Originally published by Masquerade Books in the early 1990s under the pseudonym Sara Adamson, this superb trilogy has been translated into a number of foreign languages and has been brought back into print by Mystic Rose Books. The Marketplace is the first book in the series. In it, you learn about the Marketplace, an institution through which the wealthy elite purchase willing slaves for set periods of times. The story is told from the viewpoint of four prospective slaves as they undergo their initial training. The second book in the series, The Slave, is the best of the original trilogy. It follows one slave, Robin Cassidy, through her discovery of the Marketplace, training, auction, and first contract. The Trainer falls a bit short of the other two, but still far outshines almost all other bdsm erotica. Antoniou sets up her main character, Michael LaGuardia, as a straw man to make her points, and presents a rather uncomplimentary depiction of bdsm as practiced by those who have rejected the Old Guard way, especially New Age Californians. The second edition is a considerable improvement on ths first. Antoniou cleaned up some rough spots, smoothed out the plot, and further explained the philisophical differences between Anderson/Parker and Negel and the Californians. These three books remain the best bdsm erotica on the market today.

The fourth book in the series, The Academy (2000), intersperces short erotic stories by a variety of authors inside the novel. It is an interesting appraoch that sometimes works well but more often is jarring and disrupts and flow of the novel since most of them have little or nothing to do with the plot of the novel. The main storyline is a continuation of the Trainer and focuses on Chris Parker and his would-be protege. Most of the short stories should have been published in a seperate volume.

The fifth book in the series, The Reunion (Mystic Rose, 2003) is simply superb, and is reviewed in full below.

If you like these, you might also want to read her first book, The Catalyst. Several of the characters introduced in these short stories appear in The Trainer. 

Laura Antoniou's web site.

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After two novels (The Trainer and The Academy) that failed to measure up to their predecessors (The Marketplace and The Slave), Laura Antoniou is back at the top of her game. Already the best SM novelist of her generation, Antoniou has produced a masterpiece that is a joy to read and that sets a new standard for SM fiction. Typical for her work, she tells the story from the viewpoints of a rainbow coalition of characters with differing genders, orientations, and ethnicities, and uses the story to present her ideas on consensual slavery and SM relationships. In seventy short chapters that switch viewpoints seamlessly from character to character, Antoniou develops a sophisticated, multithreaded plot with a variety and quantity of sex scenes that should satisfy every taste. Two characters from previous novels, Chris Parker and Robin Cassidy, play prominent roles in the plot, but the other dozen well-developed characters are new. Hopefully they will return in future books, particularly the charming Nicole MacKensie.

There are some problems with the book (particularly its copy editing and printing), but to enumerate them would be nitpicking of the worst sort. Suffice to say that Antoniou would benefit from better editorial advice than she is getting. The simple fact is that no one has written an SM novel of this sophistication since Anne Rice's Exit to Eden. Unlike Rice's classic, though, Antoniou transcends the genre and offers more than just erotic pleasure. The Reunion is a challenging novel with remarkable insight that would be worth reading even without its expertly presented sex scenes. In a vast sea of purile, simplistic, and repetetive bdsm ficution, Antoniou is one of the few auhors worth reading. Even at her worst she surpasses most of what is written in this genre, and this book is one of her best. It is a must read.

Edith Cadivec, Eros: The Meaning of My Life
(Blue Moon, 1999) Paperback, 192 pages, $7.95

A long out of print classic from the 1920s. For years the only way to get a sample of Cadevic's work was in the excerpt published in S-M: The Last Taboo. This is the memoir of a Viennese schoolmistress with a deep love of corporal punishment, especially canings. Her often poigniant memoir is elegantly written and filled with numerous accounts of strict discipline and chastisement in the Victorian style. Cadivec wrote much of it while serving a six year prison sentence for indulging her sexual desires.

Following on the heels of Coming to Power, this book established Califia as one of our premier writers and the spokeswoman for leather dykes everywhere. It is a collection of her short stories including such classics as the "Calyx of Isis." They remain some of her best works. They are all hard-edged and passionate with street-smart characters who know what they want and how to take it. Somehow Califia always manages to have great sex in a world she paints as dark and grim. 

The first edition sold shrink wrapped with a Macho Sluts button that proved wildly popular. (It also had a much nicer cover.) Maybe the publisher will return to the original cover and bring back the button if people ask. 

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Viscount Ladywood, Gynecocracy
(Masquerade, 1997), paperback, $9.95.

Previously published by Grove Press, this classic is finally back in print. This delightful, Victorian-style tale describes the adventures of Julian who is sent to a very special boarding school. There he experiences all the usual birchings, canings, and other assorted other corporal punishments as well as petticoat discipline. Stubborn at first, he slowly falls in love with the stern headmistress Mademoiselle de Chambonnard. This volume contains all three parts of the original trilogy. This book remains one of the best in this genre and is often imitated by modern writers of pseudo-Victorian boarding school and petticoat discipline stories.

