Celestial Reviews 228 - October 25, 1997

Note:   Since many of our stories make an issue out of breast size, I 
thought the following information might be helpful:

Big Busted Women...
 ..can get a taxi on the worst days
 ..have a neat place to carry spare change
 ..have always been the center of the arts (art)
 ..make jogging a spectator sport
 ..can keep a magazine dry while laying in the tub
 ..have more negotiating power (with men shorter than them)
 ..usually can find leftover popcorn after a movie
 ..can always carry a little extra
 ..always float better
 ..know where to look first for lost earrings
 ..rarely lack  for a slow dance partner
 ..have a place to set their glasses when sitting in an armless
   recliner
 
 Small Busted Women...
 ..don't cause a traffic accident every time they bend over in public
 ..always look younger
 ..find that dribbled food makes it to the napkin on their lap
 ..can always see their toes and shoes
 ..can sleep on their stomachs
 ..have no trouble sliding behind the wheel of small cars
 ..know that people can read the entire message on their t-shirts
 ..know that everything more than a mouthful is wasted
 ..can come late to a theater and not disrupt an entire aisle
 ..can take aerobic class without running the risk of knocking
   themselves out

Second note:  People on a.s.s.d. can pick on my anonymous reviewers all 
they want, but some of them write pretty good reviews.  One of them is 
named Tipper and has to remain anonymous because her really boring 
husband has threatened to fuck her in the ass if she embarrasses him any 
further.  I think it's understandable why she can't use her "real" 
pseudonym.

Final note: Remember: even though someone else may be posting my reviews 
for me, my e-mail address is still Celeste801@aol.com.

- Celeste

      "Proclivities" by Oscar Paco (threesome) 10, 10, 10
      "Redeye, Sanford" by DJ (mile-high sex) 10, 10, 10
      "My Down Fall" by Unknown Author (blackmail & pedophilia)
            6, 8, 4
      "Enigma in the Mirror" by Eli the Bearded (sci fi fairy tale sex)
            9.5, 9, 9
      "Another Elevator Story" by Linda (quickie in a slow elevator)
            9, 8, 8

Guest Reviews: 

      "Oblivion  Ray's Tales Numer One" by H.D. Meister (romance)
            6, 4, 4
      "The New Orleans" by Oscar Paco (night at a dancing club)
            9, 5, 4
      "Roommates"  by The Wax Tadpole (mind control) 4, 5, 2
      "BJ" by Biscayne (futuristic sex) 9, 5, 4
      "Hell Hath No Fury" by Darkside (transgender) 9, 10, 10

Reposted Reviews:

    * "Foretaste" by Uther Pendragon (romance) 10, 10, 10
    * "DNA" by Stephanie (Transgender) 10, 10, 10
    * "DNA II" by Stephanie (sci-fi transgender) 10, 10, 10
    * "Redeye" by Tom Bombadil (semi-public sex) 10, 10, 10

"Proclivities" by Oscar Paco (OscarPaco@aol.com).  The woman has had a 
bad relationship, has broken up, and is about to move from the East to 
the West Coast of the United States to start a new life.  As a going-
away present her closest friend springs on her the "surprise" gift of an 
all-nighter with herself and her husband.  At first the woman turns this 
down, then she discovers her inner bisexual self.  The sex is very hot 
and heavy.

Ratings for "Proclivities"
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 10
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10

"Redeye, Sanford" by DJ (103666.3074@compuserve.com).  This story is a 
follow-up to Tom Bombadil's "Redeye." I am reposting that review with 
the hope that Tom will repost that story. Although the present story can 
stand on its own, I suggest reading "Redeye" first, especially since the 
earlier story is only 170 words long.

The present story is 2100 words longer than the original "Redeye."  It 
contains several airborn orgasms.  It also suggests the potential for 
"Redeye, The Series."  It's an excellent story, but I can't say much 
more about it without blowing the plot for you.

