Nicholas
I gave up on Nicholas: The Lords of Satyr after completing 52%. This is not going to be a bad review, however. It IS a good erotic book, it just doesn't push my good buttons too well and then it clicked a couple of my squicks.Firstly, I'm not really into historical pieces. I read it hoping that since our heroes walk in two worlds (Earthworld and Elseworld) that they'd rise above the primitive state of european culture in the 1700s or so. Unfortunately, no. When our title character is tasked with marrying a specific woman, I was hoping that it would be a seduction story with our heroine Jane, as she's a very interesting character. Instead, the male protagonist Nicholas has his lawyer arrange it and buy off the parents via dowry. Disappointing, but since this book came so highly recommended I soldiered on.
Wedding night squicked me. I don't like virginal sex at all. Not my thing. My second squick was the way the male character handled it. Nick's detachment from the experience and unconcern for Jane's inner life really bothered me deeply; I completely lost interest in him. I kept going for a while, but nothing happened. Nick has a brief moment of consciensce in a brothel, but suffers no ill effects nor changes his behavior whatsoever.
I was hoping that since the book is about a family of satyrs that this would be a mirror of the classic greek myths. I was hoping that the satyrs, as acolytes of Pan, would become entangled with acolytes of Artemis. While Jane certainly shows more independence than most of her contemporary women, I wasn't feeling any Artemis energy from her. It's entirely likely that I've read too much CG Jung and Joseph Campbell and simply came into the book with too many expectations.
It is very well written, it's easy to read without being simple. The plot was set up well and their are several intersting relationship dynamics at play. The story drives the plot, and the steamy scenes are well placed and explicit without being porny. I can easily see how this is such a popular series.
