|
Return To the Celestial Review (This does NOT open a new window) Return To the Index (This does NOT open a new window) Note, to make reading multi-part stories easier, story links (links with dejanews.com or www.qz.to, NOT the review or profile links) will open up a new browser window. When you are done reading the story, or section of the story simply CLOSE the story window. |
|
"Attacked by Silk Gloves" by Redheaded Composer (magical tg).
Tern: 10, 7, 9
"Attacked by Silk Gloves" by Redheaded Composer (absurd magical tg). Guest review by Vickie Tern (VickieTern@AOL.COM). Some are born women, some achieve it, and some have it thrust upon them, but however they get there all are then free to enjoy the sexual advantages and perhaps novel feelings. In this TG fable the femininity is indeed forced, for once, not coerced nor coaxed nor sneakily desired despite all. For the hero, being transformed into a heroine is bewildering and annoying, not at all the deliciously humiliating experience of usual TG fantasy. For the reader it's mildly amusing. Young Paul is an amateur magician who like Houdini goes looking for real magic or at least the perfect illusion, one that won't seem obvious or boring once the trickery is understood. While pursuing his researches he falls into the clutches of a cranky, unkempt, nasty old crone who uses real magic on him for her own purposes -- to reconstitute him as her long-dead daughter. She seems to have unlimited telekinetic and transformational powers, so it's hard to see why she hasn't tried to use them before, or even tried to use them to clear away the generations of dirty dishes heaped up in her kitchen sink. The answer seems to be, she's truculent, stubborn and not too bright, a cretin who sees no reason why Paul should not become her daughter Janice, and why Janice should not be grateful to be restored to her mother's bosom and her aging boyfriend's pecker. The humor in this story comes from the interplay between the stubborn determination of this gargoyle of a witch, Paul's naive innocence as he experiences one outrageous invasion of his masculinity after another, the meticulously poised prose that presents the process, and the unsentimental but satisfying way it ends. Silk gloves attacking and taking control of his arms are only the beginning. This is a world where the beds make not only themselves but their occupants, and as your body changes the bedclothes conspire of more than usual slumber to plunder you. It's surreal, Disneyesque, a little like Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer's apprentice, a little erotic and yet as often absurd (come to think of it, what's erotic that isn't? Don't answer that!). Its main problem is, it isn't quite enough of either to make for either heavy breathing or hilarity. But it's good fun, often clever and sometimes witty, and this is a new writer (only one earlier story) with a solid grip on narrative language and some amusing predicaments. I expect that more will be even better. Ratings for "Attacked by Silk Gloves" Athena (writing quality): 10 Venus (erotic quality): 7 Tern (overall appeal to reviewer): 9 |