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Spaceways #1
Of Alien Bondage
Travel the Spaceways—if you dare!
Janja—Stolen from her native planet, sold into sexual slavery, she is brutally hurled into the bizarre lives led by those with a price on their heads.
Capt. Jonuta—A freebooter wanted on every planet in the galaxy, he is a dazzling testimonial to bold exploits, ingenious swindles and low morals.
The Jarps—A must for every ship's crew, they are alien beings of unusual proportions who can be all things to all men—or all women.
Travel the Spaceways for tales of derring-do and derring-don't.
Janja—Stolen from her native planet, sold into sexual slavery, she is brutally hurled into the bizarre lives led by those with a price on their heads.
Capt. Jonuta—A freebooter wanted on every planet in the galaxy, he is a dazzling testimonial to bold exploits, ingenious swindles and low morals.
The Jarps—A must for every ship's crew, they are alien beings of unusual proportions who can be all things to all men—or all women.
Travel the Spaceways for tales of derring-do and derring-don't.
- GenresScience FictionErotica
240 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published January 1, 1982
1 person is currently reading
125 people want to read
About the author
Andrew J. Offutt
204 books72 followersAndrew Jefferson Offutt was an American science fiction and fantasy author. He wrote as Andrew J. Offutt, A.J. Offutt, and Andy Offut. His normal byline, andrew j. offutt, had his name in all lower-case letters. His son is the author Chris Offutt.
Offutt began publishing in 1954 with the story And Gone Tomorrow in If. Despite this early sale, he didn't consider his professional life to have begun until he sold the story Blacksword to Galaxy in 1959. His first novel was Evil Is Live Spelled Backwards in 1970.
Offutt published numerous novels and short stories, including many in the Thieves World series edited by Robert Lynn Asprin and Lynn Abbey, which featured his best known character, the thief Hanse, also known as Shadowspawn (and, later, Chance). His Iron Lords series likewise was popular. He also wrote two series of books based on characters by Robert E. Howard, one on Howard's best known character, Conan, and one on a lesser known character, Cormac mac Art.
As an editor Offutt produced a series of five anthologies entitled Swords Against Darkness, which included the first professional sale by Charles de Lint.
Offutt also wrote a large number of pornographic works under twelve different pseudonyms, not all of them identified. Those known include John Cleve, J.X. Williams, and Jeff Douglas. His main works in this area are the science fiction Spaceways series, most of whose volumes were written in collaboration, and the historical Crusader series.
Offutt began publishing in 1954 with the story And Gone Tomorrow in If. Despite this early sale, he didn't consider his professional life to have begun until he sold the story Blacksword to Galaxy in 1959. His first novel was Evil Is Live Spelled Backwards in 1970.
Offutt published numerous novels and short stories, including many in the Thieves World series edited by Robert Lynn Asprin and Lynn Abbey, which featured his best known character, the thief Hanse, also known as Shadowspawn (and, later, Chance). His Iron Lords series likewise was popular. He also wrote two series of books based on characters by Robert E. Howard, one on Howard's best known character, Conan, and one on a lesser known character, Cormac mac Art.
As an editor Offutt produced a series of five anthologies entitled Swords Against Darkness, which included the first professional sale by Charles de Lint.
Offutt also wrote a large number of pornographic works under twelve different pseudonyms, not all of them identified. Those known include John Cleve, J.X. Williams, and Jeff Douglas. His main works in this area are the science fiction Spaceways series, most of whose volumes were written in collaboration, and the historical Crusader series.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 11, 2018
This had the potential to be so much better than it was.
On the surface, it looks and sounds great. It has a cheesy cover and the main character is a space pirate that literally dresses like a pirate. It wears its influences (namely John Norman's Gor and the Marquis De Sade) on its sleeve. In the end, however, this book was a whole lot of nothing.
The first problem is that most of the book is just Offutt (John Cleve is a pseudonym for prolific paperback sleaze writer Andrew Offutt) just filling space here. A lot of the time there is just a whole lot of nothing happening instead of any kind of plot being advanced.
Another problem is that this book ends on something of a cliffhanger, and it makes the entire book seem like a really long, plodding prologue.