Ratings for "Redeye, Sanford"
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 10
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10

"My Down Fall" by Unknown Author.  This is a story about how a church's 
youth minister first gets seduced by his female coworker and then is 
blackmailed by her daughters into having frequent sex with them.  The 
sex with the kids isn't full penetration activity - "just" recurrent 
hand- and blowjobs.  Kids have to learn somewhere, and it might as well 
be from the kindly married man who teaches them religion - or so the 
theory goes.

So unless you're already fascinated by the idea of an uninhibited 13-
year-old girl being nurtured toward her budding nymphomania, don't 
bother with this story.  Even if you are interested, you'll be 
disappointed, because the story is obviously just the beginning of a 
multiple-part story; but you don't find that out until the very end of 
this installment.  And at that point I wasn't really interested in 
looking for any more of it.

Ratings for "My Down Fall"
Athena (technical quality): 6
Venus (plot & character): 8
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 4

"Enigma in the Mirror" by Eli the Bearded (usenet-tag@qz.little-
neck.ny.us).  This is a story about a young lad who becomes romantically 
attracted to a lovely female creature who lives in his mirror.  This 
notion about mirrors is not unique to Eli.  In one of Kurt Vonnegut's 
novels that author suggests that mirrors are where separate universes 
intersect.  Hence Vonnegut refers to mirrors as "leaks"; and the phrase 
"take a leak" means to steal a mirror.  But I digress.

This story not quite make the top of my chart.  First, there were too 
many usage and spelling errors.  Actually, these erorrs were not 
numerous; rather, the problem was that the author invented some words on 
purpose and then accidentally screwed up on others.  My feeling is that 
authors who invent a special language have a special responsibility when 
that novel language intersects with ordinary language; otherwise, 
readers think the story is introducing a new term, when it's really only 
a casual misspelling of an ordinary term.  Second, the story was just a 
little too quaint to keep me interested.

However, these are minor problems.  If you'd like to read an 
interesting, quaint love story about a boy and his alien, this one may 
be for you.

Ratings for "Enigma in the Mirror"
Athena (technical quality): 9.5
Venus (plot & character): 9
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 9

"Another Elevator Story" by Linda (lindajean@stealthmail.com).  This is 
another tale of sex between strangers on an elevator.  It seems that 
even the term "quickie" would fail to describe the haste necessary to 
accomplish mutual climaxes within a 14-floor ride on the elevator (or 
lift, as Bronwen would prefer); but the narrator points out that the 
machinery seems to be moving slowly during this episode.

This is by no means the worst elevator sex story I have read.  That 
distinction belongs to "Elevator Rape" by Dark Dreamer, which received 
ratings of 2, 1, 1.  However, two better implementions of this fanatasy 
are "One of Those Days?" by Dulcinea and Mike Hunt's "Wet T-Shirt 
Contest," which somehow winds up in an elevator orgy.

Ratings for "Another Elevator Story"
Athena (technical quality): 9
Venus (plot & character): 8
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 8

"Oblivion  Ray's Tales Numer One" by H.D. Meister 
(dez187lm@hotmail.com).  Guest Review by DG.

One thing that normally turns me off in a story is overwriting, by which 
I mean anything from overly melodramatic words and metaphors to broadly-
drawn stereotypical characters.  This story contains so many examples 
that it actually crosses the line and becomes entertaining and humorous 
in a way that the author didn't intend. Sabina is an attractive woman 
who, for unexplained reasons, hasn't dated for three years.  Her boss 
tells her to give a building tour to a guy named Ray.  When Ray shows 
up, Sabina realizes at once that he's different from all the other 
boring suits she works with.  Maybe it's his black clothes and long pony 
tail.  Or his posture, which "was not perfect, yet it spoke loudly of 
the raw strength he possessed."  Anyway, they hit it off. Eventually she 
gets invited over to his place, and that's when the strange metaphors 
and descriptions really start to fly.  Read the description of Ray's 
house, and then see if you can picture it in your mind's eye:

   "It was far enough from the city to have a touch of cozy 
   about it, but it also had a hardness which was there if 
   one could see it.  It was three stories high and sported a 
   bark blue siding material.  The yard was well kept, and the 
   trees looked healthy and content.  Yet even they had 
   something akin to a darkness about them."

