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And Once More Saw The Stars
When Eva offers to follow Lilith all the way to the Ninth Circle of Hell, she has no idea what kind of promise she’s making.
Shaitan has been holding Lilith’s soul captive for thousands of years, and he is determined to stop their descent any way he can. As they begin their journey into the depths of Sheol, Eva and Lilith must seek the aid of some very strange companions: the free-spirited Lady Godiva, the willful pirate Grace O’Malley, and the Archangel Michael himself.
With monsters of legend lurking in the darkness and personally-tailored temptations waiting at every turn, they must trust each other completely in order to retrieve Lilith’s soul and escape the Inferno with their lives.
Shaitan has been holding Lilith’s soul captive for thousands of years, and he is determined to stop their descent any way he can. As they begin their journey into the depths of Sheol, Eva and Lilith must seek the aid of some very strange companions: the free-spirited Lady Godiva, the willful pirate Grace O’Malley, and the Archangel Michael himself.
With monsters of legend lurking in the darkness and personally-tailored temptations waiting at every turn, they must trust each other completely in order to retrieve Lilith’s soul and escape the Inferno with their lives.
237 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 29, 2014
3 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
About the author
Rae D. Magdon
28 books283 followersRae D. Magdon is an author of queer lesbian fiction. Her stories celebrate lesbian, bisexual, queer, and trans women falling in love, and she cares deeply about including characters of color in her work. In addition to publishing novels about all kinds of women and their adventures, she has an extensive fanfiction collection available for free online.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 22, 2015
Let me start by saying I love this authour. Rae has a knack for getting into characters' heads, showing the tension within a character, as well as writing great interactions between characters. If you like well-written characters, even if you're not into the F/F domme/sub dynamic she favours (and the optional cock stuff), you'll still likely enjoy the other aspects of her work (original and fan fiction). Go ahead and give her other stuff a try - if you're up for it. GIANT NSFW warning to almost everything.
Because I love her other stories so much, my expectations and standards were high. Sadly, And Once More Saw The Stars didn't reach the heights I thought it would. That's not to say it's a bad book, but it isn't one I'd recommend to anyone, either. Unless you have an itch for Rae's particular brand of steamy. This book is illustrated by the way. Yep... *smirks*
Aaaanyway.
The references and characters brought in had potential, except Lady Godiva felt bland, and... what's-her-name... The pirate lady... Well, she was entertaining but she only popped up near the end so there wasn't enough time to get attached to her (or for the characters to get as attached to her as they did). The descent through the rings of Hell grew tiresome and I found myself emotionally detached from the dangers and obstacles they had to overcome on their journey to get Lilith's soul back.
Speaking of Lilith - or more specifically, Lilith and Eva - I wasn't feeling it. The story starts when the couple are about to enter the Underworld and, even though that seems like as good a place as any to begin a story, I already felt lost. I kept checking to make sure I hadn't accidentally skipped pages or that this wasn't the sequel to something else. I don't mind meeting characters in an already established relationship. I don't mind being dropped into a story in medias res. What I don't like is feeling like I never found my footing with their relationship. Sure, I know they love each other, but I still don't really know why or how or when. And to be honest, that would have made for a more interesting story than following them through the Nine Rings.
A soulless succubus sentenced to wandering the earth for all eternity meets and falls in love with a human, who she's terrified she'll use her seductive powers to take advantage of.
I mourn for the story that could have been. AOMSTS is sorely missing a backstory that, unfortunately, wasn't adequately revealed within the present adventure. Because of that, the emotional connection between reader and characters was, frankly, nonexistent in my case. The stakes didn't matter to me because I didn't know the characters well enough to care. And it's so sad that I'm saying this about a Rae D Magdon story!
What else...
If you're thinking of reading any of Rae's fics and you haven't before, READ HER WARNINGS FIRST! She posts them everywhere, so don't just jump in without knowing what to expect. She's a talented writer, but her style of NSFW isn't for everyone. It took me some time to get used to the way her scenes play out, but for me personally, it was worth it for her character work.
But back to this book.
Overall, it's a "meh" story that would have been better off if it'd been about the characters meeting rather than a descent into Hell. But, since it's based on Dante's Inferno, well... Unfortunately, this story lacks the solid character work and interactions that I've come to expect from the writer. I didn't feel anything (except maybe the desire for it to end). Skip this one. Go read The Second Sister instead.
