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Blazing New Trails
A Look at Gotham Books' New Create Your Own Erotic Fantasy Books
by Debra Hyde
03/06/03
It's been a few year since the twenty-year run of those Choose Your Own Adventure books came to an end, but you'd never know to look on the web. People are still writing those things, either as fan fiction or gaming books, and they're all over the Internet. But now comes a new incarnation of that old concept that's, well, more adult.
It makes sense when you think about it. After all, every ten-year-old who read his first CYOA novel way back in 1978 is now a thirty-something adult. Chances are, his tastes have matured.
Adult demographics. That's probably part of the thinking behind Gotham Books' decision to launch an adult version COYA series called, appropriately enough, Create Your Own Erotic Fantasy. Like their older science fiction counterparts, the novels in this series make you, the reader, the protagonist, placing you in a new setting and turning you lose to make various plot-altering decisions. But, rather than give you action-adventure options, your decisions all hinge on erotic choice. I, for one, can't help but chuckle when I'm presented with turning points like these:
If you go for it and put your hand on his cock, PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 136.
If you give in to Peter's request and take your hand off your nipple, PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 150.
That's from Kathryn in the City by Mary Ann Mohanraj, editor of the Aqua Erotica and Wet: More Aqua Erotica anthologies. In it, a country girl hits the big city of San Francisco and discovers an erotica oasis of bisexuality and exotic dancing. The other book in the series, The Classics Professor, by both Mohanraj and Michael Hemmingson, is an east coast male version of Kathryn where a male protagonist, newly arrived in the big apple for a college teaching post, finds himself initiated into a wild world of sexual fun and games.
Both books are written in the second person and although it's a standard convention in CYOA books, it does take some getting use to, largely because it's considered amateurish in erotic writing. As well, the passage of time is highly compressed and while that worked for Shakespeare, it seems a little incredulous when it comes to erotic tales. Kathryn, for example, brings all her country naviety with her when she arrives in the big city, yet she's stripping at the Lusty Lady in two days flat. Or butt fucking with Michael in the kitchen. Or making it interracially with Peter. Or -- get this -- going to one of Carol Queen's private sex parties. That's all understandable, given the action-equals-results nature of these books, but when Kathryn suddenly seems to know how to use a butt plug during her debut hours at the Lusty Lady, my jaw dropped. Really, that's just stretching it. Pun intended.
The pace of The Classics Professor works better, but it's largely because Mark, the male protagonist, doesn't have the same doe-eyed wonder that Kathryn does. He's slightly more believable as he wanders from one porntopian setting to another. It's too bad Kathryn in the City didn't read quite as believable because it's the more sexually ambitious and diverse of the two works, and I wanted to like it best because of those strengths.
I have other nits to pick with these books -- like the S/M options end unhappily in Kathyrn and much of the New York City sex scene is missing in the Classics -- but the whole point of adventure books is getting to the good stuff quickly, which in this case is hot sex. Both books present a variety of explicit one-handed passages and they're good. Really good. In fact, I bet that once you get into the book, you're more likely to use multiple bookmarks not to track the various plot branches, but to keep your favorite dirty parts on hand.
That's probably the best compliment one can pay to enjoyable dirty books -- that'll you'll return time and again to revisit your favorite passages. And if these initial Create Your Own Erotic Fantasy books sell well, word has it that Gotham Books intends to publish more. But word to the wise:
If you're Kathryn, DON'T FUCK MICHAEL IN THE KITCHEN.
If you're Mark, DON'T HAVE THAT AFFAIR WITH RUTH.
Kathyrn in the City and The Classics Professor hit at your local bookstores starting May 26th. Until then, visit the series' website.
This article previously appeared at the now-defunct Yes Portal website as part of its news and entertainment coverage.
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