A love story involving a succubus and a social outcast in feudal Japan? This could be interesting. A courtship started by the “shag or die” trope applied to a sexy succubus? It’s not terribly original, but it is intriguing. Here in The Incubus and the Woodcutter, as soon as Figaru awakens from his grief-induced hibernation, things really start happening. It’s a shame that his back story is quickly shelved in favor of the main pairing that is Figaru and Ichiro, but somehow it can be forgiven. After all, when readers come for hot man-on-man feudal sex, they don’t want to be constantly depressed by a main character’s sad history.

The research done into feudal Japan is quite evident from the moment the incubus Figaru lays eyes on his future lover, Ichiro. Through the narrative and story we can see the history of creatures such as the incubus as well as the caste system in Japan’s past. It adds a layer of knowledge to the story that without it would seem lacking in historical depth. I want to enjoy the story itself more than I do as I enjoyed greatly when it appeared at the end of Winter Demon, but to put it bluntly, the writing is pedestrian at best and relies on telling without showing and exposition in an attempt to make characters seem more interesting and give their actions deeper motives. Everything is told in simplest terms with no real detail so a reader may feel more detached from this fictional world that they might with others. Even the sex scenes seem semi-mechanical, lacking passion in the characters’ most physical intimate actions. The main problem with Miss Abraham’s writing is that it needs a visual filter to really bring out the story in its fullest form – in other words, it needs to be adapted to sequential art form, not to just stay in flat prose form. It was originally a graphic novel; perhaps it should have just stayed as one.

As soon as the story begins, both characters step into their assigned roles: Figaru is the dominating seme and Ichiro the wide-eyed weepy uke. I personally can’t stand the uke/seme dynamics that seem to dominate the yaoi genre these days, but fans of it will relish the main relationship of this story, especially if they like their yaoi stories from the perspective of said dominating seme, who is currently experiencing the succubus equivalent of pon farr (although I would most certainly not go as far as to call Ichiro the equivalent of Captain Kirk, not by a long shot). Even when their relationship develops into something deeper, the dynamics stay the same. Figaru is on top, Ichiro is on bottom.

I’m sure if you read my review of Royal Pain, a work by the same author of The Incubus and the Woodcutter, you may be wondering: is there a consent issue? And there is, especially given the fact that the very premise is about a creature who needs to have sex or he will die, so seduces and screws the first male human body he finds. And Ichiro does say “no” several times, which Ichiro ignores as he continues to seduce him, rub on his body, eventually engage in sexual intercourse with him as Ichiro fights him. But at least with this story, I know what I’m getting into based on the synopsis alone, when Royal Pain’s synopses for both parts did not hint at the rape of its main character. This e-book at least is not a surprise for readers when it comes to the sex aspect of it. Is it supposed to be okay since Ichiro is an outcast and Figaru is a demon acting on life-saving impulses? I’m not sure. But then Figaru tells Ichiro he deserves to be loved, and it becomes clear that this is not another Royal Pain, thank goodness. Even as a succubus, Figaru genuinely cares for Ichiro’s well-being, and that is a welcome thing to read indeed. And he teaches the guy about kissing on the mouth, which is both cute and kinda odd – and Figaru is actually gentle and careful about making love to Ichiro, which seems uncommon in a demon but not off putting.

All in all, The Incubus and the Woodcutter is not a bad story. Fans of the manga it originally appeared in will certainly like it, as will any fan of supernatural pairings in which humans are seduced by unhuman creatures with devious intent. It’s a quick read and it won’t hurt to shell out the money to get it, but I’m not sure if readers will be revisiting this story afterward. ( )

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