For a writer, mythology provides a cornucopia of romance from which to draw. One of the better-known stories is that of Hades, the ruler of the underworld, and Persephone, the beautiful daughter of Demeter and Zeus. Hades steals Persephone to his underground lair, where she eats a pomegranate seed. Having eaten, she cannot leave the underworld. But then, because Hades and Persephone love each other, a compromise is reached. Half of the year, Persephone is with her husband in his underground lair, during which Demeter punishes the earth with winter; and on Persephone's yearly return to the surface, Demeter blesses the earth with spring.

Structurally speaking, Surrender in the Dark draws on the story of Hades and Persephone. Instead of Hades, we have Radek, banished Lalatian and ruler of the Althean underworld. He is of a race of dominants that feed on the pain and humiliation of their submissives. Instead of Persephone, we have the princess Nia, genetically a Gaelin, a race of women who are culturally Dommes, and men who are all submissives. Nia delivers a message to a council meeting where Radek first sees her. From the point they first see each other, the events of the story move as if they are inevitable.

It is not that the characters adhere slavishly to the mythological motif--rather, they are classic characters whose innate selves contain the seeds of their own fate, a pair of highly energized engaging characters with an unavoidable earthy mutual attraction. Radek and Nia cannot help what they are together, even when it goes against everything their societies allow. Feral alpha male meets inquisitive virginal submissive prey.

It's a symbiotic relationship at its most carnal, a recipe mixed up with old races and new races, magic, politics, political correctness, sexual fantasy and prophecy. There were a few places where I pulled out my red editor's pen, but essentially, Sylvia Violet displays an interesting touch with a slightly dark BDSM romantic/erotica well worth reading.

Reviewed by Maîtresse
© March 2006