male harems

[sunandshadow]

There don't seem to be too many stories about the dynamic of a woman collecting a harem of men. I can kinda see why but, the idea of a science fiction or fantasy story about a world where there were fewer women than men and each woman collected a small harem of men just strikes me as really fun.

What would the plot be about though, hmm. Not combat or exploring/journeying, which is was most sff stories are about. Politics? Survivalism? Other ideas?

 

[RicoLouis]

I actually read a sci-fi story not to long ago about a guy who was visting a human planet where women seemed to run things. He showed a paticular skill at a gambling game popular on the planet. This lead him to be bought against his will and sold to a woman in a high political office who owned several other men. The gamblers used there skill for her to determine possably outcomes for everything from war to weather. The one sex scene was kind of weak and only envolved her with one guy but the story wasn't half bad. I think polotics or commerce would be good fits.

 

[emap]

Well your rather hamstringing yourself there, in a world with few men women would be more or less men as we know them. They would be the ones waging wars, hunting, protecting the village and so forth.

Anyway, I'm seeing a romance type story, say, a gal who spots a young guy and lusts after him, she has room in her harem so tries to garner his sole attention.

 

[sunandshadow]

I actually read a sci-fi story not to long ago about a guy who was visiting a human planet where women seemed to run things. He showed a particular skill at a gambling game popular on the planet. This lead him to be bought against his will and sold to a woman in a high political office who owned several other men. The gamblers used there skill for her to determine possibly outcomes for everything from war to weather. The one sex scene was kind of weak and only involved her with one guy but the story wasn't half bad. I think politics or commerce would be good fits.

This is The Last Hawk by Catherine Asaro, it's on my bookshelf.

I've also heard people call the Anita Blake books by Laurell K. Hamilton male harem books; they're not my cup of tea though, I'm not a vampire or dark urban fantasy fan.

 

[sunandshadow]

Well your rather hamstringing yourself there, in a world with few men women would be more or less men as we know them. They would be the ones waging wars, hunting, protecting the village and so forth.

Anyway, I'm seeing a romance type story, say, a gal who spots a young guy and lusts after him, she has room in her harem so tries to garner his sole attention.

Huh? I said a shortage of women, lol. But yeah, romance. I'd definitely want to see her start with no lovers and acquire the first two or three though, I think the more she has the harder it is for a reader to be sympathetic so it makes sense to start from loneliness and work up, doing a character study of each man; could be a coming-of-age at the same time, at age 18 or 20 she has to find her first husband to establish her household and be considered a fully adult woman, or something like that.

On the other hand I could see the appeal of a science fiction one where a spaceship crew was equivalent to a clan, and that crew would consist of 5-20 men and 1-3 women (and their children). I don't think that's quite as interesting because with so many characters it would be hard to develop them all, and with the woman kept sort of cloistered, barefoot and pregnant, it would also be harder to respect and sympathize with her.

 

[kskittles]

I sort of had a harem of men back in FL. Except no slavery or money was involved, just me and them

 

[jeninflorida]

What about if one spins the idea of stem cells, only that male sperm can have the same quality? Or if some skin care company finds a way to make an anti aging cream out of sperm?

There don't seem to be too many stories about the dynamic of a woman collecting a harem of men. I can kinda see why but, the idea of a science fiction or fantasy story about a world where there were fewer women than men and each woman collected a small harem of men just strikes me as really fun.

What would the plot be about though, hmm. Not combat or exploring/journeying, which is was most sff stories are about. Politics? Survivalism? Other ideas?

 

[jeninflorida]

what about a modern Graduate, where the husband likes to play golf and things and really isn’t interested in sex, and wants his wife to enjoy her sexuality. The wife picks younger men that will be going off to college or are in town on summer/spring break. She finds two men to keep around; maybe the two men do work around the house?

Well your rather hamstringing yourself there, in a world with few men women would be more or less men as we know them. They would be the ones waging wars, hunting, protecting the village and so forth.

Anyway, I'm seeing a romance type story, say, a gal who spots a young guy and lusts after him, she has room in her harem so tries to garner his sole attention.

