Forum: Story Recommendations

Isn't that one more of mindless completely obeying slave?
That's the impression I had when reading the beginning?

The MC actually spends a lot of time trying NOT to build a harem and also trying to find a way to release the ones already controlled by the device.

OK, but while I like mind control, I don't like much zombified and completely obeying girls. They need at least some personality (influenced more than a drone). Just my personal preference.

The series is titled 'Paladin of Shadows'.

Wait, from what I remember (and it's been a while, so forgive me if I am wrong) the protagonist tells his "harem" of underage Viking girls that he'll whore them out to visiting guests and dignitaries, but it's "okay" since he's paying for their education. I remember dropping the whole series and never touching anything else by John Ringo after that.

I don't really think OP is looking for stories where the protagonists voluntarily cuckolds himself.

As for recommendations, I'd, maybe, mention Star Justice by Michael- Scott Earle, though it really doesn't have any sex scenes. Also, ignore the cover, the protagonist isn't a anthropomorphic tiger, that's just his weretiger form, I knew it confused me initially, especially since his other series, Tamer, is about monstergirls.

I'm hesitant to fully endorse Star Justice because it's mostly an action story and there really is almost no scene where the characters are relaxing, it's just one high octane moment to the next, and it gets exhausting.

Also, there's a few fanfics that rise above the usual quality and deliver good storytelling (and harem antics) I would recommend, though I don't know what the policy is concerning sharing them here.

As for recommendations, I'd, maybe, mention Star Justice by Michael- Scott Earle, though it really doesn't have any sex scenes. Also, ignore the cover, the protagonist isn't a anthropomorphic tiger, that's just his weretiger form, I knew it confused me initially, especially since his other series, Tamer, is about monstergirls.

I'm hesitant to fully endorse Star Justice because it's mostly an action story and there really is almost no scene where the characters are relaxing, it's just one high octane moment to the next, and it gets exhausting.

I agree with you, I like Michael-Scott Earle. And like you say, Star Justice is a bit fast paced, and I've found myself taking breaks and reading other books between books in the series.

I do like Tamer better (even though the latest installment in the series was a big disappointment). It does have some sex scenes, but they are sparse and short, it's not an erotica.

I still recommend both of the series for times when you like reading a harem story that's not focused on drama and such, and just want to read a story that happens to include a harem.

Wait, from what I remember (and it's been a while, so forgive me if I am wrong) the protagonist tells his "harem" of underage Viking girls that he'll whore them out to visiting guests and dignitaries, but it's "okay" since he's paying for their education. I remember dropping the whole series and never touching anything else by John Ringo after that.

The MC set a minimum age of 16 for those girls. And they are not being treated as whores. In fact the girls are more eager for sex than he is.

The MC set a minimum age of 16 for those girls. And they are not being treated as whores. In fact the girls are more eager for sex than he is.

I think that the fact that he felt like they were being treated like whores is at most only a part of why he dropped the book. I think what he wrote just below that segment had a bigger part to do with it.

I don't really think OP is looking for stories where the protagonists voluntarily cuckolds himself.

Most guys just doesn't like to share.

The MC set a minimum age of 16 for those girls. And they are not being treated as whores. In fact the girls are more eager for sex than he is.

They're still being treated as prostitutes. Now, I don't know what John Ringo's specific problem is, because he obviously has a lot of them, but this is not what a harem is, neither in the narrative context, nor in a historical one. It's a bordello.

Also, basically, what LabGuineaPig said. Swinging and sharing are a big no-no for harem stories, which makes me wonder why Western writers insistently push that kink into the narrative when they know it will upset the readers. If only they had the good grace to telegraph what they're going to do to the audience in advance so they don't end up wasting my time.

It's a bordello.

Might, just might, have something to do with that being where his MC obtained them from. They were sex slaves/prostitutes, who he "rescued" by purchasing the bordello, in regard to the initial core; the remainder were rescued from marketers in the sex slave trade; he does treat them a lot better than their former owners, but it's very decidedly not a perfect world.

Ringo makes no claims toward it being anything other than what it is.

It should be noted that when John Ringo wrote Ghost, he had no intention of publishing it; he didn't think anyone would touch it with a ten foot pole. It was a story that wouldn't get out of hs head, so he wrote it. Jim Baen heard about it, asked to see a copy, read it, and decided that dark as it was, he was willing to take a chance on it. Turned out there was a large enough market that sequels became economically viable.

But Ringo is very aware that the Kildar is an anti-hero, and not really all that nice a guy; he does, however, understand that loyalty has to be earned, and that it is a two-way street. And that contracts have to be carefully worded, to insure that all parties understand their responsabilities and obligations; and if someone tries to renege on a contract after agreeing to it, you enforce the contract to the letter, including any listed penalties. There's a reason the series is called Paladin of Shadows.

