Lust, or, No harm done

by Geoff Ryman

The ultimate fantasy? Or a nightmare of self-discovery? From the renowned author of 253 comes a dark, erotic fable for the modern age. David, a young scientist investigating what happens to the brain during the process of learning, suddenly finds himself the subject of a bizarre experiment. On the way home from the lab one night he spies Tony, a fitness instructor from his gym, on the same platform waiting for the tube. David's had an obsession with Tony for weeks, but David is no Adonis and Tony's barely noticed him at all. Until now. When David imagines Tony naked, a pleasant fantasy to spice up a dull journey home, an extraordinary thing Tony strips there and then on the platform and offers himself in front of all onlookers. Horrified, David flees. But back at his flat, Tony reappears, as if by magic. And disappears, when David wishes him away. And reappears when he calls him back. Being a scientist, David recognises an experiment when he sees one, and sets out to test hypotheses. In quick succession he conjures up Billie Holliday, Johnny Weismuller, Daffy Duck, Picasso, Sophia Loren, even his younger self. Mad with lust and losing all scientific objectivity, he runs the gamut of his fantasies until, sated and morally bankrupt, he's forced to confront himself. He realises he is the subject of a divine experiment into human temptation, free will and the excercise of power.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, LGBT, Speculative Fiction, Queer, Sexuality

Paperback

First published August 1, 2003

About the author

Geoffrey Charles Ryman (born 1951) is a writer of science fiction, fantasy and slipstream fiction. He was born in Canada, and has lived most of his life in England.

His science fiction and fantasy works include The Warrior Who Carried Life (1985), the novella The Unconquered Country (1986) (winner of the British Science Fiction Award and the World Fantasy Award), and The Child Garden (1989) (winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the Campbell Award). Subsequent fiction works include Was (1992), Lust (2001), and Air (2005) (winner of the James Tiptree, Jr. Award, the British Science Fiction Award and the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and on the short list for the Nebula Award).

Reviews

[Blake Fraina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thirty-something scientist, Michael Blasco, is your typical all work/no play type. He is involved in a love affair that's gone well past its sell by date, mostly owing to his neglect, and his current research project involves the sort of animal testing that even he seems a bit squeamish, if not rueful, over. One day, on his way home from the gym, the personal trainer about whom he fantasizes appears to him on the tube platform and performs an ad hoc striptease seemingly as a result of Michael's thoughts. In short order, Michael discovers that he can create a doppelganger of anyone on the planet (living, dead, real or fictional) who must do exactly as he pleases. After the initial shock and disbelief wear off, he warms to the idea and wastes no time in calling up a variety of "doubles," including his boyhood wet-dream, Tarzan (as played by Johnny Weismuller), a Jessica Rabbit-like cartoon character, Lawrence of Arabia, his own American military man Father (on whom he was sexually fixated as a boy), Billie Holliday and, most memorably, a totally manic go-getting Pablo Picasso.

Of course, much like the experiments he performs on helpless animals, his manipulation of these people is not without its ethical ambiguities and complications. Each person reacts differently to his overtures and, despite their obligation to obey him, almost none of them acquiesce happily. Slowly, with each encounter, he begins to learn valuable lessons about consideration, responsibility and relationships. In the end, rather than being corrupted by his newfound powers, he comes out a better, more caring, person.

Lust is a rewarding book on so many levels. It has a lot of humour, partly as a result of the absurdity of its premise but in larger part due to the hilarious, whimsical characterizations which are the book's major strength. Every character, whether based on a real person or a complete fiction, is wonderfully alive and completely unique without ever once stepping over the boundaries into caricature. Increasingly I find fictional characters (particularly those in queer literature) to be bland and difficult to distinguish from one another, with the unfortunate exception being the token outrageous, flamboyant stereotype, but the people in Lust are absolutely 100% believable individuals. Even Picasso, the book's most over-the-top creation, is a total delight. Reading it, I felt as if Ryman really knew these people.

In addition to the humour, the book has a lot of heart and is surprisingly romantic. It examines religion, destiny, self-acceptance, relationships (familial and sexual) and responsibility. It has a protagonist who, while not always likable, is extremely easy to relate to, understand and even sympathize with. In many ways, he is just an average guy in extraordinary circumstances. If you like your queer lit with a dose of fantasy, humour, philosophy and/or romance, Lust has something for you.

[Sus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I agree with the reviewer who wrote, "The plot summary may make it look like porn but, if so, it's the most thoughtful, affecting porn I've ever read."

