Man, gotta say, this series reminds me very strongly of Kushiel's Dart:

• Elegantly written
• Packed with court intrigue
• In a high fantasy setting that
• is at least partially modeled on Renaissance Venice

And also:

• Packed with sexualized violence and sexual violence
• That often rides the line of what I, personally, am willing to tolerate in fiction
• And for sure is over line for many readers
• Though I don't get the impression either writer is being prurient or provocative for its own sake. 

Weirdly, it was when the main relationship -- one between the titular captive prince and his captor -- shifted to a dynamic of more equitable standing that I kind of freaked out and had to stop reading at about 90% of the way through the middle book in the series. Still not sure what that was about, though I suspect that I freaked because their previous relationship -- one that was, in a word, abusive -- had been so normalized in the text that the shift made that abuse obvious. I'd been Stockholm syndrome'd along with the captive prince.

This isn't maybe the most interesting thing to do -- just observe how many people treat Humbert Humbert like some kind of romantic hero, and his relationship with Lolita as a grand love story, and you can see how easily readers will dupe themselves into siding with abusers. What's interesting is unmasking it for what it was, and then trying to move on from there.

So. Onto book three, I guess. 

I like my horror reads to be absolutely chilling and of the mind-fuck variety, so I'd say very scary for any title here.

It - Stephen King : Beyond how inherently scary a concept a boggart is, and one written by King at that, what terrified me in this book is the truth of how helpless children are against adults, their power and their belief in other adults. It's always that scene where Bev is running from her not-dad, and no adult even stopping, because it rings so creepily real.

Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov : I don't get why anyone would mistake this one for a romance. Ever. That's the ickiest, most compelling and therefore scariest, unreliable narrator of literature. Real horror.

Misery - Stephen King : This one gave me palpitations. It gets violent and there are lasting consequences.

Ponies - Kij Johnson : Maybe horror is not the genre one would put it, but this little does cause horror. I never read it again, but I still feel like crying when I remember it.

I've been feeling poorly for a couple of days now. My friend, whom I had said, how much I enjoyed The Golden Dynasty, brought me her e-book reader and told me to read this series because it reminded her of Kristen Ashley's book.
Well, the first two weren't very good. Actually, they weren't so bad either. The stories had potential but the storyline and the world weren't developed well enough. What the stories had, was a lot of sex. Some of this was quite hot but some was out of my comfort zone. I even skipped the paragraph about the officers' club while reading the second story.
I didn't expect much when I started Saved by Venom but was pleasantly surprised. I actually liked Dizzy and Venom's book. It had much less sex and the main characters communicated a lot. The story also had some action and a rather interesting storyline. 
I really hope the author continues with the series.

(Original Review, 1992-02-10)



I can speak and write English pretty well, and I am completely lacking in Nabokov's talent for prose. I do, however, wonder whether the fact that English was his fourth or fifth language may have enabled him to approach writing in a different way. He seems to be very aware of structural features, and I wonder if this skill came out of his ability to speak numerous languages? I'd have to say that's undoubtedly true: the more languages one knows the more one becomes aware of how each one works and, often, greater facility in manipulating them to one's uses.

If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.