But Ringo is very aware that the Kildar is an anti-hero, and not really all that nice a guy; he does, however, understand that loyalty has to be earned, and that it is a two-way street. And that contracts have to be carefully worded, to insure that all parties understand their responsabilities and obligations; and if someone tries to renege on a contract after agreeing to it, you enforce the contract to the letter, including any listed penalties. There's a reason the series is called Paladin of Shadows.

There are large parts of the series that are pure fiction. There is an equal part that is masked by that fiction that details a reality most western sensibilities find disturbing.

I spent four years of my career living and working in the region described post collapse (92-93, 96, and 99 specifically). From the ground many of his descriptions fit the reality I witnessed.

I'm of a different mind regarding the books. The shootem-up, WMD, government etc parts are mostly fiction. The human trafficking, secular living, poor quality of life, etc parts may as well have been a documentary.

As a result, I don't believe for a moment it was "just something he had in his head." The more reality bending parts imo were written to mask something else.

ETA: One thing the series did do was highlight the massive human trafficking problem the region has. That probably was the base reason behind the series.

They're still being treated as prostitutes. Now, I don't know what John Ringo's specific problem is, because he obviously has a lot of them, but this is not what a harem is, neither in the narrative context, nor in a historical one. It's a bordello.

John said one time that he basically wrote what a lot of military men's fantasies would be, given money, guns, willing girls/women, and a chance to do some world building. Just think of Ghost as a medieval Duke.

All said, it was a major departure from his normal writings, and I think he got it all out of his system since there haven't been any new books in the series for years.

Put Ghost out of your mind, and try almost any of this other stories. Look into the Troy Rising, Blake Tide Rising, or Empire of Man series for starters.

Wait, from what I remember (and it's been a while, so forgive me if I am wrong) the protagonist tells his "harem" of underage Viking girls that he'll whore them out to visiting guests and dignitaries, but it's "okay" since he's paying for their education. I remember dropping the whole series and never touching anything else by John Ringo after that.

I don't really think OP is looking for stories where the protagonists voluntarily cuckolds himself.

Yeah, while I don't mind harem whoring as another pleasure, that's not what I search for here.

As for recommendations, I'd, maybe, mention Star Justice by Michael- Scott Earle, though it really doesn't have any sex scenes. Also, ignore the cover, the protagonist isn't a anthropomorphic tiger, that's just his weretiger form, I knew it confused me initially, especially since his other series, Tamer, is about monstergirls.

I hesitated a long time before trying that one, especially as I didn't want a story about a furry mc, but it was really not furry and good to read in the end: good harem with competent intelligent members.

Covers have sexy well drawn ladies in it, but mc representation is really misleading...

Though it's not a sex story at all, more like a good vanilla harem action scifi. I don't mind this kind of suggestions, if you have more, even if it's a little outside of this thread.

Also, there's a few fanfics that rise above the usual quality and deliver good storytelling (and harem antics) I would recommend, though I don't know what the policy is concerning sharing them here.

I'm open to suggestions :)

Especially as for fanfics, I've seen so much bad crap that I don't try anymore to find good ones.

Especially as for fanfics, I've seen so much bad crap that I don't try anymore to find good ones.

Ask and you shall receive:

1. Kyon: Big Damn Hero by Durandall / Brian Randall - it's a continuation of the "Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" and requires you to have watched the first season of the anime. You can safely avoid the second season because it's a massive troll - they basically loop the same episode over and over again with minor variations.

If you don't know about the premise of the story, it's about the titular Haruhi Suzumiya, who is an impossibly powerful reality warper (to the point many refer to her as the God), but is blissfully unaware of the fact (and due to her personality quirks, it is better for all involved to remain so). The plot mostly centers about slice of life stuff that usually takes a turn for the weird when Haruhi wishes for something and it actually materializes into reality and the other members of the club trying to contain the chaos and keep her from finding out her powers. Kyon, the protagonist, is the only normal person in the club (the rest being an alien, a time traveler and an esper), though he often wonders if he was himself brought into existence by Haruhi.

As for the fanfic itself, it's very, very long, and involves a lot of time traveling, fights with trans-dimensional invaders and the yakuza and a lot of slice of life moments. The narrative is clearly plotted, the characters get a lot of development, but sadly the story will never be finished because the author committed suicide. Then again, what is there is more than enough to keep you entertained for a long time.

Also, read it from the author's page directly because FFN doesn't have all the released chapters.

2. In Flight by gabriel blessing - a crossover between Fate/Stay Night and Sekirei. You don't really need to know about either anime to get into the story because the author tends to go into a lot of exposition (which is a big drawback of his writing), but does have a flair for writing exceptionally cool moments. I do recommend you watch the newest remake of Unlimited Blade Works and Fate/Zero so you don't get spoiled too badly and because they are great stories on their own. It also helps if you have some understanding of the wider Nasuverse to get all the offhand remarks.