If you like the outside, you'll love the inside. After some flirting and 
foreplay, which includes an expert massage from Ray, Sabina starts to 
get turned on.  Naturally, this causes "her cunt to unleash a torrent of 
its nectar into her satin panties."  Instead of running to get a mop, 
Ray strips down and makes quite an impression of his own:

   "She cast her gaze downward, and settled it upon what she 
   would come the call the mother of all dicks.  It was easily 
   eight inches long, and appeared to be close to two inches 
   thick.  It hung from his loins, yet even then she knew not 
   to judge.  It was the cock of a man:  strong and confident 
   in its abilities.  There was no need for it to stand 
   straight, bolstering itself with false bravado, for it 
   knew full well its abilities... and limitations."

Not only does Ray's cock have a becoming modesty, it's also yummy:  

   "He had a different taste than the cocks she could remember.  
   They tasted of animal musk;  Ray tasted of man, with a 
   light dusting of lust added to enhance its already sublime 
   flavor."

As it turns out, Ray's cock has no need to be modest - it really 
delivers the goods.  He fucks Sabina like a madman and then, when he 
finally ejaculates, "It was as if a great dragon had inhaled, then 
spewed white flame from its giant maw."  Ouch - sounds like Ray needs to 
visit the clinic. Enough said.  This story reads like it was written by 
a Harlequin Romance writer on LSD.  I'm actually recommending it to 
anyone who needs a good laugh.

Ratings for "Oblivion, Ray's Tales Numer One"  (Yes, there's a 
      typo in the title)
Athena (technical quality): 6  
Venus (plot & character): 4
DG (appeal to reviewer): 4  (on its merits)  10 (as unintended 
      humor)

"The New Orleans" by Oscar Paco (OscarPaco@aol.com).  Guest
review by Dart.

Lene and Ganzalo are married, but their marriage has hit a rocky stretch 
of road. Lene's in a funk, and even gives her husband the cold shoulder 
when he attempts talking with her. This behavior persists for several 
days, and, needless to say, Ganzalo is becoming a little stressed by the 
situation.

Then one Saturday, Lene thinks she has the solution. They'll go dancing. 
Despite his not liking to dance, Ganzalo agrees because he's a very 
understanding husband, and he hopes it will help in lifting Lene out of 
her funk. On the way to the New Orleans, a jazz and blues club, Ganzalo 
admires Lene's provocative dress, but, because of her current moodiness, 
declines to discuss with her her intentions for the evening.

At the club, Lene quite understandably wants to dance. Alas, Ganzalo 
declines her request to dance, and so, with a touch of revenge in her 
soul, Lene begins to dance alone. She's an excellent dancer, graceful 
and sensuous. She attracts attention, especially Stephen's attention. 
They start dancing together. It's a pretty steamy dance. I needn't go 
further, except to say that everyone's pleased with the evening's 
outcome. And hopefully, Lene's out of her funk.

I liked this story, but a few passes through the hands of one of 
Celeste's proofreaders might have made it a much better story. The 
technical quality would have been improved, even though it's not 
especially bad as it is, just enough to occasionally make its presence 
felt.

The plot was quite good, except for a detail of Lene's behavior at the 
conclusion of her dance with Stephen, but the characters never quite 
came to life for me. This was too bad, because I think the characters 
were there, just below the surface. A few more sentences here and there 
could have fleshed them out. Once again, one of Celeste's proofreaders 
could have helped.

Ratings for "The New Orleans"
Athena (technical quality): 8
Venus (plot & character): 7
Dart (appeal to reviewer): 7

"Roommates"  by The Wax Tadpole (wax_tadpole@hotmail.com).  Guest review 
by Sven the Elder.

I have this difficulty you see. Celeste always phrases her requests for 
'help' with reviews so nicely. It's the "As usual, if for any reason you 
don't want to review this story, just say so.", that makes me nerve 
myself not to refuse. In fact the only one I have turned down was 
because I knew the author concerned, and, unlike our good Celeste, I 
didn't trust myself to be totally objective.

Which brings me back to this story - it uses Mind Control in the form of 
hypnotism. This is not one of the story genre's I would normally read, 
but I figure that Celeste can give it a go, therefore I ought to as 
well. In the past I have reviewed at least one story that I would 
otherwise not have read. I'm not ashamed to admit I enjoyed it; perhaps 
there is a message there for reading things we 'think' we do not like. 
Perhaps - I still don't like to be 'squicked'!

Wax Tadpole admits in his introduction for the reviewer that this is his 
first story, - "please be gentle". Well I'll try, 'John'. But it's going 
to be a little difficult. One of our other very good authors pointed out 
recently in a very good discussion on a.s.s.d (OK I admit I only 
lurked!) that a storyteller has some obligations towards his readers. 
Poor grammar, sentence construction, and an obvious need to be otherwise 
'proofread' come pretty high on the list, but one of the chief 
requirements is that a story should be able to either, be 'believable' 
or, 'suspend belief in a believable way'. Sadly this story does not meet 
those obligations. I wanted to enjoy this story. This is not a good 
thing for a reviewer to admit, but I don't like giving poor reviews. 

The story revolves around hypnotism. The plot is a little thin, and the 
mind control and descriptions don't ring true. Boy is encouraged to 
hypnotise one of the two girl roommates; Surprise! Surprise! Both 
succumb, both allow themselves to be 'molested' against their will, 
neither remembers a thing. Yes of course. But I think not - it comes 
across as a juvenile fantasy and fails to excite or interest.  

Sorry it left me quite cold and in the end I just skimmed through. At 
the very least please subject it to the proofreading and help service 
that Celeste offers. It might yet work, but not as it stands.

Ratings for "Roommates"
Technical quality:  4
Plot & character:  5 (there are possibilities there)
Sven (appeal to reviewer):  2

"BJ" by Biscayne (Biscayne@ix.netcom.com).  Guest review by Kim.

Well, here we are all set to go on my 22nd review. Celeste has sent me a 
new author to read, no less. Since he's a virgin, I guess I should go 
easy. Wouldn't want to put him off this for life, it's such an important 
time of progress and nurturing.

Nah, screw that... I hated the story. There, that's a surprise opening, 
for me at least. I'm not normally quite so vituperative this early on in 
a review.

This purports to be a prolog to a full blown novel, supposedly waiting 
in the wings to launch upon an unsuspecting public. I soon started to 
have my misgivings as I read the wonderfully pompous introduction. It 
reminded me of me.

Set in a future high-tech wizzy world, it tells the story of BJ, a Chief 
Exec of a sex empire. She gets home from a long day's orgying and 
listens to her messages. They tell her another impending orgy is 
scheduled for later that evening at her house. In the meantime BJ 
reminisces about the sex she had today with one of her personal 
assistants, Kelly - a submissive who wishes to learn how to have good 
lesbian sex, since so far she has been taught only how to have 
heterosexual sex by her brutish boyfriend and his friends.

Long, tedious descriptions of degradation and apparent pleasure follow. 
Endless references to anal sex and the desire for pain litter the 
proceedings. After that's all finished we return to BJ contemplating her 
past, and indeed the recent general history of America.

This slow, laborious, and ridiculously unlikely future history grinds 
the story to an abrupt close - presumably to be continued in the next 
part of the novel.

So, to the conclusion. An interesting future world has been created, but 
it's peopled by the most robotic of characters I've had the misfortune 
to come across in a long time. None of them has any soul, nor humanity, 
nor believability. Now it might be that this is precisely what the 
author intended. To create a race of automatons living in an artificial 
world. Unfortunately I suspect he's just not very good at creating 
believable characters. Also the whole thing is shot through with the 
most unpleasant misogyny. It's hard to read without wincing. I think the 
story can best be summed up by one of its own lines:

"The girl had been pretty good for being a novice, but a bit too 
mechanical"

Ratings for "BJ" by Biscayne@ix.netcom.com
Athena (technical quality): 9 (It was at least readable, even if I 
       didn't like what I was reading)
Venus (plot & character): 5 (How it's possible to make S&M 
       orgies so dull is amazing)
Kim (appeal to reviewer): 4 (Misogyny gone berserk)

"Hell Hath No Fury" (a complete, three part novel, long), by Darkside.
(Darkside@nym.alias.net).

{The following guest review of Part One was written by Green Onions, who 
has posted several stories on this newsgroup.  (This review was posted 
in Celestial Reviews 196, July 5 1997)  See Vickie Tern below for how 
Part One relates to the whole novel as finally completed.}

* "Hell Hath No Fury" [novella] by Darkside. A driver has a flat tire on 
a lonely road. Spare to change? Sorry, none in the trunk. Night falls on 
the man without a plan.

The stars blink brightly in the clear black sky as his chances of 
surviving begin to flicker out. Snow appears. Lost and alone, he waits 
for the end of his life in the white darkness.

And yet when all optimism seems to have faded into the freezing 
wilderness there emerges (from behind a hidden chorus of weeping 
violins) a vision of hope that flies gracefully across the horizon of 
his dimming consciousness, singing its mystical song, ready to deftly 
snatch the hapless wayfarer from the drooling unflossed Jaws of Death.

Is it a bird? A plane? An optical illusion? No--it's Florence 
Nightingale: _after_ she graduated from medical school.

And so not a moment too soon is the Grim Reaper's task interrupted by 
the talents of a skilled, sensitive, tall, brilliant, blue-eyed, lithe 
busty rich young female physician with near-perfect abs.

She first asks the nurse to check his insurance. Then she saves his 
life.

And so the dream continues. They fall for each other; he proposes to 
her. Their engagement progresses like clockwork to the final misty 
moment as family, friends, and myriad onlookers gather to witness the 
anticipated instant when he will place the golden ring of their sacred 
unity upon her willing finger.

It seems that all is right with the world. Surely they will love out 
their lives in an era of peace, happiness, hot sex, low taxes, and white 
picket fences.

Well, as one of Douglas Adam's characters once said in _The Hitchhiker's 
Guide to the Galaxy_: "Sorry, wrong universe!"

As the sun beats down on the expectant crowd he explains that he does 
not love her and cannot marry her. Her parents are glaring hatefully, 
she is sobbing pitifully and he is shrugging philosophically. Better 
luck next time.

Or better sense, perhaps. Because the Doctor was a dream and he needs 
someone real. Not a vision but a spouse. Not a fantasy, but flesh and 
soul. And after two long years he finds and marries her with little 
hesitation. The second time is indeed the charm--even if her stomach 
isn't quite as flat, she is still young and attractive, affectionate, 
smart, tall and slim.

But what of his first love, of the brilliant blue-eyed shapely svelte 
angel of the steel table who had saved his life, savored his love, and 
was jilted--indeed brutally humiliated--in front of her friends and 
family?

Hell, if you thought biblical characters tend to suffer more than others 
for spurning the affections of the smooth-faced gender, read this story 
and think again!

And what could be a more fitting punishment for an ungrateful 
insensitive, thoughtless and callously cruel male jerk than to be forced 
to suffer the indignities of _becoming_ a woman? His fate will not be 
limited to the experience of being in a female body, but will also 
include the transformation of his mind.

Yes, She will have her way with him. She will make his dream into her 
nightmare. And in more than one respect.

This is not an ordinary TG (trans-gender) piece, nor is it a classic sex 
story or a typical tale of revenge, mystery--yes there is a murder--
cumuppance (gee, did I misspell that?), or even an ironic, slightly 
humorous psychological sci-fi erotic thriller. It's all of those bound 
together with a tight plot and topped off with a tempting smorgasbord of 
diverse sexual blandishments.

In case you thought I might be blowing my load prematurely, I should 
also point out that this piece could be even better if the author 
diverged from some typical tendencies of erotica and romance writers 
(including most a.s.s. contributors). For starters I might occasionally 
prefer to see characters in longer stories developed with a third 
dimension--the sorts of accents, nuances, habits, hobbies, mannerisms, 
peculiarities and idiosyncrasies that we typically observe in real 
people. Such details can often be worked into plots with little effort.

