S. A. Jones

“Stunning, speculative novel, equal parts entertaining and moving, and one of the first books I’ve encountered with truly autonomous female characters.” --Angela Meyer, author and editor Jonathon Bridge has a corner office in a top-tier law firm, tailored suits and an impeccable pedigree. He has a fascinating wife, Adalia, a child on the way, and a string of pretty young interns as lovers on the side. He’s a man who’s going places. His world is our world: the same chaos and sprawl, haves and have-nots, men and women, skyscrapers and billboards. But it also exists alongside a vast, self-sustaining city-state called The Fortress where the indigenous inhabitants–the Vaik, a society run and populated exclusively by women–live in isolation. When Adalia discovers his indiscretions and the ugly sexual violence pervading his firm, she agrees to continue their fractured marriage only on the condition that Jonathan voluntarily offers himself to The Fortress as a supplicant and stay there for a year. Jonathon’s arrival at The Fortress begins with a recitation of the conditions of his stay: He is forbidden to ask questions, to raise his hand in anger, and to refuse sex. Jonathon is utterly unprepared for what will happen to him over the course of the year–not only to his body, but to his mind and his heart. This absorbing, confronting and moving novel asks questions about consent, power, love and fulfilment. It asks what it takes for a man to change, and whether change is possible without a radical reversal of the conditions that seem normal.

The Fortress

S A. JONES

The Fortress asks questions about consent, power, love and fulfilment, and is absorbing, explicit, confronting and moving.Jonathon Bridge has the corner office, the tailored suits and the impeccable pedigree. He has a fascinating wife, a child on the way and a string of nubile lovers on the side. He's a man who's going places. His world is our world: the same chaos and sprawl, haves and have-nots, men and women, skyscrapers and billboards. But it also exists alongside a vast, self-sustaining city-state called The Fortress where the indigenous inhabitants � the Vaik � continue to live much as they have always done. The Vaik is an all-female civilisation.The Fortress is cloistered from the outside world and connected to it by an arcane tradition that permits female victims of male violence to order their assailants into The Fortress indefinitely. Another way a man may enter The Fortress is as a supplicant. When Jonathon's pregnant wife Adalia discovers the ugly sexual violence pervading Jonathon's top-tier firm, she agrees to continue their fractured relationship on one condition: that Jonathon become a supplicant for a period of one year. Jonathon's arrival at The Fortress begins with a recitation of the conditions of his stay by Mandalay, the Vaik to whom he is assigned: he is forbidden to ask questions, to raise his hand in anger and to refuse sex. At times self-justifying, at other times lost, Jonathon is utterly unprepared for what will happen to him over the course of the year � not only to his body, but his mind and his heart.The Fortress is a psychological examination of the dark heart of modern masculinity. It is interested in what male sexual submission looks like and how a female civilisation might operate. It wants to know if readers can be aroused by sex scenes that have nothing to do with female objectification � and even if such arousal is possible. It asks questions about consent, power, love and fulfilment in a pacey, explicit and confronting read.

Desireá

A quick read but some heavy topics are cover so (TW) if you plan on reading. And does not sugar coat I’d consider it vulgar but necessary. Personally even though you read a majority of the book as Jonathon it’s empowering and interesting to watch his interactions and character development throughout. However towards the end I still found myself hoping he was unsatisfied. I would’ve preferred a bad ending for him honestly it just seemed deserved and necessary. 

Mahogany Skillings

What does consent really mean? There is an exploration of what it means when all your power is stripped away from you, and you have de facto agreed to accept behaviors and conditions in this book. This is about how a man changes through a year of hard labor and sexual encounters he has no power to resist. However, the change isn't viscerally felt. What is felt is the unfairness/lopsidedness of a power structure that cannot be denied. By changing the patriarchy to a matriarchy, the power structure does not get any better. I can't tell you if a look at this is the intention of the author, only what I took away from it. It's a worthwhile read, and well-written. There are some erotic scenes but they are not a main plot point.

The Fortress

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