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DMS

Saturdays in Books

Reviews of speculative fiction, YA, middle grade, and graphic novels, along with stray thoughts, links, and pictures.

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The SFWA European Hall of Fame: Sixteen Contemporary Masterpieces of Science Fiction from the Continent
Kathryn Morrow, James K. Morrow

Review: The Escapement of Blackledge

The Escapement of Blackledge: a novella - Mary Robinette Kowal

This title was originally published in late March, under the name Melody Ellsworth, with a description that made it quite clear this was set in MRK's Glamourist Histories world and had EXPLICIT CONTENT. I found out about it on April 1st via MRK's twitter account:

 


And started reading it as soon as it was clear she was okay with it:

 


It reads very much like MRK, but dirtier. You may notice now that the author listed is MRK. Because she does love a good prank

 

The only thing I can say is that I think I liked this better than the original book, Shade of Milk and Honey. Basically because it's full of action and the heroine is a kick-ass lady acrobat.

 

She also inverts the more standard blushing virgin through gender swap. That works but was also a bit unsatisfying as the explicit part focuses far more on his responses to her actions than on her. I'm not typically a Romance reader. One of the few things I like about explicit romance is the centrality of the female orgasm. Basically, I'd have preferred more sex on the page.

 

 

When she athletically climbs up on him? Kind of wish she'd kept going until she was sitting on his face.

(show spoiler)

 

And that's a really small nit to pick. So, yeah. Definitely a Romance. A pretty fun romp. And if you want to check it out, Ellsworth's LJ has draft chapters. The ebook version is also only $0.99.