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tc_mill's review
4.0
As a Storm Moon author, I received a free copy in exchange for a review. Enslavement fantasy might not be for everyone, but I figured it was worth a look–based on the cover art alone this was hard to resist. I would totally frame a print of the cover art in the right room. Although it, or perhaps the content, might be the reason I can’t find Serve Me on Amazon. Don’t worry, all websites where it is available are listed below after the review.
And if you have any interest in power play at all, this anthology is really worth checking out. Its 4 stories explore the concept through a wide variety of genres and relationship dynamics.
The Spoils- Anna Hedley 4 stars
Idris is a gladiator in a fantasy world mashup of Greco-roman culture, populated with a myriad of races including (male) maenads and satyrs. I have some friends with what I can only describe as serious satyr fetishes ;D, but I’m not sure I’d rec this one to them as it opens with some brutal, gruesome violence to said satyrs. Idris is very good at his job.
But next thing he knows he’s lost a fight to a mage, whose attacks seem to leave lingering side effects–ghostly images of the people Idris has killed, in the arena and before it.
Idris’ master goes on to buy the mage, who identifies himself as Kage, a demon. Kage is sassy and charismatic, aggressive and yet, at times, oddly tender. This sometimes savage story is also relieved by moment of sweetness between Idris and his new maenad slave, Theo. Genuinely hot sex and interesting group dynamics made me fall for this story even if it is harsh in the opening scenes.
The ending became confusing (who or what is Kage, really? What are his motivations?) but Idris’ backstory was handled well without bogging down the forward momentum of the plot, and on the whole this piece strikes a balance between brutality and feckless optimism.
As You Wish-Gabriel Belthir 4 Stars
Genrewise, I think this interracial story is steampunk, based on one throwaway reference to airships. In any event it’s a lovely play on Victorian social mores, and daringly explores racial mores as well. Samuel is excited to be invited to a Lord’s private slave auction, where he picks up the lifelong contract of Apollo–several decades after African slavery ended.
I admired Apollo at once as he keeps his composure and his dignity despite his unfortunate circumstances. As a well-built, physically aggressive black man, he does fall into some stereotypes, but also reveals acute intelligence and sensitivity about his social status and his role in he and Samuel’s new relationship. This story does use the n-word slur, although it seems about as well placed as that slur could ever be as Apollo uses it to make a very strong point.
Samuel is endearingly awkward in his new role as a Master, as he and Apollo try to come around to what he really wants. This leads to a subversion of their public roles.
I love power play in my fiction, usually the subtler the better, so I really enjoyed this twist although in the end the relationship transforms into a consensual master/slave dynamic that wasn’t particularly different from many I’ve read before. The climax also included some violent sex without a safeword, which was used to make a definite point about the levels of trust and desire between Apollo and Samuel but veered farther into dubcon territory than I’d expected in this particular story (The Spoils’ brutal opening had the benefit of reminding me to keep my guard up, but I relaxed on this one). Their aftercare scene was beautifully done, though, and cemented their ultimately affectionate and caring dynamic.
Life Is Unforgiving-Lor Rose 3 Stars
This story starts off strong, with a heatwrenching scene as our protagonist Aidan is sold away from his friend and lover, Aaron, by their vampire masters. A dystopia where humans are kept as ready blood sources and/or breeding stock by vampires? So far, so cool! And when Aidan comes to the bed of his new master Ryce and Ryce’s friend Levant, it’s a dynamic I’ve really enjoyed in the past–a dubious consent for the victim made sweet by how very pleasurable it turns out to be. Impossible in real life, but hot and oddly comforting in fiction.
This story also demonstrates a flair for language as it depicts Aidan’s heartbreak and confusion in the opening scenes, but I felt the voice and tone became choppy during the sex and never quite recovered. This is also the first urban fantasy story I’ve ever read where the modern-day elements felt superfluous. It might be that the opening scene suggested a solid vampiric-ruled dystopia, so seeing free humans milling about was jarring (and required some leaps of logic a complete vampire conquest wouldn’t have required). More importantly, I think it jars with the fantasy. If someone is raped (and enjoys it), but then goes Christmas shopping in the next scene, the “let’s pretend” aspects get confused. If the consent dynamics are removed far from reality, I like to see the rest of the story far removed from reality as well.
