A Pound of Flesh
Set in an alternate Viking world where "pleasure slaves" are trained  at "pleasure houses" to service paying "masters," Wright's uninspired erotic  fantasy, the sequel toTo Serve and Submit(2006), includes s&m, rape-as-stimulation and lots of hearty "rutting."  Freed pleasure slave Marja and her former master, Lexander, set out to destroy  the other masters and their pleasure houses. While the pair enjoy good sex  because Marja is a true submissive, Marja's nascent feminism leads her to  decide their sexual bond is not as important as freeing other pleasure slaves.  Aided in her quest by a variety of throwaway human characters and a bunch of  supernatural beings (mischievous little "olfs," gossipy water sprites and evil demons), Marja  uses her well-honed sexual wiles and supernatural connections to seduce men and  women to further her cause. Readers looking for a lukewarm version of  Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series will be most rewarded.(Feb.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.