Grabbing a spanko’s attention

Last night I was attending to the pleasant task of picking a book to read. The publishing house Tor has been giving away free e-books over the last couple of months, and I’ve downloaded them regardless of whether I’d ever heard of the author. (I mean, come on: free books. Wouldn’t you?) Which one to read now, though?

I opened the file containing “A Shadow in Summer” by Daniel Abraham, and had a taste of the first few paragraphs.

Otah took the blow on the ear, the flesh opening under the rod. Tahi-kvo, Tahi the teacher, pulled the thin lacquered wood through the air with a fluttering sound like bird wings. Otah’s discipline held. He did not shift or cry out. Tears welled in his eyes, but his hands remained in a pose of greeting.

“Again,” Tahi-kvo barked. “And correctly!”

“We are honored by your presence, most high Dai-kvo,” Otah said sweetly, as if it were the first time he had attempted the ritual phrase. The old man sitting before the fire considered him closely, then adopted a pose of acceptance. Tahi-kvo made a sound of satisfaction in the depths of his throat.

Otah bowed, holding still for three breaths and hoping that Tahi-kvo wouldn’t strike him for trembling. The moment stretched, and Otah nearly let his eyes stray to his teacher. It was the old man with his ruined whisper who at last spoke the words that ended the ritual and released him.

“Go, disowned child, and attend to your studies.”

Thank you, Mr Abraham, with this fine display of enforced ritual and corporal punishment at school, you have captured my full attention. I’ll have some more of that, please.

So OK, this is the prologue, so maybe the rest won’t go along the same line. Still, an author who can write a kinky scene like that deserves to be checked out in more detail.