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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
I came so close to DNFing this so many times. I’m still not even sure why I didn’t. There are so many things I disliked about this book, from the way it talked about these sort-of mage vampires who actually weren’t either, to the all sorts of nothing that happens.
Pell is supposed to be this exceptional Wraeththu (attractive human boy who is turned into a supernatural, supposedly androgynous being through fasting, a blood ritual/transfusion and public sex). He learns made up words fast which means he can be promoted but also that promotion doesn’t really do anything so he’s still pretty useless. It seems most of whatever he learns he doesn’t actually use or it really serves no purpose.
There’s lots of gay sex magic but most of that is ridiculous. And also all the “we’re the softest parts of man, the hardest parts of woman” Bs. Gender means nothing, but then it also does apparently. He seems to be contradicting himself a lot. And two men make baby pearls.
So I guess there are trigger warnings for this book such as paedophilia (a guy comes along looking for pretty young boys to turn and then have sex with when they’re probably not even legal), rape, child murder, torture, etc etc.
In case you didn’t guess, I will not be reading any more from this series.
Pell is supposed to be this exceptional Wraeththu (attractive human boy who is turned into a supernatural, supposedly androgynous being through fasting, a blood ritual/transfusion and public sex). He learns made up words fast which means he can be promoted but also that promotion doesn’t really do anything so he’s still pretty useless. It seems most of whatever he learns he doesn’t actually use or it really serves no purpose.
There’s lots of gay sex magic but most of that is ridiculous. And also all the “we’re the softest parts of man, the hardest parts of woman” Bs. Gender means nothing, but then it also does apparently. He seems to be contradicting himself a lot. And two men make baby pearls.
So I guess there are trigger warnings for this book such as paedophilia (a guy comes along looking for pretty young boys to turn and then have sex with when they’re probably not even legal), rape, child murder, torture, etc etc.
In case you didn’t guess, I will not be reading any more from this series.
Rating: 3* of five
Wraeththu burst onto the barren LGBT science fiction scene in the late 1980s with a blaze of attention. It was unique! Hermaphroditic men who fucked each other and made babies (somehow, I never really got with that part of the program)! They look like human men because they were human men until It Happened.
This book was the introduction of It Happening. In hindsight, it feels more like vampire fiction than gay men's fiction, but then I ate. it. up.
Wraeththu burst onto the barren LGBT science fiction scene in the late 1980s with a blaze of attention. It was unique! Hermaphroditic men who fucked each other and made babies (somehow, I never really got with that part of the program)! They look like human men because they were human men until It Happened.
This book was the introduction of It Happening. In hindsight, it feels more like vampire fiction than gay men's fiction, but then I ate. it. up.
Very, very queer. Canon intersex, mpreg, polyamory, orgies! The book requires a lot of consulting the glossary in the back, but it's definitely worth it. Layers on layers of imagery and meaning. The story short-changes women, even with a character acknowledging that by creating only male Wraeththu they are leaving behind women, already a persecuted group. That total lack of women in a book that emphasizes the balance of male/female is a little squicky, to me, but it doesn't overshadow what is a basically good cult sci-fi epic.
I just finished reading this book and all I can say is WOW. I had been facing a conundrum of "which book should I read on the plane?" and my friend picked out this book from my shelf. I had picked it up some time ago, but hadn't yet taken the time to read it. I had been missing out on an amazing story!
As I read it, I figured that this book must've been written rather recently. This assumption came largely from the depictions of gender and sexual fluidity; this was new to me in a book, and thus I believed that it had been written in the past five years or so. Totally wrong! This book was first released in 1987! An amazing find, and an absolute must-read.
The world is immersive and beautiful, and the characters are vivid and varied amongst one another. Just enough detail is left to the reader's imagination to make this story as much yours as it is anyone else's.
The Wraeththu are a new species, recently birthed by nature as a "replacement" for mankind. With this new species comes new abilities, a new physical form, and a new sixth sense previously untapped by man. This story follows Pellaz as he becomes incepted to the Wraeththu and his journey across many lands and tribes.
As I read it, I figured that this book must've been written rather recently. This assumption came largely from the depictions of gender and sexual fluidity; this was new to me in a book, and thus I believed that it had been written in the past five years or so. Totally wrong! This book was first released in 1987! An amazing find, and an absolute must-read.
The world is immersive and beautiful, and the characters are vivid and varied amongst one another. Just enough detail is left to the reader's imagination to make this story as much yours as it is anyone else's.
The Wraeththu are a new species, recently birthed by nature as a "replacement" for mankind. With this new species comes new abilities, a new physical form, and a new sixth sense previously untapped by man.