This site has been built with the intent of serving as an archive for my reviews of sex stories and websites. I also intend it to serve as a library of links to the websites of the writers and a place where those websites can be reviewed. Its contents are copyrighted 2002 by me, Lady Cyrrh, and express my opinions and my opinions only. Here's a FAQ I wrote which may cover some of the question you might have.
1. Who am I?
1.1 Why do I do what I do?
1.2. Who am I to do this?
2. My ratings
2.1 My grading system
2.2 My criteria for rating stories
2.2.1 The Macro picture
2.2.1.1. What makes the story stand out?
2.2.1.2. Where does the story fit into the cultural milieu?
2.2.1.3 What is the author trying to do with the story?
2.2.1.4. How does the story measure up to others?
2.2.2. The Micro picture
2.2.2.1. Are the technical elements of writing handled
well?
2.2.2.2. Is the tone and style appropriate for the story?
2.2.2.3. Is the story believable?
2.2.2.4. Is the point of view consistent?
2.3 My criteria for rating websites
2.3.1. Content
2.3.2. Interface
2.3.3. Will I visit again?
3. What I review
3.1 What I like to review
3.2 What I avoid reviewing
3.3 How I pick things for review
4. How I handle these reviews
4.1 Frequency and archiving
4.2 Links
4.3 Author Rotation
1. Who am I?
Lady Cyrrh was born in the 1960s and lives in a large American city.
She has a background in advertising and publishing. That's all you need
to know. Oh, I'm married.
1.1 Why do I do what I do?
Frankly, I thought Celeste (who apparantly is not reviewing anymore) wasn't
giving the majority of adult fiction available on the Net a fair shake. There
was also a niche for a website reviewer which I am filling, as I've done some
work in this field.
I consider my reviews a service for readers rather than writers. There is a lot
of well-written, wild and wacky stuff out there for every sexual fetish you can
think of, but it's hard to find because of its transgressive nature. My main
purpose in writing these reviews is to put people in touch with this excellent
but obscure stuff. However, because I am also a critic, I also give my response
to the writing, showing how the story engaged me or didn't. There's nothing I
enjoy so much as drawing peoples' attention to a well-written A+ story, or
trashing a thoroughly lousy one.
1.2 Who am I to do this?
I've read tons of many different kind of fiction and critiqued in other
venues, and I am also an avid student of popular culture. I can write, too.
And why not?
I consider myself a critic rather than a reviewer. A reviewer
reads something, summarizes it, and says why he or she liked it/disliked
it. A critic does this too, but also analyzes the story in terms of its theme,
subject matter and structure, compares it to other works in the same
genre or by the same author and draws parallels to other forms of
entertainment.
2. My ratings
2.1. My grading system
I use a grading system of A+ to D-, with A+ the best of the best, and D-
the worst of the worst. Here's an explanation:
A+ A 10, 10, 10 that goes above and beyond the call of duty.
A 10, 10, 10. An excellent piece of fiction.
A- Very good, but minor flaws kept it from being an A.
B+ Slightly above average, with some elements I liked.
B Average. Neither very good or very bad. Not particularly impressive.
B- Below average or annoyed me in some way.
C+ Below average, but at least the author can string two sentences
together.
C Below average, but at least the author can string two words together.
C- Below average with no redeeming qualities.
D+ Bad, but at least the author *tried* to string two words together.
D Very bad.
D- The worst. The lowest of the low. Absolute dreck.
From the stories I've read on ASS and its affiliates
(keep in mind I don't review everything I read) they break down
roughly as follows:
A+ = 5%
A to A- = 15%
B+ to B- = 45%
C+ to C- = 20%
D+ to D = 10%
D- = 5%
So you can see a bell curve is occurring here.
If you read my reviews regularly, you will notice the proportion of A
and B stories is higher than what is reflected in the actual postings. This
is because it's far pleasanter for me to read and review A and B stories
than it is to read Cs and Ds. I also assume other readers would rather read
them too. I do post reviews of lower-rated stories, though, simply
because a) it's reflective of the type of stuff that is available, b) I didn't
know it was a turkey when I downloaded it, and c) everyone knows it's
fun to kick a mangy dog.
2.2 My criteria for rating stories
I rate these stories primarily as entertainment, not sexual fantasy. What
turns one person on and not another is a result of differences in
background, upbringing, and lifestyle. My personal preferences do
come into play, though; I wouldn't be human if they didn't. To account
for this, you might slide the ratings for A and B stories a half point ( + or -
) in either direction. But generally, anything with a grade of A+, or B-
or below, deserves it.