I could have forgiven all of this, however, if it lived up to what it seemed to be offering: A pulpy, cheesy, trashy space adventure. Well, we don't even get that. There are no space battles (but the main character does talk his way out of a space battle on more than one occasion), and you could probably count the amount of times a laser gun is fired on one hand. Mostly, the main character is just travelling around the galaxy, buying and selling things, and just hanging out.
It does follow another character around, and her story is a bit more compelling. She is a slave girl that is trying to escape to freedom from her masters (who have something of a hero worship going on for the Marquis De Sade, so you can imaging what they are like). Eventually, however, even her story starts to slow to a crawl as Offutt does his best to pad this book out as much as he possibly can to hit his word count.
There is a lot of sex in this book but, like many of Offutt's other books, its reputation for sleaze is probably stronger than its actual content. Most of the sex scenes are "fade to black" teases. Also, in the tradition of Offutt (or at least what I have read from him) there are some rape and torture scenes that some people might be uncomfortable with.
So, in the end, this was quite a letdown. Offutt wrote a ton of these Spaceways novels, but I honestly don't know if it would be worth continuing with the series unless I needed something to help me get to sleep.
On the surface, it looks and sounds great. It has a cheesy cover and the main character is a space pirate that literally dresses like a pirate. It wears its influences (namely John Norman's Gor and the Marquis De Sade) on its sleeve. In the end, however, this book was a whole lot of nothing.
The first problem is that most of the book is just Offutt (John Cleve is a pseudonym for prolific paperback sleaze writer Andrew Offutt) just filling space here. A lot of the time there is just a whole lot of nothing happening instead of any kind of plot being advanced.
Another problem is that this book ends on something of a cliffhanger, and it makes the entire book seem like a really long, plodding prologue.
I could have forgiven all of this, however, if it lived up to what it seemed to be offering: A pulpy, cheesy, trashy space adventure. Well, we don't even get that. There are no space battles (but the main character does talk his way out of a space battle on more than one occasion), and you could probably count the amount of times a laser gun is fired on one hand. Mostly, the main character is just travelling around the galaxy, buying and selling things, and just hanging out.
It does follow another character around, and her story is a bit more compelling. She is a slave girl that is trying to escape to freedom from her masters (who have something of a hero worship going on for the Marquis De Sade, so you can imaging what they are like). Eventually, however, even her story starts to slow to a crawl as Offutt does his best to pad this book out as much as he possibly can to hit his word count.
There is a lot of sex in this book but, like many of Offutt's other books, its reputation for sleaze is probably stronger than its actual content. Most of the sex scenes are "fade to black" teases. Also, in the tradition of Offutt (or at least what I have read from him) there are some rape and torture scenes that some people might be uncomfortable with.
So, in the end, this was quite a letdown. Offutt wrote a ton of these Spaceways novels, but I honestly don't know if it would be worth continuing with the series unless I needed something to help me get to sleep.
February 25, 2023
OF ALIEN BONDAGE - the first foray into galactic sex trafficking introduces Captain Jonuta of the spaceship Coronet, as he, and his crew of sexpots suffering from Stockholm syndrome traverse the stars in search of new and exotic cattle to feed the many 'Procurer's' planet-side greed for wealth and near unquenchable lust for firm, pliable bodies.
A routine stop on the 'protected' plant of Aglaya (protected planets are those which are considered 'non-tech', or are inhabited by beings of lower intelligent lifeform), pays dividends thanks to crew members Srith and Arel kidnapping the short of stature, but buxom Janja, a pale skinned and fair haired anomaly (at least to the planets frequented by Jonuta and crew) who would fetch a high sum on the open market. However, Arel's mistake in vaporising Janja's 'lifemate' planet-side would later prove costly...
You wouldn't think this rapey/porno inspired galactic romp would have much depth, however that's far from the case. Sure, John Cleve's sexualised space opera isn't exactly high end literature but it does have a decent 'woman scorned / revenge' theme complimented by a strong, independent character in Janja who, despite her wanton ways (this is something she steadily discovers throughout the book), is a character with a fair amount of depth and personality; not just a sexpot or plaything as advertised in the early phase of the story.
