Described as "either the most lyrical filth I've ever read or the most sexually explicit novel of Ancient Rome ever put to paper" how could I not be excited at the release of this Ancient Roman gay merman erotic horror novel? That's five boxes checked before we even get into the fact that it's written by Tom Cardamore author of the anthology Pumpkin Teeth - Which if you haven't checked out you should do so there are some really good stories - although no specifically merman ones there is 'Bottom Feeder' in which rich and bored men turn themselves into manatees.
The Lurid Sea takes its inspiration from the manga Thermae Roma. The story follows son of Neptune Nerities cursed by his father to time-travel back and forth for eternity to a variety of bathhouses around the world where he has to perform oral sex on all the men he finds there. Instead of treating it like a curse however our lusty merman revels in his sexual odyssey. The only downside is that he finds out his half brother (son of Pluto - death) is following in his wake, slaughtering many of his lovers.
The 'merman' content is negligible - despite being a son of Neptune, Nerities doesn't have many merman attributes - he can breathe underwater, hold his breath and has an affinity for language being able to understand all human speech, like his father can understand all the sea creatures. There is a water connection and he is transported by a giant whirlpool/vortex - plus of course his prison is always a bath house. But those of you looking for a fish tail, telepathy or any interesting transformation skills, forget it.
The erotic content of this is repetitive and boring in the extreme - we're told the bathhouses and the men are different eras but essentially they are the same and there is barely any variety - Nerities arrives, sucks off a load of men on to the next - I really wished that there was some variety in the sexual escapades but honestly other than the two times Neptune's involved it's rather dull.
What makes this interesting is the use of classical mythology and the horror element. I love Nerities' back story and the scenes with his unnamed mother are wonderful. I also rather liked Neptune. However the star of the show is his incestuous lover and nemesis, half brother Obsidio - their first sex scene on top of a corpse in a cemetery sets the trend for their twisted relationship and the later half of this novel where Obsidio follows Nerities its a wonderful metaphor for STDS - the linking of sex and death is beautifully handled. I just wish there had been more story and more Obsidio instead of endless repeats of oral sex - we could have had him following early on and this would have made a brilliant horror story.
Overall I was really disappointed with this it had so much potential and draws on such a wealth of Classical mythology and ends up being the erotic adventures of a lusty male sea nymph. I like the fact that this exists, but honestly there are so many other better gay merman novels out there...
3/10
Cover art is Youth & the Dolphin by Felix d'Eon - And fans of gay mermen should check out his work it has a wonderful vintage feel and is choc full of mermen and other mythic creatures - A perfect choice for this novel.
