The Quantity of Desire

by Payson R. Harris

Chase stepped off a slaver's boat and into a strange land.  Scared and alone, the young minotaur learned to be meek and subservient to survive. But when a childhood scuffle goes wrong, Chase is thrust into a world he’s completely unprepared for—one under threat from monsters that come without warning.  He will have to fight to protect his new family.   And the fallout of that fight will spread until it engulfs much more than just his family . . . “ The Quantity of Desire is a bold new vision of what Fantasy can be…. Exhilarating and erudite…. I’ve never read anything like it.” -BDI Reviews

Genres: Fantasy

228 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 22, 2021

About the author

Payson R. Harris (they/them) is Canada’s premier bigendered, autistic, queer, polyamorous writer—as far as they know. If you find another, please contact them so they can form a support group, then battle it out, Highlander-style.

When Payson isn’t writing, powerlifting, reading, gaming, baking, playing rugby, working, or spending time with their partners, they are desperately trying to find the time to sleep.

They reside in Ottawa, though their mind conveniently revolves around whatever their current obsession is. Hopefully, it is something healthy and productive, with fewer side effects than the time they needed to perfect their truffle-making skills and gained 5 kilos.

They are not as clever as they think, but hopefully are clever enough to have amused you.

Reviews

[Ryan McRae · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It was a fantastic character story that grabbed me from the very beginning.

The characters felt real, and I fell in love with them. I cheered for them the whole way through, and felt everything that Chase did.

[Michael Miele · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and the way in which it sets up its characters as emotional beings first and foremost. It opens with how Chase feels as he is separated from his mother and dials in on making sure you realize he is a complex individual. This is in stark contrast to how the rest of the world perceives him at a glance, with being a minotaur, as they immediately assume he is just a heartless monster. I'll admit it felt weird at first with how open and communicative the characters were about their emotional states, but it grew on me to the point of being one of my favorite things about the book. I've read a lot of fantasy books and even more fantasy adventure and there's a moment where the author in those other books is trying to convince you that these characters that go adventuring together are actually really good friends and are a kind of second family. And most times that doesn't really hit for me. But it worked in this book because of the way in which they interact. The characters aren't afraid to tell their children they're proud of them or express their love. I believed it because the camaraderie was shown to me in the book.

I also want to make a special note for Delsaran's belief system and his focus on the sun. More than an intentional parallel to Chase's connection to his mother it felt like a deeply personal piece of the book and I could feel that come through in Delsaran's mantra. And as someone who loves to use fire and fire-based imagery to indicate passion and the pursuance of life it was good for me specifically.

My biggest criticism is that there were scenes and moments where it didn't feel as though it flowed as naturally as I think it could have. That is unfortunately a very vague way to describe what I was feeling, but I'm not sure I can get any closer to what felt 'off' about some of the dialogue. That and I feel as though a specific portion of the ending could have been handled slightly differently to better reflect Chase's growth as his own person. But that in itself, is not a big nitpick, just something that came to me after processing the end of the book.

Overall if you're into fantasy adventure books I'd say to give it a try! There's good LGBTQ+ representation and a charming story to be had if you do.

[Mark A. Gravitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining high fantasy from the P.O.V. of Chase, a young Minotaur. To say he's had a challenging life would be an understatement; however, he was fortunate to encounter good teachers (albeit under trying circumstances) along the way. His initial training was in business and economics - a strange path in a fantasy setting, but one which does lead to plot payoffs later.

The world is a "magic-prevalent" one, with utility magic potentially available, even to those not magically gifted ("blasting clay" being an analog of C-4, for example). The core characters are fairly well-developed, and even the minor characters are given enough to be a bit more than generic archetypes.

The book is written with an awareness of modern sensibilities and social expectations, which some may initially find startling in a medieval-style fantasy setting. Personally, I applaud the author for doing so.

While the novel ends with a hint as to what the characters will do next, it doesn't do so with the all-too-common trope of immediately sliding into the first chapter of an as yet unwritten book. It has the promise of being the first in a series, but can also stand alone.

I personally hope there will be more in Chase's story.

[Altivo Overo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epic well written

This is not my kind of tale, I admit. But despite the seeming cast of hundreds (or at least dozens) it is delicately woven with every detail attended to. The ending is sound and consistent with the genre. Very well done.

[Lauren Rivers · Rating 4 out of 5]

His debut novel, The Quantity of Desire by Payson Harris is a tale of growth and evolution, as a young minotaur goes from a life of slavery to one of self determination, learning along the way how to carve his own path in the world with the help and influence of the people he meets.



