Review: The Red Veil by Randy Chandler
I won a copy of this erotica novella, written by an author with a pleasingly clever penname, through a LibraryThing giveaway for which a review was requested.
That penname had me expecting a sort of noir flavor, but instead The Red Veil draws more on Arabian Nights pastiche. In fact, I think it surpasses good taste in doing so–working Gaddafi into erotica seems a highly questionable display of judgment, and the line about getting magic-sexy treasures from a deposed despot would have worked without bringing up a specific tyrant who oppressed and tyrannized real people. With the slightest bit of empathy, that’s both tacky and a buzzkill.
My other problem with the premise, though, was dealt with refreshingly. That premise: magical, red veil designed to make any woman insatiable. Sounds a bit date-rapey. Not to put too fine a point on it. So it was pretty amazing to a) see the female protagonist point that out and b) see her subvert the very magic of the veil for her own purposes (although this loses almost as many points as it gains, because it could have done without the odor of American Woman Exceptionalism, really?). Still, I’m always glad to munch popcorn and watch a man who tries to take sexual advantage of a woman accidentally awaken a dominatrix he’s not set to deal with. Very satisfying to my Id.
It’s also nice to see a dom(-inatrix) who can enjoy a consensually given beating without being considered less dominant for it. Topping for the bottom is sexy sometimes, and shame on whoever decided otherwise. There was also a fun interplay in the contrast between Dakota, the protagonist and dom, and her more pliable friend Alice–although drunk!Alice got annoying (as drunks do), and Dakota could seriously have been characterized a bit more. That’s not a complaint specific to this story so much as a general frustration with short-form erotica. Contrary to popular belief, people having personalities does not get in the way of the porn. In fact, most sexually active adults in real life also have personalities. Sometimes other people choose to have sex with them because of those personalities.
So while there’s some actual and juicy playing with dynamics here (seducer becomes ‘victim,’ a dominatrix tops from the bottom), when it comes down to execution not much else in the sex scenes is that original. There’s one bit with the veil that stuck in my memory, but otherwise, it’s pretty standard sex a lot of other people have written before. And one thing that’s arguably original (Dakota & Alice have a scene together in the women’s washroom) is not particularly sexy. Fewer cliches and more showing rather than telling would have helped build the atmosphere. It also would be nice if the writer decided to have us be turned on by Dakota & Alice, rather than…scandalized? Shocked? Left snickering? I’m honestly unsure of the motive there, but I have a marginal note that says “these views on F/F are narrow-minded and absurd” so there was my reaction in the moment.
I guess my final ruling is: as a free giveaway, I’m happy with the price I paid, and it was worth the time reading if only by providing food for thought. I actually like getting food for thought in my erotica (maybe the 18th century was the right time, philosophy in the bedroom and all)–but I would have enjoyed more eroticism in this one, too. With a premise that was subverted enough to be fresh, it’s a shame I kept being distracted by the tacky, the tasteless, and the tired cliche.
