Rating: 
Summary: A tale about love that knows no bounds, not even death.
Review: I recommend this series to anyone who enjoys a well-written fantasy tale with many trappings of SF -- a post-apocalyptic world, etc. -- and a depth of feeling so often lacking in the genre. Storm's prose style is so unique that it alone can make these books enthralling. A reminder: the subject material of these books can cause some consternation for those with provincial outlooks on transgenderal relationships and hermaphrodism -- but it can also forge quite an affinity for these books for those who, through lifestyle or open-mindedness, don't mind a bit of fun with gender and sexual crossovers. As the series unfolds, you'll discover these books are an exploration of human feelings using Wraeththu as a sort of foil: supposedly, hara (plural of "har") are above petty human emotions like love and hate that, they say, helped bring about Man's downfall. In reality, Wraeththu are no more immune from emotions than we ourselves, and the (forbidden?) love that develops between Cal and Pellaz becomes a driving force throughout the series. Of course, complications arise: Other characters fall in love with Pell and Cal and they develop (mostly fleeting) outside interests in turn....but at heart, this is a tale about love that knows no bounds, not even death.
Rating:
Summary: Hope for the Future, not for Humanity.
Review: This work of Storm Constantine is pure genius. Not only do you lose hope for the future of Humanity, you get a glimpse of its own self-wrought demise. This futurestic end to humans leads to the dawning of a new race. They are Wraeththu, beings of dual sexuality and adepts at mystical forces through sexual/blood magic.
The first book in Wraeththu starts off with th life of a young farm boy, Pelaz. He becomes entangled in the destiny of all wraeththu through the connivings of a powerful being. His ultimate destiny is not garnered until the last book, yet his travels with Cal prove entreating.
The following book in Wraeththu comes form the viewpoint of Swift. Swift is a young wraeththu introduced in the first book to Pelaz. His destiny has also been guided by powers "above". His destiny is one of a wraeththu pure born into this world not even knowing what humans are. Swift learns that the world has not changed so much from human to wraeththu control. He becomes a leader in the end after traveling with Cal.
The final book in Wraeththu tells the story of Cal the Wanderer. Calanthe, insted of Cal in the previous books, eloquentely and grusomely recites the tale of his existance through a diary. Cal's story makes the epics of Pelaz and Swift look like a walk in the park.
The whole genre ofScience-Fiction and Fantasy takes on a whole new meaning in Wraeththu. You'll not only take a glimpse at a possible future, but also delve into the natures of magic, sexuality, and humanity. A wonderful book that will promote Storm Constantine as the J. R. R. Tolkien and Mary Shelley of today
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful, character-driven, rich tapestry of Fantasy.
Review: This trilogy by British author Storm Constantine contains some of the best-developed, most interesting, and compelling characters I have encountered in this genre in years.
With utterly beautiful prose which seems a cross between Anne Rice and Oscar Wilde, Constantine creates a well thought out cosmology and society in which she explores her favorite topics of love, identity, and sexuality. I read Wraeththu slowly, because I did not want it to end!
Rating:
Summary: Atmospheric, Erotic, Decadent Epic
Review: One part William Burroughs homoerotic adventure story/mess, one part Siouxsie Sioux as novelist, one part Kathy Acker humor, a tip of the hat to Tolkien, Peake and Poe, and you have Wraeththu. Constantine's trilogy, collected here in omnibus form, is one of the most original, weirdest addition to high fantasy literature. She reimagines the late '80s gay, goth-punk crowd and transports them to a world of post-apocalyptic terror and ethereal wonder. Beneath the rich, sensous prose, there's a quirky humor at work. Recommended for fans of Poppy Z. Brite
Rating: 
Summary: Disapointing and Infurriating
Review: To tell you the truth, I couldn't even read through the whole thing. I stopped in the middle of book one, flipped through the book to try and see if there were any redeeming points to which I would want to continue reading to get to... and found none. I love alternative sexuality in books which is what made me purchase this one. A fantesy/sci-fic at that made me even more willing to delve into the world. But as much as I am rooting for the guys to get it on, I'm more over hopeing they fall in love and live happily together. In this book they run around, have sex with practcaly every person they see, make bastard children at a whim, and love has nothing to do with anything. If meaningless sex in large quantities is something you like in a book, I recomend this to you. If you're looking for a more wholsom relationship between two characters in love, I'd stay clear. It's... infurriating x_<
Rating:
Summary: A story that goes downhill all the way.
Review: I have been a reader of sci-fi and fanatasy for over 40 years, and I am a writer, and I haven't encountered such drivel covered up with such a lyric writing style in many years. For starters, this is actually a romantic novel (lots of swooning and surrendering and tenderly being touched) with a veil of sci-fi and mystic fantasy, so true sci-fi fans will be disappointed if not angered.
Story #1 is about the kidnapping and conversion of a human child by a member of a hermaphroditic mutant group (all males who have been converted by having their blood mixed with a mutant's), and his development (don't worry, he had [...] leanings anyway, so he wasn't really deviated much). Story #2 is about a true mutant child growing up and replacing his father as a leader (he has a crazy "mother" - did a female writer really author this?). And story #3 is basically about the kidnapper in story #1 and his wanderings as a search for his true self (Dorothy in Oz), including his willingly being a [...].
A significant problem for me is that there are literally hundreds of pages wasted on self-examination and dialogue which demonstrates these creatures being petty, vain, sexual, vain, angry, vain, lost, vain, sorry, vain, jealous, vain, egotistical and vain. The writer has reduced the hermaphrodite into a creature that uses sex for love, power, mysticism and procreation, over and over (to death), and when they are not having sex, they are worrying or talking about it, a lot. The female aspects of the hermaphrodite is reduced to crazy, fearful, emotional, vain, romantic and sexual charanterizations that seem to come right out of cheap romance novels.
The description on the back cover of the book says "humanity won't die without a struggle" against the mutants, but in fact there are very few pages dedicated to talking at all about true humans except as frightened, barren losers who have already been supplanted by the all-beautiful but clannish hermaphrodites who can levitate, baffle minds, throw fireballs and perform telekinesis after they have been "elevated" to mystical-power level through (guess what) hermaphroditic sex and some undescribed training. All relationships seem to boil down to un/requited love affairs or sexual encounters. In story #3 the core character has her/his major revelation after willingly submitting to rape.
The overall story is resolved very poorly. Human women finally show up towards the end of story #3 as a hidden superpower mutant type of their own (a feminist must have complained to the author). And the original mutant who starts this whole process on earth is actually overthrown in under three pages flat at the end of the whole thing through a thin dialogue that can be summed up as the equivalant of Oz's Dorothy saying "I always knew I had the power all along, so go away!", and he/she does.
And so should you from this kind of tripe.
Rating:
Summary: A future that is rich and strange
Review: A friend gave me a copy of "Wraeththu" for an early Christmas gift three years ago. I started reading it on my way home. Six hours later, I finished the last page. I would love to find another writer of fantasy and sci-fi who exhiliarates me as much as Storm Constantine.
"Wraeththu" is a compilation of Constantine's trilogy: "The Enchantments of Flesh & Spirit," "The Bewitchments of Love & Hate," and "The Fulfillments of Fate & Desire." The titles alone give the hint that this is not your typical fantasy. What they don't hint at is that this is a spin on the post-apocalyptic scenario once favored by sci-fi/fantasy writers--or that Constantine's crew would put a scare into every badass featured in the "Mad Max" films. They are androgynous, hermaphrodites who meld male and female characteristics with enhanced psychic and magical powers, and who have no compunction about those powers or violence to get what they want.
The Wraeththu rise up while humanity is in its final stage, overpowering their parent race and multiplying on their own. The story concerns Pell, a poor boy who follows a Wraeththu named Cal, is Incepted (made Wraeththu himself), and becomes perhaps the most important of his kind on Earth. As humans are slaughtered by vicious Wraeththu tribes, the Wraeththu turn on each other in a struggle for dominance. While the philosophy of each side can be summed up as ultimate good/ultimate evil, the underlying desire is the same: to rule and control all others.
If the story doesn't grab you, the characters and Constantine's writing will. Constantine is a marvel, a writer from the '90s who didn't succumb to the universal disdain for fine language and lush description. Despite the Gothic label, Constantine's work will never be mistaken for gloom and doom. She lavishes attention on her surroundings, and her characters come to life in the mind as they act out on the page; yet her affection for them and her love of life suffuse this trilogy with optimism and hope.
"Nothing of him that doth fade/But doth suffer a sea-change/Into something rich and strange." This could be a fitting prologue to "Wraeththu," for in it Constantine takes the shambles of society and shapes it into an incredible enchantment.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating look at a possible future...
