Forum: Story Recommendations

Here's some you may wish to look at. Some involve graphic descriptions while some don't due to a higher focus on the plot and action in the story.

Thanks for the suggestions, I've got Power Tool bookmarked since earlier, so I'll start off with that one and check out your other stuff if I like it.

Living Next Door to Heaven

That's one of the stories that's polyamory, where multiple of the main characters women have other men as sexual partners. Thanks for the suggestion anyway.

That's one of the stories that's polyamory, where multiple of the main characters women have other men as sexual partners. Thanks for the suggestion anyway.

Thank you for the warning. I was about to read this one, but I guess I'll have to give it a pass.

Have you tried Flight of the Code Monkey by Kid Wigger? I haven't been keeping up with the latest chapters but from what I remember none of his three wives sleep around with other men.

I have to agree with awnlee.

"The MC has multiple girlfriends, and they don't go with other guys"

is totally wrong for AWLL, elyse proves the point. Long time readers might not see it that way but someone new coming into the story not wanting to read about girlfriends sharing/leaving should be warned properly.

But you don't understand!!!111eleven

For tippertop and cfuson, every girl that had ever sex with another guy is automatically impure and the whole story is bad. Also, everyone has to be warned about that story.

...

Quit putting words in my mouth, the op didn't want sharing, swinging and i quote "not just having multiple women as temporary lovers and then they're off to find their true love, not having an open relationship or polyamory". You can try to skirt around the issue all you want but your recommending something that clearly the op doesn't want.

"not just having multiple women as temporary lovers and then they're off to find their true love" Could be said for 90% of the girls in AWLL.

You ok with novels on amazon/kindle? if so check out Warlock's Son: An Andrew Moore a 3 part series that has a good harem with no sharing, its only available on kindle unlimited tho.

Hi earlier novels are on Lit, as Magicwrtr.

it has swinging and sharing which is something the op doesn't want and if you cant recall the sharing just remember the "hot tub".

Personally I think that Flight of the Code Monkey should have been done up to this point as two separate books (one focused on the the planetary MC and the other one focused on the space MC), with the separate books ending when the two MC meet. Their joint adventures would be in a third book.

I have to agree. At one point I just started skipping the cave boy's chapters because they were so boring and seemingly pointless. It could have worked if there had been more characters around other than some wild dog, but I can read only so much survival minutiae before I give up.

A Guy and His...? by Pars001 (in progress 68 chapters available)

Reprise [1-109][inactive] by eviltwin (really beautiful story the only problem is that it is unfinished and I really doubt it will ever be finished)

Tycoon [1-109][inactive] by Raven Soule (same state as Reprise, the only problem it may stretch some of the requirements but I personally believe you will enjoy it)

I Feel Lucky [1-82][inactive] by cmsix (another unfinished but great story with huge harem (little bit of sharing in the middle but author very quickly realized that is not the way to go))

The Spirit of Anna by mcguy101 (short but worth it)

The Best of Both Worlds by Dilettante (already been recommended but just in case)

Perchance to Dream by FantasyLover (to this one you need to give it a chance and decide on your own)

Deanna and Craft Faire Love by Dr. Paco Jones

Johnny Pulaski by Joe J

I've read (or started reading) all those stories but Reprise, The Spirit of Anna and Perchance to Dream.

I'll check out The Spirit of Anna and Perchance to Dream but I'm not sure about Reprise since in most stories where there's both a father/daughter tag and a brother/sister tag it's some form of sharing where the whole family is involved with each other. Of course this isn't always true since the father and the brother could be the same person. Is this the case here?

I was not lying when I said I have similar taste as you :-D

In Reprise don't be afraid of that tag, especially in this story sharing/swinging would be impossible as you will find out later to the story.

So go for it. I read the whole story and it good to read although if you are like me later you will just skip some paragraphs :-D but only because author can sometimes take his time.

Also recommendation with grain of salt and outside of the SOL:

pure love ✕ insult Complex (translated on machineslicedbread)

Personally I consider this story as great but you need to push your self through first approx. 50 chapters until the psychology, reasoning and decisions behind the behavior of the character and their actions are explained completely.

However bear in mind that this story is starts DARK and mean very DARK on the other hand it is one greatly written story where every character is though very well thought. As

I wrote give it a chance you may find your self loving it around chapter 70 just bear in mind age of the MC compared to the women in the story

Also recommendation with grain of salt and outside of the SOL:

pure love ✕ insult Complex (translated on machineslicedbread)

Honestly I DID like Pure Love ✕ Insult Complex, but that was before I started reading stories written in English rather than translated to English. I'm around chapter 380 but every time I go back and try to get into the story again, the quality of the translation just kills it for me. This is true for almost all translated from Asia stories I've gone back to give a try. It's just so rare for a translation to be decent. If it's not grammar, it's format or failure to use better words. Like a translation will say "I got a ride from my younger female cousin to school today", where someone speaking English would just say something like "I got a ride from my cousin to school today". Small changes, but it alters the flow alot since Asian languages have alot of words and expressions that doesn't get used by English speakers so it looks out of place to me in the translations.

