To Serve and Submit

A wonderful story, this book centers around a girl who is submissive to the core and can see the spirits of the land. Sold willingly into service at a pleasure house she soon learns love at her masters touch and fear from his people. There are a few things that I personally would critique, but over all this book is definatly one to place upon the shelves and enjoy at leisure.

"To Serve And Submit" is the first book I have read by Susan Wright and it's a kind of cross between fantasy and erotica - an amalgamation of the two genres which works fairly well but might be dissatisfying to purist readers of either genre. Susan Wright's writing style is very good - the story never drags but moves on quickly but with some charming detail about the world in which the events are taking place. Marja is a young woman living in a time/place rather like pre-industrial Scandinavia. Unlike most of her peers she can commune with the "olfs", little sprite-type beings that are cheeky but can also help her. Her job is to collect iron for her father to use but when an unusual looking man, Lexander, sails to their village she sees a whole new world opening out to her - he offers to come back to collect her in a year to help make her a pleasure slave and she agrees. Marja finds herself among several other trainee slaves in different stages of their education; once ready they are moved on to Lexander's homeland on a journey by ship. Marja is taught by Lexander and his consort Helanas to be a submissive slave - and she seems to take to it remarkably well. I wasn't entirely convinced why she wanted to become such a good slave at the outset and why she went along with everything that happened to her - Lexander's statement "you're a true submissive" seemed a little too easy. The world in which the story takes place is a harsh world, particularly for women, and Marja is required to sleep with whomever she is commanded to, male or female, although she doesn't seem to find this a problem. She becomes more and more attached to Lexander and works hard to be the ideal slave, submissive and obedient to his every requirement. But then things start to change - Marja is sent by Lexander to shelter with a woman, Silveta, so that Lexander can be reunited with her as he says he loves her. Marja has been trained up till now to be submissive and to obey orders in a rather naïve way, yet she soon discovers that behaving like this is a danger to her as she travels to find Silveta. Marja has to grow up, and learn her own common sense, very quickly. She takes refuge with a couple for a while but is always yearning to meet up with Lexander again. Unfortunately she's not always particularly good news to those with whom she is staying and she is the unwitting cause of a duel which requires her and Silveta to flee. Marja herself describes her method of getting through life: "I traded what others valued in order to survive." For Marja her item of value is her skills as a pleasure slave and she uses these skills to keep herself safe, to lull people to sleep so that she can escape and to survive her training as a slave. For those who like reading fantasy books there is a lot to like in "To Serve And Submit". The world that Susan Wright has created is an interesting one, albeit very harsh, and the descriptions of the surroundings are very well written although a map

I must admit that the moment I saw the cover of this book I knew it was for me. After reading the book I was not disappointed. In fact, it surpassed my expectations. The characters are beautifully developed, and I was able to picture the story vividly in my mind. The heroine Marja and her submissive nature fascinated me. One thing I especially loved about the book is that so much happened in it. It was not a slow-paced novel. Things were always taking place, and I did not find myself bored. I suppose the idea of a woman being submissive may appear sexist to some. However, I believe it is a person's own decision. It does not make them weaker. In the book, Marja's ability to be submissive actually made her stronger and helped her rather than the opposite. I highly recommend this book and applaud the author for the great story that it is.

I had questions about whether or not to write a review as it would reveal a great deal about my personal life to do so. I am a sexually dominant woman, which means I am the one who would give the orders. This story is vaguely reminescent of Kushiel's Dart and that series, however this particular book relied less on intrigue and politics and survival. Marja is sold into slavery by her family and finds her true self. The story of Marja and Lexander represents the ideal for a top/bottome relationship, caring and loving. While many of the others who take advantage of her submissive nature represent the 'normal' view of that relationship. The characters were touching, as you saw them develop. I do have one itty bitty gripe. The author's constant use of phrases such as "because of my submissive nature,"; "my submissive nature made me..." and so on. On one page I counted no less than 6 variations of that particular theme. Pros: 1. An excellent heroine who finds strength in the ability to submit 2. A hero who finds hope in the ability to control and protect 3. Side characters that are wonderfully charming 4. A wonderfully realizecd world Cons: 1. Repetitive phrasology - We get you have a submissive nature and it makes you do things because you must follow orders. It felt almost as if she is padding the pages to make a certain word count 2. A map of the world she is trapped in. I got soooo lost when we were on the Continent in Scandanavia. 3. More focus on the training from Lexander would have been wonderful Good for those of us who understand the life and for everyone who wants to see a different kind of love

Let me start by saying that the sexual roles in this book do not match my own so someone else who leans toward the female submissive/male dominant model may find this book more intriguing than I. "To Serve and Submit" is a cross between fantasy and erotica, a cross necessary to get published by mainstream ROC but which may result in confusion between the two audiences. This review is designed to explain the story to both groups. Susan Wright focuses very well on the development of Marja, a young woman from a backwater community whose father sells her for cattle. Following the wishes of others with greater supernatural power of her own comes naturally to her; following mere human commands seems to follow with just a bit of training. Marja grows from innocent to leader in the course of the novel, not finding happiness in slavery so much as power in her ability to bent or stand firm as the need arises. Throughout the book I could well understand why so many people are attracted to and jealous of Marja but I frankly could not understand what she sees in the main male character, Lexander who seems to grow weaker as the plot continues. I entitled this "soft core" for two reasons. First, unlike many fantasy novels I am used to there are none of the technical layouts of maps, dictionaries, or even large scale digressions into "history" -- depending on your taste this may be a plus or a minus. Secondly, I must disagree with another reviewer: the sex scenes here are not explicit. Using non-standard English terms of sexual organs and sexual energy, Writght pushes the edge of what many mainstream publishers will print unless the sex is displayed negatively but for those used to reading erotica and [...] the scenes may seem short and rather undetailed. Readers should also note that Wright's fantasy world is not a kind one for most members of it -- women are ill treated routinely (there are at least 3 rapes) and the poor or young or pushed down without concern -- but the world is not a nice place folks, especially one where traditional religion is fighting off a new monotheistic one.