes of the genre.
Story: I was expecting a guilty pleasure book that would be so bad it’s good and make me giggle. What I actually got was a nice self aware book with nice banter and also a shift halfway through the book that made it not so much about the male wish fulfilment and actually was a quest book about freeing slaves. The story was still very heavy handed and the gender issues of the book (I knew I was getting into this going in) are still there but it’s like the Edgar Rice Burroughs book ‘Cavegirl’ the hero is a nerd that is likeable and it makes it somewhat okay (even when it’s really not). Pure wish fulfilment that actually had some depth in the story. I’m surprised. It’s not great fiction, it’s still junk food of the highest order but it was on par with your standard Shounen Manga in terms of depicting male/female relationships.
Characters: Ian is a typical archetype for this genre nothing special here. In fact all the characters in this book are firmly stuck in the tropes and cliches of the genre. The banter is quite good though and that kind of made it more enjoyable then the norm.
It’s pure wish fulfilment and it is what it is, worts and all but I kinda like the story and the banter in this book and I was surprised. But this is clearly a guilty pleasure.
Onward to the next book!
April 27, 2018
I’m not a pearl clutching granny, but...
If you want ten dedicated chapters of boob descriptions, this is your book. Don’t get me wrong, I *love* sex in books. I feel that, as someone who goes through the whole journey of the build up with the MC, not having well described sex scenes is missing the payoff. BUT, that said, this author spends the first half of this book talking about boobs. Just boobs. It’s like he has never seen a real one and is describing something mythical.
My other complaint is, yeah, if all the summoned demons act like these two do, no wonder why people never play that class. They aren’t helpful at all. They are a borderline threat. It was over the top irritating.
I stopped reading at about forty percent. It was grating and there’s so much better stuff out there that spending the time finishing this book was just a time sink.
If you want ten dedicated chapters of boob descriptions, this is your book. Don’t get me wrong, I *love* sex in books. I feel that, as someone who goes through the whole journey of the build up with the MC, not having well described sex scenes is missing the payoff. BUT, that said, this author spends the first half of this book talking about boobs. Just boobs. It’s like he has never seen a real one and is describing something mythical.
My other complaint is, yeah, if all the summoned demons act like these two do, no wonder why people never play that class. They aren’t helpful at all. They are a borderline threat. It was over the top irritating.
I stopped reading at about forty percent. It was grating and there’s so much better stuff out there that spending the time finishing this book was just a time sink.
February 19, 2019
Very amusing collection of events and endearing characters that grow on you in their demonic ways and make you want to continue socialize with them. So off to book 2!
August 11, 2021
I wasn't expecting this to be as good as it was. From the title of the book, it might seem like erotica and while it definitely does have erotic parts to it there is more depth to this book than just sex. It is almost a social commentary through the lens of a comedic fantasy adventure in an RPG game. Throughout the book, you really start to see the relationships between the characters develop, and by the end, you are left wanting more adventure. Luckily there are many more books in this series that I look forward to reading. For any fans of LitRPG that want a slice of erotica in their books, this is a must-read. Also surprising funny, had me busting out laughing at times.
July 4, 2022
Hehehe guilty pleasure
March 19, 2019
The reviews for this book are all over the place and I went into expecting to hate it. I didn't. Yes the mc is awkward but so what. It was just a fun book. I typically hate harem fiction but this was fun, I'll read book 2. Hopefully I won't hate it.
July 9, 2018
Try to overlook all the typos
And you will find a delightful story with excellent plot twists and characters full of depth. I just wish they had a proof reader, some of the spelling and grammar errors are enough to pull you out of the story, but it is really worth it if you hang on!
And you will find a delightful story with excellent plot twists and characters full of depth. I just wish they had a proof reader, some of the spelling and grammar errors are enough to pull you out of the story, but it is really worth it if you hang on!
April 10, 2018
_Succubus_, by A.J.Markham, has a plot that sounds depressingly familiar: Ian, the protagonist, lands a job as a QC Tech for a gaming company that produces an MMORPG in which Ian becomes trapped while testing the company's new, very immersive gaming rig. Yup, it's a blow-by-blow campaign rehash.