I suppose now you are asking, "What makes a story entertaining?" The
answer is, the subject matter, the skill of the writer, the stylistic
conventions of the piece, the plot and pacing--how eagerly it makes you
turn the next page--and sympathy with the characters. I've found that
when a writer has a good grasp of these elements, the sex scenes flow
more naturally and are more arousing. But it's rarely the case for a bad
story to have good--that is, arousing--sex.
I do look for certain things, though, and I have broken them down into
the Macro and the Micro.
2.2.1 The Macro picture
2.2.1.1 What makes the story stand out?
In a nutshell, this means originality. Does the story catch me by
surprise, or does it annoy me or bore me by offering up tired cliches?
Hundreds of stories are posted to the alt.sex and soc. sex newsgroups
every week. Hundreds more are archived on monster sites like Fanfiction.net.
Most of them say nothing new, and a lot of them are just plain shit. Therefore,
anything new, original, or unique gets high marks in my book.
2.2.1.2 Where does the story fit into the cultural milieu?
Does the story have anything to contribute towards our understanding
of human sexuality? What about the sexual attitudes of society at large?
What does it say about the writer? Sometimes answering these questions
is more entertaining than reading the actual story, because it's always
fun to speculate on what kind of person the author is.
Yes, Lady Cyrrh is a bit of a voyeur ;-)
2.2.1.3 What is the author trying to do with this story?
Writers package their stories in different ways. Some are fluffy
fantasies, some cybersex transcripts, some serious attempts at fiction,
some extended jokes. I always take into account the particular niche
each story is trying to occupy. Is it a gothic romance? A whips n' chains
torture story? A steamy love letter? Each of these forms has certain
conventions to them that come with the territory, and I try to rate them
on how well they do what they set out to do rather than pigeonhole
them according to a single standard. A publisher would not ordinarily
buy private whack-off fantasies, but if it entertains us, then it's ripe for
evaluation.
2.2.1.4 How does the story measure up to others of its genre?
As a genre pornography has many subgenres: fur, femdom, romance,
BDSM, treksmut, etc. When I review a story I compare it to others of its
type to see if it says anything different or presents the material in a
different way. Some of these genres exist only on ASS, and indeed, ASS
has set the conventions for them.
In conclusion, my ideal is a story that if you excise the sex from it, you
still have an interesting story.
2.2.2 The Micro picture
The micro picture concerns actual writing techniques.
2.2.2.1 Are the technical elements of writing handled well?
Is the sentence structure sound? Are there misspellings, missing words,
weird punctuation, typos? I've found most of the time this isn't as
important to the final grade as you'd think, as the better writers...those
who do B work and above...are pretty literate for the most part. The
lower you get on the scale, however, the more grammatical errors
count, and it has a cumulative effect on the bad characterization,
illegible plot, and poorly described sex acts. The straw that breaks the
camel's back, if you will. I won't knock an A story down for a couple of
dumb typos or misspellings. But those same ones can knock a B down to a
C.
2.2.2.2 Is the tone and style appropriate for the story?
A story's tone can range from the elegant dungeon-speak of BDSM to the
informal conversation of two friends bragging about their latest
conquests. Sometimes it is chosen deliberately by the author, sometimes
it flows naturally from their personalities. A good tone contributes
immensely to the realism, and hence the enjoyment, of the story.
Style is a another matter. About half of ASS fiction has no style at all. "I
met Mary in my college days. She was a 5'6 brunette with a 36' bust."
Style is a matter of the skillful use of the English language...similes,
metaphors, description, sentence rhythm, repetition...what you learned
in Freshman English 101. A good style can make a mediocre story into
something fabulous.
2.2.2.3 Is the story believable?
This goes hand in hand with tone and style. Do the characters, plot,
setting and action come to life and seem 3-dimensional, or are they like
a hastily sketched charcoal drawing? Do the characters have emotions
and concerns we can relate to? Do they think, act, and make love like
real people and not mindless fuck-puppets? This is very important for a
sex story as part of the enjoyment comes from putting oneself in the
character's place, or imagine the action taking place as if on a movie
screen.
2.2.2.4 Is the point of view consistent?
Does the writer stick with one character or group of characters, seeing
what they see and hearing what they hear, or do they wander in and out
of the character's heads at random? "John eyed Mary. He thought about
how hot she was. Mary grew excited when she looked at John's crotch.
She'd never seen a dick that big." This is probably the biggest mistake
most new authors make. It's jarring to the reader, because it takes them
out of involvement with the characters and puts them in the position of
a god who knows everything. Such a point of view is called third person
omniscient, as opposed to third person limited, which is what most
stories and novels are told in.
If the story is told in first person ("And then I fucked her") do they
sound authentic? Can you really imagine a flesh and blood person is
telling it to you, perhaps a friend you'd gladly sit down to have a cup of
coffee with, or is the I-voice an obnoxious creep you can't wait to get
away from?
2.3 My criteria for rating websites
My criteria for websites is slightly different.
