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* "Chosen" by Tom Bombadil (ff passion & sex slavery) 10, 10, 10
* "Chosen" by Tom Bombadil (stbush@iglou.com). The woman is a lawyer aspiring to become a partner in an important law firm. She receives a letter telling her that she has been "chosen." She thinks it's a joke and tosses it aside, but then she discovers that several other people (including her boss) know about her selection and consider it to be an important honor. At this point I paused and noted to myself that this author is on a Deirdre binge. If he's trying to imitate Deirdre, I told myself, then the least I can do is imitate my reviews of Deirdre. That means I should try to predict the ending. This shouldn't be hard. The woman will resist briefly but within a day will accept the invitation and arrive at the designated place. She will be met by a stern woman whom she will eventually learn to address as Mistress. She will find herself naked in a room with lots of other naked women, and within a couple of weeks she will learn to answer to the wishes of whoever happens to be her Master or Mistress. This whole new lifestyle will make her eminently but mysteriously happy. Well, I was close. I won't bother you with the details of where I went astray. The interesting thing is that even though I had a pretty good idea where the story was probably going, the author held my attention all the way up to the end of the story. The constant state of tension was really well maintained. The author himself said he was disappointed with this as a "Deirdre-esq." It's a bit long for the Deirdre genre, but I thought he did an excellent job. In fact, I think he did a better job here than in "Deck," where he thought he had finally reached Deirdre euphoria. Like Deirdre's stories, this one lets the narrator make seemingly logical choices that get her into a really bizarre situation involving sexual taboos. Also like Deirdre, the author maintains the tension of the story masterfully; and most importantly, at the end all of the details make perfect sense. With many of Deirdre's stories I have been left with the impression that "this is a silly story but I can't explain why." That's the reaction I experienced at the end of this story: it made no sense, but yet it made perfect sense. Ratings for "Chosen" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot & character): 10 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10 |