some mighty fine wordery. some good humor, too, which I feel is a strength of yours. I even enjoyed the ending where Rob lived. at first I was like aw man no hawt death, but you made it work.

Rob finding out his fantasy wasn't all it was cracked up to be was interesting, but I very much enjoyed Ann going through the highs and lows of her fantasy-come-true, and how complex it can be for someone with cruel and sadistic yearnings. also, Ann's complicated connection with her body, and finally having her fantasies realized and thus getting to be herself in them - really enjoyed that dynamic.

loved every word of this! if there's more, I'm an eager reader for it. typically I go for stories that are more violent and cruel, but the dominant tone here and the way you acknowledge the danger and fragility of being tiny and helpless really worked for me.

just to say, too, that I found this carefully and cleanly written. the action was all very clear in my mind. you gave your characters life and breath. the fetish bits were all very hot, too. I personally appreciated all the MF foot worship, and being bound to a cock is a wonderful fantasy.

thank you for the enjoyable read!

oh I definitely relate to Sharon. what a wonderful character! this story made me laugh, and the ending gave me hope. these are not things I typically go for in a fetish yarn, haha.

this was very enjoyable to read for me, and a unique experience, and I really appreciate that. to me, very fine writing!

very enjoyable. I loved the sense of scale, and the pace. it was a vivid experience. really liked the bleak tone, and how above it all she was. and the peek of her cruel mind at the end - I like to imagine her a week or two later, when it's clear he's never coming back, and letting her mind wander.

I saw a tattoo in edinburgh once. the inclusion of both in this story was interesting for me, but I don't think that was intentional :p

for me, really, I found it beautifully written.

I could read something like this all day long. love how epic and huge the castle is, and how even more colossal the warriors are :D

the fetish action is right up my alley, but I also love what else you tossed in here: samurai masks are a fascination of mine, and a giant warrior with a giant sword is so unfair in the greatest way.

I'll be reading this more than a few times :D

I came over here a few hours ago intending to show this story love, and instead spent those hours hunting down my favorite bits. so I basically just read it again!

this is a truly wonderful story, full of rare delights for me. gideon is a beautiful monster, and his sadism is exciting to be around. I constantly worried for paige, and having mortality toyed with the way it is here is a true pleasure to read.

and oh the violence! wonderfully clear and powerfully erotic. gideon sitting down and devouring his platter of women was such a chilling and delightful scene. some brutal moments here were painted so clearly that my mind reeled to picture them the way your words wanted me to - which made it all the more exciting that I did.

for me, if fetish fiction was published, this story would be placed on a special shelf. I really appreciate these longer works of yours, that are so plot and action rich. I know a story of this size and complexity is a hell of a lot of work, and I thank you for that labor, because this story creates for me an experience that is hard for me to come by, and yet I really yearn for it, so I'm very appreciative for that.

I can only give this five stars officially, but I'm really giving it billions. unlimited stars. I'm going to sit here with a star hose and just constantly shower this story with stars.

here is another story by you that presents a fantasy realm that is instantly believable and knowable and wonderful to explore. if you told me that this was a snippet from a whole fantasy world you had all planned out, I'd believe it. the world that tal lives in felt sprawling, and I especially loved the world building you did here, like when you describe the history of the city of gerveen.

this is quite the lopsided match-up: a tiny knight versus a titanic sorcerer. I really love that setup. it reminds me of where my mind would go when I read fantasy novels, and would let my imagination spin its own take. I had similar fantasies for moiraine and lan from the "wheel of time" books. there's even a moment where she grows into a giant to step over a gate. but I digress - this was really a story that sucked me in, and I was very curious what would happen once the two met.

for me, the ending is absolutely perfect. I love how brutal and cold idaria is, and how she sexually destroys tal without a second thought. the very end, too, was particularly curious. as with all your stories, it left me with plenty to fantasize about. I love how this cycle continues, and now I have to wonder how many came before tal.

another lovely read, thank you!

a wonderfully cruel tale. and it's so nice to revisit the tyrant once more! this vignette is especially affecting for those of us who fawned over her in "the assistant" (myself included). the way this ends... "The saddest part is that there will be more like you. There always are." what a brutal way to dispatch her simpering artist. his infatuation with her is so well set up, knocking him down in this way was a real pleasure.

what a beautifully written crush sequence. I was very jealous of this one. how clear and vivid it is. wonderfully cruel indeed. and the psychological torment really adds to it, for me. I wish I had written it.

and, just like any of your stories, there are many very enjoyable small details here, such as those torches full of writhing people. what a hellish and amazing add. it's always such a pleasure to see what your imagination conjures up!

I'd love to see more vignettes in the tyrant's realm. she is very inspiring. I could read a dozen more. a hundred more! you know... if you've got some time. :p

I've read this twice now, and I know that I will read it again! not to sound like a broken record, but simply wonderful! it does so much with so little. that's the hallmark of a powerfully written story. it's truly a favorite piece of writing for me anywhere.

(I've deleted and reposted this review, just to say, as a sentence was clipped.)

a prequel to "scourge," what an amazing surprise! this is a world of yours that I've spent plenty of my own time daydreaming in, so I was very happy to get more of this one.

I particularly enjoyed how you went about giving us a very character-focused glimpse back into this realm you've created. the first-person perspective is as effective here as it was in the original tale, as our hero contemplates his humanity and lack there of, and the powers he is imbued with, and how he gamed the system to gets those powers. as always I love how you play with these concepts. the moral quandaries that twist your characters about are very enjoyable to read. your world building as also as vivid as ever. I love it when you write sci-fi!

I also really enjoyed learning more about set himself, and the specifics of this universe, and its mechanics. I really love the "scourge" universe, and would happily read many more stories set here. I'm still wondering what happens with bellona and set, down the line! :>

a very enjoyable read. the universe feels very real and imaginative, and the characters breathe. it's great that you've fleshed out the history even more. now I've got even more to daydream over! wonderful words.

what a wonderful read! as it opened, I couldn't help but think of the universes created by neal asher, for instance, or presented in "alien" -- where humanity has become rather detached from its humanity in spreading out to the stars. it's a lovely backdrop for what happens here, and makes the action and ending very believable.

the sex and violence here was lurid in the best way. what vivid scenes. and some of the smallest details were some of the biggest for me -- threads as big as one's finger. the way you write scale, and the experience of being smaller than someone else, or bigger than someone else, powerfully stirs the imagination. and I very much appreciate how the mental states of the characters is constantly oscillating: their trust, and fears, and lust. ethan's thoughts on his latent sadism, and even the idea of seizing power from naomi, especially.

as always, you've created a story that has my own imagination careening off along different paths as I imagine what might happen next. or even what might have happened at certain points, such as ethan rushing for the device from the shower. (well, naomi probably would have kicked his ass rather handily, but still!) like the best stories, the stories that grip me most, I have to be very careful when I read your endings. my eyes have a habit of skipping ahead, but I never quite know how you're going to end one of your tales, and I exhibit a rare amount of control over my scrollbar, for me. as I neared the end, I read every single word as you've laid it down, in order... what a rollercoaster this one was. and in true Nyx fashion, the ride doesn't really end, but instead spirals off into a beautiful void.

thank you for a very satisfying and enjoyable read!