“Edge Plays” Erotic Book Review

”Edge Plays” is an ebook written by Cecilia Tan which takes place in the same universe as “Telepaths Don’t Need Safewords”. The ebook is 87 pages long and includes five different short stories that take place in the Kylar universe. Along with the five different short stories, there is an appendix at the end of the book that explains the Kylar universe and how she ended up coming up with the idea for it. As you can imagine, “Edge Plays” is erotic, but it’s erotic in an amazing way – it’s heavy on the plot and light on the erotic substances, but it makes for a smooth, seductive read.

For those of you that don’t know, the Kylar universe is a basic form of government where all people are dedicated as Masters and slaves. All Masters serve Masters who are higher up in rank than them, and once a Master chooses a slave, they are a slave for life. From what I can figure out, once you reach a certain age, a specific test determines whether you will live your live as a slave or as a Master. This Kylar government isn’t the only government that exists – there are plenty of outliers and non-government people included in the stories. Usually these people end up finding themselves getting involved in the Kylar government in some way or another. Either way, the government is amazingly well thought-out, and it makes for an amazing story. I just want to keep reading more and more stories that take place in this universe.

All of the stories in this collection are heavy on the story and light on the sexual elements. However, since the entire government in itself is sexual, it’s basically like reading a piece of erotica that really intends to seduce you into its world instead of just arousing you to get off. There is a lot of mention of dominance/submission but a bit light on the specific sexual scenes. I honestly can’t say I’m complaining though. This is the type of story that I was expecting from the Story of O but was really let down with the Story of O. This one seduces me, makes me want to keep reading, and makes me want to go do some Dominance/submission play of my own.

In the first story, “Master Mind” we go back to the beginning of how Arshan and Mriah met. (We first met these characters in “Telepaths Don’t Need Safewords”.) In this story, the male character finds himself in the middle of a village that celebrates the old customs of the Kylar. He shacks up with a submissive woman and they both have fun together. However, on the day of a large mourning ceremony, he ends up meeting Mriah who is a priestess in mourning. The ceremony turns sexual as Arshan helps Mriah grieve through her sexual submission. It was a great story, and I loved the ceremony as well as the sexual portions. It was a pleasure to read and makes me want to read more about Arshan and Mriah.

In the second story, “The Game”, we follow a female character who is a convict. As a convict in the Kylar society, she isn’t allowed to have sex. However, where she works, her two male coworkers “force” (she wants it and is a submissive) to have sex with them so she can have sex without consequences. However, when a Kylar Master wants to own her as his own, all of that threatens to change. Another great story which helps portray the Kylar universe amazingly.

In “From the Velderet; Chapter Four” (an excerpt from the Velderet book she also writes) we learn about an alternate reality where kinky sex play is forbidden so people go into their advanced virtual reality to act out Dominance/submission fantasies. We follow one girl through one of her cybersex sessions with her Dominant. Again, an amazing story with amazing plot. Cecilia Tan writes about the technology as well as we get to feel the female character’s fear that the male Dominant has abandoned her for their meeting. I’m looking forward to hopefully reading the full book – it was a great teaser.

In “Passage”, a female outsider is forced to participate in a Kylar ceremony carrying a highly-honored submissive who is about to be publically whipped for a ceremony. When the submissive ducks out, the Master asks the female to stand in – and the female finds out that she really thinks she could live the life of a Kylar submissive when she has vehemently been against it for years. This one doesn’t have much in terms of sexual action, but there’s quite a bit of impact play in this one. I loved the portrayel of an entire elaborate sexual ceremony.

In “Royal Treatment, Excerpt” (another excerpt from another one of her novels), we read about a slave trainer who is forced to give up his son (after a sexual bout) to the local female Master who would like to take the son as her own. There isn’t much in terms of sexual action in this aside from some oral sex, but it still has a good story that makes me want to read the book. The only sad part is that it leaves off in a really sexy place and tells you to read the book – it’s much more like a teaser story.

While the stories are seductive in nature, what really draws me to them is the amazing background and plot. It’s like imagining myself in an alternate reality where BDSM and D/s is the norm – where it’s celebrated in culture and everything. The erotic part of these stories is just imaging being in the world with the characters. It’s erotic without being extremely crass or pornographic if that makes any sense.

I’m seriously fond of this look into an alternative S&M universe. Cecilia Tan writes in a way that is addictive to read – especially her BDSM fiction. This is a collection of stories that I’m really privileged to have read – and I look forward to reading more adventures into this universe. It was more my time and more! Circlet Press sells “Edge Plays” for just a couple dollars – it’s easily worth that and more.