What do you think?
Rate this book
Humanotica #1
Silver
Born to freedom. Molded into submission. Pleasure is her only weapon.
Humanotica, Book 1
No matter what the law decrees, Entreus is no one s chattel. And he s determined that no other humanotic part human, part robot spends one more second under the stranglehold of the power-mad government machine. That means doing whatever it takes to advance the cause for freedom. Even seduce a government minister s favorite toy, a newly minted trinex named Silver.
Silver was a free woman until she committed the ultimate sin pretending to be male to gain entrance to an exclusive science academy. Her modification. Now she is equal parts female, male and machine. The property of the secretive, charismatic Lel Kesselbaum, whose appetites push her new sexual abilities to heights of pleasure that make her wonder who is master, who is slave.
Until Entreus bargains his body in exchange for a secret meeting that rekindles her longing for freedom. Yet helping the fiery revolutionary execute his plan isn t so simple, especially when she discovers her master s secret a secret that leaves her heart torn between two men. And one step in the wrong direction could mean death for them all. Contains wickedly inventive sexual situations and language, including not-so-ordinary body modification and same-sex scenes with BDSM elements. And a most unusual application of decorative silver. Please step away if your taste doesn t run toward the exotic."
Humanotica, Book 1
No matter what the law decrees, Entreus is no one s chattel. And he s determined that no other humanotic part human, part robot spends one more second under the stranglehold of the power-mad government machine. That means doing whatever it takes to advance the cause for freedom. Even seduce a government minister s favorite toy, a newly minted trinex named Silver.
Silver was a free woman until she committed the ultimate sin pretending to be male to gain entrance to an exclusive science academy. Her modification. Now she is equal parts female, male and machine. The property of the secretive, charismatic Lel Kesselbaum, whose appetites push her new sexual abilities to heights of pleasure that make her wonder who is master, who is slave.
Until Entreus bargains his body in exchange for a secret meeting that rekindles her longing for freedom. Yet helping the fiery revolutionary execute his plan isn t so simple, especially when she discovers her master s secret a secret that leaves her heart torn between two men. And one step in the wrong direction could mean death for them all. Contains wickedly inventive sexual situations and language, including not-so-ordinary body modification and same-sex scenes with BDSM elements. And a most unusual application of decorative silver. Please step away if your taste doesn t run toward the exotic."
174 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 18, 2010
2 people are currently reading
133 people want to read
About the author
Darcy Abriel
29 books58 followersDarcy Abriel delights in the stories that flirt with the dark side of emotion and passion. Going back to the days of Saturday Night Chiller Theaters, series such as Twilight Zone and the Outer Limits, toss in a dash of Alfred Hitchcock and these are the stories that have always fascinated Darcy. That edgy sense of danger that leaves one tingling. Be it a roller coaster ride, a Dracula movie, or a good erotic horror read at the darkest slice of night. Visit the dark side with mystery and passion, eroticism and tingling fantasy. Explore what makes your heart pump faster, your blood run hotter, and the adrenalin surge.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 8, 2012
Silver is a story that is riveting and at times disturbing, yet utterly fascinating. It melds gender and erotica together in one sensual story. Ms. Abriel has created a world in which gender is fluid and in which freedom can be taken away as easily as it was given.
Silver starts as a female and yet she ends up being modified. It is this very modification that melds the erotica with gender and makes this such an interesting and powerful story of how mankind treats humans and how freedom is something that is to be prized and fought for.
Silver made one mistake and paid the ultimate price. She wanted to gain entrance to an exclusive science academy and could only do so as a male. On discovery, she is punished and the man who she was so attracted to while at the academy managed to become her guardian and had her converted to a humanotic – part robot and part human, and now she is fifty one percent humanotic and also equal parts male and female. She is the property of Lel Kesselbaum and his appetites are strange to say the least and yet they are also how Silver becomes who or what she is.
There is a fight going on out in the wider world that Silver is now no longer really a part of and Entreus –a humanotic and leader of the Metallitionist resistance fighters will become enmeshed in her world and with her master. Whether they will all survive is unclear. There are many secrets and hidden desires as well as danger to them all.