Unlike the previous fic, this one is finished, and if you're looking for a battle royale story where the protagonist is not only a not pushover, but extremely proactive in his preparations, as well as very competent, this is the fic for you. It has a few very short sex scenes, thought that is not the focus of the story.

3. Here In My Arms by Platinumsabr - very cheesy title that hides a pretty neat continuation of Rosario + Vampire. Reading the manga (avoid the anime, it's shit) is recommended to get a good grasp of the setting and characters, but not necessary since it's a stereotypical school setting, but the students are monsters (though all have a human form). This one has a lot of smut, but it's preceded by character development, though fight scenes are not the author's forte, they are blessedly few of them. It's also still an active fic, but the updates come very slowly.

4. Path of the King by Neolafa - this is a pure Fate/Stay Night fanfic and requires having watched the anime or played the visual novel to fully appreciate. It has good characterization, the author clearly did his research about the wider setting and has a very good idea where the plot is going. It also updates once a month and has been for quite a while.

5. Many fics by A-Z Mark II over on MediaMiner, but especially Legacy (Love Hina), Necessary Evil + Home (Ai Yori Aoshi), Vandread: Seed (Vandread), Compensation (RahXephon), Blood From Metal (Full Metal Panic), Miscalculation (Mahou Sensei Negima!), Valiant Champion Or Something Like It (Rune Soldier Louie), Developing Bonds (Last Exile). Most of his stuff is plot combined with a healthy dose of smut, with the Love Hina one being mostly smut.

6. Change of Tactics by JLDavenport is a Fire Emblem one, though its by and large smut and has a few instances of netori. Not much to say about it, really, though the author has a few other oneshots that focus on harem shenanigans.

7. Harem Saga by Jeffery Harris - haven't read this one, but it widely considered the best harem fanfic for Tenchi Muyo.

I've got a bunch more recommendations for fanfics, but this here is mostly the best stuff I could get my hands on. I can also recommend anime, manga and visual novels that go the harem route if anyone is interested.

I've got a bunch more recommendations for fanfics, but this here is mostly the best stuff I could get my hands on. I can also recommend anime, manga and visual novels that go the harem route if anyone is interested.

Thanks, seems like most good fanfics are from manga and anime? Or is it because they are the ones you know better?

Thanks, seems like most good fanfics are from manga and anime? Or is it because they are the ones you know better?

Mostly because it's far easier to write a harem route using a Japanese story than it is with something created in the West, usually because the Japanese story already has a large number of female characters interested in the protagonist, so it's relatively simple to tweak things around. Also, it's likely that people that are interested in harem stories usually ignore Western media because they know they won't find what interests them, or if they do it will be of a much lower quality. Japan has basically perfected the "art of the waifu" over the years and have refined the creation of female characters into a science.

Also, there's really not many stories that feature such a "concentration" of female characters in the West, the most you're likely to get is two girls that show interest towards the protagonist.

Wait, from what I remember (and it's been a while, so forgive me if I am wrong) the protagonist tells his "harem" of underage Viking girls that he'll whore them out to visiting guests and dignitaries, but it's "okay" since he's paying for their education. I remember dropping the whole series and never touching anything else by John Ringo after that.

I don't really think OP is looking for stories where the protagonists voluntarily cuckolds himself.

I would not call that description cuckolding. To me, it has to be one of (1) behind the guy's back, (2) in his face and against his wishes, or (3) he's submissive and being dominated by his wife and/or her lover. I would not call a guy who pushes a woman to fuck another guy for his own non-submissive reasons a cuckold, especially where he controls the harem.

Again is it more about mindless sex slaves, instead of talented women recruited?

Three Meals a Day by Tefler. All female harem members start off intelligent, and become super-competent.

Thanks, I've begun that one, seems interesting, and lots of sex too.

Also, I must say that I rather disappointed by commercially released books by Western authors with a harem theme. More often than not they are poorly written, poorly edited, poorly paced, have incredibly cliche plots and characters and even then fail to make the female characters attractive to the male audience or simply fail to grasp the appeal of the harem genre and go full swinging and cuckolding.

I totally agree with you. I find that western harems are more like open relationships than an actual harem. Japanese and chinese harems have their own fair share of problems and stereotypes, but I feel like they have atleast grasped what the word harem means.

there's not many racy scenes, which is rather rare for a harem story written by a Japanese author.

This, I don't agree with though. Not in my experience with Japanese novels. Usually there is about 4 girls dancing around the protagonist for attention, where the protagonist is too dense to see it, or he just can't choose between them and doesn't get into a relationship with anyone, but I've read very few Japanese harems that I would classify as "racy" unless you include straight up erotica. Only Magika no Kenshi to Shoukan Maou comes to mind, maybe Mushoku Tensei it was a long time since I read that one though so I don't really remember if there were any sexual scenes, though I'm pretty sure there was.

