Review: Captive Prince

Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'd seen this series lauded everywhere and decided to read it without knowing much more than it was a fantasy novel.

I've since skim read some reviews, mainly the negative ones, and I can see where they are coming from that this is some kind of slavery erotica - but I disagree.

Damen is a warrior and the crown prince of Akielos who is usurped by his half brother and sent into slavery with a rival empire. The court of Vere is a different world to Akielos: manipulative, political, sensual, corrupt, dissolute. Labelled a rough, violent soldier Damen is chained and pressed into the service of prince Laurent, a beautiful, cold skilled politician with a hatred of all things Akielos.

Vere is a society with an abhorrence of illegitimacy, so much so that opposite sex relationships are purely for procreation, everyone routinely engages in same sex relationships for fun, for pleasure, for relaxation. Watching slaves rape each other in the ring is considered 'entertainment' by the nobility. This reminded me of the dissolution of the Roman and Egyptian empires with the painted slaves and emphasis on depravity and search for new entertainment. At first Damen's focus is on escape and resistance but slowly he comes to see a bigger picture. Embroiled in vicious politics that he barely understands, fearful of being discovered as the prince of Vere's greatest foe, concerned for the other Akielos slaves who have been thrown into this viper's pit without support, unable to tell friend from foe I totally identified with Damen. And I thought that the book totally brought out the fear and horror of rape, of being drugged to facilitate rape, of being at the whim of a mercurial master who has the power of life and death over you. What makes it more striking is that Damen is a soldier, a highly skilled fighter, the creme de la creme of Akielos society and yet he is powerless to resist. I thought the actual rape scene was cleverly written because I defy anyone to argue that Damen wasn't raped, even though his body was forced to react against his will.

What I liked about this novel was the way in which the fantasy was focused on the sexual behaviours of the people. The idea of slaves dedicated to pleasure, who were hand-picked, apprenticed and trained, viewed as highly skilled and highly prized artisans contrasted with a society that relieves its ennui with voyeurism, violence and rape.

So, I've used the R word a lot in this review and I 'm not going to lie - the actuality or the threat are present for much of the book. But it is also about politics and seizing a throne, about making friendships even in adversity and realising that freedom isn't always what it seems.

Overall? It was disturbing, enthralling, engaging, challenging and also, possibly, a tentative romance.

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