The Usahar: A C'Yiss Novel

Rating:
Summary: Erotic, Romantic, and Moving
Review: A pleasure to read. The story of a slave girl and her android lover, "The Usahar" tells of their struggle against a race of aliens who view humans as animals to harvest for their emotions. Openly and tastefully erotic even in its kinkier scenes, the writing is fluid and poetic, drawing you into the story and into the strange world of "Vandhaqa" where the action takes place. While the story does not cover every aspect of Vandhaqa in great detail, enough is there to picture it clearly as Mitchell focuses on the feelings and thoughts of her characters. You can't help but yearn for Elizabeth and John's freedom just as they do. The ending is powerful and stays with you.

The world of "The Usahar" is not unlike that of Jacqueline Carey's "Kushiel's Dart" or John Norman's "Slave Girl of Gor" in that the heroine is betrayed by the erotic demands of her own body, but as with the heroine of "Kushiel's Dart" (and unlike the slave girls in the "Gor" books) this does not extinguish her desire for control over her own destiny. In short, this is not a traditional romance, is not traditional science fiction, and is not traditional erotica. It's a little of all three wonderfully brought together with a special quality all its own.

Rating:
Summary: Erotic, Romantic, and Moving
Review: A pleasure to read. The story of a slave girl and her android lover, "The Usahar" tells of their struggle against a race of aliens who view humans as animals to harvest for their emotions. Openly and tastefully erotic even in its kinkier scenes, the writing is fluid and poetic, drawing you into the story and into the strange world of "Vandhaqa" where the action takes place. While the story does not cover every aspect of Vandhaqa in great detail, enough is there to picture it clearly as Mitchell focuses on the feelings and thoughts of her characters. You can't help but yearn for Elizabeth and John's freedom just as they do. The ending is powerful and stays with you.

The world of "The Usahar" is not unlike that of Jacqueline Carey's "Kushiel's Dart" or John Norman's "Slave Girl of Gor" in that the heroine is betrayed by the erotic demands of her own body, but as with the heroine of "Kushiel's Dart" (and unlike the slave girls in the "Gor" books) this does not extinguish her desire for control over her own destiny. In short, this is not a traditional romance, is not traditional science fiction, and is not traditional erotica. It's a little of all three wonderfully brought together with a special quality all its own.

Rating:
Summary: Beyond Excellent!
Review: You realize as you read the Preface to Karen Anne Mitchell's novel, Usahar, that this writer is head and shoulders above the ordinary.

Beginning with an explanation and then a rebuttal of the `Damsel in Distress' motif in contemporary works of fiction; Ms. Mitchell sets forth with a quiet, but subtle and powerful recollection of events to bring the reader into her story.

There is an ineffable tone or flavor to the style of writing that reminds one of Science Fiction Classics of the past; of Asimov and Arthur Clark, a detached but intimate presentation of detail and shade.

Science Fiction readers with a cultured aesthetic palate for excellence will find this novel a joy to read.