Sweetlust
by Asja Bakić
(Translated by Jennifer Zoble)
Reviewed by Galen Strickland
Posted June 28, 2025
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It has been over six years since I reviewed the first story collection by Asja Bakić (Mars), and now almost two years since Sweetlust was published. I can't recall where I saw mention of it, but I requested it from my library, then had to wait several months before the e-book was available. According to the copyright page it was published in Croatia in 2020, under the title Sladostrašće, which is Czech for "sweet tooth." The translated title makes more sense because the majority of stories deal with variations on sexual themes. They range from fantasy to horror to science fiction, with at least one mainstream story, maybe two. All are good, mostly for being unusual and unpredictable.
I won't reveal too much about any of the stories, but the sexual themes range from examinations of gender diversity to sexual obsessions, and polyamorous relationships. Most are written in first-person, but I'm not sure we can assume that each narrator is female. In the first story, "1998," they may be trans, and one other story mentions the longing for a relationship with a trans woman. The title of the collection is not the title of either of the stories, but Sweetlust appears in the second story, "Gretel." It is an erotic amusement park, originally created by men, for men, but women visit it for various reasons now that all men have died of syphillis. I'm sure most boys and men recall being told masturbation could cause blindness, but I'm not sure if girls and women got the same indoctrination. "Blindness" concerns a girl or woman (not sure of her age) who went blind after her first masturbatory experience. To regain her site she has to hike to the top of a mountain and perform a sacrifice. "Fellow's Gully" is about a man and woman doomed to repeat a scenario every year, although they forget about it each time until it happens again. It may relate to folklore of which I'm not familiar, but parts of it are reminiscent of Orpheus and Eurydice, and it does involve an underworld. "1740" is set in a post-apocalyptic future, with much of the Balkans underwater, the title referring to the year a time machine takes several people back, although the builders of the machine had intended it to be 1964. "Mama" is not the mother of Ivor, she has no idea who is, and is sure her husband is not his father. She is not even sure if Ivor is human. I am not sure if the main character in "The Abduction" is being examined by aliens or robots, although she thought all robots had been eliminated years before.
I have been unable to figure out how to present the title of the next story, which includes figures from Greek mythology. The character map does not include some of the symbols, and my HTML editor doesn't allow me to copy and paste from Wikipedia either. I have yet to figure out how to do Unicode with this editor. I know what the first word of the title is, the same as the last, so I have to settle for "[Daphne], or Daphne." In one variation of her myth, the god Cupid cursed Apollo into an infatuation with Daphne, but she escaped by imploring her river god father, Peneus, to turn her into a laurel tree. In this story she escaped into the future, but Apollo has been able to communicate with her via classified ads in magazines and newspapers. Or were those ads placed by Dionysus instead? "MCSB" stands for Monitor of Common Species of Birds. I was confused about several things, but they were probably dreams or hallucinations. "Dorica Kastra" is about a group marriage, set in a society in which that is not only the norm, Family Law specifies all marriages should have an odd-number of members. Another part of the Law said all families had to submit to either: 1) filming and sharing everything about their lives other than bathroom and bedroom activities; or, 2) sharing videos of explicit bedroom activities. The original marriage was Otis, Runio, and the unnamed narrator. Then Runio brought Dorica into the home, which meant they needed to add a fifth or else pay hefty fines. Dorica brings in Nio, but for quite a while neither of them interact with the other three, or are willing to film their sexual activity, if they are having sex that is. The orginal three are not even sure what Dorica's gender is.
The last story is "The Sorrows of Young Lotte." That is a diminutive for the name Charlotte. The story is set in Germany I believe, but I'm not sure of the time period, but it feels like 17th or 18th Century. Charlotte is sixteen when she first meets Albert, but almost twenty before he proposes. During their engagement she meets another man at a ball, Walter Werther, who immediately falls in love with her. She does not reciprocte, but has fun teasing him, giving him the impression he might have a chance to woo her away from Albert. He doesn't, in fact his obsession proves the ruin of him, but I won't elaborate. Lotte narrates most of the story, then Albert takes over saying he is relaying what she had told him, then it ends with a letter she wrote explaining what happened to Walter.
Asja Bakić is Bosnian, currently living in Croatia. She may have lived in other places throughout Europe, but is certainly knowledgeable of other countries, and of literature, philosophy, and politics. Several characters in these stories are also readers, with books mentioned ranging from the Marquis de Sade, to the German poet Friedrich Gottleib Klopstock (whom Charlotte says she likes, but she doesn't), to Maryse Condé. The main character in the first story was reading Condé's I, Tutuba: Black Witch of Salem. Most of the stories are set in the Balkans, with politicians mentioned ranging from Stjepan Radić to Slobodan Milosevic, from events dating before, during, and after World War 2, then the breakup of Yugoslavia. Someone else mentioned in "1740" may or may not be related to the author, Bakić may be a common name. But if so, and based on his age, maybe Vojin Bakić was her grandfather or grand uncle. He was a sculptor, and in the story parts of some of his work were repurposed and incorporated into the time machine. Not sure if it is the author or just some of the characters who long for the days before the Communists were out of power. In any case, it didn't affect my appreciation for the ideas expressed. It would be difficult to pick favorites, so I'll just say the entire collection is recommended.
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