The Art Of War

Our next 'Story of the Day' is The Art Of War by John Benson which has been recommended by LSF member, opb:

"Those familiar with Benson's work will know that he treats us to many walks along the same path; that of the nascent sexuality of the teenage girl, caught between guilt at sexual pleasure, the guessed-at value of cp as a punishment for this and the surprising fact that this only makes it worse, trapping his heroines in a guilt-punishment-pleasure cycle which can only end in our enjoyment.

The Art of War is far more than this – a spoiled princess gets a tutor to instruct her in the fighting arts in order to keep her safe from external as well as internal challenges, but the battlegrounds are also those of the war between the sexes and between the conscious will and unconscious desires.

The surface story continues with a bit too much rapidity for many tastes, given the complexity of the issues discussed – and they are discussed - but at 7000 words even this length may be too much for some readers.

If you enjoy a sci-fi story then it's worth the read. Even if you don't, then the human interaction between the characters (even the non-human ones) makes this worth the time spent."


Synopsis:

Set in a futuristic world of punish boxes and robots, Maggie is the daughter and heir of the Overlord. As such a human 'tutor' is hired to train her, using discipline if needed, in the arts of fighting. Her father is aware that she enjoys using the punish box for sexual pleasure and deems this to be a safe way to educate her.

I am always amazed at how much complexity Benson can squeeze into his stories, in terms of themes, well-realized and imaginative settings, and characters whose personalities leap out from the screen. This one is longer than most of his stuff, yet it still seems to fly by. As always, I am in awe.

I too enjoyed the Overlord. It was long and lovely and I read it on a day when our WiFI went down shortly after I started the story. Since it had only one 6,000 words+ episode, it was the perfect Sunday afternoon read. I second your suggestion O.