2.3.1 Content
As evaluated for the stories above, but I also take into consideration how
everything fits together to make a whole, including biographical
information, how interesting the site was outside of its sexual content,
the number and quality of links, and the graphics chosen for the site.
2.3.2 Interface
This includes how well one is able to navigate around the site, how
clearly the information is presented, download times, thematic integrity
(how well the whole thing ties together), and the use of forms, pull
downs, and graphics.
2.3.3 Will I visit again?
Self explanatory. This is entirely a personal rating.
3. What I review
I generally review anything and everything. I often I cull the sex stories
from these following newsgroups:
alt.sex.stories
alt.sex.stories.moderated
alt.sex.stories.bondage
alt.sex.stories.gay
alt.sex.stories.gay.moderated
soc.sexuality.spanking
soc.subculture.bondage-bdsm
alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated
alt.sex.fetish.robots
I spend a few hours a week cruising the newsgroups. I discard
more stories than I read, and read more stories than I review. If a story
appears on any of these newgroups, it has a chance of me reviewing it.
As of late, however, I cruise the web more; the growth of webrings, archive
sites, directories, and search engines like google.com has made finding erotic
fiction much easier than it used to be. Probably in the future I will be
reviewing only from websites.
3.1 What I like to review
I have a soft spot for BDSM, humor, gay fiction, science fiction and
fantasy, slashy fanfic, and unusual sexualities presented well. This doesn't
mean I don't review other types of stories and rate them highly -- I do -- only
that it's my personal preference as a reader. I prefer stuff that's well
written, but what critic doesn't?
3.2 What I avoid reviewing
I used to have several categories that I didn't read, but as of late, it's only
vanilla. Vanilla is, like the British clubbing term "handbag," a term denoting
popularism. It refers to sexual fiction between average, consenting,
middle-class men and women who are romantically involved. In this
way it tropes the conventions of popular romances. As to my mind
there's no reason to write these stories, because there are plenty of
published writers who do them better.
3.3 How I pick things for review
Sometimes it's random, sometimes I'm in the mood for a certain kind of
story. I try to get a sampling of what's currently out there,
but I also pick stories that look interesting or that grab me from the
first paragraph. Sometimes I structure the reviews by theme, like
"Femdom" or pick a group of stories for how well they seem to
complement or contrast with each other.
I far prefer to review stories posted by the writer. It gives a sense of
immediacy. After all, no one knows how long a reposted story has been
hanging around or if the author is even actively writing anymore. As
writers like feedback and pats on the head for their efforts, reviewers
do, too... not the least of which is to receive some acknowledgment that
they're providing good feedback. There's no point in banging on a door
that's shut forever.
To be fair, I have enjoyed and given high ratings to reposted stories. In
those cases I list the address of the reposter along with the writer's
address, if known. This being the rapidly-changing world of the
Internet, however, I do expect a lot of reposted authors' addresses to be
invalid...which is too bad for the author or the readers who would like to
give them some personal feedback.
I avoid reviewing stories that are part of a group sent out en masse by
an archiver or collector. I do appreciate the contributions of such folks
to the newsgroup, but sending out, well, 50 alphabetized files in
response to a single request like "I'd like to see some slutwife stories,
please" is a bit excessive. It's even more annoying that these cryptically
titled ("dranoxdc.txt") stories must actually downloaded to see their
contents. Chances are you'll get stuck with a turkey. Archivers and
collectors, please be responsible and don't swamp us.
I also prefer current stories, though on occassion I'll do one that's
several months old.
4. How I handle these reviews
4.1 Frequency and archiving
I try to push these out once or twice a month, with 3 - 7 reviews per
post. I post them to alt.sex.stories.moderated and alt.sex.stories.gay.moderated,
and to this website, with reposting to alt.sex.stories and alt.sex.stories.d.
4.2 Links
I maintain a library of links to writers and their sites. If you have
one you'd like listed, I will put in the It's New! section for approximately
one month, after which it will be moved to the Links page. Please,
noncommercial or semicommercial sites only. I visit each site to make sure it's
valid and check them all twice a year to make sure it still exists and that my
description is still valid. It's rare that I'll reject a site, and it's usually for being
commercial or not having enough adult material.
4.3 Author rotation
Some of you, upon receiving a good write-up, immediately send me
another story for review. I appreciate this, as I read more than I review
and have limited time to wade through all the spam-flooded newsgroups,
but, as I am limited to the amount of stories I can get through each
month and want to give a broad selection of what's out there, I have
decided to rotate authors on a three month-basis. That is, if I review a
story by you in March, your "turn" for review will come again in June.
If there is something you simply just HAVE to have me review, I'll post
the review at the appropriate time, after which you can repost it to the
newsgroups if you wish or have me point to your site.