The Harem Games by Jorge Carreras Jr.

I'll admit, when I first got this book, my staff and I spent hours making fun of it.  Why?  Because we're mean, but funny.  The fact is, the title doesn't say a whole lot about the quality of the contents of the book.

I was expecting to find some cheesy, male fantasy version of Hunger Games.  Most of the men have been eradicated from the earth and now women are in charge.  Every year there's a battle to do the death among men and the winner gets one wish.  Along the way, each man has his harem to help him prepare.  All we're missing is forty pounds of bacon and it's a winner!

That isn't what this book is at all.  This is not 180 pages of 'I have a harem and a pee pee!  Look!'

Actually, our hero, Alex, doesn't even want his harem.  He's against the games.  He's against the hierarchy.  All he wants is to be left alone.  There's actually a pretty intricate story here with surprisingly complex characters.  It has a fast-paced read and plenty of suspense.  I do comment Carreras for boldly stating that this book isn't for children.  It does contain some sex and violence, but it isn't gratuitous.

This really was a pretty well done 'what if' story.  What if mostly women were left on the earth?  Well, it makes sense that each man would have more than one wife.  We'd need to boost the population back up, right?  Given the way that genetics works in the book, it's not as simple as one generation of insemination and we're back to normal.

Though this isn't your typical dystopian, it's nothing like the title would lend you to think.  There's a solid plot, great characters and plenty of good story telling to keep you intrigued.  This book is obviously not for everyone, but don't let the title of it scare you away.

Also, I really like the cute little sims on the cover.  I need one of those dresses.