Title: Breeder Series: Breeder #1
Author: Cara Bristol
Published: October 14, 2013
Genre(s): Romance: Science Fiction & Fantasy
Page Count: 283
Rating:
Summary from Goodreads:High Commander Dak, a ruling Alpha of planet Parseon, purchases Omra strictly as a breeder slave. He intends to impregnate her, produce a son, and hand her off to his anointed beta partner, Corren. Any infractions of the rules by her will be harshly punished.
But as Dak and Omra discover a sexual bliss banned by law, Dak begins to question the traditions and ways of his people, causing him to jeopardize his command and endanger the life of the woman he has come to love.
Dak has enemies, men who will not hesitate to exploit his fondness for Omra, and use it to portray him as unfit to rule as Alpha. Can he expose the rampant cruelty and corruption in Parseon culture... or will the protocol he's spent his life defending, be the weapon used to destroy them and their love?
When I picked up Breeder, I expected very little. Like…so very little. I saw this recommended on Twitter as a “problematic fave” featuring the master/slave trope. Since I also (not-so-secretly) love well-done master/slave, forced pregnancy, strange alien marriage of convenience stories, I picked it up. (I am aware this is a very specific kink.)
In Breeder, Cara Bristol certainly satisfied all of my initial expectations. Heroine Omra is a woman in a world where females are valued only for their ability to bear the next generation; she lives in what is essentially a large cattle warehouse, waiting for a man to purchase her. Enter hero Dak, who buys Omra almost exclusively because she’s one of the few available virgins in the facility. In spite of the fact that he has no cultural cues to do otherwise, over time Dak comes to view Omra as a human being rather than a disposable uterus. They fall in love, etc. Also (obviously), they have a lot of sex—really steamy, athletic sex that other romance authors would not be amiss in taking notes from.
What I’ve described above is what I was expecting, at a bare minimum. The thing is, Cara Bristol adds to all of this by grounding the love story between Omra and Dak inside an intricate fantasy society—and then she challenges it. The planet Parseon is an oppressive, tyrannical patriarchy. Women are chattel, and all males must adhere to a rigid Protocol that enforces a strict class system. The “alpha male” figure is not just idealized in this book, it is the measuring stick against which all citizens must stand. Failure to meet the standard results in death. Breeder truly shows that not just women are harmed by the patriarchy. Men suffer too, in different but no less destructive ways.
Perhaps some readers may be troubled that the plot of Breeder does not include a massive overthrow of the Parseon government. They may also be troubled that Dak does treat Omra poorly by “21st developed world standards” (whatever those may be). The entire dynamic between the protagonists is clearly one of massive power imbalance, and it has the potential to go awry. Yet I think in the context of this society, it works. We do not see Dak whipping Omra when she is disobedient just because he’s an asshole and he’s physically stronger than her. Rather, we see that he honestly believes Omra is a lesser being with a limited mental capacity. As he bonds with her and realizes she is not an animal, his mistreatment stops. (Worth noting: Dak does not “mistreat” her in the context of his own culture; in fact, others consistently wonder at how lenient he is.) Though others seem to view it as such, I would also mention that this is not a BDSM book—unless one considers a single scene of light spanking during otherwise vanilla sex to be super kinky.
I love Breeder. Let me say that first and foremost. It does everything that I want a scifi romance to do: portrays palpable chemistry between the lead characters, shows a realistic development to their relationship, and incorporates a fully imagined alternate universe with its own rules and social mores. Is it “problematic”? I suppose yes, if you begin with the premise that all romances arising from master/slave dynamics are inherently wrong. Personally, I propose the better read is to take Cara Bristol’s alien society as you find it, and to appreciate how the characters move within the rigid boundaries they are given.
For me, Breeder is a brilliantly written novel about fighting against an oppressive patriarchy, told from the lens of two complex people who are hella horny for each other. It’s a new favorite.
