Nicci - TWLIB Reviews

I’m perhaps one of the few latecomers to reading Captive Prince Volumes One and Two.  The author, S.U. Pacat has been writing Captive Prince, online, since 2008 as Original Slash.  There are three volumes in the series.  Volumes One and Two are available at Amazon.  Penguin has purchased the rights to the story.  Penguin will publish Volume Three in 2014.

As this is a master/slave fiction, the setting for Captive Prince is the fantasy world of kings and kingdoms.  Half-brother, Kastor, set the forces against Prince Damianos of Akielos leaving him captured, bound, and shipped off as a slave to Vere Kingdom.  Kastor offers slave Damianos, hence called, Damen, as a gift to Vere’s Prince Laurent.  Prince Laurent hates all Akielons as he lost a loved one in the last war with this enemy.  Prince Laurent hasn’t gotten over the lost.  To Damen’s dismay, he will feel the full brunt of Laurent’s hatred, simply because he is an Akielon.  Laurent has no idea Damen is his most hated enemy, Prince Damiano of Akielos.

Fair warning, Captive Prince has scenes of rape, torture, physical abuse, some told off the page, other in a bit of details.  The author does a wonderful job in conveying just the right amount of information without being gory.

Volume One is primarily set at the Verethian court.  The court is a glamorous and superficial place for the upper echelon of the Verethian society.  The world building here is rich with details in political intrigue, murder, brutality, and comportment.  They also have an interesting concept for maintaining faithfulness and bloodlines.  Told through Damen’s point of view, we are given the opportunity of learning the culture and mannerisms of the Verethian society, and Damen tells us through comparison how the court at Akielos is simpler, less elegant or pompous.  Akielons treat slaves with more respect.  At Vere, slaves are objectified and referred to as “pet”.  They are pleasure slaves subjected to the whims of their owners.

As far as romance goes, do not expect any in Volume One and very little in Volume Two.  The UST between Laurent and Damen is off the chart in Volume Two.  They have a rough beginning.  Damen so use to conducting himself as a prince, his arrogant attitude is the cause for Laurent issuing harsh punishments.  No matter, Damen remains very much who he is.  He does not once adjust his attitude to his supposedly betters.  He speaks honestly and not always in good favor of Laurent.  Later, in Volume Two a transformation takes place between the two.  I appreciate the author use of trust and respect to form their relationship.

The characterizations both main and secondary are amazing.  Laurent, again, his personality will draw your attention to him and the reader may hate him as I did.  It was difficult to find sympathy for him even as I suspect the reasons for his difficulty at court.  I despised Laurent with the same passion as he despised all things Akielon.  He is one of the nastiest, coldest, sarcastic, mean, characters I have read in a long time.  Lucky in Volume Two, my opinion change when the story starts to reveal details of Laurent and of his past.  We actually see him vulnerable.  Still, the capacity for such venom he expresses is terrifying.

Captive Prince is an epic tale, written in beautiful language that is engaging and fascinating.  I can’t wait for the publisher to release of Volume Three in 2014. 

Originally posted at http://twlibreviews.com