It is porn -- sort of. But not really, actually. For a book that's about sex, the proportion of actual graphic content is surprisingly low (although there is some; it wouldn't be like Geoff Ryman to write a book about sex and then not deliver). But it's not just a titillating bonk-fest, all fun and games. That would be porn, and more to the point it wouldn't have much point; it wouldn't be -- what shall we call it? -- art. Here, the protagonist, Michael, has problems at the outset: he can't take any pleasure in his sexuality, he has relationship problems, problems with trusting or being open to people, problems getting it up, problems liking himself or feeling comfortable in his own body. The quasi-magical gift he's granted allows him to explore his sexuality by probing not only his fantasies, but, more to the point, his own past. It allows him to revisit his encounters with people he's known and has loved, valuably or fruitlessly; who he's hurt, and who have hurt him. That's what the emotional development of the book is about. That's why it's not just a boink-fest, but a psychologically astute, open, and moving novel.

Which is not to say it doesn't have sexy bits, or humor. The parts where (for instance) Michael takes Johnny Weissmuller, as Tarzan, around on his arm are priceless. What's interesting, though, is that although the premise of the book is most easily described by invoking celebrity names -- what would you do if you could have sex with Billie Holiday? Pablo Picasso? Jessica Rabbit? Lawrence of Arabia? -- the encounters that mean most in the end are those the protagonist has with "obscure" people, non-famous people, but people he has really known and cared for. Which seems obvious, when you think about it. But I'm not sure how much time I usually spend thinking about it. So the effect is kind of transcendent.

[Fenriz Angelo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Idk what to say about this book, only that it left me quite satisfaced and i enjoyed every bit of it. From the blurb one might think it's a pornish book just for the hell of it, but when you start reading you realize it's more than that, this is a story of a scientist man, Michael, who feels his life has no meaning and one day he has the ability to sum up people he has lusted after, lust that those copies of those persons reciprocate, but such overwhelming lust is hindered by Michael's erectile dysfunction. Michael then decides to answer the meaning of this power and what is it for while trying to balance his two jobs and a broken relationship with his boyfriend.

In the progression of the story we realize along with Michael that this isn't solely about sex, it's about Michael finding himself out and what made him be the man he's at 38, why does he have so much internalized homophobia? why is it so hard to find connections with people? what is he afraid of? what does he really want in life? We get our answers little by little with every interaction Michael has with his "Angels" to a point where he's spiraling downwards until he loses everything he's had in the real world and is forced to rebuild himself.

I found this book really smart, with a lot of messages here and there, there were parts where i related a lot with Michael. All the sex scenes in the book have a reason, some are really erotic, others weird. Every single Angel has a well developed personality, and are very diverse. I liked being in Michael's insight. Lastly, i think this book balances quite well humor, social criticism, and sadness. Through the book i couldn't imagine how the story was going to end, it really didn't look well on Michael's side, but it delivered a satisfiying ending.

Very unique take on "how to mend a broken heart" (i could say)

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lust is a fascinating Sci Fi exploration of every man's dream - to call up clones of his fantasies who are hot for him.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strange, sexual, frustrating, over-written, lavishly contemplated and just odd fun; Ryman's Lust takes 30-something Brit-American scientist Michael on a strange erotic journey. After discovering that he can call up copies of people he desires, he goes on a quest to figure out what the sexually and usually compliant copy-people, dubbed Angels, can and cannot do.

Also a lengthy rumination on love, desire, loneliness and attraction, his real life desires are having problems, specifically with his longtime boyfriend, who's about to leave him. Michael's impotence is a problem, solved in a darkly satiric scene in a Viagra-prescribing clinic.

Michael's fantasies vary as he calls up his trainer, a coworker, Billie Holliday, Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan, even an entire New Zealand rugby team. Each scene offers a bit of titillation, but more, a lesson on what love and lust are and aren't. His extended affair with Pablo Picasso is comic and sad.

Things get strange in flashbacks about his father, the ultimate confrontation over his sexuality, and desires for his impossibly handsome dad, get even stranger toward the end, wrapped up after his near-death epiphany and tied in a bow during a New Year's Eve party.

This is not for everyone's taste. In fact, it's odd, eccentric and idealistic in its questions about desire and love. Still, I enjoyed the ride.

[David Given Schwarm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic and fun read.

[Chance Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

At one point during "Lust," Michael, the protagonist, wonders "How is this any different from masturbation?" He's able to conjure up anyone he wants and have sex with them. Hot gym trainer. Tarzan. Alexander the Great. Anyone. Then he can send them away, and it's like they were never there. There are no consequences. He can't get HIV, he can't get his feelings hurt because they do whatever he wants, he can experiment without fear.

So how it any different from masturbation? The same could be said of the book itself, which at times, feels like Ryman engaged in writerly masturbation, putting his characters into certain scenarios and writing about them forever. When he spends about 50 pages fucking Picasso -- yes, that Picasso -- it killed the entire book for me.