Set in a world of his own creation, the presence of magic and mythical beings is a common appearance. I would characterize it as a mythological fantasy.


The protagonist is a minotaur named Chase, sold into slavery at the beginning of the book. Given the choice between the rewards of obedience or the punishment of the whip, he chooses the former and settles into a pleasant life with his new owner.

I found Chase to be very endearing. Clearly relatively young and inexperienced, the author does a good job of conveying that through both his words and thoughts. Well meaning, intelligent, and desiring to please, it’s hard not to immediately like him and want to give him a hug.

The supporting cast is rounded out by an assortment of interesting characters, most notably Jon and Delsaran, who I would say are both father figures of a sort to Chase, and Bri and Hayyan, who are more contemporaries. I also have to say I think that Hayyan is the first non binary character I’ve ever run into in literature so that’s also worth noting, and in a small part having inspired me to make one of my own.



A young minotaur slave, separated from his mother, is pressed into the service of a well meaning businessman. At first relatively content with his circumstances, things soon take a turn when an accident threatens his future, forcing him to find his future somewhere else.


I had no preconceptions going into this book, despite being in a group chat with the author. Purchasing a copy from Amazon, I started reading it and was immediately interested. The protagonist is just eminently charming, drawing you into his plight right away. There’s no pretentiousness or any of the qualities that offset my interest, and it being a furry book I was eager to read a book featuring a minotaur. Definitely not something you’d find in a mainstream title, he was a character whose journey I immediately wanted to share.

Starting out in an unexpected place, we meet our protagonist being sold into slavery. Certainly not the most auspicious of beginnings, he is told he will be well treated as long as he follows the rules. Educated, well fed, and allowed to play with young Bri, he finds a relatively comfortable existence in his servitude, with his freedom allowed as long as he carries out his duties and tolerates the gawking of the guests to the house.

As one would expect, things go sideways rather quickly and soon Chase finds himself for the second time in his life thrust out into a world he isn’t really prepared to handle. I think that the author did a fantastic job writing Chase and his journey, really coming up with an excellent portrayal of a young and inexperienced minotaur who only understands what he’s learned from others.

I’m reminded of the saying ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ which really applies in this case as we see how much every character in the story has an effect on Chase regardless of whether it’s positive or negative. It executes quite expertly the notion that we are all the sum of our experiences and that the people who we spend the most time with will influence who we are either through our choices or our tacit endorsement of their behaviors. The story goes from setting to setting very organically with the pacing feeling very smooth and natural, and the plot fits together remarkably well, almost to the point of being surprising that this is their first effort.

Upon review there were only two things I found to be worth commenting upon in terms of improvement, and the first was a single line towards the end of the book, which I won’t state here specifically but I found it confusing to me to parse what Chase was saying when trying to plead his case against the antagonist, but I was able to understand the context of the scene so it wasn’t a huge obstacle. The second issue was that during the fight scenes, especially at the end of the book, there was a high frequency of the use of the words to describe the book’s foot soldiers, with the same word being used a little too often in some paragraphs to the point that I would say it was a little repetitive.

Other than those two points, it was an excellent read and a great story. I highly recommend it to fans of fantasy or furry fiction.

[Shiloh Skye · Rating 5 out of 5]

You might like this book if you enjoy:

-fantasy that isn't overly concerned with worldbuilding
-male characters who aren't afraid to be affectionate
-Romances of friendship rather than of lovers
-Philosophizing on what people value in the world
-Adorable minotaurs

The Quantity of Desire is about a minotaur named Chase who is sold into slavery as a child at the beginning of the book. He is bought by a wealthy businessman named Jon, who keeps him as a servant and teaches him some of the intricacies of negotiation. As Chase grows up, he makes friends with a neighbor boy named Bri, who he quickly becomes enamored with. But when Bri is bullied by the son of one of Jon's associates, Chase accidentally kills the bully while protecting his friend. Rather than risk execution, Jon sends Chase off with one of his Ranger-like associates, Delsaran, and Chase's adventures for the first time beyond the borders of Jon's estate.

So begins The Quantity of Desire, and it's a beginning that I found amazing. It's remarkably well-written, depicting the traumatic experience of being sold as a child into slavery with a great deal of weight and reverence. Chase's fear and confusion as he's separated from his mother and given to a strange man is palpable. All the while, reflections on fear, obedience, and desire fill the pages with wisdoms both inspiring and horrific. The first few chapters of my annotated book are filled with highlighted quotes and passages because I found the writing so poignant.

Unfortunately, the quality of the story dips after this tremendous intro. I was initially happy to see that Chase was escaping his bondage and that the book wasn't going to be one long festival of depression. But I was heartbroken to find that once Chase goes off with Delsaran, the quality starts to cheapen. When I say "quality," I mean specifically the following: (1) the writing style loses its careful pacing and flow, (2) the characters start to feel a bit cartoonish rather than believable, (3) events aren't given the time or weight they deserve, and (4) the reflections on fear, obedience, and desire move from insightful to obvious and overbearing.

One aspect that could serve as a fifth point on quality is the setting, but that one's a bit more complicated. The setting itself is generic fantasy, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes it's nice to already understand the rules of a magical world because that way you can focus on story rather than on worldbuilding. Unfortunately, in this case it also exacerbates the cheap feeling that the shift in quality caused. If the quality had been maintained, the absence of worldbuilding might have actually benefited the story, but sadly that potential was missed out on.

This all made for a tragic and jarring shift--one that makes me wonder how such a thing could have happened. I felt as though the book had suddenly switched target demographics, from a book aimed at adults to one meant for early teens. It's for this reason that I'd almost recommend reading the beginning of the story and stopping there, because the beginning alone is certainly worthwhile. I just wish so badly that the rest of the book had realized the potential set up for it.

At least Chase stays somewhat well-developed as a character. He's smart and empathetic, and he's good at using what he's taught by his friends/family to solve problems. Chase is far from a passive character, which is a pitfall that similar stories tend to fall into when following a protagonist with a tragic backstory. He gets stuff done when left to his own devices, and I appreciated that his actions weren't entirely dependent on the actions of others guiding him along.

Finally, the book is labeled as being for adults only, but it doesn't seem to have anything adult in it. There's some blood, but nothing I'd say warrants more than a PG-13 rating. This isn't really a criticism, it's just something that I though worth mentioning if you're avoiding this book for fear of adult content.

So, I'd say The Quantity of Desire had a lot of potential, but it missed the mark on fulfilling it. I'd be very interested however in seeing the quality of that amazing beginning carried throughout a full novel. Just like with The Quantity of Desire, there's potential there, and I hope it's achieved in the author's future novels.

[Blaze Draconian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, so this is a fairly soft-fantasy novel that takes place in a human land from the perspective of Chase the minotaur through different parts of his youth after being captured by slavers in his homeland.

It's a very philosophical novel. I don't think I've ever seen a fantasy novel that is as philosophical before. You know when you're reading a Kindle novel and at several points in the book you can see how other readers have highlighted thought-provoking or deep text. There is a large amount of these. Essentially every character teaches Chase something about the meaning of life.

However, while being deep, I found the plot of the novel and the characters to be pretty mediocre, aside from Chase. He was fairly complex and there were a couple of moments where I felt genuinely bad for him...but these were few and far between, and I didn't end up feeling anything for the other characters. However, I did trick myself into thinking that this was going to be a mostly non-human cast, it is not.
Chase is the only character in the book that's not a human. He is the lone minotaur, and he's being raised by human standards. So there's not a lot that's culturally unique with Chase aside from his size, his strength, and how people treat him.

Structurally it is a very well-made novel and a clear passion project of the author's. It's fairly short. (5-6 hours) and from what I understand, it's a standalone. It's got great pacing and chapter length. I'd say do give it a chance and read it as an okay fantasy novel. But don't read it looking for a xenofiction world or a minotaur fantasy civilization novel. This isn't it

[Jason]

I enjoyed meeting Chase and following him through his misfortune and adventures. It's uncommon to read a fantasy novel(la) whose male characters act with the bravery and self-control that "real life" deems masculine but who also show love, compassion, and connection to other men. Women in The Quantity of Desire also defy the genre's tired gender tropes, which is to say: without hypersexualization, helplessness, tricksterism and irrationality — and the only battle-axes in the novella are actual axes, not women.

The intelligently and deftly explored tension between capitalist and more communalist values was also a delightful surprise.

The only negative criticisms I have are that, one, the characters' voices, aside from Chase and his two "father" figures, felt indistinct. Their points of view were clearly delineated, but their manner of speaking and communicating seemed same-y. And two, Harris "told" more than he "showed," and it made his prose lack depth. That said, if The Quantity of Desire is intended for a young adult audience — as implied, IMO, by its reading level, sexlessness, avoidance of curse words, lack of heavy world-building — then keeping the prose light is no great sin. I would easily recommend this to a queer teen or precocious tween who wanted to read fantasy that represents themselves. It is a book I wish I'd had when I was that age.

[Joseph K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good characters and story

This was a really good book and I enjoyed the characters and story a lot. There was action, character growth and learning while expanding the universe for the reader, magic, and fun. I recommend this book.