Beauty's Kingdom

WTF. Seriously, WTF.

I read the original trilogy in my teens (yeah, yeah, I admit I was curious, and I'd already read her vampire novels) and though the writing style was good, I was repulsed by the fact that all these princes and princesses had been forced into slavery, sent there by their own parents, no less!

So when I heard there was a fourth book coming out, I was intrigued but wary. When I heard that Beauty makes it so that slavery is consensual, I was relieved. However, there were plenty of negative reviews, so I went over to Amazon and read the free preview.

No wonder this book has been received so negatively. Not only does Rice's prose feel significantly different (in a worse way), but the narrative itself was BORING. I plodded show more through it, not giving a spit about any of the characters narrating.

There are also a couple of things that contradict from previous novels. In the first book, it is clearly stated that the tradition of sexual slavery has gone on for at least a century, as Beauty's parents had been slaves in the court of the Queen's grandfather. But in this book, apparently the Queen started the practice, to copy her Sultan friend?

I don't even. Granted, it's been a long while since Rice penned the original trilogy, but what I read of this book was so awful and boring, that after reading the free preview, I had NO interest in purchasing the rest of it, especially given that the Kindle price is ridiculous. show less

Warning: this book is full of erotica, so if you're offended, or under the age of 18, look away now.

Beauty's Kingdom is the long-awaited sequel and fourth novel in the Sleeping Beauty series by Anne Rice, writing here as A.N. Roquelaure.

Told from the perspective of different characters and their pleasures, the real arc of the story is the creation of a peaceful kingdom with an enjoyable and suitable place for every single one of its citizens.

Of course, with sex slaves at the heart of their culture, things are going to get steamy, and trust me they do. Having said that, it's important to know that the sex and lovemaking that takes place on the page is always accompanied by mutual respect and love.

No-one is taken advantage of and nobody show more is hurt in Beauty's Kingdom and there are no dark elements to the story. It's simply an exploration of pleasure set in a fantasy world of sorts.

Beauty's Kingdom is an interesting and entertaining commentary on society, love and pleasure, and it was a joy to read. It's important to remember Anne Rice was writing erotica long before 50 Shades came along; oh, and this book is hot! show less

If you've enjoyed the other three books in this series, I recommend this one. If you haven't read them, I recommend you start with the first. This one is stronger writing, weaker storytelling, but for the most part just more of the same.

The premise of the series is that it's a fantasy kingdom with slaves kept as sexual playthings - always naked, always ready for sex, often subjected to kinky punishments. The premise of this book is that the new queen decides that instead of taking slaves as tribute they will only take slaves who want to serve. And now they have a bunch of new slaves and a bunch of new kinky punishments.

A few lines of this book also subtly rewrite the premise of the previous books, suggesting that they actually only ever show more kept slaves who more or less enjoyed it and dismissed the ones who didn't. Although the books were always kind of premised on the idea that the slaves were really kind of into it, with most of the books told from the slaves' perspectives.

I'm curious how much this book is shaped by the author's own discomfort with the fantasy of non-consent.

I'm also curious how Fifty Shades of Grey was skewered for modeling poor consent while books like this and movies like Secretary weren't. This is a better book, Secretary is a better movie, but neither actually models better consent. The difference might be that it's harder to mistake either as a model for real-life consent practices.

I think it's worth critiquing media based on the negative values it could impart, but I also think it's worth drawing a clearer distinction between that critique and saying a fiction is bad just because people in the fiction do bad things. Because I also think we need to get better at allowing ourselves and others to enjoy sexual fantasies as fantasies. show less

I just couldn't get into this one as much as I did the trilogy. The original three were fucking amazing! I recommended them to EVERYONE I knew - or didn't know, I reread them twice within 2 years, I fell in love. Fast forward 10 years. I hear she's written a new book, a sequel. I'm so excited! I buy the book (I never buy books without reading them first) and I lend it to a friend whose also read the trilogy and feels the same way I do about it. She can't get into it. She ends up giving up after a few chapters, gives it back and tells me good luck. I start reading it and feel like I'm reading the wrong book. Beauty is whiny, she has a kingdom, can do whatever the fuck she wants but doesn't because she doesn't want to look bad? The show more fucking king gets whipped so why can't she? Brenn and Sybil vanish til almost the end like they're an afterthought like "oops, I should wrap that up". It feels like it was written by someone else or she rushed it. It's been 30 years, more time fine tuning it wouldn't have killed her. I am glad I read it cause it would have bothered had I not, but I think she could have done a better job. show less

Anne Rice has written a fourth volume to the Sleeping Beauty Trilogy she wrote in 1983 under the pseudonym A. N. Roquelaure. The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, Beauty's Punishment, and Beauty's Release now have a companion volume called Beauty's Kingdom. The original trilogy was an erotic retelling of the Sleeping Beauty legend in which the prince who awakens Beauty after her 100 years of sleep takes her away from her familial home to live in sexual servitude in his mother's kingdom, a land where the children of the neighboring kingdoms are taken to serve and please the nobles of the court.

It has been thirty years between the publication of the final volume of the trilogy and the release of this fourth installment, but in Beauty's world a show more little over 20 years have gone by. She and her husband Laurent have retired and passed on their kingdom to their son. The old queen and her son have died while on an ocean voyage, and messengers visit Laurent and Beauty to ask if they would be willing to rule her mysterious land of erotic servitude. They agree to become the rulers of what is to become known as Beauty's Kingdom with the stipulation that from now on all erotic servitude be voluntary and no longer restricted to the nobility.

The book is in eighteen chapters, each told from a different person's perspective. Beauty is the narrator of five chapters, her husband King Laurent of two. Lady Eva, who was in charge in the queen's absence has four chapters. The story progresses slowly and without the brutality of the forced servitude of the original trilogy. Yet Anne Rice shows she still can write convincingly and beautifully on this subject. Some of the fans of the original volumes are disappointed, which can be expected. This is not volume four of the trilogy. It is a look back at the story by a more mature author and brings her readers for a new look at the setting with a different perspective. No longer is Beauty the passive yet erotically aroused submissive. She is now the queen and it is her vision that will bring the kingdom back to life and give it new meaning. Yet she is not a dominatrix like the old queen, and it is this difference that gives this new volume a life of its own. show less

Rating: 1 star (DNF)

I can't believe I'm doing this, but I'm giving this book only one star and am DNFing it. I just can't.

Anne Rice is one of my all time favourite authors, I have read 17 of her books and never given any of them less than 4 stars; but I had never read any of her erotica before now.

I won Beauty's Kingdom through a Goodreads giveaway and was very excited to receive the ARC. I knew going in that it would be different from her other work, but I hoped that my love of her writing style would carry over to her erotic fiction. I was wrong. Unfortunately it took me about 5 pages before I became uncomfortable and wanted to stop reading. I tried to skim read for a bit, but I just couldn't do it. I guess stories involving BDSM and show more "sex slaves" just aren't my thing. Apparently I can get through the entire (very poorly written) 50 Shades of Grey series, but I can't get through 1 chapter of Beauty's Kingdom.

I feel bad since I got an ARC that could have gone to someone else, but I guess you don't know what you'll like until you try it.

I still love Anne Rice and plan to re-read The Vampire Chronicles soon; I'll just steer clear of her erotic fiction from now on. show less

Anne rice goes back and actually address consent in this one, taking the books in a better context, and out of the whole sleeping beauty rape. (Also, if you are going to get up in arms about the whole sleeping beauty rape thing, look up the original sleeping beauty fairytale. Rape is involved.)