Captain Jonuta, for his part, suffers from a bipolar disorder of sorts. It feels like the author wanted him to be a bad guy (he is a sex trafficker on a galactic scale after all) but then flips the script with attempts to make him more hero (like when he realises attempting to rape Janja isn't a nice thing to do - she should want him on her own terms (he's sure she will eventually), and then later realising that selling her to a couple of sadistic types wasn't in Janja's best interest (you think?), so he really should attempt to rescue her)), nevertheless the change in direction for Jonuta was fun to read, especially knowing that Janja was plotting his downfall should he actually end up 'rescuing her'.
OF ALIEN BONDAGE gets the Spaceways series off to a good start. You can see that the books in the series will have returning characters and planets visited time and again. The first book in the series does a good job at world building both in characters and locales. I'm excited to see how the dynamic plays out between Janja and Captain Jonuta in later installments.
This review first appeared on my site: http://justaguywholikes2read.blogspot...
A routine stop on the 'protected' plant of Aglaya (protected planets are those which are considered 'non-tech', or are inhabited by beings of lower intelligent lifeform), pays dividends thanks to crew members Srith and Arel kidnapping the short of stature, but buxom Janja, a pale skinned and fair haired anomaly (at least to the planets frequented by Jonuta and crew) who would fetch a high sum on the open market. However, Arel's mistake in vaporising Janja's 'lifemate' planet-side would later prove costly...
You wouldn't think this rapey/porno inspired galactic romp would have much depth, however that's far from the case. Sure, John Cleve's sexualised space opera isn't exactly high end literature but it does have a decent 'woman scorned / revenge' theme complimented by a strong, independent character in Janja who, despite her wanton ways (this is something she steadily discovers throughout the book), is a character with a fair amount of depth and personality; not just a sexpot or plaything as advertised in the early phase of the story.
Captain Jonuta, for his part, suffers from a bipolar disorder of sorts. It feels like the author wanted him to be a bad guy (he is a sex trafficker on a galactic scale after all) but then flips the script with attempts to make him more hero (like when he realises attempting to rape Janja isn't a nice thing to do - she should want him on her own terms (he's sure she will eventually), and then later realising that selling her to a couple of sadistic types wasn't in Janja's best interest (you think?), so he really should attempt to rescue her)), nevertheless the change in direction for Jonuta was fun to read, especially knowing that Janja was plotting his downfall should he actually end up 'rescuing her'.
OF ALIEN BONDAGE gets the Spaceways series off to a good start. You can see that the books in the series will have returning characters and planets visited time and again. The first book in the series does a good job at world building both in characters and locales. I'm excited to see how the dynamic plays out between Janja and Captain Jonuta in later installments.
This review first appeared on my site: http://justaguywholikes2read.blogspot...
July 29, 2019
What could be better than a sexy space pirate adventure filled with rollicking space battles, blaster pistols, and intrigue among rival factions? Dunno but this novel certainly ain't it.
John Cleve is actually prolific science fiction and fantasy author Andrew J. Offutt. He is known for his erotic plots and this book certainly offers some but methinks the series' reputation for that is greater than what is actually on the page. There are some detailed sex scenes but mostly they occur off stage or are more of a tease than anything else.
There are two main characters here but only one, Janja, a captured girl from Aglaya who is sold into slavery, has any character build up at all. The pirate, Capt Jonuta, spends most of the novel doing pretty much nothing. No space battles, no pirate adventure, nothing but carrying out his business activities and dallying with an assortment of human and alien lovers.
The end picked up a plot of sorts as Janja makes a plan to get even with Jonuta and I may sample book two just to see if that plot goes anywhere but I sure hope there is more substance than examining futuristic sociology among various species like this one did.
John Cleve is actually prolific science fiction and fantasy author Andrew J. Offutt. He is known for his erotic plots and this book certainly offers some but methinks the series' reputation for that is greater than what is actually on the page. There are some detailed sex scenes but mostly they occur off stage or are more of a tease than anything else.
