Cloti's Song
A downloadable book
There are some things that cannot be taken from you.
The humans have conquered the Maer capital, and they show no signs of leaving. Cloti and her spouses cling to each other in the hollow shell of their occupied city. Each day is a bitter gift; they may not be free, but they have each other.
When the city’s human Administrator offers to let Cloti restart her meditation practice in the temple, she jumps at the chance to spread a little hope in such dark days. Half the city followed her teachings before the occupation; maybe she can use her practice to unite them once again. She’s intrigued by the Administrator’s apparent sympathy toward her cause, and by his soft, submissive eyes. But could she ever really trust a human?
Rebellion brews among the Maer, and in Cloti’s heart. She knows what she wants, and what she must do. She has foreseen how this will end: in flames.
But visions never tell the whole story.
Cloti’s Song is a steamy F/F/M +M fantasy romance featuring a married throuple in their fifties who consider taking on a fourth.
Content warnings:
It is intended for an adult audience and contains explicit, consensual sex scenes and wartime violence.
This book can be read as a standalone, as the second in a duology along with Wings so Soft, or as the fourth in series along with The Delve, Jagged Shard, and Wings so Soft.
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I’m both exploring the radiant world of self-pub queer erotic SFF and chronically famished for polyamorous romance, ESPECIALLY that also includes kink. So when I saw Dani Finn's Cloti's Song featured a married polyamorous triad and a potential new partner, I slammed the buy button with my entire body. Minor spoilers ahead, mostly around high-level setting and character dynamics.
This is my first Maer book, but the writing gave me enough to find my footing without being overwhelmed. I was delighted to figure out that the Maer are fluffy! Body hair and beards for all! In addition to sounding deeply cuddleable, these Maer are both sexy and kinky.
An early scene where main character Cloti engages with her fear and frustration at the forces occupying her city by channeling them into a ravishment fantasy (with her as the ravisher) made me sit bolt upright with intense (and horny) interest. Kink also permeates many of Cloti's interactions with her spouses Aefin and Ludo, and their love interest, non-Maer civil administrator Feddar.
The spousal group interacts with a sense of intimate partners who know each others’ tastes and aren't shy about applying that knowledge. They also all approach Feddar at different paces and through different lenses influenced not just by personality but their respective recent experience with the occupying administration Feddar works within, which makes sense and adds good tension.
I felt uncomfortably at home in the locked down city of the protagonists. The worldbuilding and its consideration of resource availability and scarcity both made sense and added clarifying tension to scenes and arcs. And as someone who clung to the vestiges of my mental health during pandemic lockdown through heavy indulgence in kinky sex and cannabis, I found the central triad's lockdown conduct DEEPLY relatable.
Sacred use of intoxicants and the sacredness of sex are also favorite themes of mine, and I loved how the importance and radical power of those deeply affirming joys was presented in these characters (while acknowledging that when things suck, our sources of pleasure can become both strengths and vulnerabilities)
The book does try to tackle a very complex situation through the (admittedly broad and thoughtful) lens of its protagonist, and it times it felt like the ambition of the work went a bit past what it managed to capture. But I personally always prefer a story that swings for the fences, even if for me some elements of the plot and conclusion didn't fully land.
Regardless, lots to think about, which I ALSO enjoy in my queer erotic reading! Glad to have dipped my toes into the Dani Finn oeuvre!