The nature of fantasy is a matter of stepping into another place, another life or some other shoes for a moment in time. I have certain preferences regarding this: I like to be well grounded in the character before I step inside. I like to know in-depth far too much of what is called exposition. It makes me grounded in a story, so that I have a feel for what is going on. It's true that a little goes a long way, and it should be handled judiciously. Exposition is something that has to be handled very carefully because you don't want to bury your reader in the context of the story. Excess of exposition was NOT a problem in this short Cris Anson story Discovery.

We begin at the doorstep of a house in a Philadelphia neighborhood, where our point of view character, Becca has been escorted by her friend Glynnis to a residence that houses a Dom who is going to help her "discover her true nature." Becca is led inside, where she finds not one but three Doms, and her journey of discovery begins.

This is such a short story that it is not one that can be easily discussed without giving away the content. Suffice it to say that the problem that I felt in the beginning--the lack of exposition--plays into the story itself. That is one of the marks of a good writer, by the way: when you notice something and it works your brain, makes you ask yourself "why did she do this? why is it built this way?" and it turns out to have been done for a good reason.

As far as BDSM, the exact details of Becca's experience may or may not be to your own personal liking. You may consider the boundaries of the story to be unbelievably extreme, or you may find the whole thing too tamely realistic for fiction–it just depends on how you feel about the whole character of "real" Domination and submission; however, it works because the entire story of Discovery has a tentative exploratory character that is in character with the main character. We continue to discover unexpected details about Becca, even as she continues to discover unexpected details about herself. It makes for a nice package, as far as story goes.

Reviewed by Maîtresse
© Sept 2007