Unless you find scenes like walking in on a girl that's changing clothes and panty shots racy, there are alot less stories that are racy than those that are not. At least in my experience. That's why I started reading western harems at all, because they are alot more detailed and don't shy away from relationships.

It is however a pain the ass to have to sift through a bunch of reviews before reading a western harem, to try to avoid swinging, sharing and cuckolding that is so prevalent.

Also, I must say that I rather disappointed by commercially released books by Western authors with a harem theme. More often than not they are poorly written, poorly edited, poorly paced, have incredibly cliche plots and characters and even then fail to make the female characters attractive to the male audience, or simply fail to grasp the appeal of the harem genre and go full swinging and cuckolding.

Completely agree here, especially as harem is kinda a rare thing in western literature outside of Arabian settings, which don't interest me at all.

Not to say Japanese authors are much better, but at least they have the excuse of suffering under the thrall of editors (that wield significantly more power than their title would imply), and if they made a heroine "used goods" there would be hell to pay in most cases, as the author of Kannagi found out.

Japanese harems have these problems :
- one dimensional girls
- not worthy mc (I like dense mc, but I despise the useless mc type Japanese like to add in their stories)

Sorry for the double post, the first one was just so long I thought it was better to make another one to make it easier to read.

Japanese harems have these problems :
- one dimensional girls
- not worthy mc (I like dense mc, but I despise the useless mc type Japanese like to add in their stories)

Oh, I don't disagree in the slightest, they do have these problems, and the fact most harem stories tend to be just one long sequence of blueballing with no worthwhile payoff in the end. That being said you have the aforementioned Rokujouma where the protagonist is an actual person, not an empty shell for the audience to project into, with a past and goals and opinions of his own. He doesn't let the girls walk all over him and grows as a person as the plot goes on and the plot actually is a plot that evolves as the story progresses.

Then there's the protagonist from the Grisaia visual novels that is a complex individual with his own issues, but also an incredibly skilled fighter. Or even Issei from DxD that unashamedly states he wants a harem of his own, and while he fails to sexually engage with his harem at least there is justification for it.

Also, quite recently, and by some miracle, the writer of Shinmai Maou no Testament managed to get bonafide sex scenes past the editorial department. And that's one thing people always forget with Japanese LNs, they are meant for teenagers and young adults and sold in normal stores, so having anything too lewd would get them slapped with a mature rating.

Oh, I don't disagree in the slightest, they do have these problems, and the fact most harem stories tend to be just one long sequence of blueballing with no worthwhile payoff in the end.

Well, blueballing is OK, as long as I'm not into the mood of reading something actually erotic!

That being said you have the aforementioned Rokujouma where the protagonist is an actual person, not an empty shell for the audience to project into, with a past and goals and opinions of his own. He doesn't let the girls walk all over him and grows as a person as the plot goes on and the plot actually is a plot that evolves as the story progresses.

Interesting, thanks!
I'll add that one to my to read list, even it's not erotica I think.

Then there's the protagonist from the Grisaia visual novels that is a complex individual with his own issues, but also an incredibly skilled fighter. Or even Issei from DxD that unashamedly states he wants a harem of his own, and while he fails to sexually engage with his harem at least there is justification for it.

A complex individual as a Japanese mc? That's a rarity :)
I've tried to read Chinese stories for a change ("wuxia" stuff), but their characters tend to be genocidal maniacs, so it's not really better.

Also, quite recently, and by some miracle, the writer of Shinmai Maou no Testament managed to get bonafide sex scenes past the editorial department. And that's one thing people always forget with Japanese LNs, they are meant for teenagers and young adults and sold in normal stores, so having anything too lewd would get them slapped with a mature rating.

Yeah, but there is a difference between not making it too lewd, and making a super bland settings with uninteresting mc and uninteresting harem members without anything going on.

Well, blueballing is OK, as long as I'm not into the mood of reading something actually erotic!

I meant in terms of romantic resolution. Usually harem authors introduce the so called "first girl", who the audience is well aware will win out in the end, and then just keep throwing more and more female characters into the mess because they have no actual story going on, they just keep resetting the narrative back to square one after the newest string of perverted mishaps have run their course. It's beyond infuriating and repetitive.

And then you have something worse than that, the dreaded "open ending" where the protagonist doesn't pick anyone and you just end up feeling like an idiot for even having wasted your time on such garbage.

even it's not erotica I think.

