In sort of but not quite related news,

[oloriel]

it has come to my attention (thank you, heartofoshun) that Captive Prince by freece is going to be published (professionally) by Penguin. Penguin!

I'm so happy for freece. Captive Prince is pretty much a demonstration of how good even a stigmatised genre like slash fiction can be (except that it's original, so I suppose it's "m/m erotica", not "slash"?). freece knows all the tropes and clichés of the genre in general and the sub-genre of slavefic in particular, and she plays with them masterfully (no pun intended). It's fantastic that the value of her story (or at least its commercial potential :P) has been recognised first by an agent, and then by several major publishing houses so she could actually choose between different publication offers.

I could gush on for ages about how awesome Captive Prince is, but I'm probably preaching to the choir here anyway (if by any chance you actually haven't read it yet and you do like high-quality slash fiction [but heed the warnings!], you can read the entire first two books for free here for another month, after which part of it must be taken down as per freece's contract with Penguin. Of course, that shouldn't stop you from buying the entire trilogy once it comes out!). And those among you who don't like the genre (whether fannish or original)... well, you probably don't want to read why I love it, anyway. ^^

But, yeah! Awesome news as far as I am concerned. My day is made! These things happen after all!

Comments

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

It made my day too. I would not have thought I was her target audience as a matter of fact, but once I was hooked (and it took me a while). I was so hooked. Nothing I feared was gratuitous turned out to be at all. That was a big part of its appeal to me in the end.

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. I was easy to win over as the genre is one of my guilty pleasures anyway, but yep, I was definitely impressed by the way things began to make (even more) sense in retrospect and by how cleverly constructed the whole thing is, both in-universe and as a piece of literature.

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

Ditto!

[spiced-wine.livejournal.com]

My day is made! These things happen after all!

My day is made too. I have heard of her series but not got round to reading it. I shall do so, and I am glad that Penguin can see there is a market for this. \0/

[vout.livejournal.com]

Not my genre, I'm more into F/F ;-) but it's great to see someone having success.

[chili-das-schaf.livejournal.com]

Agreed! Good quality writers being recognised is a great thing (even if it is not my cup of tea).

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Isn't it! (And I suppose one can hope that if Penguin publish an M/M trilogy, they might also launch F/F books for balance? ;))

[vout.livejournal.com]

I haven't even thought of that yet! WHY HAVEN'T I THOUGHT OF THAT YET?!

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Well, maybe I'm too idealistic. But it is a possibility, right?
On that note, so you (maybe) get something out of this sort-of rec post, if you're in the mood for some original f/f sci-fi, I can offer this link (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1A2xrGdIANI8w_9pAKWggZeEjwK0vfrnp5VbfbPOa3ao/edit?pli=1) (Chapter 2 (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rBsUewxCM_rcgvf47w3lworW0RXS2ahZ2wSdO8VVQ9M/edit?pli=1), Chapter 3 (https://docs.google.com/document/d/151JgzAaTcA2qCwJLXsr4x7SVVx-9puhnxzGR84J7sjw/edit?pli=1))? Author appreciates comments & correction if there's anything that looks odd/wrong/confusing to you. If you have the time, of course.

[vout.livejournal.com]

Gibt es dazu eigentlich schon mehr Kapitel?

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Entschuldige, irgendwie habe ich deinen Kommentar jetzt erst gefunden... vielleicht sollte ich doch die comment notifications aktivieren.

Ja, es gibt wohl noch mehr, aber erst einmal nur für Leute, die irgendwas zu den ersten Kapiteln gesagt haben. Versuch mal, einen Kommentar dazu zu schreiben, dann sollten theoretisch weitere Kapitel auftauchen!

[elfy.livejournal.com]

thanks for the rec, i started and it seems very promising :)

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

I can't believe you didn't know this already! O.ó In that case, you're welcome and I'm sorry I didn't rec it sooner?

[elfy.livejournal.com]

haha, don't worry ... i am reading it now, don't i?
ich bin ja generell nicht so jemand, der uuuunglaublich viel fanfiction liest (falls man das überhaupt in diese kategorie stecken will, weil es ist ja original), also, schon, aber wenn suche ich eben in bestimmten fandoms und selten/nie nach original-content. ich wüsste also nicht, wie ich hätte drüber stolpern sollen.
ich bin gerade irgendwo in chapter 8/9 im ersten buch und bisher gefällt es mir gut, wenn auch zum beispiel laurent noch seeeehr den "benefit of the doubt" hat ... bisher finde ich ihn (was ja die intention ist) furchtbar, nehme aber an, da es ja ein sappy happy ending geben soll, das ja alles total seinen grund hat und sein scheiß charakter entweder noch erklärt wird bzw. er sich ändert ... auch wenn ich nicht weiß, wie das passieren soll (so dass es zu meiner zufriedenheit passiert). ich kann ja durchaus auch sympathien für die ... antagonisten? entwickeln, aber bei ihm kann ich die laurent-fangirl kommentare noch so gar nicht nachvollziehen. nu, da aber ja alle so begeistert und angetan sind, nehme ich mal an, dass alles gut wird und lese weiter ... ;)

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Das Laurent-Fangirling konnte ich in Buch 1 auch noch nicht verstehen. ^^ Es wird alles nur noch schlimmer! Aber trotzdem gut ;)

Und nee, das ist wirklich keine Fanfic, aber es gibt auch schon Fanfic dazu ;). Ich bin halt "damals" (TM) auf meiner Friendslist auf die Empfehlung gestoßen und hatte irgendwie angenommen, dass sich das bestimmt schon rumgesprochen hätte/rumsprechen würde, weil wir ja alle untereinander quervernetzt sind und so. Manchmal überschätze ich dann doch den Dorf-Charakter von LJ ;)

[elfy.livejournal.com]

wirds denn auch *irgendwann* besser mit laurent?

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Im Sinne von "man hört auf, ihn zu hassen"? Definitiv. Zumindest in meinem Fall und auch in Damiens *husthust*

[elfy.livejournal.com]

gut *g*
wann etwa? :D also, welches buch/kapitel?

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Hm, schwer, das so festzumachen. Ende erstes Viertel des zweiten Buchs, in etwa?

[nelyo-russandol.livejournal.com]

I began to read with the impression I would be clicking the back button before the end of the third paragraph, but I was hopelessly hooked. I'm absolutely delighted that she has this opportunity. Like you, I admire how well built the story is, how many layers the readers peel to find out the truth, as Damien does. It's brilliant!

[furius.livejournal.com]

I tried it when it was first being posted and several times since but it was really not my thing (though I thought it was, so disappointed always) but it's still wonderful for her! PENGUIN! Publishing m/m fantasy with explicit sex scenes? This is amazing!