The ending of this story was satisfying, and I was surprised how much I wanted a happy ending for everyone involved. Although it seemed a bit rushed. What does Ryce see in the mostly (and understandably) passive Aidan, that he declares & demonstrates his love in such profound terms? This story may have benefited from a few more scenes showing the two growing close.
Takashima’s Pet-Fox Lee 5 Stars
This story is also in a real-world setting, the Yakuza gangs of Japan, but the dynamic was gentler than the one in Love is Unforgiving and if anything, the contrast between the real outside world and the fantasy of the relationship only made certain scenes (like semi-public phonesex) hotter. Not least because phonesex is much less likely to feature dubious consent (you can always hang up, provided it’s not a hostage situation) and so the cognitive dissonance is less. Also because Takashima, the kidnapper of the protagonist Yuta (who was actually captured in a gang raid gone wrong), has a very nuanced view of servitude:
“You’re a sex slave,” he told Yuta. “Not furniture. Sit over there and drink with
me.”
I found myself liking Takashima a lot. He’s a violent mob boss, certainly, but keeping Yuta as a slave is actually the nicer of his options (he does give Yuta the choice, though), and you can’t deny he man’s got some style. He even offers to send word back to Yuta’s wife or girlfriend, assuming he’s got one, that he’s alive and mostly well.
A lot of the character motivations still make the most sense if they’re operating on “porn logic” (as when taxi drivers find sex in the backseat more convenient than just driving to an ATM), but the sex is hot and the moments of caregiving from Takashima and Yuta’s opening up to him are heartwarming. Taka’s a genuine sweetheart of a dom. I’d love to see more like him.
Yuta’s also a very sympathetic character, and I was glad to see him owning his desires. He does have one moment of emotional-arc-ordained stupidity (suffice to say, when your lover gives you a new electronic piece and says “now I can always find you,” it shouldn’t be a surprise that the item is GPS equipped), but it certainly doesn’t threaten the integrity of the story. Although not a completely fluffy fantasy, Takashima’s Pet is a very endearing one.
This review is cross-posted from TC-Mill.com.
And if you have any interest in power play at all, this anthology is really worth checking out. Its 4 stories explore the concept through a wide variety of genres and relationship dynamics.
The Spoils- Anna Hedley 4 stars
Idris is a gladiator in a fantasy world mashup of Greco-roman culture, populated with a myriad of races including (male) maenads and satyrs. I have some friends with what I can only describe as serious satyr fetishes ;D, but I’m not sure I’d rec this one to them as it opens with some brutal, gruesome violence to said satyrs. Idris is very good at his job.
But next thing he knows he’s lost a fight to a mage, whose attacks seem to leave lingering side effects–ghostly images of the people Idris has killed, in the arena and before it.
Idris’ master goes on to buy the mage, who identifies himself as Kage, a demon. Kage is sassy and charismatic, aggressive and yet, at times, oddly tender. This sometimes savage story is also relieved by moment of sweetness between Idris and his new maenad slave, Theo. Genuinely hot sex and interesting group dynamics made me fall for this story even if it is harsh in the opening scenes.
The ending became confusing (who or what is Kage, really? What are his motivations?) but Idris’ backstory was handled well without bogging down the forward momentum of the plot, and on the whole this piece strikes a balance between brutality and feckless optimism.
As You Wish-Gabriel Belthir 4 Stars
Genrewise, I think this interracial story is steampunk, based on one throwaway reference to airships. In any event it’s a lovely play on Victorian social mores, and daringly explores racial mores as well. Samuel is excited to be invited to a Lord’s private slave auction, where he picks up the lifelong contract of Apollo–several decades after African slavery ended.
I admired Apollo at once as he keeps his composure and his dignity despite his unfortunate circumstances. As a well-built, physically aggressive black man, he does fall into some stereotypes, but also reveals acute intelligence and sensitivity about his social status and his role in he and Samuel’s new relationship. This story does use the n-word slur, although it seems about as well placed as that slur could ever be as Apollo uses it to make a very strong point.