To say I was riveted by this story is an understatement. I marveled at the world that Ms. Abriel has created. I was shocked by what Silver endured and how she was changed by Lel Kesselbaum. I was utterly appalled at the society in Silver and disturbed by so many parallels to the real world. It is so easy to see the things that have happened in Silver happening to us in the near future– if we let them. In Silver humans are still free, but for how much longer? Females have few rights – obviously or Silver would not have ended up as a trinex and as a possession.
Silver is a difficult character to work out and understand. Entreus and Micah, his lieutenant, are easier to read – you understand their goals, their reasons for doing what they do and you even support them and want them to succeed. Silver on the other hand is changed – she is important as an asset because of what she represents to the Ministry on behalf of her owner. There is however an unknown quality to her, and I wasn’t able to read her well at all.
I expected someone who had gone through what she has to have huge emotional issues – resentment, hatred, fear, revenge all spring to mind, and yet Silver was removed from these emotions. It seems that once she had decided to become humanotic rather than be used as some experiment there was a degree of acceptance of her situation. Add to that the attraction she has to her master and owner, and the condition of the world outside her own gilded cage and it is no wonder that she doesn’t run or try to escape – after all, where would she even go? There are occasions when you see the Silver of the past – in her thoughts, not really in her actions and this is also interesting. She tries to keep a part of herself, but will she succeed? Her master calls to her.
The sexual relationship that Silver and Lel have is extremely erotic and sensual – one of master and slave, but there are times when the lines blur and you wonder who is the master and who is the slave. Lel is another unknown. He has many secrets – his reasons for creating Silver, his ultimate goals in this strange, dangerous but yet intriguing society. Adding Entreus to the mix adds danger and more sexuality and desire.
It is hard to adequately find the words to describe the world and the characters that inhabit the world of Silver, and equally difficult to explain the characters and story line without revealing too much that needs to be read and digested and mulled over by the reader themselves. This is a great start to a new series and Darcy Abriel is definitely an up and coming author to take note of!
Silver starts as a female and yet she ends up being modified. It is this very modification that melds the erotica with gender and makes this such an interesting and powerful story of how mankind treats humans and how freedom is something that is to be prized and fought for.
Silver made one mistake and paid the ultimate price. She wanted to gain entrance to an exclusive science academy and could only do so as a male. On discovery, she is punished and the man who she was so attracted to while at the academy managed to become her guardian and had her converted to a humanotic – part robot and part human, and now she is fifty one percent humanotic and also equal parts male and female. She is the property of Lel Kesselbaum and his appetites are strange to say the least and yet they are also how Silver becomes who or what she is.
There is a fight going on out in the wider world that Silver is now no longer really a part of and Entreus –a humanotic and leader of the Metallitionist resistance fighters will become enmeshed in her world and with her master. Whether they will all survive is unclear. There are many secrets and hidden desires as well as danger to them all.
To say I was riveted by this story is an understatement. I marveled at the world that Ms. Abriel has created. I was shocked by what Silver endured and how she was changed by Lel Kesselbaum. I was utterly appalled at the society in Silver and disturbed by so many parallels to the real world. It is so easy to see the things that have happened in Silver happening to us in the near future– if we let them. In Silver humans are still free, but for how much longer? Females have few rights – obviously or Silver would not have ended up as a trinex and as a possession.
Silver is a difficult character to work out and understand. Entreus and Micah, his lieutenant, are easier to read – you understand their goals, their reasons for doing what they do and you even support them and want them to succeed. Silver on the other hand is changed – she is important as an asset because of what she represents to the Ministry on behalf of her owner. There is however an unknown quality to her, and I wasn’t able to read her well at all.
I expected someone who had gone through what she has to have huge emotional issues – resentment, hatred, fear, revenge all spring to mind, and yet Silver was removed from these emotions. It seems that once she had decided to become humanotic rather than be used as some experiment there was a degree of acceptance of her situation. Add to that the attraction she has to her master and owner, and the condition of the world outside her own gilded cage and it is no wonder that she doesn’t run or try to escape – after all, where would she even go? There are occasions when you see the Silver of the past – in her thoughts, not really in her actions and this is also interesting. She tries to keep a part of herself, but will she succeed? Her master calls to her.
