Forum: Story Discussion and Feedback

I'm not sure of the exact number, but the largest I've seen done well is the one I mentioned up thread, Three Square Meals.

I think the core harem is up to approximately 11.

But as I stated, this story is 3.7 million words and it's not finished.

Lots of story between the sex scenes.

Cal is up to nine/seventeen, as of tomorrow's chapter of A True History. I freely admit the eight Indian concubines are loved, but I've only got a couple of them as individual personalities. This is written first person, so if the mc isn't around, they're not developed that much. The other nine, though ...

Nine and you still manage to make it a good story without too much sex. Unfortunately most large harem stories have little story and just go from sex scene to sex scene.

Unfortunately most large harem stories have little story and just go from sex scene to sex scene.

The size of the story matters. With a much longer story it's easier to do while still having lots of story. Particularly if the author refrains from having the MC trying to do the entire harem every chapter.

The size of the story matters. With a much longer story it's easier to do while still having lots of story. Particularly if the author refrains from having the MC trying to do the entire harem every chapter.

I can agree with that. I almost exclusively read long stories simply because I read a lot and that doesn't work for me with multiple short stories a day. I don't exclude stories with large harems by default so many of them are enjoyable to read IF the MC is not trying to do the entire harem every chapter, i.e. sex is not the main focus of the story.

Got any recs, or at least any stories worth remembering?

Just a few from the top of my head:
Barneyr - Bob's Great Adventure
Feral Lady - Von Solon's Universe
Gordon Johnson - Nowhere Man
HLD - Three Girls and A Guy
John Wales - Rebirth (John has a few more that would qualify)
Lazlong - Wagons Ho!
MattHHelm - Somewhere in Time - A Road Less Traveled and Somewhere in Time - A Trip to Waco

Most time travel to the far past stories have multi-wive families, especially the MC of course.

Unfortunately most large harem stories have little story and just go from sex scene to sex scene.

The size of the story matters. With a much longer story it's easier to do while still having lots of story. Particularly if the author refrains from having the MC trying to do the entire harem every chapter.

Has everyone forgotten "John and Argent" by cmsix? I seem to remember the size of that harem exceeding 100 and it got ridiculous. Imagine a story code of
MFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF.

Yes, I like it enough to reread every 2-3 years. I wish he continued writing.

I occasionally go back to that story and re-read the first chapter. Just the first chapter. Treating it as a stand-alone story.

There were a couple of other stories which started off in a similar vein and were also never completed, Wraith by Andrew James Gordon and Ersatz's contribution to the NiS universe.

Wow! You are so right! That is an exceptionally fun chapter.

I'll likely read the rest, then be sick that it isn't finished, but if I was smarter, I think I'd do what you suggest and let that chapter just be a little jewel in my memory!

I occasionally go back to that story and re-read the first chapter. Just the first chapter. Treating it as a stand-alone story.

The first few chapters are good. I think we went astray in the last two or so. Pity.

I am eagerly waiting for it to finish

Hmm, depending on the definition of finished, it's already finished. Available on Bookapy ($5.99).

I wrote

still in progress – actual chapter 31 of 45 –

Reading the announcement for the eBook again, I may have come to a wrong conclusion. It says there: "There are a total of 45 chapters in the eBook." This is slightly ambiguous, are the chapters in the eBook the same size as posted here on SOL? If not, how many chapters will be posted here?

HM.

Yeah, the whole harem concept is new to me. I've seen quite a bit of the threesome or throuple idea. But the harem is just pure wish fulfillment and ends up with too many women to keep straight, I can never remember who everyone is in the story. And harem or poly stories usually are just about the sex scenes and have no other plotlines or neglect their other plotlines because there are so many characters that need to be included in sex scenes.

In those stories I'd assume the odd girls out would start reading him his assignments and doing his homework for him while they were waiting for their turn with him, lol.

I'd say that 3 maybe 4 women to the main character is the limit. I have and will read stories with more but really after that it seems like homogenized characters with different names and physical descriptions.

I have friend down in Chile who has made it work with three in real life. They had to move to the Chilean artic territory to do so. Punta Arenas is a don't ask, don't tell kind of town when it comes to that. As long as you're productive, they don't really care. By productive, I mean generating taxes for the local and national government which they all do. How you live after that, they don't care as long as it's not breaking any laws otherwise.

When we visit, I nor my family ask any questions. Their social dynamic on the surface is more as a group of friends. None of them show any PDA when others are around. It works for them. At home, the children are never without any adult to help them and or guide them when needed. One thing is clear though, it's a strain on him. I have serious doubts any more than three could work without it ripping the whole apart.

Solomon is said to have had 700 wives and 300 concubines (in my opinion, a myth).

The Biblical Solomon was a king which made a big difference, Those number are probably exaggerated, but likely not by as much as you think.

