she was not supposed to think for herself. stephen was titus’ cousin, but had none of the comforts of his title. stephen spent his time working as the head of inventions in the museum, was born of sorcery, therefore an abomination, able to kill people with his touch and was madly in love with his cousin’s wife. series of events and a prophecy the oracle gave lead to a rather unusual situation. according to the oracle there would be no heir unless both stephen and titus sired it together. titus’ new love for his wife and, at least initially, his desire for an heir allowed him to break propriety. stephen and polly didn’t care about that. stephen loved polly and polly loved stephen and titus. stephen and titus were best friends, cousins and brothers in arms. soon it became an arrangement they could all live with and be relatively happy.
polly’s best damned, horrible habit of thinking for herself, not realizing she was supposed to be inferior in mind as well as body to her male counterparts, allows her to draw conclusions that shake the very core of her husband’s faith in the divine as well as the empire. when polly is on death’s door, bleeding from her eyes from pregnancy, stephen and titus break the law, turning to sorcery to pull her back to the land of the living. polycorpus was the only woman to survive giving birth to titus’ child and simultaneously stephen’s child-the twins. polly is a heroine without any desire to be. her uncanny humanity and self taught authority put her in charge of her life.
i am not sure if weyodi squid set out to write a truly feminist science fiction sex novel that highlights the most horrible aspects of classism and nationalism, but that is what she did. her depiction of polycorpus, the mother, is chilling and blood-boilingly accurate. polly’s inability to sit still and wait for anyone to tell her anything, stephen’s acknowledgement that polly was his intellectual equal and titus’ ability to see, admire and love polly despite no social standing are evidence that the status quo of londinium and the empire itself was not acceptable. the characterization of the elite class as monsters with magical powers, unwilling to do anything to better anyone other than the government and themselves, highlights today’s capitalist upper crust- those with everything, the only ones existing with ease or station, who have done or will do inhumane monstrous things to stay where they are. monster bride (monstrum mundi book 1) is no science fiction romance novel, it is a call to throw off the cloak of complacency and begin to take the helm of one’s own personal existence.
to read free excepts and purchase your own copy of monster bride please visit weyodi.com
you will also find her poetry and excepts of her new series "the glicksberg chronicles available to read for free