Short for The Journal Entries of Kennet R'yal Shardik, et. al., and Related Tales, the Journal Entries are a collection of 212 (as of 12/06/2001) science-fiction/erotic short stories and novelettes written by Elf Sternberg. The stories take place primarily on the ringworld Pendor and paint the picture of a utopian milieu of seemingly unlimited technology, energy, and time, where genetic engineering, teleportation, nano-technology, psychic powers, and omnipresent real AIs are the norm.
The stories themselves center around the life and experiences of Ken and people close to him. While it's rare to find a journal entry that doesn't have the explicit description something or another, there are a few exceptions (Brieanna, Part 1 springs to mind). Not all the stories are nice, in fact some might even upset Marilyn Manson a bit (no offense, I just needed an example of someone who'd be hard to upset :). About two-thirds of the stories only have plain old sex between the various sentient species, both entalie' and erolie' (to use the native toung) the rest have anywhere from nothing to acts of bondage, domination, and miscellaneous SadoMasochism.
While the environment clearly draws influences from Niven's Ringworld novels, The stories were also influenced by Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trillogy. It's language, Quen, is based heavily on Tolkien's Quenya. The writing, as evidenced by the signature on the front page, is, for all intents and purposes, Tolkien's Tengwar (see note in trivia). There are other subtle Tolkienian influences and references, primarily in Backwater. For more information on the influences and inspiration of the Journal Entries, Get it from the man himself.
The Journal Entries of Kennet R'yal Shardik, et. al., and Related Tales have moved!. They can now be found at
http://www.drizzle.com/~elf/journals/ . Update your bookmarks.
See also: the Journal Entries Trivia, Behind the Journal Entries, the Journal Entries FAQ