To Serve and Submit [Paperback]

Susan Wright (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 6, 2007

Marja was born a child of the fens, young, beautiful, and free. Her days were spent working with her poor family and communing with the ethereal olfs-the playful spirits of the land-until Lexander, a procurer for the pleasure house of Vidaris, comes to her small village and purchases her from her father.

At Vidaris, Marja is schooled as a slave in the arts of seduction and carnal delight-and discovers her nature as a true submissive. But when Lexander grants Marja her freedom, she finds herself swept away in a torrent of betrayal and intrigue that threatens her beloved land. And Marja will have to use all her strength, skills, and cunning to survive in the war that is about to engulf them all.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set in a vaguely Nordic world that eventually comes into better focus, Wright's tepid erotic fantasy, the first in a two-book series, follows the adventures of Marja, "born a wild child of the fens," who willingly leaves her backwater home to become a pleasure slave. True to formula, Marja falls in love with her master, Lexander, who returns her love and eventually sets her free. Marja seeks help from a young noblewoman, Silveta, to whom Marja brings both salvation and misfortune. When Silveta's chieftain husband is murdered, our heroes must undertake a journey to save Silveta from the foul warlord Birgir Barfoot. A climactic battle proves more exciting than most of the carnal encounters, which are oddly coy, nearly sexless and brief. One can only hope that Wright (Slaves Unchained) will turn up the heat in the sequel. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

A child of the fens, Marja spent her days running wild, searching for bog iron for the family, and talking with olfs--spirits of the land who helped and guided her and anyone else who acknowledged them. One day a beautiful man in a huge ship bought Marja from her father. The olfs liked Lexander, and Marja wanted new experiences, so she went willingly. But Lexander is a procurer for the pleasure houses near Vidaris, to which Marja is sent to become a pleasure-giver and is found to be that rara avis, a natural submissive. She falls for Lexander, and he for her, but at a tribal council, she is drawn into a political minefield that makes her run for her life. Used to being told what to do, she must call upon resources and skills she never knew she had to save herself, her land, and the noblewoman she accompanies. The olfs and Marja's sex slavery add a lot to a run-of-the-mill adventure, though a few characters are very well developed, too. Paula Luedtke
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Roc (February 6, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 045146138X
• ISBN-13: 978-0451461384
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,590,271 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Susan Wright is the author of science fiction and fantasy novels as well as nonfiction books on art and popular culture. New York City is her home, where she lives with her husband Kelly Beaton. After graduating from Arizona State University in 1986, Susan moved to Manhattan to get her masters from New York University. Susan is the founder and spokseperson for the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom, a national organization committed to protecting freedom of sexual expression among consenting adults.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Warm and Erotic, April 17, 2006

By 

MooncatX "aka lunafelis" (the Midwest) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: To Serve and Submit (Paperback)

This is a warm read, with unusual sexual encounters, but while erotically set up, it's not all that graphic (to me at least) -- I thought the heroine was likeable, if simplistic in her ambitions. A kind and uncomplicated girl who is very sexually responsive. The world building interesting, with a bronze age appeal, a bit of fantasy with spirits and elementals that our heroine is able to see and sometimes bargain with and hints of science fiction that are more a lead into the sequel.

I found it charming and a quick read. Perhaps a bit pricey at fourteen dollars but with the Amazon discount it's a good buy for those who like their reading pleasures a little spicy.

The main character is a pleasure slave, who truly takes satisfaction is serving and giving pleasure. However there are some characters who are *censored* and there are some not overly graphic depictions of rape, and ultimately the worst offenders go to a bad end, while our heroes triumph. Includes self sex, menege/group sex, elements of bondage and discipline.

I liked it.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars soft-core fantasy for the sexually adventuresome, May 5, 2006

By 

TammyJo Eckhart "TammyJo Eckhart" (Bloomington, Indiana United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: To Serve and Submit (Paperback)

Let me start by saying that the sexual roles in this book do not match my own so someone else who leans toward the female submissive/male dominant model may find this book more intriguing than I. "To Serve and Submit" is a cross between fantasy and erotica, a cross necessary to get published by mainstream ROC but which may result in confusion between the two audiences. This review is designed to explain the story to both groups. Susan Wright focuses very well on the development of Marja, a young woman from a backwater community whose father sells her for cattle. Following the wishes of others with greater supernatural power of her own comes naturally to her; following mere human commands seems to follow with just a bit of training. Marja grows from innocent to leader in the course of the novel, not finding happiness in slavery so much as power in her ability to bent or stand firm as the need arises. Throughout the book I could well understand why so many people are attracted to and jealous of Marja but I frankly could not understand what she sees in the main male character, Lexander who seems to grow weaker as the plot continues. I entitled this "soft core" for two reasons. First, unlike many fantasy novels I am used to there are none of the technical layouts of maps, dictionaries, or even large scale digressions into "history" -- depending on your taste this may be a plus or a minus. Secondly, I must disagree with another reviewer: the sex scenes here are not explicit. Using non-standard English terms of sexual organs and sexual energy, Writght pushes the edge of what many mainstream publishers will print unless the sex is displayed negatively but for those used to reading erotica and [...] the scenes may seem short and rather undetailed. Readers should also note that Wright's fantasy world is not a kind one for most members of it -- women are ill treated routinely (there are at least 3 rapes) and the poor or young or pushed down without concern -- but the world is not a nice place folks, especially one where traditional religion is fighting off a new monotheistic one.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars To Serva and to Snore., August 4, 2007

By 

BAR-1 "Werewolf Wrangler and Sierra Mist bott... (Detroit, MI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: To Serve and Submit (Paperback)

S&M should not be this boring.

I borrowed this from a friend, who even admitted herself that she couldn't bring herself to finish it. I wasn't even stalwart enough to get to the point were she gave up in frustration. When I'm reading through a laundry list of kinks, and the scenes they're portrayed in are so bland that I'm not stimulated on any level? You've done something wrong.

But perhaps the first hurdle I wasn't able to surmount were the NAMES in this dismal book. "Lexander"? "Hel*a*na"? A god named "Loji" who gives birth to an eight legged horse? Exsqueeze me? Is it just me, or did she just pull an "Eragon" here? We just change one letter in a common name, and now all of a sudden, it's exotic and otherworldly? Wrong! But yes, the Eragon reference is deliberate, because this is purple-shafted prose on a par with the teenaged writer of that equally lame book.

How the writer of this is receiving so much acclaim for such a lackluster title, is just evidence that the kinky community has little else to heap it's accolades upon. So of course, the lackluster get to be a big fish in a small pond.