I never thought I'd be too keen on slave stories (by which I don't mean the master-slave/BDSM sort, but the actual 'owned person' sort), but I've read two in the past month and have been pleasantly surprised. The fact that this one is set in a dystopian fantasy world certainly plays even more into my interests.

The characters here are wonderful - they're dynamic, easy to connect with, and are very much a part of their world. Sev and Demetrie are great and the way they interact with others contributes not only to the reader's understanding of them, but also of the world in which they live.

I highly recommend this one. ( )

This was a pretty decent book. I liked how Sev and Demetrie got together and some of the drama that the relationship caused. I liked Demetrie as a character and his struggles with his title/expectations. The end felt a bit rushed but I was glad with how it ended. ( )

Kinder, gentler and sweeter than I anticipated but I did rather enjoy it! ( )

A dystopian society where humanity has returned to slavery, there are three classes of people, and the aristocracy rules as if it were the 16th century again provides the setting for this novella. It sounded interesting, and with the prospect of a willing slave and a loving master on top of all that, I was curious enough to give this a go.

Unfortunately, there was never enough of a background for me to feel as if I knew what had caused this to happen - and for me, that is half the fun when reading theses visions (or nightmares) of a potential future.

Sev, the slave, was so brainwashed that he truly believed himself to be unworthy. I don't think he even saw himself as human, and that never truly changed. It was a little too much for me to take.

Add to that the truly harsh nature of his master, Demetrie, and I had a hard time even finishing the story. Demetrie treats Sev so badly, callously injuring him when they have sex, that I truly hated him. Yes, he redeems himself a little bit, but he is one of those men who equate being cruel with being powerful, and in the end, while he treats Sev slightly better, I believe he still thinks of Sev as somehow "less". I saw no evidence of the contrary; all the change was external.

Taking all of the above points, this is not a story I was able to get into, the vision was just too bleak, and it lacked a rationale for me. It was "okay" as far as I am concerned, which means 2 stars. If you like dystopian stories and the harsher side of human slavery, then you might like this novella better than I did. ( )

Read as part of the M/M Romance Group March 2014 Comfort Zone Challenge. Nice little Master/slave romance with some kinky, hot sex. And the price is right. Free! ( )