It could be called the anti-erotica. While many harem stories tend to have the protagonist stumble upon the heroines in various states of undress, or fall on them and accidentally touch their boobs, Rokujouma eschews these infantile cliches for some honest-to-God character development, and the developing bonds between the protagonist and the girls and even between the girls themselves.

>Yeah, but there is a difference between not making it too lewd, and making a super bland settings with uninteresting mc and uninteresting harem members without anything going on.

That's a rarity :)

Not as rare as you'd think. And not only is he an actual individual, but he's no stuttering virgin either.

I've tried to read Chinese stories for a change ("wuxia" stuff), but their characters tend to be genocidal maniacs, so it's not really better.

Yeah, Chinese novels are not only carbon copies of each other, but also feature protagonists that are straight up psychopaths. There are a few good ones like "These Dangerous Girls Placed Me Into Jeopardy" featuring the holy grail of harem stories, a yandere harem, that doesn't deal with cultivation bullshit. It's just an unlucky sod that got a spell cast on him that attracts females to him with the problem being that all the girls are batshit insane and want to kill, eat or maim him. Sadly, the translation stopped since the author put the raws behind a paywall.

There's also Duke of Mount Deer (alternatively known as Deer and the Cauldron) which was deliberately written as deconstruction of a wuxia novel. The protagonist is not some noble orphan with a mysterious past, he's the son of a prostitute in some random brothel, he's illiterate, cowardly, amoral, corrupt, never actually manages to properly learn martial arts and spends his time scheming how to get more wealth and power. That being said, he is a somewhat lovable rogue that stays loyal to his friends (even though he might cheat them out of money) and uses underhanded means to keep his (future) wives around him. The whole story is already translated or you can just watch the various live action interpretations (there's 5 of them IIRC).

but there is a difference between not making it too lewd, and making a super bland settings

By "too lewd" I mean straight up pornography, which Shinmai actually turns into at the end. IIRC the last volume is pretty much the protagonist just sleeping with all his girls. And it really is a revolutionary moment because it is the first LN of its kind that managed to get published with such explicit material.

A great example of how authors usually go around the rating restrictions is Campione! (another fun one), where the protagonist has a power called "Youth" that when used basically translates into sex. The anime makes it even more plain in the last episode, with the heroine even biting her mouth and drawing blood as a nod towards her being "deflowered".

Also, does anyone know how to quote multiple posts in the same post? I feel kind of silly making three entries one after the other.

I meant in terms of romantic resolution. Usually harem authors introduce the so called "first girl", who the audience is well aware will win out in the end, and then just keep throwing more and more female characters into the mess because they have no actual story going on, they just keep resetting the narrative back to square one after the newest string of perverted mishaps have run their course. It's beyond infuriating and repetitive.

This is so true. That's what made me go from reading japanese harem to chinese harems. Chinese harems put the MC and women in relationships together, instead of having an unresolved relationship where multiple girls like the MC but no one ever does anything about it.

I stopped reading chinese stories because if you've read one of them, you've read them all. And the chinese authors love to keep the MC seperated from the love interests. Rather than building a relationship and letting the characters get to know each other, they spend about 500 chapters away from each other. Considering that if you're not a chinese reader, you'll have to wait for translations. So that could be ~2 years until the woman shows up again, and by that point you don't care about her if you even remember who she is.

That's why I think that the best harem stories are usually the western ones that doesn't go into swinging/sharing/cuckolding. The western stories often keep the relationships in focus and they don't dance around the subject.

I stopped reading chinese stories because if you've read one of them, you've read them all.

Pretty much. It's like they all come from the same assembly line, just with some slight changes in name and "RPG" mechanics. Granted, they do have the odd gem here and there, but most of those don't get translated because it's easier to churn out more wuxia garbage.

ather than building a relationship and letting the characters get to know each other, they spend about 500 chapters away from each other.

It seems that for Chinese authors the female characters are just another aspect of the protagonist's rise in status, not proper characters in their own right. They're basically notches on the bedpost, to say nothing about the fact "courtship" usually involves the protagonist raping them. I really don't understand how a mass murdering rapist and hypocrite is their ideal of a hero.

That's why I think that the best harem stories are usually the western ones that doesn't go into swinging/sharing/cuckolding.

Western stories for me fail because they try to push the realism too far, often to the point the heroines have very little appeal to them, while the protagonist remains the same stuttering, incompetent virgin you'd find in a Japanese story. There's something to be said about the benefits of idealization in escapist fantasy, a fact Western writers have forgotten in their pursuit of nihilistic vestiges of realism.

Western stories for me fail because they try to push the realism too far, often to the point the heroines have very little appeal to them, while the protagonist remains the same stuttering, incompetent virgin you'd find in a Japanese story. There's something to be said about the benefits of idealization in escapist fantasy, a fact Western writers have forgotten in their pursuit of nihilistic vestiges of realism.

