Melusine

[mandragora]

I nipped into Forbidden Planet last week and picked up a few (*cough*) books. Among them is one called Melusine and well, anyone know if the author is a slash fanfiction writer?

Because this book reads like Original Slash. Oh God, does it ever. One of the (male) protaganists is a beautiful, haughty, long-haired immensely powerful wizard, who is the lover of the city ruler's brother and...

was a teenage prostitute (yes, really), who is enslaved to another, evil wizard. The evil wizard rapes our beautiful protaganist as part of his nefarious scheme to bring down the city and then sets up the beautiful former-whore to take the blame. And of course everyone loathes him and hates him and he Suffers Horribly.

The other protaganist is a cat burglar, who may have a Connection to the beautiful wizard (am not sure as yet, as I haven't finished the book, through lack of time).

It's glorious, glorious stuff and reads very much like a (very good) slashy fanfiction epic. If the author, Sarah Monette, doesn't write fanfiction herself surely she must have read a truckload.

Comments

[derryderrydown.livejournal.com]

One of my favourite 'novels that reads like original slash' is The Still, by David Feintuch. I suspect it may well have got even slashier (and possibly into threesome territory) but it didn't sell well enough for a sequel and now, regrettably, Feintuch is dead.

If you haven't read it, do you want me to bring it along to Connotations?

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Hmm, you know I think I own The Still. Is it the one where the spoiled brat of a prince takes his male companion as a lover, because (I think) he can't have sex with women until he gets married (or something along those lines)? And he begins to learn how to be a Real Ruler, in the course of suffering Trials and Tribulations?

If that's the one, I have it somewhere (I have thousands of books and can't keep track of all of them) and read it many years ago. If it isn't, yes please!

[derryderrydown.livejournal.com]

Yep, that's the one! Having sex with a woman will make him lose his mystical powers. And there's all this stuff about how, no! he doesn't love his male companion! It's just necessity! And friendship! He doesn't love him in *that* way, really he doesn't!

In short, a lot of time spent drifting down a river in Egypt.

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

*g* Ah, but De Nile is such fun. I must see if I can find my copy and re-read, although it is a pity the story was never finished.

[fides.livejournal.com]

Could you bring it along to connotations anyway? I suspect even though mandragora1 has read it there will be other there who would be interested.

:-)

[derryderrydown.livejournal.com]

I will certainly try to remember. Though knowing my memory...