The sexual relationship that Silver and Lel have is extremely erotic and sensual – one of master and slave, but there are times when the lines blur and you wonder who is the master and who is the slave. Lel is another unknown. He has many secrets – his reasons for creating Silver, his ultimate goals in this strange, dangerous but yet intriguing society. Adding Entreus to the mix adds danger and more sexuality and desire.
It is hard to adequately find the words to describe the world and the characters that inhabit the world of Silver, and equally difficult to explain the characters and story line without revealing too much that needs to be read and digested and mulled over by the reader themselves. This is a great start to a new series and Darcy Abriel is definitely an up and coming author to take note of!
September 28, 2014
I think there's a gland in the back of my brain that's perpetually on the lookout for decadent civilizations where sex is a form of currency and every article of clothing must perforce be minutely described. (Spoiler: Silver wears corsets. She has a lot of corsets.) I know I sound sarcastic, but I'm not. Not this time, anyway. I genuinely enjoy this kind of thing. Maybe it's the frilly eye-candy visuals. Maybe it's the unusual emotional possibilities. It's just one of my Things.
SUMMARY: In this far future sex and science-fantasy tale, "humanotics" are people who've been modified past a certain definition of humanity (more than 50% robotic) and can now be considered property. This doesn't sit well with the humanotic Entreus and his lover Micah, as well as the rest of the underground revolutionary movement. On the other hand, the hermaphroditic humanotic Silver is struggling with whether she actually wants to be liberated, as she falls more deeply in love with her owner, the apparently brilliant and supersexy Lel Kesselbaum. Will Entreus and Micah succeed in turning Silver against her gorgeous but ridiculously-named master? Will the revolution succeed? Will it matter in the end?
Aside from robotic hermaphrodites, this high tech erotic story also includes sex demons from another dimension. And, naturally, lots and lots of sex.
Okay, first of all? "Lel Kesselbaum"? Not sexy. Maybe it's just a personal thing, but every time I read that name, I think of a tiny, little gray-haired man who keeps forgetting where he put his spectacles.
That said, though, I enjoyed myself here a lot more than I expected. Silver was a fast read, with inventive sexual adventures and beautifully-detailed erotic tableaux. And despite so much telling (as opposed to showing), I was actually able to get with the program and have fun. Your mileage may vary though. For example, it could get tiring how Silver keeps insisting that Lel is so great and so brilliant. And how Lel insists that Silver is so fascinating and amazing, much better than anyone he's ever met before.* The problem is that because the story is mostly one erotic scene after the other, we're not really able to see them in situations where they could showcase how brilliant or amazing they really are.
*
I have to admit, though, this made me think a little bit more than the usual erotic novel. Can humanity be measured in percentages? How big of an impact does being slowly robotified have on a person's personality or soul? Can a society really function under the command of an elite obsessed with finding the new sexual extreme? It was rather gratifying to hold those kinds of questions in mind in between the descriptions of delicious fetish-wear and hot m/m/mf action. The world shows a lot more potential for development, and I'm glad this is a Book #1.
SUMMARY: In this far future sex and science-fantasy tale, "humanotics" are people who've been modified past a certain definition of humanity (more than 50% robotic) and can now be considered property. This doesn't sit well with the humanotic Entreus and his lover Micah, as well as the rest of the underground revolutionary movement. On the other hand, the hermaphroditic humanotic Silver is struggling with whether she actually wants to be liberated, as she falls more deeply in love with her owner, the apparently brilliant and supersexy Lel Kesselbaum. Will Entreus and Micah succeed in turning Silver against her gorgeous but ridiculously-named master? Will the revolution succeed? Will it matter in the end?
Aside from robotic hermaphrodites, this high tech erotic story also includes sex demons from another dimension. And, naturally, lots and lots of sex.
Okay, first of all? "Lel Kesselbaum"? Not sexy. Maybe it's just a personal thing, but every time I read that name, I think of a tiny, little gray-haired man who keeps forgetting where he put his spectacles.