Blue Moon just put out a cheaper edition of this book. It's only $7.96 from Amazon.

Sure they're puerile, adolescent, long-winded, cliche-ridden, sexist, and badly-written, but they have had an amazing influence on the bdsm community. It took Norman until his fifth book, Assassins of Gor, to fully embrace his formula of titillation and male-dominant bdsm, so read from later in the series. The perennial favorites among bdsmers, especially women, are the few female-viewpoint books. The first of these was the seventh of the series, Captive of Gor, in which an innocent librarian is kidnapped to Gor and turned into a helpless sex kitten. Don't feel obligated to read them all. Norman lost what little plot thread he had early in the series and they became the same story told over and over in different settings on Gor--settings that are all based on a comic-book level knowledge of history and anthropology and include Vikings, Inuit, Native Americans, and Arab tribesmen. The books have been out of print for some years, but Masquerade began rereleasing them in the mid-1990s, though unfortunately with new covers rather than the beautiful covers of the Del Rey editions by Boris Valejo.  Masquerade went out of business but a new publisher has begun reissuing them.

Norman's non-Gor novels have not met with much success. These include Time Slave (1975) and Ghost Dance (1979) which are set in pseudo-historical Earth and his ill-fated new series, the Telnarian Histories (The Chieftain, The Captain, and The King) which he wrote in the early 1990s. All feature his same male dominant, female submissive philosophy in a fantasy/science fiction setting. If you think the Gor books are bad, don't even consider these. 

The Gor books in their order in the series

1. Tarnsman of Gor (1967)

2. Outlaw of Gor (1967)

3. Priest-Kings of Gor (1968)

4. Nomads of Gor (1969)

5. Assassin of Gor (1970, Masquerade, 1997),

6. Raiders of Gor  (1971, Masquerade, 1997)

7. Captive of Gor (1972, Masquerade, 1998) 

8. Hunters of Gor (1974, Masquerade, 1998)

9. Marauders of Gor (1975, Masquerade, 1998)

10. Tribesmen of Gor (1976, Masquerade, 1998)

These have yet to be reissued:
11. Slave Girl of Gor (1977) (female protagonist) 
12. Beasts of Gor (1978) 
13. Explorers of Gor (1979) 
14. Fighting Slave of Gor (Jason Marshall book 1) (1980) 
15. Rogue of Gor (Jason Marshall book 2) (1981) 
16. Guardsman of Gor (Jason Marshall book 3) (1981) 
17. Savages of Gor (1982) 
18. Blood Brothers of Gor (1982) 
19. Kajira of Gor (1983) (female protagonist) 
20. Players of Gor (1984) 
21. Mercenaries of Gor (1985) 
22. Dancer of Gor (1985) (female protagonist) 
23. Renegades of Gor (1986)
24. Vagabonds of Gor (1987) 
25. Magicians of Gor (1988)
26. Witness of Gor (2002). A brand new Gor book.

The first two Gor books were made into movies: Gor and Outlaw of Gor. 

This is the book that established John Preston as the preeminent writer of gay bdsm fiction. Originally serialized in Drummer Magazine, it tells the story of an innocent, young newcomer to the leather scene (Jamie) who is accepted as a slave by a mysterious, and extremely wealthy master. Remember, this wasn't quite the overused cliché it is now back then. Jamie endures torment and humiliation at the hands of his harsh, new Master as his training progresses, but is kidnapped by evil slave traders in the midst of it. Mr. Benson has to rescue his property before he's sold off. The kidnapping is a nice touch as it allowed Preston to have consensual and nonconsensual scenes in the same book. The brief Epilogue remains one of the best explications on slave training. After you read this book, be sure to read Califia's essay "Mr. Benson Doesn't Live Here Anymore" in Leatherfolk. 

The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty is a landmark work in bdsm erotica that helped pave the way for the explosion in bdsm publishing of the last few years. It was without a doubt the most important bdsm novel since the Story of O. The writing is excellent and deeply erotic. The fantasy setting is a bit contrived, but that's part of the fun. 

This trilogy is set in mythical land where the Queen requires her vassals to serve in her court as sex slaves for several years before assuming their positions in the feudal hierarchy. As slaves they are required to be always ready for sex; the men always erect. Beauty is woken from her long slumber by the Queen's son who initiates her into this world and her new role as a sex slave to the feudal aristocracy. In the second book, Beauty and several of her fellow disobedient slaves are auctioned off to the village to serve commoners. Beauty has a love affair with a fellow slave. Fellow slave Tristant falls deeply in love with his new master and along with Laurent learns to be a pony. In the third book, Beauty, Laurent and Tristant are kidnapped and taken to a Sultan's court where even stricter and more exotic slavery awaits them, and there Laurent discovers his top side. 

