Best Fantastic Erotica edited by Cecilia Tan – Review
Rating: 
Editor: Cecilia Tan
Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Erotica
URL: Circlet Press
Price: US $19.95 paperback (also available as an ebook download from Fictionwise for US $9.99)
Other Information/warnings: Explicit m/f, f/f, and m/m sex, contains rape, humiliation, bestiality
Summary (from the publisher): The best erotic science fiction and fantasy as determined by the annual contest run by Circlet Press. Rewarding originality and positive sensuality, the contest inspires well-known and unknown writers alike to excel in this provocative genre. Erotic sf/f combines erotic and sexual themes with magic, futurism, high fantasy, cyberpunk, space opera, magic realism, and all the many other sub-genres. The winner is a multi-genre writer from Canada Arinn Dembo, whose “Monsoon” draws on the mythic tradition of India. Second and third place went to two well-known erotica authors, both of whom have published with Circlet Press before, Thomas S. Roche for “The Night the New Hog Croaked” and Jason Rubis for “Circe House.” Over 400 manuscripts were submitted and only 18 were chosen for publication.
My Review: Aside from the obvious connection—each short in the anthology contains at least some science fiction or fantasy elements—variety is the theme that paradoxically unifies the stories in Circlet’s Best Fantastic Erotica. I have a bit of a “been there, read that” mentality when it comes to erotica, but the contest winners featured in this compilation threw out more than a few twists and kinks that this jaded reader found fresh and different. Offering eighteen short stories ranging from high fantasy to cyberpunk, touching on themes from the darkly disturbing to laugh-out-loud funny, written in florid romance-style prose to no-nonsense fuckspeak, highlighting practices as diverse as pregnancy kink to sex with unicorns, and running the gamut from het to bi to gay, editor Cecilia Tan was clearly aiming for a compilation with something for everyone to enjoy. And while I can’t say that a majority of these stories pushed my buttons—as a heterosexual woman without any particularly bendy kinks, a collection in which nearly half of the stories contain kinky f/f content just didn’t capture my imagination that way—I was consistently entertained. Tan has done an excellent job of selecting stories driven by strong characterization, intriguing premises, and worthwhile plots and then putting them together in an order that mixes things up nicely. I found myself finishing one story and—love it or hate it—feeling strongly motivated to keep reading just to see what strange new elements the next story had to offer.
As a downside to all this diversity, the variety unfortunately not only encompasses topic, tone, and style, but also the quality of the writing. There were two or three clunkers—characterized by clumsy prose, ponderous pacing, wooden characters, and clinically written or otherwise highly unsexy sex scenes—that I would’ve chosen to skip over were I not reading for review. However, I didn’t feel like these bad apples spoiled the bunch and in most cases even when I didn’t like a story because of its themes, I could still appreciate the quality of its writing. I caught a handful of typos and other small errors in the anthology copy I received for review, but in general the offerings in Best Fantastic Erotica are cleanly edited and easy to read. If you’re primarily an original slash fan looking for good one-handed reading material, you’ll probably be disappointed by this collection, which contains only three solid m/m pieces—I’ll admit I was actively turned off more frequently than I was titillated—but if you’re looking for something to spark your imagination and are a fan of science fiction and fantasy genres, Best Fantastic Erotica is definitely worth a look.
More on each of the stories available in BFE:
“Monsoon” by Arinn Dembo-It’s not surprising that this lushly written story of an exotic one-night stand was selected as Circlet’s winner. Dembo so firmly and skillfully establishes the South Asian setting you can practically feel the baking heat and smell the curry. I wasn’t taken with the pregnancy/breast milk kink featured here, but the slow build-up to the payoff is exactly the sort of subtle, sexy style that’s rewarding in an erotic story.
“Venus Rising” by Diane Kepler-While the story’s main character isn’t exactly appealing in the traditional sense—he’s an obsessed, conniving, cheating spouse—the skillful close third person point of view Kepler employs makes for an interesting and rewarding attempt at capturing his encompassing, obsessive fantasy life. The science fiction setting here is hinted at very effectively without bogging down the flow of the story. Even though the het and f/f android sex featured here weren’t to my tastes, the pacing and plot twists were enough to leave me with a bemused smile at the end.
