Grade: C+

A lot of writers who receive a bad grade from me claim that I just didn’t understand what they were trying to do with their stories, never mind that their books aren’t even worth the used toilet paper that they’re written on. Well, I can say this for L.E. Bryce. If she wants, she can tell people that I didn’t understand her ebook and she’d be telling the truth. I really didn’t get this thing. Sure, I know that it’s about a nineteen year old boy worrying about losing his youthful good looks and that his lover–who’s old enough to be his father–will turn him out as soon as he becomes a “man.” Yeah, I got that. I also understand that that story is just a frame for another story, which is about a beautiful concubine named Sikku, a man extremely fond of pearls, who loses the only man that could probably make him happy because he couldn’t leave the sea, which is where he supposedly came from. I think. The thread that connects the two of them is a string of black pearls, which is gifted to them by their respective protectors. Or something. I don’t know. This little ebook is only 21 pages, but it gets a little too big for its britches. It just has too much going on at the same time, which the author tries to valiantly contain within the word count. Oddly enough, this little 21-paged ebook had a wields a heftier weight about it than any of the 400-paged pieces of crap that I’ve read lately.

Enlad is nineteen and a rich man’s plaything. His parents died when he was quite young and he was raised by his aunt, who kicked him out when he was fifteen. He is rescued from the streets by a rich gentleman named Covan, who is away from his home on a business trip, and brought to a nice little house where he is bathed, cleaned, clothed, and fed. Covan wants nothing in return from Enlad except some companionship and oh… some buttsecks and sloppy blowjobs when he can get away from “shrew” of a wife and ungrateful children (a likely story). Basically, Enlad is the pampered mistress of a bored businessman and can continue to live in the life of luxury if he were to follow Covan’s simple rules. 1. Never try to contact his family (Covan is afraid they’ll just ask for money) 2. Never venture outside without Covan’s permission 3. Never fall in love Never ask too many questions. For the past few years, Enlad has been dutifully following Covan’s rules and has gotten good in waiting around patiently for him whenever he’s away with his family. But Enlad is afraid that the good times are about to end. ‘Cause he’s about to turn 20 and everyone knows that Covan only likes ‘em real young. Anyway, Covan presents Enlad with a gift in the beginning of the story: a pearl necklace (heh-heh) with its own story behind it…

The original owner of the pearl necklace (heh-heh) is the concubine Sikku, a mysterious, but beautiful creature found washed away on the beach and incapable of speech, just like the Little Mermaid. Naturally, everyone just wants a piece of Sikku, even men who aren’t gay. He is taken in by a pimp man named Bessol who cleans him up real nice, takes care of him, and introduces him to an assortment of men who only want to worship Sikku and heap gifts and stuff at his feet. Because Sikku is such a wanted cat, he becomes quite picky of the gentlemen on whom he’ll bestow his company… until a mysterious dude named Menerith comes a-callin’ for him. Menerith is supposed to be ugly, but Sikku is fascinated by him. Menerith presents him with a string of black pearls (Sikku lurves pearls, especially pearl necklaces)and asks Sikku to run away with him. Sikku wants to go with him, but also knows that he can’t leave the sea and would probably die without it. According to Covan’s story, he dies of a broken heart when Menerith leaves.

And that’s just 21 pages, y’all. I was a little squicked out by Enlad’s relationship with Covan, but I quickly got over that as I became wrapped up in Enlad’s story. He’s more of a child than a man and I just couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. His relatives have turned him away because they don’t approve of his lifestyle, so he doesn’t have anyone else in the world but Covan and some elderly housekeeper. His loneliness feels like this… real and organic thing that just really reached out to me. Can you imagine having the threat of your age hovering over your neck like the blade of a guillotine? What’s it like being constantly afraid that the only person who’s ever given a shit whether you lived or die might kick you out ’cause you’re too old to keep around? Covan, on the other hand, is more like a stern father-figure who tries to take care of Enlad in his own way, but is unable to stay with him because he has a family of his own. He’s been hurt in the past by previous lovers, which is why he is extra careful when dealing with Enlad. The sex scenes between the two of them are plentiful and sexy, if not a little dirty… in a delicious way. It is obvious that Covan does love Enlad in his own way, but umm… dude, Enlad is only nineteen years old and Covan picked him up when he was fifteen. Eww.

What I also enjoyed about this story is Bryce’s clean, but vibrant prose. The dialogue is colorful and her descriptions are lush and erotic. I wish she’d spared a couple of paragraphs to tell us about the time period, the climate, and the setting of the story, though. I think the story occurs on an alternate world in a galaxy far, far away, but that wasn’t made too clearly to my dumb ass. I need this shit spelled out to me, yo! Oh, and while I appreciated the story behind the pearl necklace (snicker) that Covan gives to Enlad, I really don’t see the connection between the two stories. I need this explained to me in big glowing pink neon lights, stat! Other than that, it’s a pretty enjoyable, erotic read. It’s certainly original. Check it out, kids. It’s only 21 pages.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 19th, 2006 at 8:00 pm and is filed under Books, Grade: C, Romance: Sci-fi/Fan, Short Pieces: Erotica. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.