Night's Master by Tanith Lee

So imagine if Oscar Wilde was female and decided to rewrite The Arabian Nights in a fantasy universe, and you'd get this book. I cannot believe how good it was, and I cannot believe that Angela Carter is still being forced down people's throats when Tanith Lee exists. I'd say that Tanith Lee writes the way Angela Carter thinks she writes, and the fact that everyone's heard of Carter but very few people have heard of Lee just testifies to the utter, absurd unfairness of the universe. This book comprises several tangentially interconnecting stories concerning a demon prince, who is delightfully both evil and able to love, and spends considerable time seducing human men and women alike. The writing is absolutely entrancing and almost obscenely gorgeous, I literally could not put this book down. Lee strikes a wonderful balance between originality and tradition; her stories feel somehow right and fall into a beautiful pattern, yet at the same time are highly inventive and unusual. My two complaints about the book are that some of the sexual stuff is simultaneously disturbing and too flowery (and can get a bit cringe-worthy), and also that there are too many weird names to keep track of. But other than that, it's an incredible fantasy, with the flat world of the book's universe masterfully executed and compellingly presented. I also love the constant blurring of distinctions between 'good' and 'evil' (Oscar Wilde would have been proud), and the wonderful yet somehow beautifully simple and seemingly effortless characterisation.