Soldier On by N.J. Lysk (#genderfluid #mpreg #gay)

Wow. This was dark . . . extraordinarily dark . . . but also utterly fascinating. I have a hard time classifying Soldier On as erotica, since so much of the story involves non-consensual sexual abuse, and yet I cannot deny that aspects of it are erotic.

N.J. Lysk walks a very fine line here, but keeps the story from being cruelly exploitative by focusing on Seeran's experience, and making his struggle the focus. As much as part of me wanted the story to turn, I realize that would have been a complete and utter betrayal of the situation.

The story opens with a young solider accepting defeat which, in this world, means submitting to the enemy's sexual needs. There are so many conflicting emotions in the scene, and so many little details so casually dropped into the narrative, you need to read it multiple times to properly appreciate it. It is not until the dungeon scene that follows, however, that we really begin to understand the world in which we find ourselves.

What is that world, and why is it so fascinating? Well, it is a world in which young men can be changed by the taking of a man's seed, allowing them to be naturally impregnated. The biology of it all intrigues me, as does the social aspect - for, once changed, they are forced by society to take on feminine roles, wearing dresses and becoming wives. There is so much to the world I would love to know more about, so many details my imagination is hungry to understand, but what is here . . .  well, it excites me in a way mpreg stories usually do not.

Seeran's story is dark and full of pain, yet marked by fleeting moments of reluctant pleasure. This is not your typical erotic fantasy, neither wish-fulfillment nor cautionary tale. It is a sexually explicit drama about the defeat and the changing of one young man, with a brief exploration of what that means for his future. I look forward to seeing what Lysk does next with The Will of Heaven.

About N.J. Lysk: N.J. Lysk--compulsive reader of all things queer, allergic to silver, and meat eater extraordinaire--decided to write so the werewolves wouldn't eat her brain (metaphorically, they aren't zombies!). 

With a genuine allergy to silver, a preference for werewolves was always a given, but it wasn't until the wonderful world of alphas and omegas that inspiration struck.

N.J. likes British English, Earl grey tea, werewolves, polyamory, hockey, social commentary, and power dynamics (ok, and a lot of sex! :p). She can't stand misused homophones, predictable plots, gender binaries and stereotypes. Also, the Oxford comma.

@NjLysk
https://njlysk.wixsite.com/njlyskauthor

Reviewed by Sally