Because I love her other stories so much, my expectations and standards were high. Sadly, And Once More Saw The Stars didn't reach the heights I thought it would. That's not to say it's a bad book, but it isn't one I'd recommend to anyone, either. Unless you have an itch for Rae's particular brand of steamy. This book is illustrated by the way. Yep... *smirks*
Aaaanyway.
The references and characters brought in had potential, except Lady Godiva felt bland, and... what's-her-name... The pirate lady... Well, she was entertaining but she only popped up near the end so there wasn't enough time to get attached to her (or for the characters to get as attached to her as they did). The descent through the rings of Hell grew tiresome and I found myself emotionally detached from the dangers and obstacles they had to overcome on their journey to get Lilith's soul back.
Speaking of Lilith - or more specifically, Lilith and Eva - I wasn't feeling it. The story starts when the couple are about to enter the Underworld and, even though that seems like as good a place as any to begin a story, I already felt lost. I kept checking to make sure I hadn't accidentally skipped pages or that this wasn't the sequel to something else. I don't mind meeting characters in an already established relationship. I don't mind being dropped into a story in medias res. What I don't like is feeling like I never found my footing with their relationship. Sure, I know they love each other, but I still don't really know why or how or when. And to be honest, that would have made for a more interesting story than following them through the Nine Rings.
A soulless succubus sentenced to wandering the earth for all eternity meets and falls in love with a human, who she's terrified she'll use her seductive powers to take advantage of.
I mourn for the story that could have been. AOMSTS is sorely missing a backstory that, unfortunately, wasn't adequately revealed within the present adventure. Because of that, the emotional connection between reader and characters was, frankly, nonexistent in my case. The stakes didn't matter to me because I didn't know the characters well enough to care. And it's so sad that I'm saying this about a Rae D Magdon story!
What else...
If you're thinking of reading any of Rae's fics and you haven't before, READ HER WARNINGS FIRST! She posts them everywhere, so don't just jump in without knowing what to expect. She's a talented writer, but her style of NSFW isn't for everyone. It took me some time to get used to the way her scenes play out, but for me personally, it was worth it for her character work.
But back to this book.
Overall, it's a "meh" story that would have been better off if it'd been about the characters meeting rather than a descent into Hell. But, since it's based on Dante's Inferno, well... Unfortunately, this story lacks the solid character work and interactions that I've come to expect from the writer. I didn't feel anything (except maybe the desire for it to end). Skip this one. Go read The Second Sister instead.
April 3, 2017
3.5 stars
This review is coming from the viewpoint of an Atheist lesbian that has never read "Dante's Inferno" (unfortunately). Considering everything, I thought this book was okay. There's a lot of imagination here but I kept wishing for more emotion and intimacy than was given.
Basically, Lilith is a succubus called "The First One", ie the first creature in hell after Satan, that must enter and surpass the nine circles of hell to retrieve her soul. Eva, her girlfriend, is there to assist her on her journey. The story is based on "Dante's Inferno" and Botticelli's accompanying illustrations. Magdon went so far as to have an illustrator for this book, as well, which I thought was pretty cool.
The story starts as if we were already several chapters into the book and I liked that quite a bit. So many books drag getting to the point and this one doesn't do that. What I was hoping for, though, were more details dropped here and there along the way so we could build in our minds what lead up to the beginning. What's at stake? Why should I care about these two? Why does Lilith even need her soul in the first place? Eventually, we get some vague idea for the answers but we're missing the details.
Also, the first 70% of the book is mainly Lilith and Eva and their guide having conversations about what each circle is and why the creatures or people are presented in the way that they are. Then, of course, it's about them fighting off "the boss" of that level. Unfortunately, none of this really gives intimacy or too much character. Think of an action film and you'll get what I mean. I wanted Lilith and Eva to have conversations about each other, about their past, how each other felt...you know, get inside their heads and find out what pulls these two together. I FINALLY felt something in this respect about 85-90% of the way into the book. Way too long.