Up until that point, it's an interesting thought experiment. Gay power dynamics, pornography, a somewhat juvenile view of sexuality vs. innocence, trying to understand how other people see you, etc. Michael conjures up versions of himself, his father, and cartoon characters to fuck around with. But as the novel hits the 250 page mark, Michael tries to make "sense" of this gift, which is a pointless exercise. He wonders if the people he conjures up are truly alive. Who cares? I was hoping the book would address the fact that these people do whatever Michael wants them to do. Perhaps they tell him he's alive, because that's what he wants to here. Perhaps they act this way to get him to question life. If the book does address that, I skimmed over it as I lost interest in the end.

Michael starts to feel guilty dismissing them, a guilt clumsily paralleled in his job as a medical researcher doing gruesome tests on animals. The more complicated things become, the more plot holes arise, and the more it feels like you're losing your own mind as a reader.

The concept may fall apart, but I don't see how it could ever conclude tidily. As a result, I forgive it. The beginning is fascinating and an interesting thought experiment. The sex scenes are hot more often than not, although there are a lot of descriptions of assholes that are sometimes confusing, like one that "folds in upon itself" or something similar. How does this person poop? It does portray a wide range of body types, but almost regretfully so, tending to give more positive adjectives to muscular bodies and big dicks, and being "surprised" when a non-model turns out to actually be attractive.

Any book that examines sexuality in such a full-frontal way is going to be problematic in different ways to every reader, so again, I forgive these issues. I just wish the book hadn't worn out its welcome, as lust as a tendency to do.

[Tamara]

I probably wouldn't have picked this up by its own description, but I loved Air so much i'll basically give anything by Ryman a shot, and in this instance, i'm glad I did.

Michael, a gay London scientist, gains a sudden ability to materialize copies of people - alive, dead, fictional - that he wants to have sex with. When he wants them to, they vanish back into the ether, no consequences.

Remarkably, Ryman manages to spin this out into an entire novel without it getting stale. Even more unusually, to my reading habits at least, is that the stakes always stay firmly on Michael - the only thing in the balance of the entire book is whether Michael will be happier or more miserable at the end.

[Zen Cho · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked it OK, but not as much as Ryman's other books. I guess I found the main character less interesting.

Favourite part: the part just before everything goes to shit with his dad. You know what's going to happen so it's agonising. And it is just so well done -- the kind of person his dad is, Michael's longing, the love each has for the other.

Least favourite part: the ending. Coming to realise Ryman's endings don't do it for me much -- they feel less real than the rest of the book. (The Picasso chapter was similarly unconvincing -- maybe that's why I don't like this book as much.)

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting tale of a scientist who discovers he can create a duplicate of someone, have sex with them and there's no harm done. Right? Wrong. I especially liked that he analyses this power in a scientific manner for the first third, conducting little experiments (Can make someone who is dead appear? Will the real person know I did this? Can other people see them? etc.)

[Nicolas Chinardet · Rating 3 out of 5]

What would you do if you suddenly discovered that you are able to conjure up any one you can think of to do you sexual bidding?

Michael Blasco, a nearly middle-aged, impotent, gay scientist, and the hero of this story, turns this "gift" into an unorthodox psychoanalysis.

We follow this lost, dissatisfied man as he tries to understand what's happening to him as he embarked on his journey of self-discovery and self-love. Along the way he summons people from his past, missed opportunities mostly and famous people. This gives rise to a series of more or less explicit encounters that are at times poignant, often funny.

In addition to a heady mix of cod-psychology (absent father!) and metaphysics, Ryman uses magical realism to describe and attempt to address the solitary condition of the modern gay man, overwhelmed with options, unhappy in his own skin, and incapable of finding the love he is desperately yearning for.

Despite numerous typos and missing words, the writing flows nicely and takes the reader along for the incongruous ride. The morale of Ryman's story (effectively to "Just calm down" and be open to people and opportunities) seems on the simplistic side however and rather a let down to its revelatory ambitions. The ride is definitely the fun part of the book, and avoiding high expectations are possibly the best way to enjoy Ryman's effort. A little like relationships, come to think of it.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a novel I really want to read again. I remember loving it when I bought a copy 20 or more years ago and it has followed me around through several moves since then. I am not going to repeat the storyline, if your reading a review on Goodreads I presume you know some of it, but in Michael Blasco's journey to find meaning in love by conjuring up literally any one he desires, which is tragic and comic at the same time. His encounters with Pablo Picasso as a lover and T.E. Lawrence (separately not together though that might have been something) are comic and tragic; but even when he conjures up men of purely carnal association, like Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan, the result is anything but simply erotic.

