Slave Master's Choice by Kimberly Gardner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is a bit of a hard one to rate for me, mainly because I a) love slave fic, b) love fantasy, and c) really wanted to love this book. I enjoyed some parts of it, including a couple of the characterizations, but everything just felt a bit slight. The story begins from Alejandro's point of view, but switches to that of Kedmund, and for the most part, Kedmund is the much more prominent narrator. Normally I don't mind any kind of switching perspectives, but in this case, the switching really alienated me from the characters. Thus, I never really felt as though I understood Alejandro, and so it was difficult to understand the relationship at the center of the book. There were so many characters that could have been fleshed out more, which would have made for a much more compelling narrative. Overall, the book just felt rushed to me, and I don't think anyone's motives were really developed enough. Finally, I really never really felt any sense of oppression or danger to Alejandro or the other slaves. Almost all of the encounters that Alejandro has with the king and then the prince are all off stage, so for me I never felt any tension centering around his life as a slave. Definitely 2.5 stars.
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Thanks I'm part way through this and so far I really don't like anyone. I think I might just skip this. I also love slave fic but this is just silly. He's walking through the town in the beginning and they just grab him?? It made no real sense.
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