There are a handful of explicit sex scenes and many are in the style of Futanari (ie, Lilith grows a fully functioning phallus and uses it to its full glory). Because of that, it may not appeal to some people. There's also a scene later on that involves voyeurism to the point where I was getting uncomfortable and wondering what the heck the author had in mind for putting the scene into the book. Luckily, that was the impetus for the first real intimate conversation Lilith and Eva have that is 85-90% of the way through the story. Finally! Woohoo! The bummer for me is that because the intimacy just wasn't there many of the scenes felt empty and gratuitous.
As an Atheist, it was strange to me that the story is this odd mix of Christianity and Greek Mythology. The book basically pushes a Christian agenda as "the one" true religion...or at least the one that is saving Lilith but each of the circles of hell are run by characters from Greek Mythology so they both exist together in this convoluted way. I actually liked that aspect. lol. By the way, I don't think Magdon is pushing Christianity. I think that's her sticking to the original premise (or I'm assuming so).
All and all, there's a lot of imagination here, a good twist on an original piece of work but it's missing substance that I really craved.
This review is coming from the viewpoint of an Atheist lesbian that has never read "Dante's Inferno" (unfortunately). Considering everything, I thought this book was okay. There's a lot of imagination here but I kept wishing for more emotion and intimacy than was given.
Basically, Lilith is a succubus called "The First One", ie the first creature in hell after Satan, that must enter and surpass the nine circles of hell to retrieve her soul. Eva, her girlfriend, is there to assist her on her journey. The story is based on "Dante's Inferno" and Botticelli's accompanying illustrations. Magdon went so far as to have an illustrator for this book, as well, which I thought was pretty cool.
The story starts as if we were already several chapters into the book and I liked that quite a bit. So many books drag getting to the point and this one doesn't do that. What I was hoping for, though, were more details dropped here and there along the way so we could build in our minds what lead up to the beginning. What's at stake? Why should I care about these two? Why does Lilith even need her soul in the first place? Eventually, we get some vague idea for the answers but we're missing the details.
Also, the first 70% of the book is mainly Lilith and Eva and their guide having conversations about what each circle is and why the creatures or people are presented in the way that they are. Then, of course, it's about them fighting off "the boss" of that level. Unfortunately, none of this really gives intimacy or too much character. Think of an action film and you'll get what I mean. I wanted Lilith and Eva to have conversations about each other, about their past, how each other felt...you know, get inside their heads and find out what pulls these two together. I FINALLY felt something in this respect about 85-90% of the way into the book. Way too long.
There are a handful of explicit sex scenes and many are in the style of Futanari (ie, Lilith grows a fully functioning phallus and uses it to its full glory). Because of that, it may not appeal to some people. There's also a scene later on that involves voyeurism to the point where I was getting uncomfortable and wondering what the heck the author had in mind for putting the scene into the book. Luckily, that was the impetus for the first real intimate conversation Lilith and Eva have that is 85-90% of the way through the story. Finally! Woohoo! The bummer for me is that because the intimacy just wasn't there many of the scenes felt empty and gratuitous.
As an Atheist, it was strange to me that the story is this odd mix of Christianity and Greek Mythology. The book basically pushes a Christian agenda as "the one" true religion...or at least the one that is saving Lilith but each of the circles of hell are run by characters from Greek Mythology so they both exist together in this convoluted way. I actually liked that aspect. lol. By the way, I don't think Magdon is pushing Christianity. I think that's her sticking to the original premise (or I'm assuming so).
All and all, there's a lot of imagination here, a good twist on an original piece of work but it's missing substance that I really craved.
February 18, 2015
Demon lesbian inferno!
The historical and biblical references were awesome. My only thing would be I would of personally loved to see how they both met and the moment that brought Lilith to repentance, of even in the way of flashbacks. But overall, it was awesome.
The historical and biblical references were awesome. My only thing would be I would of personally loved to see how they both met and the moment that brought Lilith to repentance, of even in the way of flashbacks. But overall, it was awesome.
November 16, 2022
This book kept me wanting more. Not only was there plenty of adventure as the characters battled their way through the circles of hell, but there were several highly erotic, dark sex scenes. This was one of my first experiences with futanari, and I can see the appeal to it if you're in the mood for that kind of thing.
October 3, 2019
Fun read
I enjoyed this book and the different circles of hell. I loved lilith being able to shift her body and all that means.
I enjoyed this book and the different circles of hell. I loved lilith being able to shift her body and all that means.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews