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Zero Tolerance
A routine drug-smuggling operation goes wrong - and Peter, a proud heir of family business, winds up in a supposedly uninhabited part of space, together with his slave Simon. Here the fortunes change for the men...
Reader advisory: m/m rape and, occasionally, worse things
Reader advisory: m/m rape and, occasionally, worse things
free online fiction
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October 18, 2012You see that reader advisory? May contain m/m rape and, occasionally, worse things? Well, listen to it. YES it contains worse things. It contains the single most awful act I've ever read. How I wish I could unread.
I finished it, due to sheer bloody-mindedness.
Plot 2.5
Characterization 4
Writing 2
Please-let-that-have-not-happened factor -20
I do not recommend.
P.S. in the comments is a spoiler for the worse thing, and a spoiler for the whole story ending, just in case you abandon it.
I finished it, due to sheer bloody-mindedness.
Plot 2.5
Characterization 4
Writing 2
Please-let-that-have-not-happened factor -20
I do not recommend.
P.S. in the comments is a spoiler for the worse thing, and a spoiler for the whole story ending, just in case you abandon it.
February 1, 2013
Um, I enjoyed the author's story Space Opera, so I thought I'd try reading this - without reading any review... Oh boy, bad mistake!
This is an M/M sci-fi slave-fiction story but it definitely isn't a romance. Instead, it a story of a man and his slave, and the revenge of the slave when he manages to turn the tables on his owner when their space shuttle crashes. I'll just say that the revenge is purely gratuitous torture, and given that I generally have a strong stomach, it's not good that there is one particular scene that squicked me out... *shudder*
This is an M/M sci-fi slave-fiction story but it definitely isn't a romance. Instead, it a story of a man and his slave, and the revenge of the slave when he manages to turn the tables on his owner when their space shuttle crashes. I'll just say that the revenge is purely gratuitous torture, and given that I generally have a strong stomach, it's not good that there is one particular scene that squicked me out... *shudder*
November 19, 2012
Worse things.... um, yeah. Do take the warnings to heart, it get's really bad.
This is a story about revolution. What goes around, comes around.
There's an issue with language that halted the flow a bit, not unreadable just noticeable.
Amazing story if you have the stomach for it!
This is a story about revolution. What goes around, comes around.
There's an issue with language that halted the flow a bit, not unreadable just noticeable.
Amazing story if you have the stomach for it!
May 1, 2015
Wow.
I first read Zero Tolerance back in -08 and it's had a special place in my heart ever since. I have a giant soft spot for M/M lit and specifically the darker sides of it. Specifically, the rape-revenge variety. And holy shit, does Juxian Tang deliver with this one.
I won't put down other people's kinks, but personally, I have a hard time with the common master-slave trope, especially the fact that it usually turns into a bloody romance where the power differential is either celebrated or swept under the rug. Or where the hapless innocent victim develops a severe case of Stockholm, either because the "Master" is just such a great guy overall, or is an omniscient smirking manipulator who plays the victim like a fiddle. Or some unholy combination of the two. Or where the victim is put through endless torture, but never ends up with any lasting physical damage.
If you enjoy the above, you won't enjoy Zero Tolerance. But if you're like me, this is a bloody masterpiece.
So emerging from a rather frustrating journey through various MM lists looking for something that would suit my kinks but ending up frustrated and disappointed, I thought what the hell. Maybe I should just revisit Zero Tolerance. And I was not disappointed this time either.
Let me first point out that it's fairly obvious that the author is not a native english speaker. The text is riddled with grammatical hick-ups and a few questionable word choices. If not for that, I'd give it five stars in a heart beat. But despite the language issue it still manages to be a very well written story, and very readable.
This is first of all a story about revenge. Simon is a former POW from a totalitarian and violent society who's been broken and conditioned and given as a slave to Peter, the young heir to some kind of Borgias-like space mob family. Peter treats Simon with a kind of casual impersonal cruelty, but otherwise doesn't really care one way or the other. Meanwhile, Simon isn't quite as broken as he seems, hiding a boiling rage under his docile exterior. When things go south and these two end up stranded on a forgotten prison colony in the depths of space, with Simon emerging unhurt, stronger, older, with a gun and twelve years worth of pent up rage, things get ugly. More than ugly, what happens is fucking terrifying.