Geoff Ryman is an author I have an immense admiration for and though it is a long time since I read this novel, my positive indeed loving memory, of it means I can't give it less than five stars. If a further reading alters that opinion I will apologise.

[Mark Schiffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A scientist, not a mad one but definitely one who’s gay as hell, finds out he’s able to call into being anyone he chooses. Every chapter explores a different inquiry into the ethics and realities of this existence, with appearances from Pablo Picasso, Billie Holiday, Jessica Rabbit, and basically everyone he’s ever known including himself. Sometimes it’s hilarious, sometimes it’s sexy, sometimes it’s a LOT. But Lust or No Harm Done left me spellbound.

[Sarah S · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is unexpected. I keep thinking the main character is schizophrenic, and turned out not to be so. I find most of the book quite sad and depressing, but I liked how it ended. There is copious sex. Though it is rather cartoonish and silly. Then again, I am not a gay man so I don't have a frame of reference...

[Aginor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has a special place in my heart.

It was my first attempt at a m/m book and I instantly fell in love with it. There's no way I can objectivly say anything worthwhile here but for what it's worth: Awesome read!

[Barry Liden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Challenging

Compelling but challenged me psychologically and philosophically. I would add mathematical theoretically too, but I so did not comprehend that stuff that I tended to skim over it.

[Dayle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a very weird book. I do not think I liked it.

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

I laughed, I cried, I gasped, I was horrified, but ultimately left hopeful. A wonderful read.

[Nick Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was different to what I expected, which sorta reinforces the old adage about judging a book by the cover. In this case maybe I should have paid at least the tiniest bit of attention to the cover when I bought it, because I don't think I really looked at it enough. Anyhow, this gay fantasy novel was interesting, and kept me amused during breaks (and when my opponent was thinking about their next move) at a chess tournament I was playing in, and had picked this book up cheap en route to the station on the way to the tournament. The basic premise of 'what would you do if you could have sex with anyone, real or imaginary, alive or dead, whenever you wanted' was in fact an interesting one. The psychological questions and father figure stuff in the second half of the book was less compelling and in the end I was glad to finish it.

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always keep thinking it's not that bad. But it is that bad. It's like I think it will clear up by itself if I leave it alone. Like a sock that loses its other half. You put it back in the drawer, hoping it'll find the other half by itself.

Always tell an intelligent person that they're beautiful. Always tell a beautiful person they're intelligent. Tell a cartoon that they're both.

Who would have thought miracles felt so terrible? You could feel them break the universe.

The dream was not of someone else, but of himself, changed.

I can account for the rain. I can account for the yearning between stars.

[Jenne · Rating 5 out of 5]

So this guy discovers that he has the power to conjure up a copy of anyone he would like to have sex with, and they will want to sleep with him too, and then he can disappear them when he's done.
As you might imagine, this is kind of too good to be true.
And as you can probably guess from the title, there's a lot of sex in it, but the sex isn't usually very sexy. But that's okay!

I absolutely loved this book.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I REALLY wanted to enjoy this one - having loved Was and enjoyed 253 - but feel that Ryman 'outclevered' himself with the concept behind this novel.

Ryman's ideas were interesting, the introduction of Picasso and Billie Holiday particularly amused me, but overall I didn't find myself emotionall engaged in Michael's exploration of his lusts.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely book. Disturbing, joyful, selfish, merciful -- all the things that touch us in life that we can hardly ever hold onto for more than a moment. It was a real pleasure to read a book about a man whose heart is opening up to the world without it being sickingly sweet or self-piting. The novel is humane, and it made me feel. A glorious read.

[RP · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe I need to go back to this. I could not get into it. The character left me cold. Unlike the other Ryman books I've read, the writing lacked emotional depth. From the reviews I've read, I guess this changes. Other reviewers have said it's a rewarding book, so I will give it another chance, but right now there are other books waiting . . .

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely book, one that will require some thought. In some ways it was poorly-written; in others, it was intensely creative and meaningful. I might not be quick to recommend it, but I'm glad I read it!

[Avis Black · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tried to read it, but hated the prose style. It's simple and plain, which shouldn't be death to a book, but it was also boring. The subject matter is approached in a tasteless and sordid fashion, and a novel full of tastelessness is a godawful hardship to read. I gave up on it.

[The Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

The plot summary may make it look like porn but, if so, it's the most thoughtful, affecting porn I've ever read.

[Ray]

Excellent. Romantic in the way only gay tragi-comedy is.

[Skyler White · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first encounter with Ryman, and I'm eager to read more. He's clever, and this is worth reading for the cartoon character sex alone.

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a little too weird for me and difficult to follow.