In a story, three or four would be the maximum if the author wants to explore their various relationships. Of course there could be many more if the relationships were only explored for the main few and the rest were merely cut-outs with only minimal personalities.

Depends on the setting, but if you're trying for a "modern day/realistic" setup, 4 is starting to be really pushing the outer limits before things really start to crack, or require some significant liberties being taken on the characters and their life situation. (Such as prior discussions on women involved in such harems frequently being portrayed as bisexual, and mutually attracted to each other)

If you're dealing with sci-fi and/or fantasy, other options open up. But even then, just so readers can easily follow the story, you're likely going to end up having to find ways to "send harem members away." If you intend to have characters in the mix that aren't part of the harem. (Which gets into another, different, discussion about how many characters are too many in general.)

Solomon is said to have had 700 wives and 300 concubines

In those days, I could believe it. He was a king without parallel and taking wives or concubines was often tied to securing peace or favorable treaties. More of a political decision than anything.

He wouldn't be obligated to get them with child or the like. With 1,000 women to bed, the best he could hope for was one visit every few years... and every single woman would be honored to be there in what was the best house with the best food and best security. For them, being chosen to be in a harem wasn't just about some honor or familial obligation -- it meant an increased chance of simply surviving, and living well while doing it.

I think most women today would love the chance to live in some millionaire's harem if they could pull it off.

I think they'd jump at the chance. Plus, there's no reason to assume it had to be childless. The choice between a comfortable life and one that's full of struggle and uncertainty? Women haven't changed that much in the last few thousand years, and I think they'd happily slip into a harem if they could make it happen.

She forgot that the Sultan's mother has the power of life and death over the women in the harem.

Obviously for the normal man the correct harem number is one. When the divorce inevitably happens, if he had more than one he will have to give each woman half of his stuff to make her go away, leaving him with nothing or a massive debt.

Obviously for the normal man the correct harem number is one. When the divorce inevitably happens, if he had more than one he will have to give each woman half of his stuff to make her go away, leaving him with nothing or a massive debt.

Well technically, the first to divorce him would get half.

The second would only get half of the half that remained after the first divorce, or 1/4 of the original.

The third would only get 1/8 of the original.

Obviously for the normal man the correct harem number is one. When the divorce inevitably happens, if he had more than one he will have to give each woman half of his stuff to make her go away, leaving him with nothing or a massive debt.

In countries where harems are legal, the divorce laws are very different.

I don't think you can use the 'normal' man based on a western culture as a basis for anything that is practised in very different cultures.

I don't think you can use the 'normal' man based on a western culture as a basis for anything that is practised in very different cultures.

Comparing cultures as a basis for judging 'normalcy' is never a good idea. Yet the U.N. does so on a frequent basis.

Would you prefer to live a childless life of luxury in a harem, with every whim except pregnancy catered for? Or would you prefer living hand-to-mouth but able to pop out as many kids as you want?

There is a difference between back then and today you both seem to ignore.
"pop out as many kids as you want" doesn't describe the choice back then. There was a high risk of dying in childbed and due to no contraception, "as you want" is an euphemism.

HM.

Must be? Really? That's a rule? There couldn't possibly be any other reasoning?

I expect that most were hostages to secure those alliances.

Not "hostages" in the sense we think of today. For them, it would have been a great honor and one they happily took on. Or, as happily as anyone could in those kind of days.

Not hostages? Except if their family misbehaved, they were permanently maimed or killed.

In what culture? Harems were the norm around the world for most of human history so it's disingenuous to suggest that some form of punishment was universal or even commonplace within any given culture.

Also, such behavior would have been rather 'last resort' I think since such an affront to the family of the woman could cause a war or other unpleasantness.

Speaking in a general sense, the wives were different than the concubines, but everyone had to pull their weight and offer something of value to the household to compensate for their upkeep a bit. And it would have been seen as something of a win for the woman because being chosen to live in a harem was far better for her than living with a poor potato farmer, grubbing in the dirt all day.

I don't know that she'd be any safer in the harem, but we can't say people were particularly safe outside of the harem, either. Those were very hard days and people died at the drop of a hat.

Also, such behavior would have been rather 'last resort' I think since such an affront to the family of the woman could cause a war or other unpleasantness.

Sure it would. But for the dominant power possession of the women insured the good behavior of the subordinate state. They wouldn't rebel knowing that doing so would result in their daughters or sisters having their heads cut off.

Yea, for the most part. But there were also dozens of other insurance policies as well. Considering how much war there has been in the Middle East and Persia throughout history... I don't think having a daughter in a harem was ever much of a hindrance.

I think most women today would love the chance to live in some millionaire's harem if they could pull it off.

Maybe not 'most' but a small majority.

I pick up way too many women in the Caribbean and they would remain on the boat with me until I kick them out. Few women ditched their husbands and stayed on board for whole summers. At one point I had 14 women on board all willing to do anything to stay.

