The Enchantments of Flesh and Spirit, by Storm Constantine
Nov. 21st, 2025 04:19 pmSecond paragraph of third chapter:
When Seel and Orien arrived they were dressed splendidly for the occasion. They seemed taller than I remembered, proud and graceful, and treated me like a bride, which I supposed, in a sense, I was. Seel put white lilies in my hair, avoiding my eyes, and offered me a goblet of blue glass. The liquid inside it looked murky and tasted foul. I downed it as quickly as I could. They would take no chances with me; I would be drugged almost senseless.
A lot of people really love this book. I didn’t. The protagonist is adopted into the superhuman, supersexy Wraeththu, who are crushing the inferior homo sapiens (that’s people like you and me) and yet spend a lot of time violently arguing internally about power structures and the sexual pecking order, which are basically the same thing. It’s Storm Constantine’s best known single book, but I don’t think the racial and gender politics work for today. You can get it here.
This was my top unread book acquired in 2022. Next on that pile is Vanishing Point, by Michaela Roessner.

