Dancing Phaedra

by Clodia Metelli

A young slave whore in a Roman brothel, Antyllus' prospects seem bleak. Only a sense of his destiny keeps him from despair. A gifted and inspired dancer, Antyllus dreams of stardom.

Sent to a rich man's party as part of the entertainment, Antyllus' gift is spotted by Gabinius a wealthy Senator. Struggling to leave his past behind, Antyllus must contend with the demands of his new master and the challenges of his new disciplined life as a dancer.

Genres: Historical Fiction, LGBT

128 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 22, 2013

About the author

I write historical and fantasy fiction, usually featuring gay protagonists, sometimes with a strong romance theme, sometimes not.

Most of my historical fiction is set in the ancient Greco-Roman period, which I studied for many years and which remains a passion with me (reading Suetonius can have a terribly corrupting effect on a young mind...). I aim to offer an alternative, more internalised window on Greco-Roman society, the emotional and cultural lives of courtesans and poets rather than the deeds of gladiators and victorious generals. An elegiac rather than epic perspective.

My fantasy fiction so far includes both urban vampire fiction set in contemporary London and high fantasy, set in the decaying ancient civilisation of Laurentium.

Reviews

[J. Rosemary Moss · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fell hard for the main character of this book. Antyllus is a frustrating but gifted young man with a bitter past and a dazzling future--if only he can bring himself to view the rest of the world with a little more forgiveness and a little less contempt. He has reason for that contempt, of course. Slavery keeps him at the beck and call of a master who offers him the chance to train as a dancer, but for a terrible price. And the one person Antyllus genuinely cares for is a fellow slave with problems of his own . . .

So sometimes I wanted to hug Antyllus and comfort him and sometimes I wanted to shake some sense into him! But his emotional highs and lows kept me captivated, as did his attempts to take his trainer's advice to heart and discipline himself into a great artist.

[Stephen Forte]

I was pleasantly surprised by "Dancing Phaedra" and thoroughly enjoyed the read. I found this book to be well written and characters well developed. My only complaint was the length of the book. I think Ms. Metelli could have enriched this novel somewhat by shaping the chapters with a bit more detail and allowed the reader an opportunity to have more than a brief encounter with many of the secondary characters. The final chapters left me wanting more...which is a good thing if she plans a sequel. Instead we were offered a very short glimpse into Antyllus's and new lover Gaius's life and left with more questions than answers. Perhaps their is more to come!

[Anita Pal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a well-written and engaging book – I enjoyed the historical background, and the tasteful descriptions. Taking into account how short this was, I found the characters to be well-developed and intriguing. However, the reason for the ‘low’ rating is that I felt it was too short (perhaps, a bit rushed?), and not entirely satisfactory on an emotional level; perhaps, I would have just needed *more* to enjoy it more fully. But, all in all, it was a good read.

[Fawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read, very detailed and fascinating.

[Michael Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can read my full review of Dancing Phaedra on my web site.

[Sineala · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short prequel to "Gaius and Achilles" about one of the minor characters; Antyllus isn't my favorite person in this series, but, hey, at least there's a cameo by Julius Caesar.

[Drianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A prequel about Gaius' ex-boyfriend. Interesting book, and I was glad to see a cameo by my main man, Julius Caesar, but the whole book left me in HORROR at the idea that Antyllus could ever give informed consent to kink given where he's come from (the other books don't appear that worried about it).