That said, though, I enjoyed myself here a lot more than I expected. Silver was a fast read, with inventive sexual adventures and beautifully-detailed erotic tableaux. And despite so much telling (as opposed to showing), I was actually able to get with the program and have fun. Your mileage may vary though. For example, it could get tiring how Silver keeps insisting that Lel is so great and so brilliant. And how Lel insists that Silver is so fascinating and amazing, much better than anyone he's ever met before.* The problem is that because the story is mostly one erotic scene after the other, we're not really able to see them in situations where they could showcase how brilliant or amazing they really are.
*
I have to admit, though, this made me think a little bit more than the usual erotic novel. Can humanity be measured in percentages? How big of an impact does being slowly robotified have on a person's personality or soul? Can a society really function under the command of an elite obsessed with finding the new sexual extreme? It was rather gratifying to hold those kinds of questions in mind in between the descriptions of delicious fetish-wear and hot m/m/mf action. The world shows a lot more potential for development, and I'm glad this is a Book #1.
November 19, 2017
Just porn not enough sci fi. Boring
March 23, 2024
I said it before and I'll say it again - important books stick with you. It's not just about the story or the characters (although they clearly matter), but about who you were when you first read the story.
Silver by Darcy Abriel is one of those books.
12 years ago I was in a comfortable place. I'd come out to my wife, and we'd not only found a level of comfort and happiness with my gender expression that I had never dared imagine possible, but we finally had a baby, work was going well, and I'd been promoted from a contributing book reviewer to an editor at Frock Magazine.
While there were books we were sent for review at Frock, I had complete freedom to feature any books that I was reading, which I felt our readers might connect with. Darcy had reached out to me for a review, offering me a copy of Silver, and I knew within the first few chapters that it was going to be one that I had to share with that wider audience.
Silver is a big, intricate, plot-driven work of science fiction, complete with a diverse cast of well-developed characters, and (yes) a whole lot of kinky sex. In terms of sheer eroticism, this may be the most imaginative novel I've ever come across, but what's truly exciting is that Darcy Abriel does it all within the context of a powerful dystopian sci-fi thriller.
Here we have a future city by the name of Quentopolis, a place where cybernetic augmentation has become so commonplace that a 50% augmentation threshold has been established between citizen and property. Ruled by the human members of the Politico, the city is facing a violent rebellion from the Metallitionist Resistance, who argue that no amount of modification should reduce one to a life of slavery. It's a story of the fight for justice, but it's also a story of the thirst for revenge. Ulterior motives abound (on both sides of the divide), and appearances most certainly are almost always deceiving.
Lel Kesselbaum is not just a high-ranking member of the Politico, he's also part of an erotic, BDSM-driven segment of the nobility known as the Dominatae. Cold, distant, and cruel at first glance, he's a man with genuine complexity beneath the surface. Watching him develop through the course of the story is utterly fascinating. His rival in the tale, the protagonist to his antagonist, is Entreus, a mechanized Orictian warrior who now leads the Metallitionist Resistance. Mechanically augmented to be the perfect warrior, and trained in the fine arts of killing, he's at odds with his own cause in seeking a peaceful means of driving change from within the system itself.
Connecting these two men is the character of Silver herself - and she is where the story gets really so very interesting. One of those citizens who crossed the mechanical threshold, she has been further modified by her owner, Kesselbaum, into a creature of impossible beauty. Silver is a humanotic, a genderfluid sex goddess with a silver-tipped phallus. She has been conditioned to both give and receive pleasure, and is trained in the arts of both dominance and submission, making her an effective tool for his political maneuverings. She is still human at heart, however, which complicates matters when she's assigned to master the secrets of Entreus, and finds herself falling in love with his reluctant submission to her trinex charms.
Alternately violent and erotic, Silver is a story that more than delivers on its promise. There is a stellar sci-fi thriller here, with enough twists and surprises to keep even the most jaded reader entertained, along with a truly inventive erotic romance, with each new sexual innovation topping the one before it.
Silver as a character endeared herself to me, becoming someone whom I admired, adored, appreciated, and even envied. Check your expectations and your inhibitions at the door, because Silver as a book is a story that will take you to some strangely exciting places, and make you think along the way.
https://sallybend.wordpress.com/2024/...
