Story Rating: 4.0 of 5
Hotness Factor (kink): 5.0 of 5
‘Master of O’ is a novel by Ernest Greene that loosely uses the novel ‘Story of O’ by Pauline Reage as its inspiration. The story revolves around Steven Diamond and his evolving relationship with a woman only known in the novel as “O”. His brother, Ray Vincenzo, and Ray’s future slave to be Jacqui, also play major roles in the evolving story of Steven and O’s developing M/s relationship.
Steven is a highly successful defense attorney in Los Angeles, and the primary owner of his brother’s kink related magazine ‘Forbidden’ (think Playboy for the kinky folk). “O” is the main photographer for ‘Forbidden’, and when the story begins she is Ray’s slave, though their relationship, it is revealed, has started to slide into being tepid and predictable. Ray actually makes a present of “O” to his older brother, as he knows her tastes for the extreme are more closely aligned with his brother Steven’s tastes than they are with his own. Ray feels it is a way to pay back his older brother for all the help Steven has given him over the years. This then is the basic premise for the novel and what follows. The main character is Steven Diamond and the reader gets a full description of the life he leads, from his work to his strictly structured home life to his personal life. The reader gets glimpses and anecdotes of most of the characters’ pasts, at least enough to fill in any potential gaps that would otherwise have developed during the course of the novel.
Are there problems with ‘Master of O’? Yes, there are, but not enough to detract from the story, nor from the wonderfully hot and kinky scenes contained in its pages. The editing could be sharper, but that is not the writer’s fault but the editor’s, and the occasional typo or missing word does not interfere with the enjoyment of the read. The biggest complaint about the book is the two main characters, Steven and “O”, are not the most likeable people in the world, especially Steven. He is a millionaire, and a lot of time is spent on description of his wardrobe, jewelry, cars, living quarters, and his BDSM furniture and toys. “O” is not nearly as dislikeable, but there is a certain level of looking down her nose at others that comes across. The most likeable character in the book is Steven’s brother, Ray. While we get a good amount of Ray storyline throughout the novel, the character could definitely carry a follow up book as the primary.
However, the entire previous paragraph aside, ‘Master of O’ works. As a novel in its own right and as an incredibly erotic, steamy, no holds barred BDSM kink novel. The scenes between Steven and “O”, “O” and Jacqui, Steven, Ray and “O”, Ray and Jacqui, and the brothers (separately) with members of the “staff” at the Mansion (homage to ‘Story of O’) are very well written and extremely hot and entertaining. If you are in to BDSM/kink in any way, this novel will not fail to get you sufficiently turned on and very hot under the collar or in the pants or under the skirt as the case may well be. Plus there is the added bonus for those who are inclined to practice the arts of BDSM to perhaps supply the reader with a new idea or two. Both of these things make a very worthwhile reason alone to read the book. Add in the fact that all the different story arcs occurring during the novel are resolved believably, including the romantic ones, and ‘Master of O’ is a book worth buying and adding to one’s erotic collection. The novel may be purchased here.
Master Peter Raven, Great Lakes Leather Alliance Master 2012 and Illinois Leather Master 2012, was active in both Chicago’s oldest BDSM Leather Club and dungeon as a former board member and member and the Chicago Pansexual community at large. Since moving to Nevada he has continued to be involved in his local pansexual/Leather/BDSM community. He is the founder of House of Raven, a small but close knit leather house of like-minded individuals. He also started the MAsT:Buffalo Grove chapter of MAsT International. He started his kinky reading at the tender age of 10 when he read ‘The Story Of O’ and discovered his kinky side very early. He is a voracious reader of vanilla and kink books, and a fledgling writer in his own right. Follow Master Peter on twitter @m_peterraven. If you are an author with a published novel or story and wish it to be reviewed for kinkweekly.com, please contact or forward the story to Peter Raven at m.peterraven@gmail.com
Ernest Greene says
Thanks for the kind words Lori. I like the illo version best myself, mainly due to Fernando’s great artwork. We tried to figure out a way to make it more accessible in terms of price but it’s expensive to print and the only way we could to create it was in limited edition form. But the important thing is that the story held your interest. That’s really what a writer hopes to achieve.
Lori Mulle says
I could not put the novel down! And I loved Fernando images having purchased it after reading Master of O. I cannot recommend one over the other, however I were to purchase just one volume I would definitely have the illustrated, signed, limited edition! Having read Ernest for so many years have his novel at long last is a treat, his mastery of the language is a treat and delicious to consume in the manner I found myself galloping through the pages. Bravo Master Greene!
Susie says
I bought the book last month. Looking forward to reading it once I am back home next week.
Ernest Greene says
Wow! I don’t think my mother would have reviewed me as kindly as you reviewed my book. It’s obvious that you gave it a really close reading and picked up on the various ways in which I skewed the story away from some aspects of the work that inspired it while preserving the original plot line pretty much as was. There are many different ways to tell that story, which influenced so many of us in so many ways, but I had a specific intention to humanize the characters that wasn’t part of Ann Declos’/Dominque Aury’s/Pauline Reage’s plan. I always find it ironic that “Story of O” is the object of such romantic adoration when the characters as constructed are so unappealing, including O herself, who was based on a person the author knew, regarded as a rival for the affections of her lover Jean Paulhan and didn’t like one bit.
I do apologize for the typos in the text. There was a breakdown in communications in the production process and it was neither proofed by a professional copy editor as it should have been or by me, as I didn’t get galleys until it had already gone to press. These things happen but when you’re a perfectionist as I am they do drive you nuts.
I would also like to call readers’ attentions to a typo in this otherwise excellent review. The email given for ordering the book is (thankfully misspelled) my personal email, which I don’t give out for the usual reasons and in this case because I don’t have copies of my own to sell. The correct places to order “Master of O” are masterofo.com and Stockroom.com. I understand why people like the convenience of Amazon but if you’re an author Jeff Bezos seems to have some evil plan to starve you out of existence. We do much better when readers order directly from us even though the retail prices are the same.
And finally there’s another good reason to go to masterofo.com, which is to view some images from “The Illustrated Master of O,” which was wonderfully illuminated by my artist friend Fernando. It’s a big, beautiful and not inexpensive collectors item available in a signed, limited run only from our sites. I think anyone who would enjoy the book would enjoy it even more with Fernando’s breathtaking images.
Okay, that’s more than enough chatter from the author. Thanks again to Master Peter and the nice folks at Kink Weekly for giving “Master of O” such high praise.