I'm no big fan of the term 'harem'. When I read it, I envision a Sultan on his throne lording over hundreds of faceless, imprisoned women.

However, I'm a big fan of ELSol's stories and many of them are tagged with the 'harem' code. Your gereral critique of western authors hardly applies to any of them, so maybe you'd like them as well.

They're basically notches on the bedpost, to say nothing about the fact "courtship" usually involves the protagonist raping them. I really don't understand how a mass murdering rapist and hypocrite is their ideal of a hero.

Yeah it's weird. I remember reading a story, where the protagonist lost his self control when his powers awakened, which caused him to violently rape a girl he just met. After that, he cuts off a piece of the bloody sheet before the girl can burn it, because he wants to give it to her as a memoir later. Right after raping her, while the girl has run away and is crying, he follows her and assures her that he will take responsibility for her now.

That whole scene had me dumbstruck. First off, what girl would want to have a bloody sheet? What was the dude thinking? It was written in a way that portrayed it to be a perfectly good gift, as if it was a diamond ring or something. It was really disturbing.

"Hey, happy birthday! Remember when I violently raped you last year? This right here is your virgin blood on the cloth, I saved it so you can treasure the traumatic experience forever!"

And why would he think that the girl would want to have anything to do with him at all after that? I mean, if a girl got raped by a drunk man and the man finds her when he's sober and tell her that he will take care of her now, I'm sure she will welcome him with open arms, right? In that story she did atleast, she became the main heroine rather then to slap the shit out of him and tell him to fuck off.

The whole scene was just so stupid, and like you said it's a common occurence with chinese stories. It really makes one wonder about their culture..

That all dates back to the time were girls were seen as a liability to your survival or your wealth.
So if you had a girl that was raped, she was damaged goods in the eyes of the public and no-one would marry her and she would be a burden to her family and all that bullshit.

So the rapist had to take "responsibility" and marry the girl.

Isn't that more limited to pregnancies? I mean in most cases, such as in that story, no one else is going to know if she's a virgin or not. She was a commoner and a soldier anyway, not a nobles daughter that'd be used in an arranged marriage. Nor was it a cultural thing in this stories universe, since casual sex happened quite a bit without leading to attachments.

It just irked me when he just walks up to the poor girl and basically tell her "Sorry I raped you, but you belong to me now"

So if you had a girl that was raped, she was damaged goods in the eyes of the public and no-one would marry her and she would be a burden to her family and all that bullshit.

That's still happening in some parts of the world.

That whole scene had me dumbstruck. First off, what girl would want to have a bloody sheet?

This sort of thing happened in medieval Europe as well. The wedding night bed sheets were saved and sometimes even publicly displayed to the wedding guests the next day as the blood stains on the sheets were proof that the bride went to her marriage bed a virgin.

There were even cases of bloody bed sheet fraud.

Couples who consummated their marriage before the official wedding (for sake of appearances) or a woman trying to conceal from her husband that she wasn't a virgin would stain the marital bed sheets with a small amount of animal blood.

even publicly displayed to the wedding guests the next day as the blood stains on the sheets were proof that the bride went to her marriage bed a virgin.

This occurred in Second Chance when he was forced to marry three girls at the same time

Author?

Author?

https://storiesonline.net/s/76454/second-chance

Book 10 in the list of separate stories on this index
I think it is near end chapter 1 or early chapter 2 of this book.

It was "Heavenly Jewel Change" if I recall correctly. I remember dropping it right at the rape scene because it was such a bizarre turn of events. I mean, I don't really mind the rape all that much (though I'm a big vanilla guy with a long list of squicks) considering there was justification (thin and contrived as it was), nor do I mind the protagonist trying to reassure the girl by saying he'd take responsibility, it's appropriate behavior for the kind of culture the story is set in, but what got me was his cavalier attitude to it all.

He's supposedly felling bad, he pretty much ruined the girl for life and if it ever gets out she's "used goods" her standing in society will suffer and here he is quipping jokes. Knowing how these things usually work out in wuxia stories he won't change his behavior because of this, he won't be haunted by what he has done or even think about it too much, and that just speaks about bad writing in general. And from what I'm told him raping a girl that is to become a romantic interest is a repeated occurrence in the story, so it's likely the author's fetish.

Then again, even this kind of stuff doesn't shoot my blood pressure as high as when a Western author decides to sneak in wife sharing and swinging into a supposedly harem story and thinks he's being cute. That's a pretty big faux pas in my book and something I predominantly only see from Western writers (and tolerated by Western audiences), since trying to pull such a stunt elsewhere would make the audience flip their shit.

Try "Ze Tian Ji", it's almost harem (though more like one sided love), and the mc is actually really a worthy hero: humble, clever, mature and wise.

