Slave Trade
Book One
by Susan WrightRose is a rebellious daughter, joining the underground to spite her mother, not believing the underground's claim that humans(solians) are valued as sex slaves throughout the galaxy. She is startled and angry when she is captured by slave traders. Ash is an eleventh generation creche born, a herme, knowing hir death will come once her current master, Rikev Alpha, gets attached to hir. S'jen, an escaped Qin slave, attacks the outpost both are at, and Ash takes the opportunity to lose his master and mingle with the other slaves. Ash and Rose and a number of other slaves are left together, and Rose suggests that they escape. In telling her how impossible escape would be, the others figure out that in fact they do have a shot at escape. They then get to work putting their paln into action.
Why humans are so desirable as sex slaves is unclear, since any other species could be raped equally well. Ash is easily my favorite character, easily the most likable character. Being a herme, s/he is referred to in the terms s/he, hir, it, and hirself. My brother was a pokemaniac, and so the name Ash reminds me of the pokemaster Ash. Hir feelings are basic and clear in the way of the pokemaster. The entire system of this book has only one villain, Rikev Alpha. Most of the characters can be seen as victims of a humongous beaurocracy. Despite being the first in a series, this book does have a satisfactory ending.
Question: Slavery is a focal issue of this book, but it is unclear why those termed slaves are less free than those on the lower rungs of the beaurocracy. What is slavery?
Happy reading.