Silver by Darcy Abriel is one of those books.
12 years ago I was in a comfortable place. I'd come out to my wife, and we'd not only found a level of comfort and happiness with my gender expression that I had never dared imagine possible, but we finally had a baby, work was going well, and I'd been promoted from a contributing book reviewer to an editor at Frock Magazine.
While there were books we were sent for review at Frock, I had complete freedom to feature any books that I was reading, which I felt our readers might connect with. Darcy had reached out to me for a review, offering me a copy of Silver, and I knew within the first few chapters that it was going to be one that I had to share with that wider audience.
Silver is a big, intricate, plot-driven work of science fiction, complete with a diverse cast of well-developed characters, and (yes) a whole lot of kinky sex. In terms of sheer eroticism, this may be the most imaginative novel I've ever come across, but what's truly exciting is that Darcy Abriel does it all within the context of a powerful dystopian sci-fi thriller.
Here we have a future city by the name of Quentopolis, a place where cybernetic augmentation has become so commonplace that a 50% augmentation threshold has been established between citizen and property. Ruled by the human members of the Politico, the city is facing a violent rebellion from the Metallitionist Resistance, who argue that no amount of modification should reduce one to a life of slavery. It's a story of the fight for justice, but it's also a story of the thirst for revenge. Ulterior motives abound (on both sides of the divide), and appearances most certainly are almost always deceiving.
Lel Kesselbaum is not just a high-ranking member of the Politico, he's also part of an erotic, BDSM-driven segment of the nobility known as the Dominatae. Cold, distant, and cruel at first glance, he's a man with genuine complexity beneath the surface. Watching him develop through the course of the story is utterly fascinating. His rival in the tale, the protagonist to his antagonist, is Entreus, a mechanized Orictian warrior who now leads the Metallitionist Resistance. Mechanically augmented to be the perfect warrior, and trained in the fine arts of killing, he's at odds with his own cause in seeking a peaceful means of driving change from within the system itself.
Connecting these two men is the character of Silver herself - and she is where the story gets really so very interesting. One of those citizens who crossed the mechanical threshold, she has been further modified by her owner, Kesselbaum, into a creature of impossible beauty. Silver is a humanotic, a genderfluid sex goddess with a silver-tipped phallus. She has been conditioned to both give and receive pleasure, and is trained in the arts of both dominance and submission, making her an effective tool for his political maneuverings. She is still human at heart, however, which complicates matters when she's assigned to master the secrets of Entreus, and finds herself falling in love with his reluctant submission to her trinex charms.
Alternately violent and erotic, Silver is a story that more than delivers on its promise. There is a stellar sci-fi thriller here, with enough twists and surprises to keep even the most jaded reader entertained, along with a truly inventive erotic romance, with each new sexual innovation topping the one before it.
Silver as a character endeared herself to me, becoming someone whom I admired, adored, appreciated, and even envied. Check your expectations and your inhibitions at the door, because Silver as a book is a story that will take you to some strangely exciting places, and make you think along the way.
https://sallybend.wordpress.com/2024/...
March 23, 2012
I'm not quite sure where to begin in my review of Silver by Darcy Abriel. This book is book one in her Humanotica series, and I will also be reading and reviewing Haevyn, which is book 2 for Book Lovers Inc.
The thing about Silver is that I've never had a book bother me quite so much. On the one hand, it definitely captured my attention. On the other, some of that capture was in the perturbation factor.
Silver is a science fiction romance. I generally like SFR.
Silver takes place in an empire that has probably hit the downward spiral. Think of Rome under the really, really bad emperors, like Tiberius, or Caligula. You know, electing horses to serve in the Senate. Or Star Wars under that fellow we all know and love, the Emperor Palpatine. Remember him? He turned out to be way out there on the Dark Side of the Force.
Decadent empires can give rise (pun possibly intended) to all kinds of disgusting, and manipulative poltical practices. Including the use of sex, and blackmail about sex, as political maneuvering.
Very decadent imperial citizens are often too lazy to work (back to Rome again) so they employ slaves.