The price at left is for the boxed set of all three. Amazon sells them individually for $10.36. 

1. The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty is available as a book or audio tape ($11.90) 

2. Beauty's Punishment                      3. Beauty's Release

If you can't get enough of the Beauty books, you might also want to pick up the The Roquelaure Reader by Rice's biographer, Katherine Ramsland. It is a complete concordance to this fantasy setting with background on all the characters.

While it is probably true that Rice has never swung a whip at someone, hanging out with John Preston can be quite an education. Unlike the Beauty books, this novel is set in the real world. It follows the adventures of Elliot Slater who signs a two year contract as a slave on an island bdsm paradise. It is not as constantly sexual as the Beauty books, but it is a much better novel. The writing and plot are tighter, and the situations less contrived. Elliot and Mistress Lisa are fully developed as characters, and unlike most erotic works, the plot unfolds naturally based on the characters' histories and personalities. It is markedly different from the movie based upon it. It used to sell as a regular-sized paperback as well. Hopefully it will be reissued in that cheaper format. It is available from Amazon on audio cassette (narrated by Gillian Anderson and Gil Bellows) for the same price as the book. The publisher pulled several of the more erotic scenes. John Preston published them in his anthology Flesh and the Word along with some superb pieces by other erotic writers. 

If you like Rice's style, you should also try Belinda which is her take on Lolita. It is not bdsm, but it is her best erotic writing so far, and she's not planning to write any more erotic books. It is also available on audio. And of course there is always the movie version of the book, which has little similarity to the book other than the names of the characters and the romantic plotline.  

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Published in 1954, this book simultaneously received critical acclaim and widespread condemnation. The publisher concealed the author's true identity for the next four decades. Pauline Reage was revealed to be Dominique Aury, a famous French poet and journalist shortly before she passed away on April 26, 1998. 

Written to spark the interest of her lover and publisher, Jean Paulhan, it is one of the most erotic novels of all time. It is virtually unmatched in its literary sophistication and style. O's lover takes her to Roissy where she is taught total obedience and inducted into a secret organization of masters and their shared slaves. Virtually everything that happens to her has become a staple of modern bdsm practice and fiction from her clothing and deportment to her corset-training, piercing, and branding. 

There was an audio version out for a while, but it has gone out of print. There is also a new translation by John Hand (Blue Moon Books) that sells for about the same price, but I prefer the original. Photographer Doris Kloster has produced a lavishly illustrated version. and Guido Crepax illustrated a three volume version that extends the story. There is also a brief sequel, Return to the Chateau, that includes the short story A Girl in Love. Like most sequels, it is not as good as the original book. 
 

The classic story of a man's obsession to be dominated a beautiful, fur-clad woman. Punished by his aunt (wearing a fur coat) when he was ten years old, Severin finds that as an adult he is mos aroused by "tyranny and cruelty" at the hands of a beautiful woman. He becomes completely infatuated with his "Venus in Furs" enduring a succession of abuses are her hands. Eventually he gives her a signed suicide note promising she can do anything she wants with him. Sacher-Masoch was genuinely interested in masochistic sex and forced his wife to participate in bdsm play. For her perspective on her ten year marriage with Leopold, see:  Wanda von Sacher-Masoch, Confessions of Wanda von Sacher-Masoch.

Venus in Furs was also made into a movie in 1970 and is available on DVD. 

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The association between de Sade and bdsm activities is not likely to disappear anytime soon. His work is actually better read as political and social satire than a guide for bedroom antics, but either way they can be fun. Certainly his most famous work to bdsmers is 120 Days of Sodom (or the School of Libertinage), but I don't suggest it as your first taste of his work. It describes the world's most out of control orgy with copious bloodletting, scat, rape, and murder. It is probably too much for most people. This edition includes a number of his shorter writings as well as Simone de Beauvoir's classic essay "Must We Burn Sade?" 

Probably his best work from a bdsm perspective is Justine, originally subtitled the Misfortunes of Virtue. The newly orphaned Justine is sold to a brothel, but desperate to protect her virtue, escapes only to fall into the hands of depraved monks. She escapes yet again, but her situation continues to worsen as she desperately holds on to her virtue. This Grove Press edition also includes Philosophy in the Bedroom and a few short pieces. The adventures of Justine's sister are chronicled in Juliette, or Vice Amply Rewarded. Juliette takes the opposite tack of her sister, selling her body willingly at every opportunity. She prospers at every turn.

A rather good, short biography of de Sade appeared in SandMUtopian Guardian #29.