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"A Tale for the Retelling" by Terry Jones (abduction exploration)
9, 10, 7
"A Tale for the Retelling" by Terry Jones (wld_rascal@hotmail.com). Guest review by Bitbard (Formally Sandman -- bitbard@newsguy.com). First off, this story is not for the squeamish. It describes in graphic detail the kidnapping, humiliation, and rape of a woman in a BDSM situation. That said, the author uses a rather clever trick to sneak this story in under my "squick" zone. This story is told from the woman's perspective *AFTER THE FACT*, while she is talking to the police investigators. That's important, because the subject matter, while troubling to the extreme, is relayed from the comfort and safety of a police station. The effects are "OH MY GOD! HE DID THAT?" as opposed to "OH MY GOD! COULD IT GET ANY WORSE?" Yes, it can get worse, but at least we know Sara survives. The author also seems to have a keen sense of when he might be getting too intense for the reader and inserts questions by the police officers taking the report to remind everyone that Sara's fine. Sara has been abducted by an unknown assailant. She is drugged and awakes in a strange place completely at her captor's mercy. What transpires from there is a common BDSM theme of a tender, caring yet strict Dom breaking in a new submissive. Only here there are no safe words, and the submissive did not volunteer for her new role. This is extreme stuff, even for BDSM but I'll have to admit it was well written extreme stuff. The psychology of the victim was explored well and was consistent with the reactions one might expect. The ending even brings into play the Stockholm syndrome, though I'm not sure if this was intentional on the part of the author or if the story falls into the cliche that women enjoy being kidnapped and raped. Considering Sara's conflicting feelings at the very end, I tend to believe the Stockholm theory. A cliche I think would end with Sara wholeheartedly in her tormentor's court. I'll also note the fuzziness of using the word "rape" here. It might be considered a "forced seduction" from the reader's standpoint. I however consider what transpires to be rape. What is very interesting is that the author also acknowledges this. Like I say -- this isn't your typical "rape the woman and make her like it" story. The "forced seduction" confuses Sara, and it confused me enough to again help this subject matter stay under my "squick" zone. I didn't find this story the least bit sexy and really didn't expect to. But I did find this story to be a well-written character study. There were some problems starting around the middle where Sara's report actually started to sound like a report for too long (too many he did, I dids) and also a few misspelled and misused words that will impact Athena. Venus is getting a good score not for the sex but for the realistic exploration of a character under extreme circumstances. Whether it's a good psychology drama or not, I simply can't give an overly high appeal rating to a story this brutal. Rape, torture, humiliation are definitely not my gig but if I *have* to read a rape, torture, humiliation story -- this wasn't a bad one to get stuck with. The fact that there *IS* an appeal here means the author did something right. Ratings for "A Tale for the Retelling" Athena (technical quality): 9 Venus (plot & character): 10 Bitbard (appeal to reviewer): 7 "A Certain Circle in New York" By Marc Proust. Guest Review by Bitbard (Formerly Sandman -- bitbard@newsguy.com). This story is set back in the 1950s when nobody knew anything at all about sex and kinky positions. I mean that would imply our parents knew about these things, which obviously they don't; not any more than what's minimally necessary to produce us anyway. This is a *VERY* erotic story about a man who discovers to his surprise (and pleasure) that his new maid has been instructing his wife in the art of sex. When I say very erotic, I mean it. The sex is very, very well described and the author uses words as an artist uses a paintbrush. The imagery is so vivid it leaps off the page and right into your imagination. Two things to watch out for before you begin. There are no blank lines between paragraphs. I keep harping on this because on a screen the lack of lines tends to make the text run together and it's harder to keep your place within the story. For stories like this I usually print them out. On paper, the effect is not distracting. A second thing to watch out for is that for some reason apostrophes show up as 1's -- something easily fixed by a mass search and replace. There's no point deduction for these problems, I'm just giving you a fair warning so it won't be distracting to you. This one's definitely a must read. Ratings for "A Certain Circle in New York" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot & character): 10 Bitbard (appeal to reviewer): 10 |