Not my cup of tea

August 1, 2008by Gavin Williams

MeiLin Miranda is a good writer, and extremely creative.  Not only does she have a lively imagination, she also comes up with impressive ways to involve her audience, and designed a great website.  Individual chapters of her ongoing story can be humorous, erotic, thrilling and intriguing.  Her description of clothing and scenery is elegant and evocative.

However, for all of that, I don’t understand her enthusiastic fan base.  For a fantasy novel, it rarely uses magic.  For an erotic story, the sex is a little dull in comparison to say, "Tales of MU," where the author (AE) avoids being as graphic as erotica.  For a political history, it has less intrigue than "An Empire of Law," and as a character study, it has less interest than "Alisiyad."

Why am I comparing "An Intimate History" to other online stories?  Because I think part of the story’s appeal might be in the fact that it tries to encompass so many interesting possibilities in one place.  But as a reader, my lack of interest stems from this same fact.  There is no real story arc to follow, because the story runs in so many directions at once. These other stories do some of the same things in a much more focused way.  "Tales of MU" is going in as many directions, if not more, yet never feels as scattered as this "Intimate History" that leaves me feeling distanced from the characters.

Prince Temmin’s character is dull, a flighty spoiled aristobrat who goes wherever the current pulls him.  The histories of his ancestors have more interesting characters and plotlines, but they are episodes against the backdrop of his life.

Personally, Temmin distracts from the histories, and the histories distract from Temmin’s life.  I would have designed the story differently, offering the histories as bonus chapters or as an entirely separate story that runs parallel to Temmin’s narrative.  Mixing the two creates a mixed up tale, that I just can’t quite sink my teeth into.

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Story and sex. What more can you ask for?

August 11, 2008by Donna Sirianni

I’ve been following this story nearly from the beginning and it’s only gotten better the more Mei has written.  Considering this is her self-professed "first attempt at fiction," I’m going to have to give her a standing ovation.  She certainly puts other, more seasoned, writers to shame in this regard.

Temmin, the story’s main character, is an absolute doll.  He can be a little scary at times since his father has a tendency to sneak through in his personality but really, when comparing the two, they’re pretty opposite.  Thus far, this is Temmin’s story, especially the first book but being in the middle of the second, it hops around from character to character, giving different insight to different events.  In the second, Sedra gets a view, what with her impending . . . trade but Temmin is still an equal player as well.

The beginning of book one gets off to a little slow of a start but once the young prince arrives at the Keep, it just doesn’t stop!  This particular serial is a frame piece, a story within a story, so while we have the "present day" events going on, we’re getting a secondary story usually via Temmin’s education from Teacher.  Of course, sex is just out of reach of front and center in both frames and it creates for double the fun!

Some may say the sex is there simply to have it.  Mei is of the mind that sex is a part of life and thus a part of her story.  She certainly doesn’t shy away from anything but don’t confuse that with smut.  It’s not.  It’s just something she’s very open about and a gander through the comments columns can tell you that she’s been opening a lot of eyes to her readers’ own wants and needs with her work.  The sex can be explicit as well as uncomfortable at times but I think it’s something that’s always been handled gracefully and not pornographically regardless of the situation.

Her characters are rich and multi-dimensional and the repercussions of their actions can be felt as you read.  Some of the situations she’s placed them in has readers vying for real world replicas (the Lover’s Temple, for example) and the discussions her writing elicits any writer would be envious of.  She’s certainly done a good job in creating a bevy of faithful readers and I can only hope she draws in more as the story goes on.  It certainly deserves it.

While this is labeled as a fantasy story, it’s one that uses the genre as more of a background tool than something that’s up front and center.  Magic is lingering, rarely used except by a few in this work and the focus is certainly on the characters, their development and what’s going on in their lives.  They live in a world where magic is barely spoken of.  It’s not necessarily taboo but it’s certainly not prevalent.  Actions of the characters are oftentimes more magical than any blatant use of magic that could be thrown in there.

The site is certainly designed to be user friendly and MeiLin does her best to make it so since it’s what she does.  She works to not only bring attention to her own piece but to other web serialists as well as a means to further promote the craft.  She’s a good person with an awesome story that everyone should be reading.

Take this one as another "don’t miss" story.  You’ll regret it if you do, if for nothing more than the sex tips that Cosmo would be vying for!

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