“Marked” by Cody Nelson-One of the collection’s few m/m pieces, this story is driven by an intriguing premise that Nelson handles with a good balance between show and tell that left me wanting more without feeling too unsatisfied. The main character is sympathetic and strongly drawn in a short space. The sex here is heavy on the pain kink with a side of voyeurism, which certainly isn’t for all tastes, but the author does a nice job of building tension through the main character’s transformation from barely consenting trepidation to near revelry in his own pain.
“The Harrowing” by Corbie Petulengro-This f/f high fantasy piece wasn’t one of my favorites. The writing is fine—solid, easy-to-picture description executed in a nicely genre-appropriate style—but the dark and graphic depiction of violent sexual acts turned me right off. Even in the hands of the most skilled writer, I’m not sure I’d ever be on board with a story about a rape victim’s forced submission. I’ll chalk my negative reaction to this one up to personal tastes and move on.
“Capture, Courting, and Copulation: Contemporary Human Mating Rituals and the Etiology of Human Agression” by Carolyn and Steve Vakesh-One of the anthology’s kookier offerings, this throwaway bit of fun about a pair of dragon scholars researching the mating habits of damsels in distress and the knights who love them really hit the spot after the heaviness of “The Harrowing”. The insider’s view of academia skewed through the perspective of the scaly scholars was fresh and silly and although not a turn-on, per se, the dragon sex was creative and balanced with lots of humor.
“Copperhead Resistance” by Argus Marks-Another entry with strong writing that hit a squick nerve for me, this piece begins with the intriguing premise of a future society in which drug addicts are auctioned off to the highest bidder. The main characters are fleshed out fairly well for a short piece, but both are intensely dislikable: One is a selfish, broken drug addict, a burnt-out shell of her former self, the other a manipulative, calculating chemist bent on molding her into his human pet. Not being a fan of shaving, baby, or enema kinks, I found the sex in this piece off-putting to downright disturbing, but I imagine the author’s intent is more to make us uncomfortable than to titillate.
“The Night the New Hog Croaked or, The Lascivious Dr. Blonde: A Romance” by Thomas S. Roche-Far and away my favorite piece, this story combines a terrific sense of comic timing with an irreverent, self-aware style and vivid, humorous, completely over-the-top characters. What’s amazing is that it manages a totally hilarious tongue-in-cheek take on d/s and is still hot and sexy at the same time. Aside from some pretty futuristic seeming fuck tech, there’s really not much here that qualifies as “fantastic”, but when it’s such a fun read, who cares?
“Nocturnal Emissions” by Joe Nobel-One of the few stories in BFE where the writing is truly weak, this bizarre combination of Medieval witch-hunt story with Viking lore also has the dubious distinction of being one of the longest pieces in the anthology. Riddled with awkward phrasing and sentence fragments, a flat, uninspired main character—a clergyman with an unnatural tendency to voice his thoughts out loud and such a well-developed sense of decency and compassion he’s like the human equivalent of a sleeping pill—and mechanical sex scenes filled with cheesy euphemisms, you have to wonder why Tan decided to give it so much room in the book. Nobel does make a nice attempt at bringing suspense into the story via a group of mean boys bent on revenge through accusations of witchcraft, but the mish-mash of themes and weak execution make this story one that I wished I could have skipped.
“And What Rough Beast(s)…” by Robert Knippenberg-Short, strange, and written in an extremely conversational first person style, this story is driven by the science fiction premise that humans can alter their genes at will to take on animal forms. Kink ensues.
“The Bridge” by Conie Wilkins-Another rare m/m offering, this piece takes a soft-focus romance-style approach to a tale of a WWI vet who finds himself in a healing encounter with a forest spirit. One of the few tales in BFE that I would classify as a true-blue love story, while the style didn’t conform to my personal tastes, Wilkins does a nice job of handling her main character’s loss and grief in a compelling way.
