Some thoughts on Good Intentions
Like with the earlier blog about Hot Restart, this is not so much a review as an attempt to gather some thoughts about the book.
On the most basic level, Good Intentions is a smutty and pulpy wish fulfillment story. It clearly shows that it’s a first novel, and a self-published one at that: Several minor inconsistencies. More than one dropped ball. Many poorly executed scene transitions. Confusing flashbacks. The over-arching plot, based on the developing relations between Alex, Rachel, and Lorelei, is more or less buried under the series of events.
In lots of ways, the book is reminiscent of Raymond Chandler’s characterisation of much of the pulpy mystery stories written during the ’30s and ’40s: “When in doubt, have a man come through a door …
Some thoughts on Hot Restart
I’m not sure I should call this a review. Rather it’s an attempt to reason out why I found Hot Restart to be underwhelming.
First off, it’s not a bad book. The plot is decent, the worldbuilding is reasonably solid, there are no obvious turn-off issues in what might be called ethics. But it lacks the spark which can be found in Good Intentions or Poor Man’s Fight.
The easiest thing to look at is the world-building, and here the obvious comparison is Poor Man’s Fight. Both are modern space operas, with aliens, anti-gravity, easy interstellar travel, and some grittiness. But the world in Poor Man’s Fight feels much more immediate, and I think it is partly because it takes the very real concern today of widespread perennial debt—medical debt, education…
Sex and magic
There appears to be a strong connection and parallel between sexual acts and magic in the Good Intentions Series. This is an initial discussion on this. Additional thoughts, theories, and examples are welcome.
- 1 Magic and sex
- 2 Generating magical power
- 3 Reaching a state of mind
- 4 Specific rituals
- 5 The succubae
- 6 Closing words
- 7 References
As discussed by Molly and Onyx, the combination of sex and magic can be said to fall into four different groups:
- Sexual spice
- Generate power
- Enter a specific state of mind
- A specific ritual or spell which incorporates sex
Molly’s and Onyx’s sexperimentation with Alex was used partially for experimentation; apart from being sexual spice it generated magical power and allowed Molly to enter a state of mind where she could ca…
Queer and poly themes in Good Intentions
A quick overview of some of the queer and polyamorous themes and elements of the Good Intentions series.
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Closing remarks
- 3 Notes
- 4 References
The Good Intentions Series is a series of smutty urban fantasy stories. The first novel was serialized on Literotica, but later self-published. It is now up to four novels, two novellas, seven novelettes, and sixteen short stories published.
The opening book have more than once been called for male wish fulfillment, and there certainly is more than a grain of truth in that. But unlike many other similar stories, I think the Good Intentions series manages to bring some depth to such a story. The non-standard relationships bring (some) complications, and they require work and commitment from all …