There is a certain class of women who value comfort and easy life above all else. They're willing to trade their bodies (just sex or even child bearing) for the easy life.

We'll likely never know, but I'd bet that you could have picked up far more women if it was within their ability to make it happen. As it was, you could only get a small handful, relatively, because those were the ones that could manage it with their existing relationships and other commitments.

I'd bet good money that 70% of women would happily live in the wealthy man's harem if it was possible. And those that say they wouldn't... well, probably don't want people thinking they're shallow or whatever.

In ancient times, I bet that would jump to 90% if only because it meant a better chance of simply surviving.

Can't argue with that!

If i remember correctly the harem in daze of the valley was more of an open relationship type thing, i can only recall 2 women that didn't have sexual encounters with anyone else outside of the octet. It was told in one of the later chapters that some of the harem members we're indeed sleeping around with non octet members when they kept swapping houses / bed mates.

Maybe im wrong tho, its been awhile since iv read it.

The Nazgul. They were obviously Sauron's bitches.

and he could do all of them each night.

And there in lies the real problem.

Assume he spends 30 minutes on each one, including foreplay. That's 7.5 hours of sex per day. At that level even if you posit sufficient endurance for that, you still run into practical/logistical issues that go beyond sexual endurance.

Consider a normal week day with a full time job.

Full time job: 8 hours/day.
3 meals at 30 minutes/meal: 1.5 hours/day.
Sex: 7.5 hours/day
Sub-total, 17 hours.

That leaves just 7 hours for sleep and no time at all for any kind of personal leisure/recreation.

King Solomon

Should be spelled soloman. Just one girl at a time.

Sorry to bump in this forum, I have been looking for good harem based stories(one male, multiple female), I have started with a classic "Six times a day" by Spacer X and that pretty much formed a standard which I have not been able to find in other stories(I have read Spacer X other stories also)

My main criteria is a modern day/realistic story with one man multiple female harem(more sex), except no alternate reality, time travel, Science Fiction, fantasy elements, mind control, Extra Sensory Perception....

Could anyone recommend anything with realistic elements please

If your orgy is going to be rishathra between hominids then you need Arthur C. Clarke's Space Elevator.

We should issue cops Tasps instead of Tasers for a kinder, more loving police force.

rishathra between hominids

Rishathra is "sexual practice outside one's own species but within the intelligent hominoids", so 'between hominids' is redundant. Anyway, isn't that how SIV (simian immunodeficiency virus) jumped species to H.Sap?

ETA: I recently started rereading Ringworld Engineers, and re-found one of my favourite Niven quotes:

he avoided cheese as if it were spoiled milk

Horny Bantu women being banged by long fanged chimps or mad scientists rushing untested vaccines into the community. Which is more likely?
https://documents.uow.edu.au/~bmartin/dissent/documents/AIDS/River/NYReviewBooks.html

A possible new niche for fetish movies. CHIMPED.

No clue. Have a story about encountering intelligent tool using apes:
https://storiesonline.net/s/72028/bonnie

OK,its real. The mind boggles. A chimpanzee cuckolding movie. Imagine being paid to molest young Charlotte Rampling while wearing a monkey suit.

Rule 34 of the internet once again proves true. No matter the subject, there is porn of it.

Keeping the thread drift on track, heres a story about a would be lothario glued into a monkey suit:

https://storiesonline.net/s/61032/runaway-monkey

I suspect she watched Fay Wray in King Kong, then tarted it up for a modern audience.

The milk was so spoiled that when the farmer complained about the odor, instead of washing it decided to hold its breath until it turned blue.

Every harem is at least a little too large for someone.

That's why some guys don't have even one.

I am writing a story with two "harems" the "neighbors" of the MC are PMCs (Professional Military Contractors) who have become involved with a number of illicit activities for both the money and the thrills.

The PMCs have a "harem" in the vernacular of prostitution a "stable" of young women and teen girls.

The MC also begins accumulating several young women and teen girls. Definitely a "tiered harem" although as some characters story arc progresses they realize they don't have to provide sex for security.

All characters are flawed, and at the beginning are engaging in a variety of risky activities. Some are on a "redemption arc" others aren't.

Most of the women and girls have been rescued from prostitution, survival sex, etc. Escorting and other sexual excesses occur, however, they are not the main story arcs (although some story arcs are influenced by sexual endeavors).

The MC has up to 7 women/teen girls, but not all in a "harem" at the same time. One of the conflicts in the story is the changing dynamics of the relationships. All of the characters have issues to work through (or not).

The MC (nor any other characters) ever attempt to engage in sex with All of the women in a 24 hour period. Some of the sex is rather mercenary.

Some of the sex is rather mercenary.

A not small amount of real sex in the real world is like that.