Now, normally, campaign fics have a terrible tendency to come off as really bad retellings of Lord of the Rings but without the slightest hint of Tolkien's incredible imagination and amazing story-telling. I'm very pleased to say that Markam avoids this trap; his characters are nuanced, with believable motives and responses, and, although the villains do get a little stereotypical and uni-dimensional, the plot advances smoothly without getting bogged down in gaming trivia nor getting lost in descriptions of battles that are only epic to the participants.
And, the sex scenes are -ahem!- "steamy." _Succubus_ is definitely not a PG-13 story! It's not even a Harlequin romance. In fact, it proudly earns the title "pornographic." But if the reader honestly enjoys some very torrid depictions of decidedly adult behavior, _Succubus_ does not disappoint; Markam paints luridly, but well, images of love, lust, and a good bit of teasing torment, all with a touch of humor that the poor protagonist probably finds rather sadistic. Best of all, though, is that the eponymous sex-demon of the story makes her own feelings quite clear in the midst of the carnality, and, in doing so, she reveals a very human heart beating under her red skin, dark wings, and tail.
There are some technical mistakes in the book: misspellings and grammatical errors that sadly interrupt the otherwise smooth flow of the tale. And, for that reason, I cannot give a whole-hearted five out of five stars rating to the book. But I don't hesitate to give it four-and-a-half stars, along with the quietly mumbled caveat that the prospective reader should be willing to enjoy porn for its own sake before taking up this title; it is certainly entertaining and well-written despite the few technical errors.
I await Markam's sequel, _Succubus 2: Hell to Pay_ with a most curious and apprehensive mix of eagerness and dread. I have no idea how the author intends to match the excellent writing of this first book in the series, and I really don't foresee how these characters can be developed further, but I can't wait to find out!
Now, normally, campaign fics have a terrible tendency to come off as really bad retellings of Lord of the Rings but without the slightest hint of Tolkien's incredible imagination and amazing story-telling. I'm very pleased to say that Markam avoids this trap; his characters are nuanced, with believable motives and responses, and, although the villains do get a little stereotypical and uni-dimensional, the plot advances smoothly without getting bogged down in gaming trivia nor getting lost in descriptions of battles that are only epic to the participants.
And, the sex scenes are -ahem!- "steamy." _Succubus_ is definitely not a PG-13 story! It's not even a Harlequin romance. In fact, it proudly earns the title "pornographic." But if the reader honestly enjoys some very torrid depictions of decidedly adult behavior, _Succubus_ does not disappoint; Markam paints luridly, but well, images of love, lust, and a good bit of teasing torment, all with a touch of humor that the poor protagonist probably finds rather sadistic. Best of all, though, is that the eponymous sex-demon of the story makes her own feelings quite clear in the midst of the carnality, and, in doing so, she reveals a very human heart beating under her red skin, dark wings, and tail.
There are some technical mistakes in the book: misspellings and grammatical errors that sadly interrupt the otherwise smooth flow of the tale. And, for that reason, I cannot give a whole-hearted five out of five stars rating to the book. But I don't hesitate to give it four-and-a-half stars, along with the quietly mumbled caveat that the prospective reader should be willing to enjoy porn for its own sake before taking up this title; it is certainly entertaining and well-written despite the few technical errors.
I await Markam's sequel, _Succubus 2: Hell to Pay_ with a most curious and apprehensive mix of eagerness and dread. I have no idea how the author intends to match the excellent writing of this first book in the series, and I really don't foresee how these characters can be developed further, but I can't wait to find out!
April 23, 2018
I’ve been reading more of these LITRPG books lately. They’re usually quick fluffy reads with a lot of humor. The best of the genre, in my opinion, manage to make the players have moral dilemmas to make the game have more meaning than a day at the amusement park. Succubus certainly measures up to these standards. Our hero, Ian, is a quality tester for a new technology in an online RPG in which he is asked to play the evil Warlock class. Warlocks bind demons to themselves for power and Ian quickly finds out that he can have his very own succubus if he gathers enough “souls” and binds her with what is in essence a slave collar. His succubus is a fantasy woman with a perfect body and presumably all of the physical talents that a sex demoness should have. Ian is ready to “dive right in” until the demoness gets his conscious acting up by pointing out to him that she must do whatever he wants because of the collar, and she bluntly doesn’t want to have sex with him. Ian backs away and thus begins his awkward effort to win his succubus over so he can get laid.