Samuel is endearingly awkward in his new role as a Master, as he and Apollo try to come around to what he really wants. This leads to a subversion of their public roles.
I love power play in my fiction, usually the subtler the better, so I really enjoyed this twist although in the end the relationship transforms into a consensual master/slave dynamic that wasn’t particularly different from many I’ve read before. The climax also included some violent sex without a safeword, which was used to make a definite point about the levels of trust and desire between Apollo and Samuel but veered farther into dubcon territory than I’d expected in this particular story (The Spoils’ brutal opening had the benefit of reminding me to keep my guard up, but I relaxed on this one). Their aftercare scene was beautifully done, though, and cemented their ultimately affectionate and caring dynamic.
Life Is Unforgiving-Lor Rose 3 Stars
This story starts off strong, with a heatwrenching scene as our protagonist Aidan is sold away from his friend and lover, Aaron, by their vampire masters. A dystopia where humans are kept as ready blood sources and/or breeding stock by vampires? So far, so cool! And when Aidan comes to the bed of his new master Ryce and Ryce’s friend Levant, it’s a dynamic I’ve really enjoyed in the past–a dubious consent for the victim made sweet by how very pleasurable it turns out to be. Impossible in real life, but hot and oddly comforting in fiction.
This story also demonstrates a flair for language as it depicts Aidan’s heartbreak and confusion in the opening scenes, but I felt the voice and tone became choppy during the sex and never quite recovered. This is also the first urban fantasy story I’ve ever read where the modern-day elements felt superfluous. It might be that the opening scene suggested a solid vampiric-ruled dystopia, so seeing free humans milling about was jarring (and required some leaps of logic a complete vampire conquest wouldn’t have required). More importantly, I think it jars with the fantasy. If someone is raped (and enjoys it), but then goes Christmas shopping in the next scene, the “let’s pretend” aspects get confused. If the consent dynamics are removed far from reality, I like to see the rest of the story far removed from reality as well.
The ending of this story was satisfying, and I was surprised how much I wanted a happy ending for everyone involved. Although it seemed a bit rushed. What does Ryce see in the mostly (and understandably) passive Aidan, that he declares & demonstrates his love in such profound terms? This story may have benefited from a few more scenes showing the two growing close.
Takashima’s Pet-Fox Lee 5 Stars
This story is also in a real-world setting, the Yakuza gangs of Japan, but the dynamic was gentler than the one in Love is Unforgiving and if anything, the contrast between the real outside world and the fantasy of the relationship only made certain scenes (like semi-public phonesex) hotter. Not least because phonesex is much less likely to feature dubious consent (you can always hang up, provided it’s not a hostage situation) and so the cognitive dissonance is less. Also because Takashima, the kidnapper of the protagonist Yuta (who was actually captured in a gang raid gone wrong), has a very nuanced view of servitude:
“You’re a sex slave,” he told Yuta. “Not furniture. Sit over there and drink with
me.”
I found myself liking Takashima a lot. He’s a violent mob boss, certainly, but keeping Yuta as a slave is actually the nicer of his options (he does give Yuta the choice, though), and you can’t deny he man’s got some style. He even offers to send word back to Yuta’s wife or girlfriend, assuming he’s got one, that he’s alive and mostly well.
A lot of the character motivations still make the most sense if they’re operating on “porn logic” (as when taxi drivers find sex in the backseat more convenient than just driving to an ATM), but the sex is hot and the moments of caregiving from Takashima and Yuta’s opening up to him are heartwarming. Taka’s a genuine sweetheart of a dom. I’d love to see more like him.
Yuta’s also a very sympathetic character, and I was glad to see him owning his desires. He does have one moment of emotional-arc-ordained stupidity (suffice to say, when your lover gives you a new electronic piece and says “now I can always find you,” it shouldn’t be a surprise that the item is GPS equipped), but it certainly doesn’t threaten the integrity of the story. Although not a completely fluffy fantasy, Takashima’s Pet is a very endearing one.
This review is cross-posted from TC-Mill.com.
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