In the case of Quentopolis, those slaves are humanotics. Any person with 51% or more cybernetic parts is automatically sold into slavery, if they are caught.
Women are second-class citizens anyway. The reason for this isn't explained, it just is. But then again, it so frequently isn't explained, even in real life.
Silver used to be a normal woman, but she was caught pretending to be a man in order to attend a prestigious scientific academy. Her sentence; to become a humanotic and be sold into slavery.
Her new owner, Lel Kesselbaum has a fetish for male humanotics. With cybernetics, this is a complicated but not impossible problem. Lel has this formerly independent woman transformed into a trinex.
This review originally posted at http://www.readingreality.net/2012/03...
What's a trinex? In this case, female from the waist up, male from the waist down, and more than 51% cybernetic. There are a lot of descriptions of the sexual aspects of Silver's nature.
But what keeps driving me wacky is the change in Silver's personality. She was fiercely independent, and now she's submissive to Kesselbaum's Dominor. (Dominor being both a political title and a sexual reference in this case).
In male/male romance, there's a trope named "gay for you". This story made me wonder if there is a similar trope in BDSM fic called "sub for you". During the story, Silver discovers she likes to be dominant with other lovers, but not with Kesselbaum. With him, she's always the submissive, and she loves it that way.
There's is a slave revolt being planned. Entreus is the leader of that revolt. When he enters the picture, Silver discovers that her master is playing a very long game, and is not quite what he seems.
But there's never any doubt about what choices she will make.
Escape Rating C-: I found the world fascinating, but I'm very glad that Entreus is the main character for Haevyn. He has more agency, and is in more control of his actions than Silver is.
The thing about Silver is that I've never had a book bother me quite so much. On the one hand, it definitely captured my attention. On the other, some of that capture was in the perturbation factor.
Silver is a science fiction romance. I generally like SFR.
Silver takes place in an empire that has probably hit the downward spiral. Think of Rome under the really, really bad emperors, like Tiberius, or Caligula. You know, electing horses to serve in the Senate. Or Star Wars under that fellow we all know and love, the Emperor Palpatine. Remember him? He turned out to be way out there on the Dark Side of the Force.
Decadent empires can give rise (pun possibly intended) to all kinds of disgusting, and manipulative poltical practices. Including the use of sex, and blackmail about sex, as political maneuvering.
Very decadent imperial citizens are often too lazy to work (back to Rome again) so they employ slaves.
In the case of Quentopolis, those slaves are humanotics. Any person with 51% or more cybernetic parts is automatically sold into slavery, if they are caught.
Women are second-class citizens anyway. The reason for this isn't explained, it just is. But then again, it so frequently isn't explained, even in real life.
Silver used to be a normal woman, but she was caught pretending to be a man in order to attend a prestigious scientific academy. Her sentence; to become a humanotic and be sold into slavery.
Her new owner, Lel Kesselbaum has a fetish for male humanotics. With cybernetics, this is a complicated but not impossible problem. Lel has this formerly independent woman transformed into a trinex.
This review originally posted at http://www.readingreality.net/2012/03...
What's a trinex? In this case, female from the waist up, male from the waist down, and more than 51% cybernetic. There are a lot of descriptions of the sexual aspects of Silver's nature.
But what keeps driving me wacky is the change in Silver's personality. She was fiercely independent, and now she's submissive to Kesselbaum's Dominor. (Dominor being both a political title and a sexual reference in this case).
In male/male romance, there's a trope named "gay for you". This story made me wonder if there is a similar trope in BDSM fic called "sub for you". During the story, Silver discovers she likes to be dominant with other lovers, but not with Kesselbaum. With him, she's always the submissive, and she loves it that way.
There's is a slave revolt being planned. Entreus is the leader of that revolt. When he enters the picture, Silver discovers that her master is playing a very long game, and is not quite what he seems.
But there's never any doubt about what choices she will make.
Escape Rating C-: I found the world fascinating, but I'm very glad that Entreus is the main character for Haevyn. He has more agency, and is in more control of his actions than Silver is.