But the real deal breaker for me in PLxIC is the abundance of tripple dots (...). I swear, it's got more tripple dots in each chapter than most stories have in total, and it reads really weirdly.

Hmm honestly never that never bothered me.

Since I am not native English speaker, make all the stuff I read to epub and always got too much into the story I tend to overlook or ignore this kind of mistakes.

Personally I got to chapter 336 and now just waiting until more chapters are translated so that I can read it again.

Deana Johns' Castle In The Sand anybody?

I read the first 10 chapters and it's alright so far. But are you sure the story won't fail my "temporary lovers" criteria? Since the protagonist went out and got a vasectomy and outright told his lover that he did it to make sure they didn't have a future together, that their relationship would be temporary, it made me doubt it. They might end up staying together anyway, but that would require them not ever wanting children, aswell as a complete turnaround of the protagonists personality..

What's a line marriage? Not a native englando speaker, never heard of it before. A google search just redirects me to 'group marriage'. Is that what it is?

an arrangement in which several males live together with several females, forming a conjugal unit

If so, that's pretty much the opposite of what I'm looking for..

newworldencyclopedia says

"Line Marriage" is a form of group marriage in which the family unit continues to add new spouses of both sexes over time so that the marriage does not end.

That sounds an awful lot like sharing with more men, which again, is exactly one of the things I was hoping to avoid when I made this thread.

Or is it something like in Arlene & Jeff where they are all in one 'family' but their own 'units' within the family that doesn't cross over?

ETA: TL;DR - CitS is a one-man harem

ETA2: the codes for it are M/f, f/f, M/ff, MF - note the absence of MM

CitS has one male main character with (eventually, or at least) seven female partners (the Eagles song 'Take it Easy' is mentioned); I don't remember any swapping/sharing outside the group, and there's certainly no MM (unless it's just mentioned off screen for some minor characters, don't remember anything like that).

So, as far as MM goes, you're lambasting me for a mistake made by Rambulator, as it's not a line marriage in the form you have assumed, although a line marriage does not imply MM - in Heinlein's Friday there's a line marriage but there's no MM, just MF in combinations from limited sets of M and F.

OTOH, IIRC, some outer members of the CitS harem are allowed/helped/encouraged to find themselves more traditional partners, and these then leave the group. It's a long while since I've read it - some of these are probably the later added members, so yes it would fail that test, but again IIRC he finishes up with the original core members. Those that join and eventually leave are not just casual drift-in, drift-out members, but rather join, heal/grow as a full part of the harem relationship, then leave once they are strong enough to cope outside of it.

Google found a link to the story on ASSTR from the Sennadar site. https://forums.sennadar.com/viewtopic.php?t=777&start=285

If you do not want to read the post; the Sennadar posting had the following text.

If someone wants to read it, there is a copy of "Castle in the Sand" on asstr in the ASSM collection. Starting with: http://www.asstr.org/files/Collections/ ... 2008/57354

Rest of the parts follow in 57355, 57356 ..

https://www.asstr.org/files/Collections/Alt.Sex.Stories.Moderated/Year2008/57354

I seriously wonder if people can read sometimes.

It's not the reading that they have issues with, its the comprehension.

Don't bother with Castle in Sand it is good until chapter 60 and then it goes down the hill with sharing.

Quite a disappointment.

Yah, don't worry, after all the other comments here about it I scimmed through the last page before I got to invested in the story, and found out much the same thing. Thanks for your consideration though!

If you hadn't already go for Warlock series from D. R. Rosier on Amazon

Finished first saga and started second and it is worth it.

Many of cmsix's stories have harems, particularly the ones where aliens send the hero back into the Cro-Magnon/Neanderthal distant past.

Well I've only tried I Feel Lucky by cmsix and it had sharing. Because of that and because most of his stories are unfinished and inactive, I haven't really tried any of his other stories.

Does anyone know if his stories are finished on other places or why he has so many that isn't finished? I count 39 unfinished stories on his profile and find it kind of odd that he so seldom seems to finish his stories.

SNIP I count 39 unfinished stories on his profile and find it kind of odd that he so seldom seems to finish his stories.

Cmsix seems to have written his tales as in the style of television series. When his health problems took a turn for the worse, he went into a nursing home with poor to no internet access. So, the effect is the series's got canceled before he could write their finales. Though if you read the tales, you'll find they do stop at a natural point. IOW, he has a season's finale rather than a series finale.