There are two main characters here but only one, Janja, a captured girl from Aglaya who is sold into slavery, has any character build up at all. The pirate, Capt Jonuta, spends most of the novel doing pretty much nothing. No space battles, no pirate adventure, nothing but carrying out his business activities and dallying with an assortment of human and alien lovers.
The end picked up a plot of sorts as Janja makes a plan to get even with Jonuta and I may sample book two just to see if that plot goes anywhere but I sure hope there is more substance than examining futuristic sociology among various species like this one did.
August 31, 2020
Adult science fiction, what can you say?
I give it 3 stars - but IMO I'd give it 6 stars if we did 1-10. On 5 scale printed to fit Ghostwritten trash is 1-2, Lin Carter, most passable books of the paperback boom 3, Steven King and HPL 4 - then Gene Wolfe, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E Howard, Lord Dunsany - they should be 5 or MORE.
Good solid readable plot - exciting and with XXX material but not limited only to XXX material.
Ok story, fun to read besides the oomph.
I like this series, though some obviously hate it. Found a few of these books in a used bookstore and was way too young to fake my age to get pornography so... That's how I discovered my like of "Grindhouse" movies...
This particular one sets the stage for the series, introducing main characters and the universe told through the eyes (and body) of the platinum blonde 'slavegirl' who no is not "Gor fodder".
I give it 3 stars - but IMO I'd give it 6 stars if we did 1-10. On 5 scale printed to fit Ghostwritten trash is 1-2, Lin Carter, most passable books of the paperback boom 3, Steven King and HPL 4 - then Gene Wolfe, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E Howard, Lord Dunsany - they should be 5 or MORE.
Good solid readable plot - exciting and with XXX material but not limited only to XXX material.
Ok story, fun to read besides the oomph.
I like this series, though some obviously hate it. Found a few of these books in a used bookstore and was way too young to fake my age to get pornography so... That's how I discovered my like of "Grindhouse" movies...
This particular one sets the stage for the series, introducing main characters and the universe told through the eyes (and body) of the platinum blonde 'slavegirl' who no is not "Gor fodder".
December 21, 2023
Hasn't aged well on a number of axes. The writing is decent, but it seems poised on the knife's edge between good-hearted, care-free depravity and trying to be an actual narrative. It falls far to the latter side of that equation, but with the weird baggage of occasionally featuring some of the former in a book that is otherwise mostly about the intergalactic slave trade. A weird experience all around, but one that was popular enough to spawn more than a dozen sequels, so what do I know?
January 16, 2020
I am a huge fan of classic sci-fi, so when this title passed in front of me, I could not resist. 40 pages in, I kinda wished I had. Considering the author's other works, I did expect more of an interesting store and more well developed characters.
The writing was actually good, but there wasn't all that much here to write about.
The writing was actually good, but there wasn't all that much here to write about.
May 28, 2018
Okay read. Not outstanding but entertaining.
July 12, 2018
Erotic Sci-fi by Andy Offut, competently written, but a bit forced, and not terribly interesting.
September 11, 2019
Penulis membuat referens kepada 'bermain Gor' yang kebetulan siri buku saya sudah ulas sebelum ini (awas, tanggungan sendiri untuk kaji NSFW). Tidak hairan ia kerana siri Gor asalnya terbit 1966 dan buku ini 1982, tetapi ia semacam meramal apabila akhirnya Gor menjadi subkultur atau cabang budaya di sebelah barat pada abad ke 21.
Terus kepada resensi, buku ini bertemakan penghambaan serupa seperti Gor. Namun unsur penerangan aktivitinya jauh lebih mendalam dan berat, seperti novel-novel romance. Ada beberapa bab khusus kepada aktiviti berjenis sadistik, ugh loya saya membacanya.
TLDR, saya tak habiskan baca.
Terus kepada resensi, buku ini bertemakan penghambaan serupa seperti Gor. Namun unsur penerangan aktivitinya jauh lebih mendalam dan berat, seperti novel-novel romance. Ada beberapa bab khusus kepada aktiviti berjenis sadistik, ugh loya saya membacanya.
TLDR, saya tak habiskan baca.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews