OH. MY. GOD. I just lost a gigantic review that I had written for this book. *sobs*I will attempt to replicate it, but man alive...I feel like I just got betch-slapped by that shitty girl in the rocking chair. ARRARRRGH!ANYWAY...my review...Basically, this book is enjoyable enough and the sexytimes are hawt, but otherwise, it was both farking weirrrrrd and a little yawn-inducing at the same time.The story and the world, generally.Set in a matriarchal society on a moon called Forus, this book is basically a Regency-style book, but with gender role reversals. Our virginal hero, Jorlan, is a bluestocking with radical notions of "equal rights for men" and who's almost on the shelf at the ripe old age of 25. Our rakish heroine, Green, is a woman-about-town, a respected stateswoman, and a skilled lover who keeps a pleasurer on the Rue de la Nuit. She's a youthful 34- or 35-years-old, and she's well known for her stance on not settling down with a "name-bearer" any time soon. However, when she meets Jorlan again after many years, she's dazzled by his wit and drawn to his amazingly firm buttocks (seriously!). She intends to woo him away from his bluestocking notions of spinsterhood. Unfortunately, she comes to hear of a plot that would put Jorlan's future in jeopardy, and so she and Jorlan's grandmother maneuver the moving pieces so that Green and Jorlan enter into a "fastening" (a.k.a. marriage) of convenience before she can even begin wooing him to her side. A majority of the story shows their getting to know each other within this marriage, his introduction to physical pleasures, her learning to be a little more flexible in terms of her expectations from her name-bearer, and their working to rout the efforts of a She-Count (whose name I conveniently kept reading as "She-Cunt" heh heh) who is Green's nemesis and who had previously had designs on having Jorlan for herself.The Regency aspect and the farking weirrrrrrrrrrrrd/*yawn*-worthy stuff.So, earlier I mentioned this is a Regency-style book and that's because it basically is. Setting aside the gender role reversals, the world is basically Regency mannerisms and social expectations. The heroine, Green, is a Marquelle (a.k.a. Marquess). There's also a Duchene (a.k.a. Duchess), they socialize in the "Top Slice" (a.k.a. the haut ton), the male virgins are called "come-outs" (a.k.a. debutantes), and so on. You get the picture. Once I caught on to the Regency parallelism, the world didn't seem all that weird, unique, or novel, to be honest. I was just like "yawn...okay, what comes next?"What came next, though, were some weirrrrrrrrrrrrd things.Like the fact that there's a male hymen.Yup, a male hymen.(view spoiler)[I don't quite know how it came to be, especially when one considers the men and women are supposedly humans from Originpoint (a.k.a. Earth) originally. Even if the original colonizers were all women who then used artificial means of procreating, I don't think they could have constructed a male hymen in their male specimens, could they? The titular "Ritual of Proof" is something the name-bearer undergoes in order to prove that he's a virgin as he enters the marriage bed. I mentioned it in an earlier status update, but it bears repeating here: "...he would be made to disrobe so that three council members could verify that his veil was intact. The small membrane, which had a tiny break in it and grew over the head of his penis, could be ruptured properly only by the internal muscles and fluid from a woman's body."Yuppppppppppppp. So basically, her acidic vag juices will melt his hymenal membrane once they penetrate for the first time. Say it with me: Wow. Just...wow. O__O[image error]
Not relatable in many ways... Intriguing concepts... "What would society be like if über feminists colonized an area?" The answer to that creates this strange tale. Everything is reversed between men and women, leaving men comparable to women of English society centuries ago. There's no equality, and men are looked down upon and treated as property. A bizarre twist is that, somehow, women have lost their first-time pains and given them to men. Beyond that general theme of society and the obligatory villain, this book does some heavy world-building that takes a while to get into fully. I enjoyed this much more when I got to the second half, and I felt like re-reading parts of the beginning with my newfound insight in place. That said, the most important themes were enigmatic to a distracting degree. I suppose the great unveiling (pardon the pun, which you'd only get if you'd read this book) would have made a larger impact if I cared. It was interesting, but the rhythms of this planet or moon or whatever are a separate story almost, and the whole thing just isn't easy to relate to or be wowed by. Interesting. Different. Maybe even cool... But, it distracted from the story for me in the way it was told, and it took much too long to catch my interest. I put this book aside several times before forcing myself to finish it. I don't hate it, but I'm not in love with it either. If you like Fantasy and English romances by Jane Austen, then you might like this better than I did. I was just a bit bored despite the unusual nature of the tale. P.S. I want to add as a very belated afterthought that I loved most of Jane Austen's works. Some were boring to me, but others, like "Sense and Sensibility" and "Pride and Prejudice" were wonderful. What I meant to say was that if someone likes Victorian romances that focus heavily on societal niceties (the part that bores me to tears), then that person would enjoy this book more than I. Still, it was a good 3.5 stars for me.
What do You think about Ritual Of Proof (2002)?
OK- this was weird. Found it pretty irritating at first- just slap a new "language" & reverse the male & female roles and you'd have any old Regency Romance. Definitely not as clever as it wants to appear but it does make one think a bit. Once the story turned more to the relationship between the central characters it improved somewhat but the other world "language" got tedious after a while. The ending sort of came out of left field and with many 'male rights' issues unresolved it smells like a build up to a sequel. I gave it a three for some nice alternate world touches even if the over-all world building left something to be desired. Only gave it 2 stars for enjoyment- I was generally more annoyed than thrilled by this author's writing.
—Phair
In a world where women hold all the power, a titled man can do little but accept his fate--that his sole purpose is to secure a good match--and hope his "bed price" is high enough. Jorlan Reynard has every trait necessary for that price--he is staggeringly handsome. Irrestible. Wildly sensual. But he is also impossibly willful. The brash male refuses to be taken by just any woman merely because she can afford him.Only one--the Marquelle Green Tamryn--can claim him. In a bold move, the powerful aristocrat marries him, offering him the security of her name and position. But there are forces conspiring against her, and the Marquelle must summon all her considerable influence to fight for their survival. However, he is not only a passionate lover, but an unexpectedly powerful ally...and soon, the full truth of his remarkable abilities will begin to be revealed to all--in the Ritual of Proof.
—Janette Brown
I don't usually review romance novels because of the implied shame I'm supposed to feel for reading them. But this, while not being a fabulously written book, is one of the funniest concepts I've seen. It is a romance novel set in something like regency london, but women and men's roles are switched. Women go to war, control money and sit in the house of she-lords. They take mistresses called pleasurers before marriage, they fight duels over men's honor they inherit land and titles such as she-count and she-baron. Losing their virginity causes them no pain, which is not true for their unlucky counterparts who have a membrane covering the penis which burns off painfully the first time they have sex. Men are also not to leave Almacks (yes the same name!) to go on balconies with women, aren't supposed to read sensational novels, and have little say when it comes to marriage. If this appeals to you or you simply want to see how a the author creates an opposite but still gendered world. I just wanted the chance to discuss the craziness of this book!
—Alison
