Masquerade by Clare London – review

Title: Masquerade (anthology)
Author: Clare London
Genre: Romance, paranormal, horror
URL: Eternal Press (go to new releases)
Price: $4.95 (available for pre-order. Released 7 December)
Other Information/warnings: explicit m/m, violence, dark/horror themes/scenes

Summary [from the publisher]:
Four explicit, seductive tales to entertain and enthral.
In BONDED, Chancellor Chariz imprisons a young man with strange ways and a shocking power. Chariz seeks only sexual entertainment, but Oriel offers something in return that will transform his captor forever.
In THREADBARE, Edward takes a young mill worker under his protection, and is drawn into a web of beauty and mystery. What price will he pay for the delight and passion that Mori brings him?
In POSSESSION, Lucas is the passionate heir to an Auction House. When charismatic Gideon Arnaud intrudes into his life, pursuing him professionally and personally, Lucas struggles to keep both his freedom and sanity.
In TRICKERY, two servants are brave adventurers on their Prince’s Quest until, hijacked by a lusty Magician, they are dragged into a murky and magically sexy mess.
My review:

Five bucks is a ridiculous price to pay for four stories of this quality, when there is crap being sold as single items for the same kind of money and more. The advance copy (pre-print) I received had some slightly dodgy editing, so that might be one thing that you have to put up with from this start up publisher, but then I’ve seen long established presses in the m/m genre who produce much more badly edited products. Having said that, I doubt it will be more than a very minor irritation to anyone reading these stories, and the rewards far, far outweigh the small defects.

Let me dispose of the other negatives first. Ms London is not the author for you if you like world building, or long, complicated plots. Her stories are rather like watching a play, with the external world and explanations for its existence, merely suggested. The intimate focus is appropriate for erotica, and I only mention it as a negative because the author in fact has a very large imagination and a gift for story telling – it’s a shame she doesn’t open her window more widely on these worlds she creates. However, the window she does open are richly dressed and enthralling. The exception in this anthology is ‘Trickery‘ which aims for humour and fails miserably. It’s also the weakest technically with an extremely irritating wandering POV. I’m afraid you simply can’t name a character ‘Ged’ either, unless your name is Ursula LeGuin.

But onto the positives. The other three stories are strong, tight, erotic tales with actual plots, and literate, rich writing. ‘Bonded‘ probably suffers most from the lack of world building, simply because one itches to know more about this universe, the economics, the politics, the role of magic and religion, but it’s still sumptuous. Ends a tad abruptly, but I still found it enjoyable.

‘Possession‘ is a succubus story, which, along with vampires, isn’t really my thing, but it doesn’t outstay its welcome, and creates a rich, darkly atmospheric setting for the slight, spooky tale.

‘Threadbare‘ is extraordinary – one of the best speculative fiction shorts I’ve read in ages, and in a way, it’s a shame the author didn’t send it to a mainstream magazine because it’s really that good. A story about loss, and grief, and a truly bizarre love story, with a strong central motif that really works. A wonderful, wonderful story.

Only ‘Trickery‘ has what you might call a ‘happy’ ending – or at least, lighthearted – but Ms London is excellent at the sombre, dark, bittersweet and twisted, so don’t that put you off. This anthology is just incredible value for the price, and is highly recommended if you like intelligent erotic stories, rather than plain old porn. Even if you only buy it for the first and the last stories, you will find it well worth the effort and the money.