The Marketplace by Laura Antoinou is a BDSM (Shorthand for Bondage, Dominance, Submission and Sado Masochism) erotica novel...but its also much more.

Laura has built a wonderful, deep, colorful, thought provoking world and filled it with intelligence, wit and humanity.

The premise here is that The Marketplace is an organization as old as time, international in scope and dealing in the consensual sale of human beings into voluntary slavery. Its not just a sexual slavery and in fact some owners don't even expect to use their slaves in that way. Its a submission to service rather than just sex. As a friend says, that's why we call it a lifestyle and not a sex style.

This book follows the training of four novices in the basics of The Marketplace. We meet Robert, a man who has been forced to live as a woman for so long, he's afraid to be a man anymore. Claudia, a timid, yet perfect slave who needs to overcome her nerves to become what her owner needs. Brian, a smartmouthed gay man who needs to learn that he's not all that and Sharon, who thinks that the life of a pleasure slave is all bonbons and slow sex.

All these characters will have their expectations turned upside down by their Trainers, Grendel Elliot and Alexandra Selador, and their Major Domo, Chris Parker. We see the trainees grow and change and find that its not only sex and sadism that makes a good trainer, its observation and thought and intuition.

This is the first you see of the character of Chris Parker, the Marketplace's world continues in The Slave which is a peek at just Chris training a single slave for sale and her life with her owners, and The Trainer which is a trip to the home of the Master Trainer, Anderson to see how she and Chris train a new trainer. The latest book is The Academy, Chris visits a worldwide conference of Marketplace Trainers and Spotters.

Laura has studied people for a long time and has come up with a collection of characters that resonate with such force, you can almost believe you'll run into them the next time you go out and in fact I've come to relish the glimpses into the lives of these characters she allows us in the rest of the series.

When discussing these books with people I've found that some think there is too much heterosexual stuff and some think there is too much gay stuff, so I guess that means that she's struck an excellent balance.

If you are looking for simple stroke material, this will do nicely, but I hope you'll allow yourself to be transported to her world where intelligence, honest, manners and courtesy still reign. Where BDSM isn't just about sex but about true submission to service. The sort of submission where a quiet "well done" from an owner is the greatest reward a slave can be given aside from the right to wear their owners collar. The submission that can bind one person to another voluntarily rather than through force.

Laura's books have a devout following in the lifestyle and I think its because she has built a world that makes sense and filled it with people you wouldn't mind calling friends.



Recommended: Yes