Author
:
Michael Kalen Smith (
mksmith1@bellsouth.net
)
Homepage of Author: None
Date: started 1993, last update April 1998 (Prologue
added)
Size: unfinished, currently 528K, c. 9 chapters, 94,000
words, 162 pages
Code: m/f teen incest rom, ws in one chapter
Sources:
Mr Double's site, now "Adult Checked" (Prologue)
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year97/6574.txt (Chapters 1-6)
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year97/6557.txt (Chapter 7)
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year97/6575.txt (Chapters 11-12)
Author Information:
By Ole Joe ( Ole.Joe@poboxes.com ), taken from his Guide to Alt.Sex.Stories:
"MICHAEL K SMITH is a native of
Texas, but a child of San Francisco in the early
'60s and both periods and locations feature prominently in his
stories. He has
been a college instructor, a librarian/historian, and an archivist,
but he now
subsists as a freelance writer, developmental and copyeditor,
book indexer, and
ISO 9000 documentation-er. "I'm a hack," he admits,
"but a good one." Mr.
Smith considers "Road Trip" and "Vamps" to
be his best work. He likes to
experiment with themes, from "first love" to a realistic
approach to the darker
side of sex-as-power. He takes his erotic pieces as seriously
as the rest of
his writing and is a believer (usually) in happy endings. After
a two year
absence from a.s.s. he is presently edging into a comeback. Anything
with his
name on it is good. They all have meaning beyond the obvious story.
Read
"Philly," my personal favorite, think about it, and
you'll see why I say that.
Celeste loves him, too. So does Commander Jameson."
He is also listed as one of Celeste's recommended authors. As far as I know, Siblings is Mr. Smith's most ambitious work.
His other writings include:
Charly the Yard Guy, Dancing in the Dark, Dating Ritual, Discovery, Dyad, Essay, Getting It Right, How to Write Stories Good, In/Out Law, Justice, A Lovely Girl, Neighbors, Philly, Remembering, Road Trip, Seduction, The Big Time, The Chair, The Dare, The First Time, Trances, Until Next Year and Vamps.
Celestial Review:
From Celestial Reviews 121 - September 28, 1996
"Siblings" by Michael K. Smith
(mksmith@metronet.com). The author labels
this a "novel in progress". The story is long - really
long; but it's
good. It includes several completed chapters and an outline of
what is
missing. The main characters in the story take the simple perspective
that if an action feels good and hurts nobody, then it is good;
and on
this basis the brother and sister build a sexual relationship
that extends
from their childhood into their adult lives and enables each of
them to
embrace other lovers as well.
In chapter five [recte six] the
author digresses from the story and defends the
practice of consensual incest. His arguments are plausible. The
most
serious objections, as I understand them, are genetic difficulties
arising
from recessive genes (double recessives are much more likely to
occur
among related individuals) and the high probability that incestuous
relationships are likely to be coercive and therefore abusive.
The author
is aware of the dangers of abuse; his story "Remembering"
vividly depicts
the bad effects of such a relationship. His argument here is simply
that
those problems do not occur in this story and that the relationship
between Michael and Alex is healthy and beautiful. The story certainly
demonstrates his point.
The other objection to this story goes
something like this: "The bible
says incest is wrong, goddamit!" I'm pretty sure that's not
true; but
certainly lots of people who read the bible and claim to be religious
people say it's wrong. This story doesn't address theology directly,
but
what it does do is draw a portrait of two main characters and
several
others who are genuinely good and socially responsible people.
Bible
thumpers make me nervous and annoy the hell out of me. I'd rather
have a
couple of incestuous hedonists like these for next-door neighbors.
The author states that "the story
contains no sex scenes as such"; but
that's not true. It would be more accurate to state that the story
does
not glory in sex for its own sake; but it is very heavy on romantic
sexual
contact in the context of the developing relationship between
this brother
and sister. This story is extremely well written. Because it is
long and
complex, I won't even attempt to summarize it any further here.
I
strongly recommend this story.
Ratings for "Siblings"
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 10
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10
Other Celestial Awards:
#8 on Celeste's Top 15 Stories of September
1996
An Honourable Mention in the Top 100 Stories of 1996
Piper Review:
(from Piper's Favorite Stories Reviews Part 3 )
Siblings - Michael K. Smith (unfinished,
540k)
This is an amazing story. We follow the life of the narrator Michael,
and his sister Alec [sic], from their early years, through high
school,
college, and into parenthood. Of the 17 proposed chapters, we've
got 9, and still, it's one of the best, most detailed, most intimate,
and involving stories of any kind I've read. The closest story
to
this one I can remember reading, is "The Trinity Trilogy".
It has
the same level of detail, better exploration of personalities,
but
not the same level of hedonism.
So far, we've got chapters 1-7, plus
11 and 12, of a proposed 17.
I can hardly wait for the next chapter to come out.
Reader Comments:
A personal favourite of Ole Joe (
Ole.Joe@poboxes.com
)
"The biggest and best" - Commander Jameson (cmndr@nym.alias.net)
My Comments:
The fatal flaw of most incest stories is the absence of information about why the characters are engaging in such exceptional behaviour. This doesn't stop such no-brainer stories becoming popular - witness the now classic status of Eros' Family Fun. The great success of Siblings is in the author's intelligent and believable explanation of the circumstances leading to an intense relationship between brother and sister.
Michael and Alexandra (usually called Alex) were born exactly a year apart, and their parents and brothers, while supportive, left the two pretty much to themselves. These intelligent youngsters spent all their time together, and remained fiercely protective of each other. It is these circumstances, coupled with the rather intense personalities of the protagonists which makes their relationship believable. Incest is of course a "taboo" subject, and one of the ways the author conquers our misgivings is with what he calls "a dollop of amateur psychology". We really do get to see inside the minds of these characters, and the narrator (Michael) is always at pains to explain why his sister and himself have a relationship which constitutes more than mutual sibling affection. It is presented as something natural and almost inevitable that two people in this same situation would develop in this way.
Because incestuous relationships are generally associated with coercion and abuse, I am sure that a central motive of Siblings is to demonstrate that they don't have to be this way. Without denying in any way the horrible and unpardonable damage which is usually caused by incest, the author seeks to show that, in the right circumstances, there can be a loving and consensual relationship between brother and sister. Chapter 6 includes a short digression in which Michael refutes the traditional arguments against this idea. His arguments are a long way from the "well the Ancient Egyptians did it, so why don't we?" attitude which pervades most incest stories. For an interesting discussion of the ethics involved in such stories, see Celeste's review of A Summer Romance in CR 173 .
Literature which challenges prejudices and commonly-held conventions is generally held to be admirable, and Siblings certainly fits this category. The typical incest story constantly stresses the very fact of the incest, which is supposedly the turn-on ("wow, I'm doing it with my sister"). Siblings never trumpets this fact, and the love between brother and sister is woven into a complex and beautiful "rites of passage" drama which will apparently extend into two generations.
Siblings at the moment is unfinished, but it emerges from the chapter outline that the author is planning a substantial novel, approaching and perhaps surpassing Martha Jane in terms of length and scale. As it stands, there are substantial parts of nine chapters (out of seventeen).
The author intends to involve the couple's daughter Grace in the sexual activity. Judging from the Prologue (addressed to her), I would guess that the "internal" reason for the writing of Siblings was so Grace could understand the background to her highly unusual household (this guess has been confirmed by the author). The events of Chapter 16 would have to be handled with extreme care to maintain the believability of the plot, even with the proviso of Grace's "careful consideration". The effect this contact has upon her can only be inferred from the author's "sobering decisions" (see the opening chapter plan).
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