May 14, 2014
We enter a fascinating future where those who have become modified with robotics – humanotics – over a certain percentage, are considered the chattel of the wealthy upper classes. Political decisions are made not only in governmental departments, but also through the sexual liaisons that can easily decide outcomes and tip the balance of power.
The humanotic Silver is our viewpoint character, and she is a trinex – possessed of both male and female aspects, and as humanotic, she is the chattel of her powerful, enigmatic and charismatic master Lel Kesselbaum. Though she still chafes at her lost freedom and being subservient to Lel, and is no better than a sex slave that exists as an object of aesthetic pleasure, she revels in her submission and the exaggerated sensuality of their relationship and her heavily modified body.
We also encounter Entreus, another humanotic, but one who is rogue and allied with a human resistance movement fighting to overthrow the current regime. He an Silver are obviously captured in an orbit of mutual fascination as the story progresses.
First off, be warned, various highly graphic sexual encounters form the mainstay of this novel. Also, Dacy Abriel’s vision allows for fluidity in gender and sexual preference, so if you’re a bit squeamish about the idea of a hermaphrodite who’s well-endowed and all too comfortable with her sexual orientation and appetites, then this might not be the story for you.
Essentially, we are faced with the inevitable coming together of these three main characters, and we eventually see the story from all three points of view. Lel himself does eventually reveal some dangerous secrets, and I so did not see these reveals, erm… coming.
Abriel mixes fantasy and SF in a heady melange. At times I was left with the sense that plot development and resolution was abandoned in favour of the highly eroticised encounters, but then this might just be a matter of reader’s taste and my own need for stronger narrative elements. My main feeling is that there could have been more effort put into heightening tension and elaborating on the closure, which definitely got overshadowed by the erotic elements. It’s also my feeling that the characters themselves weren’t challenged enough, but that being considered, this was still an enjoyable, entertaining read. Abriel’s writing and visualisation is highly detailed and evocative, and for that alone this is a treat.
The humanotic Silver is our viewpoint character, and she is a trinex – possessed of both male and female aspects, and as humanotic, she is the chattel of her powerful, enigmatic and charismatic master Lel Kesselbaum. Though she still chafes at her lost freedom and being subservient to Lel, and is no better than a sex slave that exists as an object of aesthetic pleasure, she revels in her submission and the exaggerated sensuality of their relationship and her heavily modified body.
We also encounter Entreus, another humanotic, but one who is rogue and allied with a human resistance movement fighting to overthrow the current regime. He an Silver are obviously captured in an orbit of mutual fascination as the story progresses.
First off, be warned, various highly graphic sexual encounters form the mainstay of this novel. Also, Dacy Abriel’s vision allows for fluidity in gender and sexual preference, so if you’re a bit squeamish about the idea of a hermaphrodite who’s well-endowed and all too comfortable with her sexual orientation and appetites, then this might not be the story for you.
Essentially, we are faced with the inevitable coming together of these three main characters, and we eventually see the story from all three points of view. Lel himself does eventually reveal some dangerous secrets, and I so did not see these reveals, erm… coming.
Abriel mixes fantasy and SF in a heady melange. At times I was left with the sense that plot development and resolution was abandoned in favour of the highly eroticised encounters, but then this might just be a matter of reader’s taste and my own need for stronger narrative elements. My main feeling is that there could have been more effort put into heightening tension and elaborating on the closure, which definitely got overshadowed by the erotic elements. It’s also my feeling that the characters themselves weren’t challenged enough, but that being considered, this was still an enjoyable, entertaining read. Abriel’s writing and visualisation is highly detailed and evocative, and for that alone this is a treat.
July 2, 2011
Silver is one of those rare reads you come across that blows your mind and wraps you up in an orgasmic mess.
Ms. Abreil does an amazing job of creating a dystopian world filled with characters that have depth and tone. Her mysterious cast of soulful beings are filled with passion and desire, each one more complex than the next. Silver is a mesmorizing character that brings the reader along on her journey and makes you feel her pain and passion.
This story takes the erotic genre to new heights and is not for the faint of heart. The story has two styles; the first person accounts of the main character, Silver, and thrid person POV from the male perspective. Still I could not put this book down. Each scene will leave you breathless and sweating.
