Oracne's Brain Radio

I keep meaning to do this fanfiction recommendation meme, because having AO3 bookmarks makes it really easy to participate. So!

Indecorous by Basingstoke is an epic Sherlock sex comedy, creatively conceived and skillfully written. I should probably read it again one of these days.

In which John learns to balance a kinky girlfriend, an asexual boyfriend, a ten-inch cock, his sister, the neighbours, his friends, and his blog. Some are more balanced than others.

I devoured The Pleasant Profession of Robert A. Heinlein by Farah Mendlesohn on my vacation. Though I never read his last three novels, I have read the rest, some of them many, many times. The first science fiction book I ever read was Have Space Suit - Will Travel, and it's one of my keepers. Mendlesohn's book looks at themes that carry through all of Heinlein's work, and explores how they fit in with biographical details and are refined or focused over time, taking into account how his politics align or don't align with the politics of the time in which he was writing. I felt I understood his work far, far more after reading this book than I had before I began, and for that reason I strongly recommend it, provided you are interested in Heinlein, the history of science fiction from the 1940s through the 1980s, or genre criticism in general.

Mira's Last Dance: Penric & Desdemona Book 5 by Lois McMaster Bujold was delightful to read, but it felt like it ended too soon, not just because it leaves the door open for the next story, but because it felt like less had happened overall. It's a transitional story, all of it escaping from one place to another.

Four Letter Word For Intercourse by bendingsignpost is an erotic Supernatural AU in which Dean Winchester is going to college, somewhat against his will in order to please his brother and uncle, and ends up calling a phone sex line to relieve stress and explore the notion that he's not straight, but bisexual. It's extremely well-crafted male/male erotica, with quite a lot of self-discovery and eventual romance. The characters are established within the story, so no knowledge of canon is required. Highly recommended.

I have to finish two different review/preview books in the next week, and then write the accompanying review and preview, but I spent most of my time while Arisia-ing unable to concentrate on them. So I skimmed a re-read book for a bit, tried some samples, and read some fanfiction.

If you like AUs with horses, Know How to Fall by auburn places the Stargate: Atlantis characters into the world of competitive dressage and eventing. I particularly enjoyed how the Wraith were worked in. Warning for a sad animal death towards the end.

Life After Narnia by Transposable_Element is two stories, all about Susan Pevensie taking care of business, and mourning, after her family is killed. It's a meditation on death and grief that really connected with me at several points. Characters from Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series appear as well.

I've recced this author before and doubtless will again. The Dead Forest by hansbekhart goes into the head of Captain America four days after he's revived from the ice, when he's subsumed by alienation, loneliness, confusion, and mourning. Historical detail makes everything more resonant.

And now for something completely different. Blood Sugar Sex Magik by Delphi is a short, delightfully filthy crossover story featuring Severus Snape and John Constantine. NSFW at all, at all. John can always tell when the Professor's in town. The air in Soho grows heavy and hot and thick, and The Whip--grand old dame of the London sex scene--lights up like a birthday cake for those who have the sight. "Hello, sailor," the magic-soaked building all but calls to him. "Looking for a good time?"

This post's purpose is to collect my common tags in one place, so readers (and I!) can easily access entries on several subjects.

Someone left a nice Amazon review for the Kindle version of "17 Short Films About Hades & Persephone." I got points for using phallus, which pleases me immensely.

The whole thing, to save you a trip:

"I think this is a very sexy and well written tale about Hades and Persephone. It has a very old world way of writing, filled with historic Greek stuffs which I have to continuously Google, but not without pleasure. I like how it has the ancient, kinda raw feel to the erotic scenes (the author used the word phallus - Google that!), and yet, the romance is current enough for audience of the present world to enjoy it. It seriously felt like Persephone and Hades really had those thoughts crossing through their minds in the ancient past. Yes, it has the 'real' feel.

A light read, wish it had been longer. Quite a steal at $1.50. It you are looking for a story which still adheres to the myth, and only elaborates it a bit without stretching out of the original story, and written in a very classy, I-hate-you-but-I-am-getting-more-and-more-attracted-to-you way, you have found the perfect book to read. - ladyduck"

I reliably enjoy Kate Pearce's Regency-set "House of Pleasure" series, and I especially liked Simply Insatiable, which really ought to have been titled Simply Kinky. Everybody, at least the main three characters, was kinky in one way or another.