The biggest reason that I don't like the open marriage and sharing with men is that the protagonists are almost never bisexual. The one reason that a poly relationship could work for more than a casual relationship (in my eyes atleast) is if all in the relationship are in love with each other. This is normally no problem in stories with 1 man and multiple women since almost all women in all stories here are bisexual, so they can fall in love with each other. The men are almost always straight, so they never fall in love with other men that get involved. I have more understanding for bisexual women who can accept a poly relationship because they can be attracted to everyone in it, more than 2 straight males who are only attracted to the women.

To me, I don't think a relationship like that can survive without jealousy. If a man walk in on say his two women having sex, he'll be thinking "aww, look at my lovers having sex", if a woman walk in on her man and woman lover having sex, she'll think "aww, look at my lovers having sex", if a man walk in on an other man in the relationship having sex with one of the women, he'll think "Look at my friend having sex with my lover". I realize that some people might not mind that, but it's a very big distinction to me, his lovers all having sex and his friend and his lovers having sex.

It comes down to that I don't think that a relationship can survive for long if not all the people in it, men and women ALL are in love with each other, so the men'd have to be bisexual. This is not backed by any facts or studies, just my own personal thoughts. Since I myself is straight, I tend to avoid any m/m stories, so that leaves 1 man multiple women stories.

I'm surprised that no-one has yet mentioned Lazlo Zalezac's John Carter (the story, and to a lesser extent the rest of the universe) as the story has polyamory as a major plot point, with it being a requirement of the group marriage that all partners should physically express their love

No one probably mentioned it because I expressly asked not to be recommended polyamory or open relationships, but a story with one man and multiple women.

I did say in my last post that I believe that for a group relationship to work, all involved should be in love with each other, not just with the women if there are more than one man.

I also said

Since I myself is straight, I tend to avoid any m/m stories, so that leaves 1 man multiple women stories.

So while I find the relationship in John Carter (judging from what you said and the tags) more likely to survive, it's not something that I'm interested in reading.

To me, I don't think a relationship like that can survive without jealousy.

I have friends who are poly. The best description I've heard goes like this:

Although there are lots of different kinds of poly relationship, and this isn't entirely accurate, you can imagine monogamy & polyamory as a spectrum, much the way many people these days think of heterosexuality & gay/lesbian as a spectrum with bisexual in the middle.

Now, there are some people who are entirely poly, they can't really function in monogamous relationships. There are some people who are purely monogamous, they have trouble even conceiving of poly working, or think it's just an excuse to be a swinger or a cheater. Most people who identify as poly are somewhere in the middle.

Using that analogy, trying to explain how ploy works emotionally to someone at the mono end of the scale is like trying to explain being gay to someone who is completely straight. At best they can come to an intellectual/ philosophical understanding that people are different, but when they try to imagine it they can't. They see themselves in that situation and shy away from it.

With polyamory, you're clearly at the mono end of the scale -- or, more accurately, your comment as quoted above represents what would be expected from someone at that end. You can't really see how poly could work for anyone because it doesn't work for you.

There's nothing wrong with that, as long as you can accept, even if only intellectually, that the same is not true for everyone. There really are some people who can love multiple people without jealousy ever being an issue. Sometimes this is one guy with multiple women, but more commonly, in real polyamorous relationships, it's a LOT more complicated than that.

Most people who identify as poly are somewhere in the middle.

Is that an opinion or is there some scientific basis for the assertion?

Is that an opinion or is there some scientific basis for the assertion?

Neither or both. Sorry, but I'm trying to pick my words very carefully here.

In the paragraph where I used that phrase, I intentionally used two extremes: a person who is 100% monogamous and one who is 100% polyamorous. Although I suggested that poly/mono might be a spectrum, there's no real evidence that it is. I was using that more as a visual aid.

Now, 100% mono appears to be fairly common as it is the default in Western society, although there is some question whether that is biological or social. I have met exactly one person who I would describe as 100% poly: that guy become clinically depressed when not in multiple relationships and has never (willingly) been in a true mono relationship since he was a teenager.

Anecdotally, I've met a number of people who identify as poly but who are willing to be in a mono relationship if their partner is mono and they love that partner enough. Although not exactly correct, I see this as equivalent to a non-poly bisexual. A bisexual can have a relationship with either sex, but is only a relationship with one person at a time; an equivalent person on the poly "spectrum" can be either poly or mono, depending on their partner's identification.

A better term than bisexual or polyamorous might simply be flexible sexuality. Some people are flexible in their choice of gender, some in their choice of number of partners.

