I can't help but notice that it is always easier for Erotica (i.e. fictional) Doms to Master their stolen submissives when said aforementioned subs are all alone in the world. When there's no other one there to hold on to, no one to miss, the Doms--who are usually all-powerful anyway--have no competition. Any port in a storm--or so they say. In Dark Elves the only port in the storm is an elf, but he's sure not the kind who makes cookies in hollow trees.

Picture the mythology at work here: a race of all male dark elves dwelling under a forest of frightening trees, a forest through which humans travel at their own risk. How can there be an all-male race, you ask? A good question. The dark elves procreate by using stolen human woman who are transformed into this elvish species (raedjour) through magic given by the Elf goddess Rhae. Their sorcery or their biology causes changes to the human female which include a glossy black skin, a lifespan of four hundred more years and night vision. These magic males were created originally as sexual consorts and body guards to their goddess (so they are designed for sex) and they have a sexuality including some kind of aphrodisiacal body oil excreted thru their skin that allows them easily to seduce their captured females.

Suzana's family had recently died, and as she was already traveling as a slave in a caravan through the Dark Forest, she loses nothing when she is taken by the dark elves. Initially she has two unique features that make her stand out from the rest of the female captured slaves: she is herself is a music mage, a small magic gift focusing on music; and she is a virgin. The plan of her new captors is to deflower her and pass her around until she finds her "true mate." The body of the story concentrates mostly on her interactions with these males. Enough said of the story.

This is the first I've read of Jet Mykles, who is no ordinary writer. She has a website full of her erotic art at http://www.computerotika.com/home.html and there's even an extra graphic in Dark Elves: Mastered, which is a nice lagniappe. Mastered is a fantasy bdsm erotica with a little extra art. If you're not interested in taking the time to know the world, you won't like the Dark Elves series, but I suspect if you start at the beginning with book one that won't be a hindrance. There's a dash of world building, a bit of mythology to be established and then Suzane's experiences leading up to the denouement. Hot, graphic and--either inter-racial or inter-species.

Reviewer Maîtresse
Copyright 2006