I Love it When io9 Brings the Kink!

It's no secret that io9 is one of my guilty pleasures . . . one of the few sites I make a conscious effort to check every morning because it embraces the entire media spectrum of books, movies, television, comics, manga, etc.

Every once in a while, they like to do a story on weird or inappropriate works of science fiction and fantasy. In most cases, the articles are fairly well-balanced between celebration and condemnation, but it's the books they're the harshest on that always seem to catch my attention.

Yeah, big surprise, right? I mean, my literary tastes are just so mainstream. LOL

Anyway, here are a few of the books I immediately added to my TBR pile, along with the original comments (I've included links to the original io9 stories below).

1. Pleasure Unbound (Demonica, Book 1) by Larissa Ione
Two words: aphrodisiac sperm. If the Incubus Eidolon ejaculates on you, you will be driven mad by lust and passion, and basically become his thrall. All of this basically adds up to lots and lots of demony sex.

Verdict? Since there are already 5 books in the series, I'm hitting the used bookstore tomorrow at lunch!

2. Touched By Venom : Book One of the Dragon Temple Saga by Janine Cross
There are a lot of scenes in which the main character, Zarq, gets weird visions from the hallucinogenic saliva of a dragon. And the absolute best way to get a good dose of dragon spit turns out to be... well... dragon oral sex.

Verdict? Found this one in the used bookstore on my way home.

3. Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey
The first novel in a trilogy about Phedre, a spy/courtesan [with the] ability to experience pain as intense sexual pleasure. You'd be surprised how many times erotic masochism comes in handy.

Verdict? Already read it . . . and loved it! Time to stop procrastinating and get on with the rest of the series.

4. High Couch of Silistra (Returning creation) by Janet Morris
Our heroine is a prostitute (a noble calling on her world) who holds the "high couch" of her town - basically, she's the sex duchess. Unfortunately she's always being kidnapped or taken to other worlds where she's tied up, forced to have degrading sex, and (of course) has lots of tearful, shame-faced orgasms.

Verdict? Found this one in the used bookstore on my way home as well - it was a rewarding stop.

5. Captive of Gor (Gorean Saga) by John Norman
About a nerdy academic who travels to a parallel world called Gor where all women are in bondage and all men can have their way with these collared, scantily-clad lovelies.

Verdict? Don't tell anyone, but I'm already about 20 books into the series (blush).

6. The Velderet: A Cybersex S/M Serial by Cecilia Tan
About two people who go into a virtual world to find partners for the BDSM sex that's forbidden on their repressive planet. But then a race of aliens arrive to conquer their planet, and not only do these aliens practice kinky sex, but it's the foundation for their entire social system.

Verdict? Just ordered it online - now all I have to do is hope Canada Post doesn't follow through on their strike threat.

For all the io9 goodness, however, it's sometimes the commentors who have the real scoop:

7. The Fermata by Nicholson Baker
It may not have aliens or space travel, but stopping time very much makes it sci-fi to me.
And it definitely brings the kink.

Verdict? I have this on my shelf somewhere. Might be time to finally dig it out.

8. Spaceways 1 Of Alien (Spaceways Series, No. 1) by John Cleve
Includes lots of interstellar slavery, hermaphroditic aliens and general kinkiness.

 Verdict? The covers alone are so full of pulpy goodness that these definitely go on my used bookstore shopping list.

9. Chthon by  Piers Anthony
Makes masochism and spiritual bondage look fun.

Verdict? I`ve never been a huge PA fan, but I have this on my shelf somewhere too. Time to dig it out.

10. Dead Girls, Dead Boys, Dead Things by Richard Calder
In which a nano-plague converts pubescent girls into undead, vampiric sex dolls with quantum-mechanical wombs. The protagonist is a doll addict on the run with his doll girlfriend and most of the surreal plot takes place in Bangkok, probably the world capital of kink.
 

Verdict? As it so happens, I just picked this up last month.

 

11. Futaba-kun Change: Not For Sale by Hiroshi Aro
Titillating manga about gender-switching characters are a dime a dozen, but most of them are really heteronormative as hell ... A shining exception to the rule is Hiroshi Aro's Futaba-kun Change, a manga which could have been written by Rocky Horror Show creator Richard O'Brien.

Verdict? I don`t read a lot of manga, but this definitely joins Kim, Seyoung's Boy Princess Vol. 1on my shopping list.

As promised, the original stories can be found here (with even more interesting reads):

10 Fantasy Sagas That Are Wronger Than Twilight
Ten of the Kinkiest Science Fiction Books You'll Ever Read
5 Brilliantly Perverted Manga

So, what are you waiting for? Get reading, and share your kinky/weird/bizarre reads in the comments section below!
♥