 

[iswallowloads]

What about a female crime boss? She could be not only ten times smarter than her underlings, but have sexual control over them as well. Not necessarily a dominatrix or anything, but they are so loyal that they only want one woman - her.

 

[SweetDreamStories]

I like this idea, too. (And have thought about "twisting" the Morman-multiple spouse thing when I first got on my Big Love kick.) When I start brainstorming ideas for myself I will run TITLE searches at Lit to see if my "title ideas" are unique or not.

In this case I typed in Harem by itself. Well, of course, many titles came up. One caught my eye that you may like. (I did not read the story, though.) It is Male Harem by Maximilianorubin in the Loving Wives category.

 

[Storyfeller]

Hmm...


This rather recalls a scenario which has been flitting around the darker recesses of my mind for some time.

Take an isolated/enclosed community, perhaps an island where outsiders visit but rarely.

Posit the existence of a semi-feudal, lord-and-lady-of-the-manor type situation.

Posit further the existence of a secret, masonic-type society which actually runs the island's affairs and is headed by the aforementioned couple.

Any newcomers - let's say a teacher and his nurse wife - might take some time to realise that the local school and cottage hospital are not run quite according to mainland principles and that promotions do not exactly come through conventional means.

Care to guess where I'm heading on this one..?

 

[Shendude]

Something of this ilk appears in Slow Train to Arcturus by Eric Flint and Dave Freer, which you can read free online.

The habitat where our heroes stay longest, Diana, is a matriarchy, where the wealthiest women keep harems of men.

 

[sunandshadow]

What about a female crime boss? She could be not only ten times smarter than her underlings, but have sexual control over them as well. Not necessarily a dominatrix or anything, but they are so loyal that they only want one woman - her.

This is my favorite take on this so far. Maybe in a post-apocalyptic setting where for some reason female casualties were a lot higher than male. So there would be some gangs that were really feral and dangerous, maybe the ones with no women, while others would be trying to develop into more civilized clans or tribes.

Overall though I'm interested in ideas where the male harem would be standard for a planet's normal society, not a special case.

 

[iswallowloads]

This is my favorite take on this so far. Maybe in a post-apocalyptic setting where for some reason female casualties were a lot higher than male. So there would be some gangs that were really feral and dangerous, maybe the ones with no women, while others would be trying to develop into more civilized clans or tribes.

Overall though I'm interested in ideas where the male harem would be standard for a planet's normal society, not a special case.

Good ideas. I remember hearing someone lecture once (can't remember who), that World War III will be a biological war. So maybe one the superpowers invents a chemical agent that only kills women and tries to kill off the other nations by wiping out their women, therefore no procreation. But it backfires and kills most of their own women too. Chaos consumes the planet to the point that we are sent back to the dark ages.

The world is ruled by clans, constantly warring to either protect or expand their territory. In all of them, except one, the women are a commodity, owned and traded by only the most powerful of despots. But in the one exception, a woman, through superior cunning, intelligence and inner strength rises to the top. The men are so in awe of her ability to do this, they have a fanatical love for her, to the point that they willingly do anything and everything she wants. Including carrying out her main goal - she believes that if a woman ran every clan, they wouldn't feel the need to fight each other, so she sets off to conquer each tribe and instill a woman as it's ruler.

 

[Over_Lord]

Hmm...


This rather recalls a scenario which has been flitting around the darker recesses of my mind for some time.

Take an isolated/enclosed community, perhaps an island where outsiders visit but rarely.

Posit the existence of a semi-feudal, lord-and-lady-of-the-manor type situation.

Posit further the existence of a secret, masonic-type society which actually runs the island's affairs and is headed by the aforementioned couple.

Any newcomers - let's say a teacher and his nurse wife - might take some time to realise that the local school and cottage hospital are not run quite according to mainland principles and that promotions do not exactly come through conventional means.

Care to guess where I'm heading on this one..?

That is a definite 'possible'. I see the Lady of the Manor coming to be in a position where she simply has to lift the phone, call on her choice of several husbands and snap out a time when he has to present himself... wedding anniversary or no wedding anniversary, as it were.