Symbiotic Toy

Book Review – Evangeline Anderson’s ‘Slave Boy’

July 19, 2010 at 6:24 am (Uncategorized) (book review)

Since I read what I write – gay fantasy erotica, of course – I thought it might be a good idea to review  some of the stuff I read.

I’ll start out with the most recent book I’ve read, seeing as I only finished it two days ago. ‘Slave Boy’ by Evangeline Anderson is a gay scifi erotica novel published by Loose Id, and it’s about 250 pages. I’ll start with some content hints/warnings.

Warnings: May/December, Master/slave, some ‘discipline’, some bondage, teacher/student, aphrodisiacs, deflowering, toys, voyerism/exhibitionism, very very very light dubcon (the viewpoint character precieves it as dubcon, but it’s extremely obvious to the reader at all times that both parties are perfectly willing). I wanted to put a lot of warnings for this because though nothing extreme or horrible happens, there are quite a few possible squicks if you’re opposed to something specific.  The fact that the characters are being manipulated by an outside power (alien customs that they must abide by or there will be dire consequences) may make some people uncomfortable.

The cover: Is really nice. The composition of the photo is good, and the guy they chose for Wren (the only one whose face we see) is actually attractive, and though he’s not necessarily exactly what I pictured, he still makes sense – has the right hair, etc. The cover has way more emotion than that of any other romance novel I own, I usually find that the models just look vacant and it’s weird. I give  this cover 10/10, no hesitation.

Quick summary: Haven is a member of ‘The Order of Light’, a peaceful religiousish organization that has great intergalatic power and often acts as mediators in interplanetary disputes. Ten years ago, he saved a then twelve Wren from sexual slavery on another planet, and brought him into the order. Wren, now twenty-two, is his novice. As part of the Master/novice link, they can communicate telepathically. They are both deeply in love with each other, but neither would ever admit it because relationships between Masters and their novices are strictly forbidden. They go off on a mission to keep one alien race, the Tiberions, from obliterating the entire planet of the peaceable Gowans. However, the Tiberions have a very strict culture, and if Haven and Wren don’t follow it to the letter it may mean the Gowan planet gets destroyed then and there. The most important part of Tiberion culture is the keeping of a slave or multiple slaves. Therefore, Haven has to pretend Wren is his slave – which is of course the very life he saved the boy from. Amid the many things they have to do – parading Wren around naked, performing sexual acts in front of others, etc. – they are forced to admit their feelings. That’s the easy part, because now said feelings are just much harder to deal with.

Characters: The main characters, Haven and Wren, are both pretty likeable. Haven is extremely moral, and is terrified to ‘taint’ Wren in any way. He’s also a very strong and ‘in control’ man, and is definetely a perfect fit for the sexual role of ‘Master’. He has a nice reserve about him, and is just the right amount of flawed to make him interesting. Wren I also liked – he manages to angst a bit while not being a whiny twat, and he’s very submissive by nature but doesn’t act totally immasculated. In fact, he’s really quite brave. These two didn’t grab hold of my brain and shake it, but nonetheless I felt for them and didn’t want to stab them both in the face. That’s good.

Plot: The plot was definetely very much an erotica plot. The main plot – the Gowan/Tiberion peace treaty – is pretty predictable, and most of it is just the catalyst for all the sexual things Haven and Wren have to do. I think the real main plot is the development of their sexual relationship, through resisting and denying and manipulation and trying to get out of things and then more resisting. There’s nothing wrong with the plot, it’s just definitely not the focus of the story. It’s definitely servicable, and I’d say in this case that’s mostly what matters. However, if you like really plotty and intriguing erotica, this book might not be right for you.

Writing: A few typos as in every book that isn’t in multiple editions. Otherwise, grammar and syntax seemed fine (I didn’t notice them, which is how I feel it should be). Anderson’s writing style is decent. Sometimes the dialogue gets a bit cheesy, but nothing too bad, and there are some definite funny moments and sad moments. I would read another book by Anderson.

Smut: As plentiful as you could ask for (without sacrificing other aspects of the story). The smut scenes had a pretty good level of emotion, and they were pretty much always nice and long; you can really savor them. The one thing that drove me nuts was the word ‘rosebud’. I’m not a fan of that word in the context anyways, but Anderson really needs to be banned from it or something, because there’s a few times that she just goes nuts with it.

LOLWTF: For me, there were two real eyerolling moments. One is right at the end so I won’t spoil it, but I can elaborate on the other; and actually the one at the end is bad in the same way. Haven is given two oils to mix and ‘oil up’ Wren with, because male slaves can’t be in public without lubed junk, and he has to wear a tail buttplug. Haven accidently switches the proportions of the oils, and adds too much ‘passionseed’. This ends up, as I’m sure you won’t be surprised, with Wren massively high and completely consumed by lust. That wasn’t so bad, but wait for it… the only way to get the oil off is with semen – a little silly but I’ll buy it – but then we find out it has to be the semen of the person who applied the oil. *groan*

Ending: Well, it’s an HEA. All is right in the universe, love surmounts all obstacles, etc. My only complaint (other than the aforementioned eyeroll in the resolution) is that it’s just a little too perfect and neat, but hey, it’s an HEA. The last exchange between the two characters really made me smile.

Overall: I enjoyed it. It’s not my favorite book of all time by far, but it’s a sweet and satisfying erotic novel for light reading. I’m glad I own it, and I’m sure I’ll pick it up again some rainy saturday. It also played on a lot of my personal kinks, which easily made it worth the read for me.

Rating: Seven big manly ‘swords’ out of ten. It was good, but nothing special. It hasn’t been on my mind since I read it, but it’s definetely a nice little distraction. Definetely buy it if you want some nice solid kinky gay erotica.
(five swords is a decent/average book, ten is an incredible one)