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"North from Jerusalem" by Adhara (sex and religion). Jaybird: 10, 8, 8
"North from Jerusalem" by Adhara (eros_dreams@hotmail.com). Guest review by Jaybird (j_bird3@hotmail.com). "North from Jerusalem" is the first story I remember reading by Adhara Law. If this is the author's first story, it is a promising start indeed. The author starts with a quick warning to readers: "This story contains religious themes mixed with erotica that some might find uncomfortable, especially if you are Christian. Just a warning." The warning is a valid one, as the story has important Christian figures doing things that today's Christian fundamentalists might find rather distressing, but I doubt most readers of Usenet erotica would object to the content. If you're easily offended by this kind of thing, you probably aren't reading this review, but I'd stay away from this story. For the rest of us, it is a relatively entertaining piece of short fiction. Calling this piece erotica is a stretch, because there isn't very much sexual content at all. There is one short and conventional sexual act, but I imagine you could find much more explicit language in the Starr Report. What this story really is is an interesting short piece that attempts to challenge the readers' assumptions regarding Christianity, and it succeeds quite well on that level. If you're looking for stroke material, read something else. If you're looking for a quick, entertaining read that might actually make you think a little, try this one. Adhara writes well. The story's grammar and punctuation are essentially flawless. There may have been a couple of minor technical errors, but that's only if you're looking to nit pick the geography. The author's use of language is descriptive without being too wordy. Given the length of the story, major character development is difficult, but that's not really the point here. Adhara conceived an intriguing plot device and wrote a couple of pages about it. I'm not even sure that it would have been more effective if this had been blown up into a longer, more comprehensive story. It actually functions quite well the way it is. My ratings: Athena (technical quality): 10 (very well done) Venus (plot & character): 8 (An interesting concept. Too short for real character development. Little erotic content.) Jaybird (appeal to reviewer): 8 (A thought-provoking, if not particularly exciting read.) |