Anne Rice aka AN Roquelaure RIP

[eroticstoryspinner]

Its making the rounds, but thought it was appropriate to mark the passing of Anne Rice. She's most famous for her vampire novels but wasn't afraid to venture into erotica with her Sleeping Beauty series. It probably wasn't her best work but it was good. My gay friends seemed to put it on a pedestal, citing it as a nonjudgemental portrayal of homoerotic relationships by a mainstream author at a time when there weren't many out there.

I have noticed some critiques saying that the lack of consent was off-putting. I believe that they see the series as fairy tale BDSM. It wasn't. It was erotic fantasy in a world where actual slavery existed. In that world, a slave couldn't safeword out of their slavery. Even so, the tributes eventually returned to their lives so there was a check on permanent harm.
Anyone else read it and have any thoughts?