Sure, this is Simon's revenge, and while his actions are in some ways understandable, it's hard not to start baying for his blood at some point. He might have been through some terrible things, but he's not a good guy. While Peter's cruelty was impersonal, Simon's cruelty is very personal indeed. And he might not be broken per se, but he's got issues. I found the almost reverse Stockholm taking place in Simon's brain to be pretty interesting. It becomes obvious that he's been nursing some kind of twisted hateful crush on Peter for quite some time seeing him grow up, and suddenly having the means to act on it coupled with his desire for revenge is screwing with his mind in a bad way.
As for Peter, turns out he doesn't break that easily either. He's not exactly a good guy either, and growing up in "the family" has landed him with his own set of issues. He understands the pleasure of dominating others, of abusing others, as a means to alleviate one's own insecurities and pain. But experiencing the other side of the spectrum does change him. And being the underdog, you can't help but root for him. He might understand Simon, but that doesn't mean he'll just roll over and take it. He won't let go of his pride even if it kills him. But still, there's that understanding, the recollection of their shared past.
And in the background, there's a revolution brewing that will change the gritty little prison colony for good.
Is this in any shape or form a romance? Hell if I know. Probably not, and that's a good thing. But the ending is satisfying without being overbearing, and just ambiguous enough. There's just this sense of calm after the storm. A sense of, yeah, I guess this makes us even. And I can't stop thinking about the damn thing.
I first read Zero Tolerance back in -08 and it's had a special place in my heart ever since. I have a giant soft spot for M/M lit and specifically the darker sides of it. Specifically, the rape-revenge variety. And holy shit, does Juxian Tang deliver with this one.
I won't put down other people's kinks, but personally, I have a hard time with the common master-slave trope, especially the fact that it usually turns into a bloody romance where the power differential is either celebrated or swept under the rug. Or where the hapless innocent victim develops a severe case of Stockholm, either because the "Master" is just such a great guy overall, or is an omniscient smirking manipulator who plays the victim like a fiddle. Or some unholy combination of the two. Or where the victim is put through endless torture, but never ends up with any lasting physical damage.
If you enjoy the above, you won't enjoy Zero Tolerance. But if you're like me, this is a bloody masterpiece.
So emerging from a rather frustrating journey through various MM lists looking for something that would suit my kinks but ending up frustrated and disappointed, I thought what the hell. Maybe I should just revisit Zero Tolerance. And I was not disappointed this time either.
Let me first point out that it's fairly obvious that the author is not a native english speaker. The text is riddled with grammatical hick-ups and a few questionable word choices. If not for that, I'd give it five stars in a heart beat. But despite the language issue it still manages to be a very well written story, and very readable.
This is first of all a story about revenge. Simon is a former POW from a totalitarian and violent society who's been broken and conditioned and given as a slave to Peter, the young heir to some kind of Borgias-like space mob family. Peter treats Simon with a kind of casual impersonal cruelty, but otherwise doesn't really care one way or the other. Meanwhile, Simon isn't quite as broken as he seems, hiding a boiling rage under his docile exterior. When things go south and these two end up stranded on a forgotten prison colony in the depths of space, with Simon emerging unhurt, stronger, older, with a gun and twelve years worth of pent up rage, things get ugly. More than ugly, what happens is fucking terrifying.
Sure, this is Simon's revenge, and while his actions are in some ways understandable, it's hard not to start baying for his blood at some point. He might have been through some terrible things, but he's not a good guy. While Peter's cruelty was impersonal, Simon's cruelty is very personal indeed. And he might not be broken per se, but he's got issues. I found the almost reverse Stockholm taking place in Simon's brain to be pretty interesting. It becomes obvious that he's been nursing some kind of twisted hateful crush on Peter for quite some time seeing him grow up, and suddenly having the means to act on it coupled with his desire for revenge is screwing with his mind in a bad way.
