When Rynnis Lort's fiancée dies of misuse of the illegal drug hextasy, he is placed on trial for causing her death. Shasertai Kogin is an avatar of the god Surseine - a judge of the highest order whose word is law. He presides over Rynn's trial, and when he rules the death to be accidental and frees the young man, the deceased girl's parents, who are powerful land-owners in the region and who therefore wield a lot of power, are incensed. Rynn has no choice but to leave the region and hopefully make a life elsewhere.

Hextasy, a combination of drug and magic spell, enhances the pleasure of sex provided that you are with the one you desire the most; otherwise, the body goes unfulfilled and eventually dies of heart failure. It has one source in the world, and Shas and the federal marshal he is travelling with are determined to arrest the manufacturer and take the dangerous drug out of circulation. They offer to take the young man with them as they leave town, and so Rynn finds himself aiding the group in their mission.

With his almost feminine grace and his obvious preference for men, Shas is unlike any man that Rynn has ever known. Even though he is mourning his dead fiancée, he finds himself drawn to the judge and liking the man. When Shas is attacked with the very drug he is trying to eradicate, they know that unless he can be with the one person he desires the most, the drug will kill him. The problem is that the only person who can help him is Rynn, and Rynn doesn't desire men.

Jet Mykels's Sursein Judgment is set in an alternate world that combines elements of magic with the Old West. I found this story to be well-written and original and the plot to be intriguing, especially the aspect regarding the ecstasy-like designer drug.

The characters in this story are a cast of interesting individuals, and while the focus of the storyline is on Shas and Rynn, Ms. Mykles has devoted enough attention to the secondary characters to make them just as worthy of our attention. In fact, I found myself more interested in the secondary characters than I was in Rynn, because Rynn is a little too one-dimensional and devoid of characters flaws.

Overall, I found myself drawn into the world of Sursein Judgment. My only complaint is that the story was too short for me to enjoy the world as fully as I would have liked. I hope that Ms. Mykles will revisit this world and perhaps tell the stories of some of the other characters in the future.

Reviewed by: Whitney