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"Battle Lust" by Kurt Animus (action adventure sex) 9, 9, 8
"Battle Lust" by Kurt Animus posted by Bookman Archives (readebks@wolfenet.COM). This review is the personal opinion of Kim, who can be contacted at ghost@nym.alias.net What we have here is a full-out blood-and-thunder fantasy romp. You know the sort of thing -- folks with dramatic names, warring factions, intrigue, skimpy leather uniforms for the warrior babes, myths and magic, exotically poisoned darts in the neck, all the usual stuff. Trying to rationalize the plot is kinda self-defeating, but here goes. Young Prince Raznil is being taken to marry some neighboring kingdom's Princess to try to force an alliance between the two hostile territories. He is protected by the mighty warrior, Captain Thula Von Aax, feared throughout the land as the best female fighter and bodyguard. Unfortunately on their journey they are ambushed by a third outfit. A bunch of outlaws ruled by the bandit, Dalzeil the Victorious. See, I told you about the dramatic names. Having had all her troops killed by the bandits, Thula is forced to flee, dragging the young Prince with her. What she doesn't realize is that she's been infected by a poisoned dart that, although it satisfactorily did for her comrades, merely induces hallucinations in her, most of them centered around an uncontrollable desire for sexual release. This leaves her open to not just the lustful advances of her young charge, but later to the more aggressive tendencies of the first two bandits to find her. Then the story abruptly stops mid-sequence. The reposter asking at the beginning if anyone knows of more parts being available anywhere. I don't care for unfinished work for obvious reasons. I suspect I'll never find out what happened to Thula now, and I'd really like to. Bah! So, I quite liked the story telling, though I can't take too much of this sort of stuff without giggling at its more florid excesses. Written in that irritating "Thula slogs through the dense forest" instead of "Thula slogged through the dense forest" style, it's either love it or hate it. I personally don't care for it, mostly. And if you object to such things, there is a pretty graphic rape at the end, and the young boy who begins the crime is only fourteen. Two squicks for the price of one. Ratings for "Battle Lust" Athena (technical quality): 9 (But irritating use of tense, and florid with it) Venus (plot & character): 9 (It all worked well enough, within the genre) Kim (appeal to reviewer): 8 (I wanna read more of it. I like strong women, don't like rape) |