As for Peter, turns out he doesn't break that easily either. He's not exactly a good guy either, and growing up in "the family" has landed him with his own set of issues. He understands the pleasure of dominating others, of abusing others, as a means to alleviate one's own insecurities and pain. But experiencing the other side of the spectrum does change him. And being the underdog, you can't help but root for him. He might understand Simon, but that doesn't mean he'll just roll over and take it. He won't let go of his pride even if it kills him. But still, there's that understanding, the recollection of their shared past.
And in the background, there's a revolution brewing that will change the gritty little prison colony for good.
Is this in any shape or form a romance? Hell if I know. Probably not, and that's a good thing. But the ending is satisfying without being overbearing, and just ambiguous enough. There's just this sense of calm after the storm. A sense of, yeah, I guess this makes us even. And I can't stop thinking about the damn thing.
December 27, 2012
Used by his master who had never cared for him... but wasn't it an abomination, to suggest that owning someone and caring could be together? Did Simon care for Peter? He hated Peter... but somehow it was the same here.
[...]
It is all your fault, you fuckin' damned League slut. You had put him there by caring for him - by caring for him enough to come to look at his death... or to try to spare him from it.
This reflects perfectly the thought of the author, the way he sees the world. To care for somebody is a fault. And especially, a master should not care for his slave. Revenge, is all that is important to his characters.
"Now it's my turn to get even."
Doesn't the author know that we catch more flies with honey than with vinegar? Doesn't he know that your friends are more kind and faithful to you than your enemies and that we do not make friends by making people suffer and by humiliating them?
The only good things granted in this book are "bread and circuses" and it is only given to keep the power. To keep control over others seems to be the only important thing for this author; at least, if we believe the message which this story passes on to us.
This story is about slavery and revolution. But will the new order be better than the old one? No, if everybody, like this author, thinks that compassion and love are weaknesses.
March 10, 2016
Juxian Tang certainly knows how to mangle a sentence or two. It's obvious English isn't her first language. Never mind. The meaning always comes through loud and clear, sometimes shockingly so. Zero Tolerance, like the few other books of hers I've read, tells a riveting tale, and that's what makes all else forgivable. She's a very good writer, knowing just how much information to hold back to compel the reader and her story forward. I'm a fan since reading the stunning Object D, and am delighted that there is much more from this author to choose from. The cream on top is that this is free online fiction. It requires a certain type of reader, however. You'll know who you are.
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May 20, 2013I am abandoning this simply because I've lost interest. I never feel like reading it anymore. While most people found this story especially disturbing, I found most of it boring and poorly written.
December 19, 2017
5 stars! I Loved it.
Great story. NOT for you sensitive folk!!
Great story. NOT for you sensitive folk!!
November 29, 2012
Sci-fi slavery m/m fic, available free online. Watch the warnings. I've read some doozies but, so far, this one takes the cake.
The main characters are pretty well-developed but the secondary characters joining the story towards the end suffer a bit. It seems that, as the story wound down, the author concentrated more on plot and pacing than on fleshing out the people instrumental in the unraveling of the story.
There are some editing issues and awkward phrasing but those are to be expected in online fic. As a matter of fact, it is much better written than other, more popular examples of this type of story I've read before.
All the warnings are spot-on, and there's a couple things happen I wish I could unread. Sadly, there's no option to bleach the images from my brain. Doesn't mean I won't take the plunge and read similar stuff in the future. Hopefully the images from the new stories will replace this one in my brain!
The main characters are pretty well-developed but the secondary characters joining the story towards the end suffer a bit. It seems that, as the story wound down, the author concentrated more on plot and pacing than on fleshing out the people instrumental in the unraveling of the story.
There are some editing issues and awkward phrasing but those are to be expected in online fic. As a matter of fact, it is much better written than other, more popular examples of this type of story I've read before.
All the warnings are spot-on, and there's a couple things happen I wish I could unread. Sadly, there's no option to bleach the images from my brain. Doesn't mean I won't take the plunge and read similar stuff in the future. Hopefully the images from the new stories will replace this one in my brain!
November 3, 2014
A forgettable book for me. I didnt feel the mc , thus the story did nothing for me.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews