HOTHOUSE ORCHID

Review

HOTHOUSE ORCHID-Vashti Valant

ISBN-978-1-4199-0989-4

May 2007

Erotic Sci-Fi Romance-Novella

Rated: E-rotic

Planet Blodeuwedd, Anarchion, Borgia and Earth Empire-Future

Vance Gardener is a Renaissance man who is now working as a ‘technical consultant’ for a very rich Avant from the planet Anarchion named Lothario Royant-Bor. The planet of Anarchion was founded by a band of anarchists five hundred years ago. Their leader rejected the bureaucracy and laws of Earth Empire, and wanted to develop a world where there were no police guards, soldiers, bankers; men and women were free to live in peace as creative equals. But things did not go according to plan, and the planet Anarchion became a safe haven for criminals, warlords, genetically engineered slaves, black-market forgery, as well as other illicit activities. The whims and pacts of the Anarchion elite, like Vance’s employer, along with other elite Avant families ,became in effect the de facto law.

Vance’s assignment is to examine and bring back from Hothouse Inc item #4188-902-3466 or Cattleya, which is another name for Orchid. Cattleya is a transgenetic or a genetically engineered demifem. These are creatures that have the bodies of a human woman but whose genes are spliced with a wide range of animals. Usually these transgenetic demifems are as dumb as a box of rocks, only produced and used as sex toys. Vance is sure that the intellectual capabilities of a transgenetic woman, whose genes are spliced with a flower, are even worse.

Cattleya is most distressed; she has been stripped and strapped to a table by strange men. To make matters worse, it is not kindly Dr. Rachel who has come to examine her but a handsome and dangerous man- a Mr. Gardener. Cattleya knows what she is, but she had a strict upbringing, taught by Madame Bhothswara-mistress of the Seminary- to keep herself pure, in body and mind for her future Owner, and to never ever talk to a strange man, no matter what the circumstances. Cattleya is, above all, a lady and at the top of her class at the Seminary, so nothing Mr. Gardener will do to her will make her speak. Besides, since he is an employee of her beloved owner, he won’t do anything too ungentlemanly, will he?

So begins the HOTHOUSE ORCHID, an inventive tale involving Cattleya, raised to be a lady but who was genetically engineered to be a courtesan, and Vance, a sharp, sexy, rugged mercenary who underneath is actually quite the gentleman. HOTHOUSE ORCHID starts off with an intensely charged erotic encounter and then morphs into this swashbuckling, sweet, action packed romance. It also has plenty of sly humor, some poetry, and a depth that forces readers to think about what it really means to be truly human. Some of the puregene characters act more like monsters than the transgenetic ones. Readers will love Cattleya, who keeps being told that she is not really human, but has a humanity and perseverance that shines through thus undermining this notion. Vance is surprised to find that Cattleya is not a sex toy, but someone with intelligence and a sensibility that rivals any human woman.

I think I have a new favorite author and readers will too, when they head over to ELLORA’S CAVE to pick up and start reading a copy of HOTHOUSE ORCHID by Vashti Valant.

Nickole Yarbrough