The heroine, Jane, likes sex and is adventurous about it with her husband, which for the setting is pretty impressive in itself. The hero's valet, Robert, is gay and submissive, and has found himself a situation where he can fulfill those aspects of his character through a perceived obligation to the hero; his conflict involves breaking free of that obligation to go to the man with whom he's fallen in love (a secondary character from previous books in the series). The hero, Lord Minshom, was the villain of previous books. (Yay for villains becoming heroes!) He has serious angst from childhood abuse, but though that is part and parcel of his personality and he thinks that's the main reason he's kinky, it doesn't seem to be really true. When, as is inevitable in a romance, he's confronted most of his issues and is happier, he's still kinky; it's clearly shown that he and Jane are going to enjoy themselves to the fullest with each other and with a male friend.

The main plot revolves around conflict between Minshom and Jane. They've been married for ten years but estranged for the last seven; in the interim, Minshom has only had sex with men. (In the previous novel, he was the poisonous-yet-charismatic top from whom the hero had to break free.) I guessed pretty quickly what the issue had been between them, but still enjoyed how it was revealed, bit by painful bit. Minshom wants Jane to go back home and never see him again; Jane wants several things which I won't spoil here. They banter and battle and manipulate, mostly in sexual ways but not entirely, and though Jane is younger, they are still pretty evenly matched and I suspect she could out-kink her husband if she tried.

Overall? I had a lot of fun reading this. Not just as an erotic romance, but as a commentary on the tropes of Regency-set historical romances.

Though set in the Regency, most of the events in this series take place in a House of Pleasure where they can experiment sexually, or in various sexual situations. There are a few ordinary social occasions portrayed (in this book, there's a ball, and a trip to a modiste), but they're not the focus, and the books aren't intended as interpretations of Regency society; I think they're more psychological explorations of relationships. That said, I love when small historical details are included; for instance, one character is a captain in the Navy, and the way he's described always makes me think of the naval officers in Persuasion.

I'm looking forward to the next one!

Portia DaCosta, The Stranger: One of the most charming and hot books I've read in a long, long time. Claudia, the heroine, has been widowed for eight months and is starting to come to life again when she encounters a lovely, fey stranger bathing in the river; later he comes to her for help in a thunderstorm, and a deep connection arises between them.

The first half of the book has the lovely feel of a dreamy fantasy. Of necessity, as reality returns it becomes more conventional, in feel if not in subject. Claudia's return to living is revealed not only through a revived hunger for sex but also by new desires for people whom she never would have thought of before as partners. Though well-written, I didn't enjoy those scenes as much, as I was in it for the Stranger, Paul; I did like that he continued to be woven in and out of those scenes. I liked Claudia and Paul enough that I would love seeing them in another book.

The book was published by Black Lace.

[Poll #1217213]

Colette Gale, Master: This was interesting; it's an erotic novel based on The Count of Monte Cristo, which mostly fits into the cracks of that novel as fanfiction fits into canon. But also like fanfiction, the novel comments on the novel's characters and time period. Most notably, the female characters are expanded and given more agency, partly through their roles in the life of Monte Cristo, and partly through giving them distinct erotic identities. The focus of the story is taken away from Monte Cristo and his complex revenge, leaving something new in its place.

It's a nifty concept. However, the length and complexity of the orginal Count of Monte Cristo is a hindrance to commentary, I felt; because some events in the original novel had to be compressed and explained to the reader, a great deal of plot impetus was lost. I felt more as if I was reading a collection of commentaries on The Count of Monte Cristo rather than a single novel. I'm not sure how this could have been avoided, or even if it should have been.

My favorite part of Gale's novel was the story of the Nubian slave Ali and the Greek Haydée, daughter of Ali Pasha and now also a slave. Minor characters in the original, Gale gives them their own story. Haydée acts on her erotic desires more than once, until she finally achieves what she wants. Notably, in the original novel Ali is mute, having had his tongue cut out; in Gale's version, his voice is literally returned to him; he explains he has kept silent for years as part of a debt of honor.

A very interesting read.