There is real friendship, characters are not one dimensional, and the girl is not here as the hero trophy, but as a kick ass character.

I read Chinese stories, to find gems like that.

It seems that for Chinese authors the female characters are just another aspect of the protagonist's rise in status, not proper characters in their own right. They're basically notches on the bedpost, to say nothing about the fact "courtship" usually involves the protagonist raping them. I really don't understand how a mass murdering rapist and hypocrite is their ideal of a hero.

I agree, in many Chinese stories, there is no friendship, there is no love, there is only face.

And a giant psycho as the main character collecting face, while killing everyone who stands in his way (with their family and their dog).

I just hope it doesn't tell something about the ideal hero for youngsters in China, because that would be seriously disturbing.

There are some good ones though, but difficult to find among the crazy nazis ones.

Western stories for me fail because they try to push the realism too far, often to the point the heroines have very little appeal to them, while the protagonist remains the same stuttering, incompetent virgin you'd find in a Japanese story. There's something to be said about the benefits of idealization in escapist fantasy, a fact Western writers have forgotten in their pursuit of nihilistic vestiges of realism.

In teen stories maybe, but I've found great harem stories in western scifi or fantasy. But I only keep stories where the mc is clever or worthy of admiration in some ways.

It's not that there are that many western harem stories anyway, even if there seems to be a rapid growth of them thanks to Japanese influence and indie authors.

Thanks, though any Middle East setting is meh for me.

Depends, is the slave thing something completely normal in the setting?

Yes-ish? There is some worldbuilding explaining it, and it's common and become somewhat normalized; but the story also doesn't particularly glorify it.

OK, thanks!

I have it on my to-read list. It gets 7 chapters a week and is 1000 chapters behind the newest Japanese chapter (which is on hiatus)
So it should take 3 years to get up to date
Also it is very slow paced, a week takes more than a hundred chapters.

Dude the true harem novel is pure love x insult compex. It has by far the best story, characters, developmemt, pchysological issues. There is very very little pissing and they are not drinking it or anything like that. Well you just need toto scrape by first few chapters that are hmm rape i would say buy it is all explained in later chapters. This story has depth is unordinary, it is simplu must read.

I think I've heard about that one, I'll try it, non con can be good if it doesn't stay non con.

I think I've heard about that one, I'll try it, non con can be good if it doesn't stay non con.

While the story of Pure Love x Insult Complex is kind of interesting, either the translation is abysmal or the story just doesn't work in the english language. I followed PLIC until the translation was around 150 chapters, then I machine translated up to ch 380 before I lost interest, and let me tell you, the translation is not all that better than just google translating the source material, and that's not good at all.

It really, really ticks me off how much they use tripple dots '...'.

Example from random chapter:

Reika's surprised.

「I want you to know at least that. I'm not doing it reluctantly. I really want Reika to be in my『family』」

「…Y-Yes」

「Therefore…what's left is the problem of Reika's feelings」

…Reika

「Thank you very much…Uh」

「…What?」

「Please…give me a kiss too」

「…Sure」

I kiss Reika…

「Now, Reika-oneesan…I'll be waiting by the entrance so please ready up!」

It really screws with the pace of conversations and how it's read. Like 90% of the '...'s in the story could be exchanged for a single '.' or a ',' and it would make it so much more readable. I mean, in every single chapter there's about 200~ instances of '...'. It's really frustrating to read.

90% of the '...'s

replaces err, um, ooh, err

replaces err, um, ooh, err

In some cases maybe, but in most, no.

In fact, err, um, ooh, err, huh, haa etc is often written out (and often accompanied by the dreaded "...").

Take the example I posted up above.

Reika's surprised.

「I want you to know at least that. I'm not doing it reluctantly. I really want Reika to be in my『family』」

「…Y-Yes」

「Therefore…what's left is the problem of Reika's feelings」

…Reika

「Thank you very much…Uh」

「…What?」

「Please…give me a kiss too」

「…Sure」

I kiss Reika…

「Now, Reika-oneesan…I'll be waiting by the entrance so please ready up!」

It could easily be written as

Reika's surprised.

"I want you to know at least that. I'm not doing it reluctantly. I really want you to be in my family."

"...Y-Yes."

"Therefore, what's left is the problem of your feelings."

"Thank you very much! Uhm..." Reika said shyly.

"What is it?"

"Please... give me a kiss too!"

"Sure." I say and kiss Reika.

"Now, Reika-oneesan, I'll be waiting by the entrance so please ready up!"

And that reads much better in my opinion (I'm biased, I wrote it). I realized writing this that the translation use third person when speaking. Instead of saying "you" or "your" they use "Reika" and "Reika's". That might be how they speak in Japan, but they should correct it when translating to English, since that's not how you speak in English.

That might be how they speak in Japan, but they should correct it when translating to English, since that's not how you speak in English

No, third person speaking is intentional, its formal to speak in such a way. It's very informal/rude to use 'you', think of a drill master shouting "YOU PRIVATE! Clean up this mess".

Think of how being polite in the old times people would say 'sir', we've dropped being formal mostly from English. This is how Japanese and indeed a few other languages (including Swedish) have maintained a formal speaking pattern. Now before you think you could rewrite this to sound like 18th century England, you can't, they have older forms of being formal that are analogous and thus you really need to save that form of translation for it. Besides, their modern formal doesn't sound as stuff or pompous to them as the old formal English does to us so it's simply a poor fit.

As a final aside on this topic, the third person trick gets double use in Japanese as people (mostly girls) uses it to sound cute when referring to themselves in third person, which plays well with the third person dialogue, and would ruin a lot of the interplay when translated if removed.

I admit I tend to enjoy the stories where the women are really the ones in charge of growing the harem membership numbers, sometimes against the MC's preferences. Its even better when its a subtle or hidden form of control. Some stories are great at that type of control.

These are amazing! Influence and subtle mind control is so much better than complete control.

Any idea of some of those?

After all, it's not like the hero went out of his way to get all these women for himself, no, they offered themselves to him willingly and all agreed to share.

Can you have a harem without sex? In Recluse and Ghost the MC wanted to get away from everything but ended up with the local ghost, her daughter, his mother, the local doctor, half a dozen young Mexican girls ... and apart from the ghost whom he married he steadfastly refused requests from the women for sex.

Quite honestly, I can't really recall a single story where the protagonist decides he wants a harem and proactively seeks out more mates, at least not without the involvement of some kind of mind control power or device, or other circumstances that force his hand.

The millionnaire who recruited a half dozen girls to live on his desert island with a million dollars being the prize for the girl who won. Sex was not a condition but occurred, often as the female's attempt to win.

Can you have a harem without sex?

You can. Actually, the actual classification of "harem" in Japanese stories has more to do with the ratio of male to female characters than with any polygamous relationships.

and apart from the ghost whom he married he steadfastly refused requests from the women for sex.

And that's exactly the kind of harem story I hate (no offense meant to the author of course). What's the point of introducing all these female characters that are there only as window dressing? If they're there to create romantic tension wouldn't just one love rival be enough?

The millionnaire who recruited a half dozen girls to live on his desert island with a million dollars being the prize for the girl who won

Now that I think about it, Life with Alpha was also a guy deliberately setting out to make a harem for himself, even if all the girls in the harem just happen to be artificial constructs.

And that's exactly the kind of harem story I hate (no offense meant to the author of course). What's the point of introducing all these female characters that are there only as window dressing? If they're there to create romantic tension wouldn't just one love rival be enough?

The multiplicity of women relates purely to the real story. However all of them (including his sisters) desperately want sex. Since there are always at least two, sometimes four willing women in his bed he has just made a mistake engineered by the wife - he broke one of the other women in unknowingly

Should be "Island Fever" by JeremyDCP. It used to be on this site but the author removed it in January of this year.

Several of colt45's stories here on SOL have these aspects.

Best of Both Worlds by Dilettante.

I'll look into those then :)

I did a word search for florida in this thread because it is so large. I had thought of these two too. I would like to see a companion piece to the Florida Friends that covers the mysterious power and how it is propagating, why now and why Tampa

Actually the story that is the basis for The Swarm Cycle is

Average Joes

The story you mentioned is inspired but not a part of that universe.

I don't know if any one knows the story I think it is called the barons man. A boy in one of the English barony becomes one of the barons hunters and then the baron gets killed the boy then delivers a letter from the deceased baron to the King and gets named the new baron and things go on from there. I can't seem to find it although I remember it being on this website.

You are probably thinking of The Earl's Man by FantasyLover.

Story: https://storiesonline.net/s/69347/the-earls-man
Author: https://storiesonline.net/a/fantasylover

His "Matts crazy corner of the world" fits the overall request,

has a bit of bestiality

No, he makes her think, thru the use of drugs, that she fucking a dog as a punishment. During the scene he says he would never actually put a dog on her.

Never mind found it it is called the earls man by fantasy lover.

But a fourth has shown up in the household of one of the trios, so we're approaching a real harem. Sans filmy bloomers.

No bloomers? Rats. Maybe Carlita could organize a dress-up day.

Don't give me ideas, Sam. You have no idea what films play in my mind.

Hmm, that makes me wonder, If I could hook your brain up to a dvr connected to a large screen TV, what would we see? :)

I frequently go to Nickerson Marina. I wonder, idlely, how they tell Marina has her knickers on.

Obviously you misunderstood. It's not a statement. It's a reminder.

Nickerson Marina is to remind the young lady in question of the required dress code.