“Twilight” by Catherine Lundoff-It just wouldn’t be a fantasy compilation without a vampire story, right? This one takes an urban approach as we follow a young half-breed stalking her prey through a city subway system. Vampires have been done to death, so nothing in this story felt particularly new or original to me, but the lively main character’s strong voice and Lundoff’s tight pacing make this cat-and-mouse story with light femdom kink a worthwhile read.
“Music From My Bones” by Anya Levin-The premise of this story—performances featuring an average participant skillfully pleasured by a sexual virtuoso as a sort of spectator event—is an erotica goldmine. Levin takes an unexpected approach though, and instead of laying on the porn, uses this premise as a vehicle for a woman’s empowerment when her current relationship runs out of steam. The first-person narrator here didn’t particularly engage me—I found her a bit too passive and drifting to really connect—but Levin writes f/f in a skillful, positive light that I imagine many readers will enjoy.
“The Lift” by Kal Cobalt-The final m/m tale in the anthology, I’d swear someone gave Cobalt a list of all the plot elements I’m a total sucker for; it’s got cyberpunk, telepathy, a dark, damaged, and engaging main character, and is based around the premise of desperate men starved for contact. Cobalt’s writing is descriptive but moves along at a good pace and the sex scenes are executed with a delicious edge of fear and paranoia that gives them a nice kick. A highlight of the collection’s m/m offerings.
“Caretaker” by Fauna Sara-Perhaps one of the most out-there stories in the bunch, “Caretaker” details the life of a young girl sold into the service of a monastery which houses a mythical beast and his female caretakers. Bestiality squicks me in a major way, so I really wasn’t into the girl-on-unicorn action, but even if the premise hadn’t pushed my bad buttons, I think I would have still been turned off by the self-pity and stiffness of the main character.
“Smoke” by Jean Roberta-I’d say one story featuring breast milk kink is enough for any anthology, but BFE gives us a second glimpse of the practice in this tale of a woman’s encounter with a seductive, feminine version of Satan. Like “Nocturnal Emissions” this piece is plagued with clumsy prose and a clinical style of describing sex—including unsexy mentions of pre-menopausal symptoms that left me feeling grateful to be in my twenties—that make it pale in comparison to some of its better written companions. Even with a first person narrator, it didn’t feel like the main character came across very vividly and I found the religious imagery confusing. Perhaps I’m overly harsh in my criticism of f/f work because it’s not my cup-o-tea, and while I can appreciate the overtly feminist approach to erotica this piece takes, I just feel the lack of subtlety here prevents enjoyment.
“Opening the Veins of Jade” by Renee M. Charles-Another f/f offering, this piece vividly explores tattoo kink as we’re shown an artist’s encounter inking the genitals of three beautiful and mysterious women. Not knowing much about tattooing, I can’t speak for the authenticity of the writing, but Charles’ description is lovingly executed and full of visceral detail. I was a bit disappointed in the main character’s ho-hum reactions to very fantastical plot revelations, but the sensual descriptive style helps make up for a less-than-totally-convincing narrative voice.
“Circe House” by Jason Rubis-Filled with punchy, descriptive prose delivered by an intriguing and possibly unreliable first-person narrator, Rubis’ writing is undeniably strong, but I found myself confused by this piece. With Island of Dr. Moreau-type vibes, gender fuck elements, and mentions of rape and humiliation, the story made me uncomfortable, but I think my biggest complaint here was that the narrative focus felt off, with an ending that seemed to jump out of nowhere.
“The Gantlet” by B. Lynch Black-The longest entry in the anthology, this story could’ve almost certainly benefited from a tightening of its pacing, but in exchange for a bit of sluggishness Black provides the reader with a treasure trove of intriguing world-building details, painting a rich picture of a dystopian future society strangling on its own class stratifications. Although the main character’s sense of entitlement and the clear enjoyment she derives from sexually dominating an easygoing young woman from a lower class could have made for tedious reading, the author manages to keep the characters sympathetic while still cultivating a sense of intrigue.
According to Circlet’s website, this is the first anthology from their “best fantastic erotica” contest; if Circlet continues to bring in such varied and creative works, I hope it won’t be the last!
