The Innkeeper's Song - Spoilery Gender Commentary

[labingi]

(For a non-spoilery review, follow the fake cut.)

The Innkeeper's Song (Peter S. Beagle): Spoilery Commentary...

Comments

[lyonesse]

agreed on all counts, though i also thought it lamed out on what could have been a totally more awesome sex scene :)

[labingi]

Interesting! I actually rather liked the sex scene. I should note that four-ways are not a particular kink of mine, so I wasn't that engaged on a visceral level, but I thought it was an interesting interpersonal situation for Lal and Soukyan. One could write commentary just on that:)

[lyonesse]

i liked it too -- i just felt that being post-"soukyan" it was a lot more heteronormative than i had expected, having read the earlier parts of the book. so that aspect was a letdown.

i'm not sure i've ever been in a precise four-way, so i can't say it's my kink either -- but it was part of what made the whole "soukyan" thing strike me as, well, extra unnecessary right then. i mean, i agree with you that it had potential for creating a relationship between equals and then revealing a hidden gender aspect; though i also agree that it fell down a bit after the reveal. but it made the sex scene a lot more formulaic than it would have been if either "soukyan" had remained disguised, or even retreated, or, umm, anything...?

[labingi]

Soukyan is a very heteronormative guy! To spend nine years living as a woman and be so utterly "un-feminized" by it, you'd have to be very darn heteronormative indeed.

I'm not entirely being facetious; I think that's genuinely a valid and interesting line to take, but I wish it had been explored more.

Re. the sex scene, he would surely have had to retreat, as I can't imagine the spell holding:)