But Liam has new problems to worry about when he and the commander attend a mysterious native ceremony that concludes with Liam being claimed as a prize by his favorite native trader Ondry. The commander has the power to rotate Liam back to the front lines of an ongoing war. This is despite the fact that Liam is the best human trader in the garrison, who has made tremendous inroads with the native population. The officer has taken a personal dislike to Liam.
The story opens with Liam, a sergeant in the human military, worried about an incompetent new commander. It involves much negotiation, and it is a treat to read. Ondry earnestly pursues Liam with precise questions to unravel the nuances of Liam’s psychological makeup. For one, they are significantly taller with a minimum of 7 feet and several more around 9 or more feet tall, their faces are said to resemble turtles, they lay eggs, and as the blurb says, the genitalia are very much incompatible. Liam sorts through linguistic roots for subtle shades of meaning and tries to avoid committing social offenses. Unlike the cover suggests, the aliens here, called the Rownt, aren’t just humans with purple skin and a tail. Human Liam and alien Ondry may be traders (the most esteemed vocation on this particular planet), but their perspective is purely and rigorously anthropological. The book’s other strength is in its portrayal of two lovers attempting to understand each other across the vast chasm of different cultures. Even though the book does not offer traditional scenes of ritualized BDSM, it convincingly portrays the mindset of a submissive. The novella downplays sex scenes in favor of plot and character development. Claimings, Tails, and other Alien Artifacts by Lyn Gala is a strikingly original take on the usual BDSM story in which the hero overcomes society’s prejudices and his own troubled past to get in touch with his deeply repressed desire to submit.
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