While Darkside's prose is better than most, I also sometimes wish a.s.s. 
writers would pause more often to allow their readers to "smell the 
roses" (or hear the cadences) of their phrases and the rhythm of their 
sentences. Words can do more than convey information.

And although I am often at odds with the well-worshipped deity who is 
hosting this review, she and I agree on one thing: maybe there is room 
for protagonists whose bodies are not quite so heavenly. If one goal of 
erotica is to help us appreciate love and sexuality, then perhaps a.s.s. 
authors could provide us with a few (especially female) characters now 
and then who just happen to fall short of certain popular physical 
ideals.

Yet I quibble . . . this is an _excellent_ novella. Read it.

Venus (plot & character): 10
Athena (technical quality): 10
Green Onions (appeal to reviewer): 10

Introductory comment on the whole novel as now posted, by Vickie Tern:

This is one of the more remarkable productions, I think, of net fiction 
in general and TG fiction in particular.  It's an ambitious full-scale 
novel, with a complex plot, the narrative evolving for the reader out of 
various characters' distinctive points of view -- their so-called "first 
person" narratives.  These commentaries and reports overlap and conflict 
with each other, leaving the reader to construct what is *really* 
happening as if the story were a gigantic mosaic made up of many pieces, 
each partial, some bewildered, many just plain wrong.  Yet while 
individual characters may be variously misled and the reader with them, 
the story is never really confusing.  Gradually and inexorably, as with 
any good detective-fantasy-mystery story, the truth emerges.

The original deceptions are all part of a deliberate plot schemed by a 
brilliant woman scientist overwhelmed by a desire to avenge herself on a 
fiance who has spurned her, and they are multiplied by other characters 
with schemes of their own.  They're further multiplied because the 
scientist has found ways to alter human beings, to transform them 
physically -- but not mentally -- into replicas of each other, so 
characters may not be perfectly certain, at a given moment, whether the 
person with them is an original or a more malevolent facsimile.  This 
makes for considerable irony and suspense, a story taking place in a 
world of mirror images where nothing may be what it seems.  Yet for the 
reader, what is happening is always clear - if not accurate -- and how a 
character feels and thinks about it is always what the reader knows 
first of all.  So there's a considerable range of experience explored 
here, and characters who vary from bright and brassy to solemn and 
pompous.  There is less eroticism than one might expect, but the story 
does crucially involve transgendered transformations and the pointed 
revenge of a woman scorned in love, so readers of A.S.S. won't feel 
disappointed.  In short, in plain language, for a variety of reasons 
this is a good read.

Most extraordinary perhaps is that this novel is a first production of a 
new and talented writer, one with an special gift for dialogue that 
sounds spoken by real people and narrative that remains economical -- 
there is nothing arbitrary or dithering, padded or merely amusing 
filling out the novel's length.  It's long because it needs to be.

And it's entirely the author's.  At early stages I advised on routine 
matters like narrative format, queried conceivable contradictions, and 
as the story developed and his narrative strategy came clear, provided 
early comment.  The novel's intricate plan was hatched entirely inside 
the author's imagination from the start, so there was little for me to 
do as various parts were written other than to encourage him to keep 
going, announce what I thought was happening and be told "No, wait, 
you'll see!"  What *was* happening then always turned out to be both 
more surprising and yet more inevitable than I'd thought.  That made it 
a fun read too.

So, this is an intricate narrative involving much deception and double-
dealing, told by characters who don't themselves necessarily know what 
is really happening as they speak.  It is best enjoyed by being read in 
the order intended, if at all possible with no episodes skipped.  I 
suggest you assemble it first, then plunge into its dark 
transmogrifications.

 Part One, posted June 1997, is called "Hell Hath No Fury" and totals 
altogether about 124k.  It sets out the first baffling consequence of 
the diabolical plot, as it is experienced by the main characters. 
(Celestial Reviews 196 July 5, 1997, review by Green Onions reprinted 
above)

Part Two, just posted, is called "The Birth of Nemesis" and is about 
98k.   It presents some of the antecedent action to Part One, as a 
"Prequel,"  making clearer that things in Part One were not at all what 
they seemed  (nor even some things in Part Two).  Mostly it explains how 
things in Part One came to pass.

Part Three, just posted, is called "Kat O' Nine Tales" and is nearly 
500k long.  It continues the story from where Parts One and Two left it, 
and is told altogether from the alternating points of view of each of 
the participants. By the end of Part Three you will finally know what 
has *really* been happening in Parts One and Two -- and Three -- and its 
outcome.

And you will have read an absorbing sci-fi-mystery-suspense-thriller 
with some memorable moments.  The author (Darkside@nym.alias.net) 
already has another novel in mind, and with the right encouragement will 
share it with us.  The right encouragement comes in the form of e-mail 
letting him know what you really think of this.  He can handle and learn 
from negative comment, so don't stint.  Of course, praise is never 
inappropriate.  :-)

Ratings for "Hell Hath No Fury" (Complete Novel)
Athena (technical quality): 9 (picky picky, but needs one last utterly 
      exhausting edit)
Venus (plot and character): 10 (lots of both)
Tern (overall appeal): 10 (gripping, not sexy)

The complete novel can be found at 
http://www.nifty.org/nifty/transgender under Magic-SciFi
or Sapphire's website at http://www1.mhv.net/sapphire 
or to go right to it http://www1.mhv.net/sapphire/zip/furytril.zip  

* "Foretaste" by Uther Pendragon (anon584c@nyx.net).  Bob and Jeanette 
are continuing with their journey through life.  This story is heavily 
laced with the realities of existence.  They have partially overcome 
their financial problems, but now they are faced with the decision of 
deferring Jeanette's education even longer while they have a baby and 
begin to raise a family.  Their sex life continues to be a unitive force 
in their lives.  Some activities they have found wanting and have 
discarded, and some they have found wanton and have retained them.  

Here's a sex-related word that appears in this story for probably the 
first time ever on this newsgroup: "blastula", as in, "We had entered 
into another relationship.  Our child was not yet born, not even a 
fetus, but -- at most -- a blastula."  Just thought you might like to 
know.

Ratings for "Foretaste"
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 10
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10

* "DNA" by Stephanie. (Reposted by who@why.not).  About every two weeks 
I get an e-mail message from someone saying, "I know you don't like TG 
stories, but would you mind reviewing this one?"  Actually, my record 
with TG stories is pretty good: I think I've read six of them and rated 
all of them 8 or better.  The reason I don't review more of them is 
simply a matter of time: there are a lot of other stories that I need to 
read and review.  In addition, the good TG stories that I've read have 
been rather long - but worthwhile.

What appeals to me most about these stories is that they tend to be 
clever: they examine interesting "what if" possibilities in creative 
ways.  "DNA," like several other TG stories explores the question, "What 
would it be like if a man were suddenly transposed into a woman's body?"  
These role-reversal stories almost always look at how a guy (or girl) 
feels when he/she is forced to deal with events from the perspective of 
the previously opposite gender.  This is fun, but the basic plot has 
been tried many times, and it could become boring.  What seems to make 
the idea persist is that authors look for creative complications to 
interject into the plot.  This story has several creative ideas.

At the beginning of the story the young man gets turned into a clone of 
his female boss's beautiful teenage niece by a genetically engineered 
virus that alters the recipient's DNA.  The first interesting 
complication is that when the boss needs someone to look after the 
guy/girl while she's away from the house, the only eligible candidate is 
the niece herself.  So we have the guy/girl being looked after by a girl 
who is essentially his/her genetic twin.  Next the guy/girl gets seduced 
by the boss's boyfriend.  Not too unusual so far - but suddenly it 
becomes apparent that the virus can be sexually transmitted, and so the 
boyfriend starts to mutate into another clone of the niece.  
"Fortunately," the mad scientist manages to inject a different strand of 
DNA into her soon-to-be-former boyfriend.  This terminates his 
transformation midway - so this guy/girl has the upper body of a woman 
and the lower body of a man, but a different man than his original self.  
(Incidentally, all intellectual powers seem to remain those of the 
original owners, although emotions tend to shift with the body parts.)  

Interestingly, I found several points in this story when a character 
became angry and could have shouted to someone else, "You can just go 
and fuck yourself!"  This could be taken as a literal rather than 
metaphorical statement - in more ways than one.  You'll have to read the 
story to figure out what I'm talking about.  One unrealistic element is 
that when Julie gets transformed to Jim, her brain continues to reside 
in her head, instead of where it resides in most men. <chortle, chortle>

If, like most Americans, you had a really bad biology course in high 
school, you will have the good fortune of thinking that the biological 
aspects of the story are at least remotely realistic.  On the other 
hand, if you are like most a.s.s. readers (intellectually as well as 
sexually acute and inclined to be skeptical about simplistic ideas) or 
went to school in New Zealand, you'll realize that even if viruses and 
DNA worked the way they do in this story, the rest of the human body 
wouldn't.  Don't let that bother you.  Consider the story to be science 
fiction, and know only what the author wants you to know.

Perhaps I'm making this sound too complex - almost silly.  That's the 
value of a story like this - it IS silly, but silly in a very clever 
way.  I'm not going to tell you any more about the plot.  Read it 
yourself.  I'm pretty sure the virus cannot be transmitted through the 
Internet - except for AOL users using Windows 95.  In that case, 
however, you already have problems that are much more serious than 
having your gender changed.

Ratings for "DNA"
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 10
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10

* "DNA II" by Stephanie (an266891@anon.penet.fi).  This is a sequel to 
Stephanie's "DNA," to which I gave very favorable ratings several months 
ago.  The present story can stand alone, but it is easier to understand 
and enjoy if you have read the previous story.  In particular, some of 
the explanations at the end of the story may be easier to grasp if you 
have read "DNA I."  Stephanie plans to repost both stories soon.

As "DNA II" begins, Paul has been changed into a half-male, half-female 
person by his girlfriend Anne, a genetic engineer who became upset at 
Paul for running around with other women.  Paul's objective is to return 
to his original body, and while pursuing this goal he is faced with 
several interesting obstacles.  The story runs parallel to many popular, 
non-sexual, science fiction stories.  For example, the Incredible Hulk 
possesses unusual powers but wants to rid himself of those powers, and 
in his attempts to return to normal he encounters new problems in each 
episode.  Paul's situation is similar to the Hulk's, but his problems 
center on sexual situations - giving head to a cop to avoid a traffic 
arrest, falling in love with his young female roommate, etc.  All of 
this takes place against a background of scientific information that is 
probably impossible - but which is realistic enough to non-scientists 
like myself to make it all seem plausible.

The story is not a simple sexual odyssey; rather Paul's problems and 
adventures are set in the context of a police vs. drug peddler drama.  
The villains are selling drugs; Paul stumbles into them; and the bad 
guys try to use the DNA power to transform people from one body to 
another in order to further their evil purposes.  Paul gets caught up 
with these criminals, and other people have their genders switched.  
Paul's goal is to get out of this mess and to see to it that the bad 
guys get their comeuppance.  I won't spoil the story for you by telling 
you all the details.  It's a good story, and you should read it for 
yourself.  {"DNA III" is scheduled for release some time next year.}

Ratings for "DNA II"
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 10
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10

* "Redeye" by Tom Bombadil (stbush@iglou.com).  This author has decided 
that since Deirdre has stopped writing stories, he'll try to take over 
for her.  To accomplish this, he has decided to write very short stories 
in which the narrator routinely discloses absolutely astonishing sexual 
behaviors that will throw the reader for a loop.  However, "Redeye" is 
not a Deirdre story, nor is it even Sherwood Anderson.  This story 
suggests that this author is the reincarnation of Saki (H.H. Munro)!  
Look that one up in your Funk and Wagnalls!  Even though it will take 
you longer to find and download this story than it will take to read it, 
it's a very good story.

Ratings for "Redeye"
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 10
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10