Overall, this leads to a lot of funny situations, but there are some problems with the novel. The biggest is that none of the demons actually act very demonic—unless you consider the cruel way in which the succubus constantly teases Ian but never fulfills his desires. The demons in Markham’s virtual reality world are mostly victims—unhappy slaves—as are many other magical races. This didn’t quite work for me. I mean, isn’t a succubus supposed to like sex? And aren’t demons supposed to be treacherous and cruel? It seems to me that there were more creative ways the author could have handled his desire to have Ian win the Succubus over by learning to stop being a self-centered geek and start worrying about other peoples’ feelings. Still, over all this is a lighthearted, quite enjoyable romp through a VR world and I’ll be reading the sequel when Markham publishes it.
Overall, this leads to a lot of funny situations, but there are some problems with the novel. The biggest is that none of the demons actually act very demonic—unless you consider the cruel way in which the succubus constantly teases Ian but never fulfills his desires. The demons in Markham’s virtual reality world are mostly victims—unhappy slaves—as are many other magical races. This didn’t quite work for me. I mean, isn’t a succubus supposed to like sex? And aren’t demons supposed to be treacherous and cruel? It seems to me that there were more creative ways the author could have handled his desire to have Ian win the Succubus over by learning to stop being a self-centered geek and start worrying about other peoples’ feelings. Still, over all this is a lighthearted, quite enjoyable romp through a VR world and I’ll be reading the sequel when Markham publishes it.
June 11, 2018
A Love Story
Surprisingly good book for a LITRPG. It tells the story of a guy that is hired to test a VR RPG. And he falls in love with one the NPC's, the Succubus of course. The girl of your dreams at your disposal. A warning for puritans, there are explicit sex scenes in the book.
Surprisingly good book for a LITRPG. It tells the story of a guy that is hired to test a VR RPG. And he falls in love with one the NPC's, the Succubus of course. The girl of your dreams at your disposal. A warning for puritans, there are explicit sex scenes in the book.
June 9, 2018
Nicely Done
Good story structure, but a little tame for a story about a sex demon. The succumbs was a little too nice and the main character a little too high school. Regardless, the story flowed well and had just the right amount of detail and creativity. I think I will give the next book a chance.
Good story structure, but a little tame for a story about a sex demon. The succumbs was a little too nice and the main character a little too high school. Regardless, the story flowed well and had just the right amount of detail and creativity. I think I will give the next book a chance.
April 15, 2018
Fun, but not for the whole family
This book reminds me alot of an old Heinlein story set on Venus (I can't remember the title of it). Essentially this story explores the concept of slavery and what that means in a computer generated magical world...and it's not afraid to look in the shadows. It's also an adult story about love, men, women, and the difference between their views of the same events.
I'm probably seriously overanalyzing what purports to be a fun, slightly trashy, erotic story, but those are the thoughts I came away with. Good writing is the ability to make someone see an uncomfortable truth in a way that makes them glad you showed it to them. This is good writing if you are brave enough to read it.
This book reminds me alot of an old Heinlein story set on Venus (I can't remember the title of it). Essentially this story explores the concept of slavery and what that means in a computer generated magical world...and it's not afraid to look in the shadows. It's also an adult story about love, men, women, and the difference between their views of the same events.
I'm probably seriously overanalyzing what purports to be a fun, slightly trashy, erotic story, but those are the thoughts I came away with. Good writing is the ability to make someone see an uncomfortable truth in a way that makes them glad you showed it to them. This is good writing if you are brave enough to read it.
March 15, 2019
Fun story, a humorous romp with some sexy stuff to round it out
A fun story about an out of work gamer who gets a job doing immersion testing and gets caught in the game. The story is funny, a ton of teasing banter between the various characters, a few bad puns and overall a solid story. Several obvious typos and tense issues, which should have been caught during beta reads/editing and the main reason I knocked off a star. The sex side of things were fairly brief, descriptive and complementary to the story. If you are a fan of the genre and not opposed to the idea of in-game relations, it is a good story to read.
A fun story about an out of work gamer who gets a job doing immersion testing and gets caught in the game. The story is funny, a ton of teasing banter between the various characters, a few bad puns and overall a solid story. Several obvious typos and tense issues, which should have been caught during beta reads/editing and the main reason I knocked off a star. The sex side of things were fairly brief, descriptive and complementary to the story. If you are a fan of the genre and not opposed to the idea of in-game relations, it is a good story to read.
May 18, 2018
I read better LitRPG books and fortunately this book isn't the worst. The main character suppose to be a wiz at online RPG and yet fumble quite a bit when immerse in the game. The impression I get from the author doesn't fully understand the mechanics of online gaming may have something to do with the main character development. Maybe the sequel will prove me wrong.
Beware this book is definitely an adult-only book. Beside the sexual content there are other subject matters which will probably offend some. Demons and slavery are the prime examples.
Beware this book is definitely an adult-only book. Beside the sexual content there are other subject matters which will probably offend some. Demons and slavery are the prime examples.
October 27, 2018
Five stars for comedy alone
This was very funny. I had been avoiding ot because i thought it was some nerdy erotica, but instead turned out to be a pretty decent paranormal romance. It really didnt have that much sex at all and best of all it wasnt a damn harem story. It did often have excessive nudity and foreplay but thats about it. The audio book was definitely worth the money. Im about to buy the next book now, hopefully the author keeps up the good work on the romance front. Did i mention how freaking funny it was lol
This was very funny. I had been avoiding ot because i thought it was some nerdy erotica, but instead turned out to be a pretty decent paranormal romance. It really didnt have that much sex at all and best of all it wasnt a damn harem story. It did often have excessive nudity and foreplay but thats about it. The audio book was definitely worth the money. Im about to buy the next book now, hopefully the author keeps up the good work on the romance front. Did i mention how freaking funny it was lol
May 20, 2018
If It's Just A Game, Why Am I Heartbroken
Ian gets a job testing a new technology for an online game. As a Warlock, he is able to summon and bind a Succubus and an Imp to him. ALaria, the Succubus, sexually teases him, but will not have sex with him, unless he orders her to. This does not sit well with him, as he is uneasy about slavery. I like the action, humor, and lust/love. The ending leaves room for the next installment. I look forward to the next book.
Ian gets a job testing a new technology for an online game. As a Warlock, he is able to summon and bind a Succubus and an Imp to him. ALaria, the Succubus, sexually teases him, but will not have sex with him, unless he orders her to. This does not sit well with him, as he is uneasy about slavery. I like the action, humor, and lust/love. The ending leaves room for the next installment. I look forward to the next book.
April 7, 2018
Something to write home about!
A cracking good read and absolutely hilarious in places that left me with tears of laughter! The comedy banter of the whole story was great with the imp Stig stealing the show.
The Game reminds me of the Fable series with more of an adult rating!
Looking forward to the next one!
A cracking good read and absolutely hilarious in places that left me with tears of laughter! The comedy banter of the whole story was great with the imp Stig stealing the show.
The Game reminds me of the Fable series with more of an adult rating!
Looking forward to the next one!
April 14, 2018
Thanks for a fun book
I love the concept of succubus related fiction you went with a nice and new approach and I couldn't stop reading. I have been disabled for 8 years due to heart and other physical ailments,and books are a refuge . With much anticipation i will look for your next book in the series.so keep up the good work.😎
I love the concept of succubus related fiction you went with a nice and new approach and I couldn't stop reading. I have been disabled for 8 years due to heart and other physical ailments,and books are a refuge . With much anticipation i will look for your next book in the series.so keep up the good work.😎
April 19, 2018
Nice and Bad (No, really)
Nicely Done, especially as a first book. The characters are interesting and enjoyable, and the plot and editing are very good. Some parts are obvious, but more often not, which is largely what makes it good. The sex scenes are also done well, and aren’t annoying. (Definitely an adult book.)
Nicely Done, especially as a first book. The characters are interesting and enjoyable, and the plot and editing are very good. Some parts are obvious, but more often not, which is largely what makes it good. The sex scenes are also done well, and aren’t annoying. (Definitely an adult book.)
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