Haven is a Master of the Order of the Light--a revered sect of mediators and healers that roam the galaxy righting wrongs. Ten years ago he bought a ragged slave boy from Rigel Six and brought him to live at the Temple of Light on Radiant. As Wren's master and mentor, Haven knows the young man is off limits, so he keeps his forbidden feelings for his novice under wraps, vowing never to act on them.
Wren has been in love with his master from the moment he laid eyes on him. Haven rescued him from a life of sexual slavery and his gratitude is exceeded only by his desire for the tall, broad shouldered man he calls Master.
When the pair are sent to mediate a conflict aboard the huge Tiberion war ship, Haven discovers that he must have a pleasure slave to fulfill the local customs. Wren offers to play the part but will his role as Haven's slave boy bring back too much of his painful past? And how can Haven keep his vows of chastity when he is forced to use Wren in the most forbidden way? In a matter of life or death, both men must act on their hidden desires and hope not to lose each other forever.
Slave Boy is essentially a fairly-well-written sci-fi submissive sexual fantasy. Intergalactic negotiator and "Light" bearer Haven had rescued a ten-year old unnamed boy from a life of sexual slavery on a mission more than ten years before the start of this book. He named him Wren after watching him use his heretofore unheralded healing powers to fix a bird's broken wing. After witnessing that healing, Haven realized the young boy had "The Light" and bought him to bring him back for training as a negotiator and healer.
Now a grown man, Wren has nearly completed his training under his mentor Haven when they are sent to a brutal planet with rigid rules for societal behavior. Unfortunately for both men but conveniently for the sexual fantasy of the story, the rules require that Haven have a sexual slave. Haven and Wren have been repressing sexual feelings for each other, a problem made more difficult by the mind-meld the two men share, to say nothing of the cramped quarters of their space ship which require them to sleep nearly on top of each other. Haven is determined not to allow his feelings to surface because a relationship between mentor and student is strictly forbidden under Light rules and rigidly enforced by the leaders (which begs the question of why the leaders send their teams out in ships so small that partners have to sleep on top of each other. Loneliness and propinquity surely must have made many other teams succumb to temptation before Haven and Wren!)
Haven and Wren arrive on the brutal planet to negotiate to save another planet whose ambassadors had ostensibly so offended their hosts that they were ready to obliterate the entire other planet. They immediately discover that Wren will be nude except for a harness complete with rings to display his wares and that meeting the emperor requires a public display of sexual activity. Clearly, the planet is ruled by exhibitionists. Exhibitionists who also have magic aphrodisaic oils which must ritualy be applied to the genitalia of the sexual slaves. Wren like all slaves must also have his hands bound in magic handcuffs which prevent him from touching his genitalia. Suffice to say that the combination of the magic handcuffs and oil as well as the latent desires of Haven and Wren leads to more than one climactic scene. As in Anderson's other gay story, The Assignment, the two men are finally forced into having full sex by their captors.
It becomes clear that the War Minister has no intention of truly negotiating and Wren is eventually captured and harmed by him. Haven rescues him, but must confess their transgressions to the Light Council which punishes their behavior. A visit to an archives helps solve the problem.
Some readers may be disturbed by the fact that Haven and Wren's relationship was originally similar to father-son or uncle-nephew. Readers who enjoy m/m submissive fantasies, particularly involving "daddy" situations will enjoy this book.
