juushika: Photograph of a row of books on a library shelf (Books Once More)
juushika ([personal profile] juushika) wrote2015-09-14 06:37 pm

Book Review: The Enchantments of Flesh and Spirit by Storm Constantine

Title: The Enchantments of Flesh and Spirit (Wraeththu Book 1)
Author: Storm Constantine
Published: Immanion Press, 2012 (1987)
Rating: 2 of 5
Page Count: 320
Total Page Count: 166,495
Text Number: 487
Read Because: personal enjoyment
Review: A new breed of human is evolving, the Wraeththu: enigmatic, stronger, smarter, far more beautiful--and their coming threatens Earth with upheaval. To say that I found The Enchantments of Flesh and Spirit unsuccessful would be a vast understatement. I'm fond of travelogues, but this sort of narrative--with the same focus on journeying, but without much sense of purpose and with no sense of wonder, wearies me. The relationships have potential (particularly the one between the protagonist and his lover), and there's some in the worldbuilding as well, but this feels too much like glam rock slash fanfiction, given to repetitious angst, equally repetitious sex, and problematic gender representation. There's no momentum, only the pretense of depth, and, frankly, I'm just glad it's over.

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