SWEET SUFFERING: speculative fiction on hurt, comfort, angst, and love ¶ By Dusk Peterson

A soldier courts a young woman on the eve of battle. An aircar chauffeur tests the boundaries of his enslavement. A despairing captive in a Renaissance prison must choose whether to obey the deadly command of a lord. . . .

Sweet Suffering is a cycle of fantasy, historical fantasy, and science fiction series on friendship, heterosexual romance, gay love, and faithful service amidst hardship and transformation.

The cycle: Princeling | Darkling Plain | Master/Other.

ALSO AT THIS DOMAIN: New stories | E-books and online fiction | About the author | Copyright | Contact the author.

CYCLE CONTENTS

PRINCELING.

Noble.
Petty.

DARKLING PLAIN.

Right or Right.
Crossing the Cliff.
Night Shadow.
Wizard of the Sun.

MASTER/OTHER.

Pleasure.
Debt Price.
The Fool.
Eternally Divided.
O Most Unthankful.

Sweet Suffering resources.

Reviews (separate page).

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Princeling

In a world in which only the pitiless nobles who wage war hold power, and those who cannot fight must suffer or seek slow death . . . What would you do if you were a noble, and you lost the ability to fight?

Princeling is a fantasy series set in a world where war has lasted for generations.

The series is part of the Sweet Suffering cycle. ¶ Princeling genre/theme tags (with minor spoilers).

Noble

"Selig had placed me next to the fire, both as a way to emphasize my honor – what little honor I had left – and as a way to keep me from dying of a chill. He had made it more than clear during the past three years that he considered me a frail creature, incapable of enduring the hardened life of a soldier. But, then, his opinion was shared by all in the Tascanian Army."

When Corbin is taken hostage by York, the King of Fossenvita, he refuses to surrender to the sadistic King's demands that would allow York to win the war between the world's two kingdoms. Only thus, Corbin believes, can he help the petties of Tascania, on whose behalf Tascanian nobles such as himself are fighting the Fossenvites. Rather than lose his honor, Corbin accepts York's "gift": a wounding that will prevent him from ever again fighting with his blade.

But Corbin lives in a world that has been at war for generations, in which only the nobles who command the battles and raids are considered to have honor. Stripped of his title and his ability to fight, Corbin begins to see that the petties alone may hold the answer of how he should live his life. Maimed as he is, though, Corbin cannot seek answers from the petties unless he receives the help of one man: York's son Firmin, who has warned Corbin that he will betray him.

     ¶ Buy or sample the e-book: Online preview of Noble | (HTML) | (PDF) | |
     ¶ Data: 60,000 words | $4.99 | Published in June 2012.
     ¶ Reviews (may include spoilers): Goodreads.

Petty

As far as the world knows, Corbin is dead. He is simply the latest of many victims of violence in the generations-long war that the Tascanian and Vovimian nobles have been fighting to determine who will rule the world, at the expense of the petties who are subject to them.

Corbin has a purpose for hiding from public view, a purpose that has not even been guessed by his closest confidants: Firmin, the devious son of Corbin's greatest enemy, and a pettywoman who will offer Corbin a chance to voice his thoughts to others. Yet Corbin cannot hope to fulfill his purpose without the help of other petties . . . and he cannot hope to live if they guess that he is the man who has destroyed their lives.

Upcoming. To receive notice of e-book publications and free fiction, subscribe to Dusk Peterson's e-mail list or blog.

Darkling Plain

Separated in time and place, these young women and young men are united in their goal: to protect those they care for from the destruction of battle. The odds are against them.

Darkling Plain is a collection of fantasy tales about young people in times of conflict.

The series is part of the Sweet Suffering cycle. ¶ Darkling Plain genre/theme tags (with minor spoilers).

Right or Right

Linnet is trouble. Everyone agrees about that. Driven from her native barony, she arrives at Goldhollow in hopes of beginning a new life, only to discover that she cannot escape her past.

As Linnet is drawn into memories of a dark young man she once knew, she must deal in the present with a boy who is headed toward danger, as well as a child-like baron who may force her to betray her past.

Upcoming. To receive notice of e-book publications and free fiction, subscribe to Dusk Peterson's e-mail listor blog.

Crossing the Cliff

After ten years as apprentice to a Peacesteward, the one thing Erastus is sure of is that he's ill-prepared to become a master. Unfortunately, he's about to discover just how ill-prepared he is.

When he and his master stray into forbidden territory, Erastus is thrust alone into a community that is on the brink of war. His only hope for bringing peace is to ally himself with a young boy . . . a boy who has stolen what Erastus values most.

Upcoming. To receive notice of e-book publications and free fiction, subscribe to Dusk Peterson's e-mail list or blog.

Night Shadow

A prince who could see beyond his borders but not see the people around him. . . . An enemy who would take any measure to get what he wanted. . . . And now a stranger has brought news to the prince of an approaching danger.

Upcoming. To receive notice of e-book publications and free fiction, subscribe to Dusk Peterson's e-mail list or blog.

Wizard of the Sun

When Tyne's father makes plans to rid himself of his dull-witted son, fourteen-year-old Tyne climbs the wizards' mountain, hoping to find there an answer to his troubles. What he receives there brings him joy beyond measure. Gradually, however, he comes to realize that the land of his people lies in danger. Tyne therefore sets out to fight the danger, though he realizes that in doing so, he risks losing the power he has gained and returning to the lonely life he led as a young boy.

Upcoming. To receive notice of e-book publications and free fiction, subscribe to Dusk Peterson's e-mail list or blog.

Master/Other

Masters come in many forms. Some don't even know they're masters.

Romantic and poignant, Master/Other offers speculative fiction stories exploring the dangers and sweet bonds of power.

The series is part of the Sweet Suffering cycle. ¶ Master/Other genre/theme tags (with minor spoilers).

Pleasure

"Halvar leaned forward. His eyes were the color of an arctic sky. 'I am not a fool, Egon,' he said softly, 'so do not treat me as such.'"

Egon had a position that won him respect, friends who raised his spirits, and lovers who gave him pleasure. Then a man came into his life who would take all that away from him. If Egon was lucky.

As a slave, Egon has already reached the highest position he will ever achieve: he is the household's airship chauffeur. Forced to confront the contradiction between his ideals and his behavior, Egon must make a choice between continuing to pursue immediate pleasure or willingly submitting himself to another man for the sake of a higher goal. What Egon does not yet know is that his guide on this journey into the unknown is hiding a secret that will transform both their lives.

     ¶ Buy or sample the e-book: Online preview of Pleasure | (HTML) | (PDF) | |
     ¶ Data: 25,000 words | $3.99 | Published in June 2012.
     ¶ Reviews (may include spoilers): The Novel Approach.

Debt Price

"He kept his gaze cast below the belt. In the chill cell, sweat was beginning to form now on his neck, running down his back and between his bound wrists. 'Lord,' he said softly, 'I would be glad to pay to you my debt in any way I can.'"

No one would pay his debt price to gain him release from prison. So he sought to pay it himself by offering the only thing he could, his body. But one man would require more.

Convicted of helping to wage a campaign of terror against the lords who oppressed the commoners, the prisoner comes to realize the full implications of what he has done. All of his attempts to mend what he has broken will fail until he meets a young lord whose own struggles have just begun.

Set in an imaginary world based on Renaissance Europe, "Debt Price" takes the reader from the gritty punishments of prison life to the delicately balanced world of a farming estate, showing the slow healing of a prisoner who knows both what it means to be abused, and what it means to be the abuser.

     ¶ Buy or sample the e-book: Online preview of Debt Price | (HTML) | (PDF) | |
     ¶ Data: 35,000 words | $3.99 | Published in June 2012.
     ¶ Reviews (may include spoilers): The Annex Reviews | The Novel Approach | Goodreads | Amazon.

The Fool

He'd abducted him, bedded him, and taught him every position he knew. So why wasn't the fool grateful?

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Eternally Divided: A Missing Canto from Dante's Inferno

If you fall in love with one of the damned, should you join him in his damnation?

     ¶ Read the story online:
     ¶ Data: 2,000 words.
     ¶ Reviews: AO3.

O Most Unthankful

An Arthurian tale. A simple Greek lesson reaches deep when a tutor seeks to teach a prince what can happen when love and duty clash.

     ¶ Read the story online:
     ¶ Data: 12,000 words.
     ¶ Reviews: Panfandom Slash Recs.

Sweet Suffering resources

Shared Universes: Works set in the Master/Other world by other authors and artists.

What is Darkfic? | What is Historical Fantasy? | What is Homoerotic Fiction? | What is Original Gen, Original Het, and Original Slash? Genres that stories in the Sweet Suffering cycle falls into.

Webrings.

Reviews

Reviews of Master/Other are listed on a separate page.

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This text was originally published at duskpeterson.com as part of the cycle Sweet Suffering. Copyright © 2002-2013 Dusk Peterson. Some rights reserved. The text is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0). You may freely print, post, e-mail, share, or otherwise distribute the text for noncommercial purposes, provided that you include this paragraph. The author's policies on derivative works and fan works are available online (duskpeterson.com/copyright.htm).

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