It is also worth noting that the term "polyamory" tends to get thrown around to describe several different things. I try not to be a proscriptionist -- if a swinger wants to calls themselves polyamorous, let them -- but as jargon terms open relationships, swinging, polygamy, and polyamory are all different things. Within polyamory, some people define it as a sexual orientation, others as an emotional or relational orientation, and still others as simply a type of relationship structure.

There haven't been a lot of really good scientific studies of polyamory yet; it's still a pretty recent social phenomenon and frankly all of social psychology is a pretty new field. The earliest study I could find referenced in my Human Sexuality textbook (yes, that's a real PSYC class), was from 1995, and the only study the text mentions that didn't look specifically at swingers was from 2015.

Anyone who tells you they have scientific basis for anything to do with polyamory is either lying or cherry-picking data to meet their own theories.

@Sonjer

Sorry, my mistake, you're right. I think we're both saying similar things in different ways. I've been so immersed in this stuff recently that it's sometimes hard to think straight.

If you're interested in any poly studies, I could probably dig up a few references, but I'm not sure how readable they'd be. Psyc papers tend to be short, but dense.

With polyamory, you're clearly at the mono end of the scale -- or, more accurately, your comment as quoted above represents what would be expected from someone at that end.

I do agree that I'm definitely entirely monogamous in real life. I know for certain that I couldn't share my partner, wether it's with an other woman or a man. I do find harem stories exciting however. It's much like I wouldn't want to fight for my life in a medieval melee, but I still find stories about grand medieval battles exciting. It can be fun to fantasize about, but I wouldn't want to be put in that situation even if you paid me.

You can't really see how poly could work for anyone because it doesn't work for you.

I don't really agree with that. I know that some people wouldn't have the issues I would, I even said "I realize that some people might not mind". I can definitely see how it can work for others.

There's nothing wrong with that, as long as you can accept, even if only intellectually, that the same is not true for everyone. There really are some people who can love multiple people without jealousy ever being an issue.

I think you must have misunderstood me somewhere, because what I quoted in bold is exactly what I (tried atleast) said. All I said was that I don't believe that a polyamory relationship could survive unless all involved loved each other. So yes, I know that there are people who can love multiple people without jealousy. In fact, what I tried to say earlier was that I believe that just that love was necessary.

What you said was, There really are some people who can love multiple people without jealousy ever being an issue., which I agree with.

What I was saying earlier is that I don't believe a poly relationship could prosper without jealousy if there is NOT love between them all.

If there is a group of people who are all in love with each other, no matter their genders, I believe that they'll do just fine without jealousy and other such issues.

If there is a group where 1 of them is in love with 2 people in the relationship but not with the third, and the third is not in love with the first, but only with the other 2, that's where I think that there might be problems.

Again, these are just my thoughts on the subject, and I haven't read any studies, nor do I know any polyamorous groupings.

I just wanted to clear up that while I myself am definitely mono, I know that a poly lifestyle works for others. When it comes down to it, all I'm saying that I think that for a relationship to prosper, all involved need to be in love with each other, wether they are polyamorous or monogamous doesn't really matter. But like I said, I have no personal experience with poly, so they might not feel like they need to love everyone in their relationship as long as they love someone in it. I don't know. It sounds alien to me, and I think that it has more to do with my attitude towards romance than the fact that I'm monogamous.

https://storiesonline.net/s/48790/opus-one

The Impervious series is good but my only gripe is that the MC gets kind arrogant near the end.

Dungeon Defense is an amazing Korean novel. Though if you have read PLxIC you have probably read that too.

Life With Alpha is a pretty long story with a sequel.

Invisible Empire is another superhero story with a harem.

Building a CAP Based Future is a good Swarm story, though I wish it focused more on the harem in the second part.

Thanks for the recs. I've read Life With Alpha and Building a CAP Based Future.

I never got around to Dungeon Defense since the description didn't really grip me. Might give it a try.

Isn't there sharing in Invisible Empire? I recall starting reading a story with Extra Sensory Perception, Harem and Prostitution tags that ended up with some sharing and swapping. I'm not sure of the title, I'll try to find out if it's the one I'm thinking of.

**EDIT**

The story I was thinking of wasn't Invisible Empire, it was They That Have Power by hermit.

Also if arrogant MCs is a gripe of yours, you can't have liked Invisible Empire very much unless he turns a new leaf after the first part. I've read the first part now and am hesitant to continue, as the MC wasn't merely arrogant, nor an asshole, but straight up evil. You said it's a superhero story and the MC would make any supervillain proud.. In just the first part of the story which is about 1/7th of it, he's a rapist, child molester, adulterer and abusive of his powers. I find myself hoping that the superhero will show up soon and stop the supervillain that is MC.