Review: I highly recommend this book! Storm Constantine creates a fully believable world, filled with exotic cultures and even more exotic characters that you will come to love. Wraeththu is told from first person perspective, which I enjoy, and is broken into three books. Each is told from the perspective of a very different character. First is Pellaz the innocent young man, who introduces us to Wraeththu culture even as he is introduced to it, himself. Next is Swift, a first generation Wraetthu with whom we see the upheaval and maturing of the Wraetthu culture, and learn further secrets of this strange new race. Finally it wraps up with Calanthe, the chaotic har who is the catalyst for most of the action in all three books. He brings the story to a very satisfying close. A warning though, if you dislike sex in your books, there is a strong sexual element that is integral to the story. It is not graphic nor gratuitous, in my opinion, but it is definitely there and it is non-traditional. You will need an open mind to fully enjoy these books. All I can say is that if you are looking for something different and good you will find it here!
Rating:
Summary: Unique and Incomparable
Review: This work is so... rare. I read the three books of Wraeththu one after the other and it felt like a single work, it really did. I never once found myself disinterested, or bored, or unable to care for the characters. The only difficulty I have is trying to figure out which one of them I love more fiercely.
Storm Constantine's style and abilities are incomparable. She has the most unpretentious way of speaking. It all sounds just like an honest, first-person narrative. Unlike many authors, she makes absolute allowance for the reader's intelligence. That does not mean that she leaves you guessing - in fact, all ends are neatly wrapped up. It's just that she does not preach, does not lecture. She just talks. The plot, the world, the people are completely surprising. The world is very much a fantasy world, but it also flows out from our own world's not-so-distant future. The beginning of the Wraeththu race heralds the end of the humans. And good riddens. We destroyed our world. We destroyed ourselves. Women are becoming barren. Society is failing. The wraeththu are a human mutation that has the potential to reach far beyond humanity's limits. They are hermaphrodites and not bound by the same strictures of society and emotion that destroyed the old world. They have some new ideas, new ways to go. There are some incredibly interesting philosophical ideas here. The best thing about the wraeththu, though, is that their original theories don't stick. They are forced to change and many of them are not too proud to see their own mistakes, not just those of the humans that preceded them. At first, I was afraid this would turn into a utopian preaching, but it did not. Not at all. The main characters... Ahh... There are Pellaz and Cal, who are lovers, and friends, and also really interesting, intelligent, imperfect people. There is Swift, who tells the second book and who refused to let me be upset at the shift in the point of view. There is the mysterious and beautiful Cobweb, with his jealousy and protectiveness and passionate attachments. So many wonderful, perfectly-developed characters. But in the end, it all comes down to Pell and Cal. Pellaz narrates the first book; Cal - the third. Pellaz is, in every way, a good, understandable, charismatic and simply irresistible character. Cal, too, is charisma incarnate, but he is the opposite of Pell - plagued with a violent past, filled with flaws of temper, and of morality, and some pretty off-the-leash tendencies. The world just wouldn't be right without Cal. He is all the sanity and insanity of the world wrapped into one gorgeous person. These books are strong in characters and strong in the plot. They are flawlessly balanced. All that is interlaced with a deep sheen of eroticism. It is not explicit, mostly, but it is always there. It makes everything richer and more honest. When people don't have to think about their repressed desires, they have so much more time to get on with their lives and let the really interesting things drive their actions. This makes the wraeththu a little less petty than humans were. This allows a truly ingenious plot to blossom. I can imagine people who might have a hard time getting over the sexual orientation of the wraeththu and their physical differences from the humans. I would feel unimaginably sad for anyone who could not get past this. They would be losing so much.
Rating:
Summary: Like nothing you've ever read.
Review: This is (in my opinion) the greatest piece of gothic fiction ever written. I've read it three times, lent the books to friends (and have not ever been able to reclaiming my copies since they usually say that they've lost it, but it never fails to bring a smile to my face when I see it in their bookshelves years laters), & I'm in the process of ordering a fourth copy to write a thesis about Storm Constantine's work. Everything about this book is magnificent. The archaic language keeps you on your toes. The plot refuses to give you a break. It's beautifully written in an almost poetic style all of its own. The romance within the covers is exquisite without being overbearing. Moreover, everything, including the characters, is so richly depicted, that at times its possible to find yourself as part of the plot. My suggestion: Buy it, read it, but whatever you do don't lend it to anyone if you'd like to keep it as part of your library -- for I guarantee you that it will not come back to you easily.
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