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LiliaFord

LiliaFord

Mostly Cross Posts from my blog, Readings From the Dark Side

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The Archers of Kynthos

The Archers of Kynthos - K.M. Harty This was a cool, crazy mind-fuck, an unexpected knock-out punch to my afternoon. The tentacle part is pure horror, not because it's especially graphic and gross but because it wasn't at all erotic--and for this story that's definitely the right tone.

What follows is the strongest part of the story, as we get into a real Stockholm scenario as Marcus the hero is forced to play house with Brian, the boyfriend who set him up to be raped and impregnated. It reminded me of one of my favorite sequences in Battlestar Gallactica where Starbuck is imprisoned and forced to live this parody of a happy suburban life with a weird mind-fucking Cylon. Brian is a total whack job, a hyper-controlling psychopath who showers Marcus with affection so long as he is being smiling and obedient, but shifts on a dime into violent intimidation whenever Marcus shows the slightest criticism or resistance. The whole thing was sad and insidious and creepily sexy. The M-preg was also really well-done, especially Marcus' alienation from his baby after having been raped.

Overall, the writing is pretty rough, mostly the usual minor typo stuff, but a more pervasive problem is the confusing overuse of pronouns instead of names. It would be great to see the story get the strong editing it deserves--it's definitely worth it. The problems are enough that I would probably take a star off the rating, but I decided not to since on the first read I was so caught up in story I didn't notice them, and that doesn't happen to me very often.

Bottom Line: This is my kind of mind-fuck. I found the story disturbing and potent but not the type of thing that ruins your day; it doesn't pull punches, but there is no gratuitous cruelty. I am really looking forward to seeing more from this author, beginning with Part 2--When can we expect that?? Weeks? Months? Please say it will be weeks!