Humanotica is a dark erotic GLBT fantasy but don't let that shy you away from this amazing series.
I am looking forward to the next installment in the Humanotica series.
Ms. Abreil does an amazing job of creating a dystopian world filled with characters that have depth and tone. Her mysterious cast of soulful beings are filled with passion and desire, each one more complex than the next. Silver is a mesmorizing character that brings the reader along on her journey and makes you feel her pain and passion.
This story takes the erotic genre to new heights and is not for the faint of heart. The story has two styles; the first person accounts of the main character, Silver, and thrid person POV from the male perspective. Still I could not put this book down. Each scene will leave you breathless and sweating.
Humanotica is a dark erotic GLBT fantasy but don't let that shy you away from this amazing series.
I am looking forward to the next installment in the Humanotica series.
September 16, 2013
I really wanted to like this book more than I did. Sexy science fiction with kinky BDSM gender-bending? Oh yes, I was all set to love this book and feel pervy for loving it. Unfortunately, Silver is a woman who traded her vagina for a penis and kept the boobs and all the sex is male homosexual BDSM with some boobs thrown in.
I just couldn't get into it. It's just not my kink. I get that some women, like the author apparently, really like imagining themselves as men, but I don't. World building was interesting though and the characters were well-drawn. I found it weird that a female author would create a world that was so very down on women and the book did not enlighten me to whatever social message there may have been in all the sex. I am going to read the next one, though.
I just couldn't get into it. It's just not my kink. I get that some women, like the author apparently, really like imagining themselves as men, but I don't. World building was interesting though and the characters were well-drawn. I found it weird that a female author would create a world that was so very down on women and the book did not enlighten me to whatever social message there may have been in all the sex. I am going to read the next one, though.
September 24, 2011
A lot of people in a community i'm currently in are reading this book, so I just decided to jump the gun and buy it off Amazon without reading the reviews nor plot. I now realized that yes, I should have checked Goodreads before spending $5 on it. I don't have anything against gay erotica, I just wasn't ready for it. I do understand it is my fault for not doing my homework before hand, but the cover is quite deceiving and even Goodreads does not label it as m/m erotica.
I'll give the author props for being extremely imaginative however, and Abriel's world building skills are also to be commended.
Since I did spend money on it, i'll attempt to return to this book at a later date.
I'll give the author props for being extremely imaginative however, and Abriel's world building skills are also to be commended.
Since I did spend money on it, i'll attempt to return to this book at a later date.
December 31, 2014
Silver was an exotic erotica. My love for sci-fi kept me interested enough in the book. It was an interesting mix of Trinex and the maleficio. Combining powers and forming allies. Some parts were silly enough to make you put down the book and think, "WTF!" (not in a good way). And other parts were sci-fi cool. Silvers character is my favorite; I like women playing strong roles and maintaining their independence. All in all, I'm glad I read it. Sad but truthfully wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
January 20, 2015
Silver by Darcy Abriel
The premise of this book was fascinating. Sci-fi, dark & fantasy with mention of alt realms and body modifications that were far out. There was so much going on to explain this world and its characters for this first book that it became a bit too much to take in one story. That’s why it was just an okay read for me, not because the story wasn’t interesting but because there was too many sub plots feeding into it at one time. I might try again with the next book.
The premise of this book was fascinating. Sci-fi, dark & fantasy with mention of alt realms and body modifications that were far out. There was so much going on to explain this world and its characters for this first book that it became a bit too much to take in one story. That’s why it was just an okay read for me, not because the story wasn’t interesting but because there was too many sub plots feeding into it at one time. I might try again with the next book.
February 18, 2015
Interesting, but the (lack of) editing in places made me twitch. From the blurb I thought Silver would be "equal parts female, male, and machine" but the female bits were always squished under corsets, booo. I wasn't expecting it to be so m/m; not a great choice for my first.
February 14, 2012
Reviewed for Booked Up . Stay tuned for the review to be posted on Booked Up's goodreads account and the Blog
January 1, 2011
One of the most amazing books of 2010 (or ever!). Ground-breaking. A must read!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews