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The Gold Country #1
Whispers of the World That Was
A new Wraeththu Mythos novel.
Humanity’s time is done. Wraeththu’s time has begun.
Independent, isolationist and protected by the geography and legends surrounding the Rift of the Damned, the hara of the Gold Country live off what they can salvage from the sunken cities and abandoned towns. While hara of tribes elsewhere awaken to their newfound abilities, learn their bodies and discover new gods, the har-men of the Gold Country cling to the old, familiar ways of the human era.
Even before they were har, the folks of Cinder Hill fought against the tides of an ever-changing world, cursing the laws and politicians that killed every industry, except for Wild West tourism. Now, the laws have gone, the world itself torn apart to birth a wild new way of being. But in Cinder Hill echoes of the past linger on; hara who still deny the changes in themselves get by in the only way they know how – as their hardworking human ancestors once did.
When Tyse and his salvage trawler crewmates haul a mysterious object from the ocean, they initiate a series of events that will bring change to the Gold Country, whether those who live there want it or not. Tyse discovers that his terrifying new state of being is the only way to combat an implacable threat that seeks to eradicate all hara from the Gold Country and beyond. Powerful predators have appeared, their origins unknown, and none can hide from these deadly and apparently indestructible hunters. None except – perhaps – a har in control of his own powers.
Gritty and uncompromising, E. S. Wynn brings a new vision to the ground-breaking Wraeththu Mythos, where the humanity remaining in hara fights to resist the inevitable change, and old prejudices and conditioning hamper the evolution of an isolated tribe.
With an introduction by Storm Constantine.
Humanity’s time is done. Wraeththu’s time has begun.
Independent, isolationist and protected by the geography and legends surrounding the Rift of the Damned, the hara of the Gold Country live off what they can salvage from the sunken cities and abandoned towns. While hara of tribes elsewhere awaken to their newfound abilities, learn their bodies and discover new gods, the har-men of the Gold Country cling to the old, familiar ways of the human era.
Even before they were har, the folks of Cinder Hill fought against the tides of an ever-changing world, cursing the laws and politicians that killed every industry, except for Wild West tourism. Now, the laws have gone, the world itself torn apart to birth a wild new way of being. But in Cinder Hill echoes of the past linger on; hara who still deny the changes in themselves get by in the only way they know how – as their hardworking human ancestors once did.
When Tyse and his salvage trawler crewmates haul a mysterious object from the ocean, they initiate a series of events that will bring change to the Gold Country, whether those who live there want it or not. Tyse discovers that his terrifying new state of being is the only way to combat an implacable threat that seeks to eradicate all hara from the Gold Country and beyond. Powerful predators have appeared, their origins unknown, and none can hide from these deadly and apparently indestructible hunters. None except – perhaps – a har in control of his own powers.
Gritty and uncompromising, E. S. Wynn brings a new vision to the ground-breaking Wraeththu Mythos, where the humanity remaining in hara fights to resist the inevitable change, and old prejudices and conditioning hamper the evolution of an isolated tribe.
With an introduction by Storm Constantine.
- GenresFantasyScience Fiction
212 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2015
1 person is currently reading
249 people want to read
About the author
E.S. Wynn
180 books45 followersE.S. Wynn is the author of over seventy books and the editor of a number of magazines. Written works include the seven books of the Pink Carbide cyberpunk series, the sci-fi thriller books of The Cygnus War series, the five books of the Modern Creative Writer’s Workbook series, Minerva, The Mars Manuscripts, Raining Chrome, RIM, Cybergothika, The Highforge Legacy, Letters From A Dead Earth, Dark Salvage, Stimulus, Fatal Mistakes, Shores of the Nameless Gods, The Hyperborean Texts, Skin Dreams, Rods of Mars, Cinder Block Houses, Last Five Years, Beyond Oblivion, Decay Americana, 21 Great Days, Dusk Days and Daysleep Dreams, Rash Door, Universal Roleplaying Resource: Planets, Steam Wars, Beyond the Zompocalypse, Voyage of the Tereshkova, Liber Luminopticon, Liber Velum Voces, Through The Fire, Like Oceans of Liquid Skin, Reasons to Stay Single and Quick & Dirty Book Marketing. E.S. Wynn is also the author of 14 additional books ghostwritten for clients or otherwise credited under various pen names.
As an editor, E.S. Wynn currently owns and operates two fiction magazines. E.S. Wynn has also worked as an editor of books, dissertations, articles and short stories, serving a number of clients and friends since 2005. E.S. Wynn's own articles and fiction have been published online and in print in a number of magazines, including the prestigious California Freemason Magazine.
E.S. Wynn is also “The Voice” of the Dark Dreams Podcast, the Blackout City Podcast and a series of mystic heathenry meditations.
As an editor, E.S. Wynn currently owns and operates two fiction magazines. E.S. Wynn has also worked as an editor of books, dissertations, articles and short stories, serving a number of clients and friends since 2005. E.S. Wynn's own articles and fiction have been published online and in print in a number of magazines, including the prestigious California Freemason Magazine.
E.S. Wynn is also “The Voice” of the Dark Dreams Podcast, the Blackout City Podcast and a series of mystic heathenry meditations.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 24, 2015
Those who’re into the gothic beauty of Storm Constantine’s creations may well recall the world of the Wraeththu with great fondness. Constantine was initially responsible for two trilogies, The Wraeththu Chronicles and The Wraeththu Histories, which were pretty much required reading among lovers of dark fantasy. Subsequently Constantine has gone on to release other titles in the same setting, but has also breathed new life into her mythos by opening it to select authors, of which ES Wynn is one.
In my mind, the Wraeththu fall somewhere between vampire and angel – beings that inherited the Earth in Constantine’s post-apocalyptic, post-technological vision. Neither male nor female, the Wraeththu express qualities of both in addition to possessing the ability to shape reality magically. Naturally, a world in upheaval provides prime fodder for storytelling, as characters transition from the old to the new.
ES Wynn has more than done justice to the setting by telling the tale of Tyse who, when we meet him, works as a salvager aboard a vessel crewed by other Wraeththu. They sift through the debris of humanity for any useful items, which they then trade for their necessities. Things take a turn for the worse, however, when Tyse salvages a meteorite that has unusual properties. His discovery brings down the unwanted attention of a mysterious foe hellbent on destroying Wraeththu culture before it has had a chance to pick itself up out of the ashes of humankind.
Wynn’s writing is lush and detailed, and he effortlessly evokes a post-apocalyptic setting so vividly, that it’s possible to taste the dogwood berry wine, so to speak. If I dare to compare his style to another’s, I think back to the sensual textures I encountered in vintage Poppy Z Brite, and leave it at that. Readers with particular tastes will understand. Ghost and Steve. Um, Hello.
While those who’ve read the Chronicles and Histories will certainly get some of the more obscure canon references in Whispers of the World that Was, this knowledge is not a prerequisite, primarily because Tyse himself is largely ignorant of what it entails to be Wraeththu. All in all, this is a satisfying read, and a worthy addition to an established fantasy mythos that deviates from standard visions involving dragons, mages and elves.
In my mind, the Wraeththu fall somewhere between vampire and angel – beings that inherited the Earth in Constantine’s post-apocalyptic, post-technological vision. Neither male nor female, the Wraeththu express qualities of both in addition to possessing the ability to shape reality magically. Naturally, a world in upheaval provides prime fodder for storytelling, as characters transition from the old to the new.
ES Wynn has more than done justice to the setting by telling the tale of Tyse who, when we meet him, works as a salvager aboard a vessel crewed by other Wraeththu. They sift through the debris of humanity for any useful items, which they then trade for their necessities. Things take a turn for the worse, however, when Tyse salvages a meteorite that has unusual properties. His discovery brings down the unwanted attention of a mysterious foe hellbent on destroying Wraeththu culture before it has had a chance to pick itself up out of the ashes of humankind.
Wynn’s writing is lush and detailed, and he effortlessly evokes a post-apocalyptic setting so vividly, that it’s possible to taste the dogwood berry wine, so to speak. If I dare to compare his style to another’s, I think back to the sensual textures I encountered in vintage Poppy Z Brite, and leave it at that. Readers with particular tastes will understand. Ghost and Steve. Um, Hello.
While those who’ve read the Chronicles and Histories will certainly get some of the more obscure canon references in Whispers of the World that Was, this knowledge is not a prerequisite, primarily because Tyse himself is largely ignorant of what it entails to be Wraeththu. All in all, this is a satisfying read, and a worthy addition to an established fantasy mythos that deviates from standard visions involving dragons, mages and elves.
January 14, 2016
I recently won the drawing for E.S. Wynn's WHISPERS OF A WORLD THAT WAS. I entered the giveaway because 1) The cover was pretty tight and 2) the synopsis kind of made this sound like MAD MAX meets Lovecraftian monsters. I was certainly a bit sketchy on the details and did note that this belongs to something called the Wraeththu Mythos, but had no idea what that meant and since this is a standalone title, I decided to give it a shot. So to be perfectly clear, I received a print copy for free from the author's giveaway and am now giving an honest review.
Now, while I gave this a 4/5 this rating is going to be somewhat hypocritical because as a general rule, I hated this world and was really weirded out by the concept in general. While I will get into that in just a little bit, the primary reason I give this such a high rating is because despite how uncomfortable and disturbed I was throughout the two hundred something pages is simply the fact that I had a hard time putting this book down. The author somehow manages to make this totally alien setting feel relateable (sort of), delivers a cast of compelling characters, and provides a narrative that is exceptionally well paced. Not to mention that this is a piece brimming with dramatic moments that feel satisfyingly cinematic.
BOOK CONSTRUCTION/FORMATTING
This work was read in print and while I don't normally pay a whole lot of attention to the construction of a book, this one is particularly well done. It sports what is known as a "soft touch" cover which looks like matte if you just sit it on a table and look at it, but once you pick it up, you will notice that it actually has this soft, almost rubbery feel to it. I thought this finish was really cool and it made the book feel really great to hold. What's more is the interior is exceptionally well done. The fonts look just right, the page size that was chosen felt appropriate, and the overall aesthetic of this piece really just stood out in a way that I feel like most books really don't. I don't mean to knock printed books, in fact they are my preference over eBooks, but since paper books take up space and cost more, I find myself being pickier and pickier about what I want to have a physical copy of versus what I'm content to just download to my Kindle app. This is the sort of book that is crafted well enough for you to really be missing out if you were to read it as an eBook, because the look and feel of the print edition is just so finely crafted.
CHARACTERS
Beyond book aesthetics, the other component to this work that is really well constructed is the cast of diverse characters. There are a vast plethora of colorful characters that readers will meet along the journey. There are fatherly mayor figures, rowdy scavengers, hippie farmers, and a great many more. The people in this book are survivors of an apocalyptic event which isn't particularly well explained, but I got enough to gather that it was some combination of war and disease (primarily disease) that led to the world's downfall. What's more is that these characters are all male...kind of.
The people that inhabit the story space aren't precisely human. They were once, but now they are a new species called hara. What is strikingly different about a hara is that they're not really male at all. Through a rather mortifying transfusion of blood, the humans that become hara loose their sex. Instead of male privates, they wind up with something else - something neutral which can change into the male or female part on a whim. This creates a real conundrum for these guys because mentally, they still associate themselves as guys, because before this transformation, they were indeed men - most of which were straight men. Dealing with their rather alien sexuality and their inexplicable attraction to each other is a major source of internal conflict for these characters that ultimately makes them feel a bit more relateable since they openly acknowledge that their current state feels uncomfortable and even unnatural. A good portion of the story's plot and surprises revolve around the nature of this species, so I won't really go too much farther into WHAT these people are since there are things about their evolution that are slowly unveiled as the story proceeds.
The main character is named Tyse and we read the story through his perspective. His best friend Stoff, is a "man" who makes him feel like he did in the old days. He thinks of Stoff as a pal, a buddy, but they have a hara sort of attraction to each other that threatens to dissolve the only connection Tyse has to his past life. The story spends a lot of time on their relationship with one another. While that wasn't really anything I was into, it's also something that I will hold off on discussing until the section of this review. At the end of the day, I still felt myself routing for both of them to survive the events of this book especially since the author so freely kills off important characters without much warning.
WORLD/SETTING
Tyse and Stoff live in a world that is as lethal as it is strange. In true post-apocalyptic fashion, no one is safe wandering the world alone and each day is a constant struggle to protect oneself against the predators that come in a variety of forms - human, hara, animal, and others. The true world of the mythos is much bigger than what we as readers get in this book. The setting of this particular adventure is really just E.S. Wynn's corner and while the stage is set well enough, I have already admitted that this aspect is my least favorite part so let me defend that position.
A number of authors have contributed to this mythos, but Storm Constantine is the primary author and inventor of this fiction. He writes a sort of beginners guide to the general concept which I found to be incredibly helpful to have at the start of the novel. Within this introduction, the creator defends himself on several points with a good deal of fervor. This first is that this is not really a story about homosexuality or bisexuality, but more of a hermaphrodite situation. That's kind of true, but it's also kind of not, given the nature of what hara actually are. He also defended against claims of sexism in that males seem to be the only real survivors of the cataclysmic pandemic that changes the world as we know it. While I definitely get that the interpersonal problems coming from being a hara would be severely lessened if the masculine hara could be with feminine hara, I'd definitely have to agree that it seems very unlikely that women would die off and men would live since our physiology isn't so different that one gender would be able to survive something that another could not. I am also admittedly in the camp of feeling like this is a world that is a tad sexist both in the way that characters view women and the way that they are biologically incapable of surviving the disease. Constantine does mention that there are female hara-ish people that appear at some point, but don't expect to see any of them here.
I certainly appreciate the idea of creating a sort of supernatural, science fiction horror world that no one has ever thought of before, but there is definitely a threshold for just how weird a writer can make something and expect that people will actually enjoy it. For me, this world extends well beyond that threshold. The creator's introduction did make mention of this mythos having a very faithful following, but I don't personally know of anyone that I would be able to recommend this world to. I think the bizarre sexuality is just too heavily focused on for most to find it an enjoyable situation. It certainly wouldn't appeal to heterosexual readers like myself since the characters are all have mannish exteriors, and I'm not even so sure the homosexual crowd would be into it since it's not really gay sex. There are also quite a few slurs toward gay men in the first half of the book when the two characters are still struggling with their new nature. It kind of boils down to this really uncomfortable alien intimacy where two dude-like people go at it with their mighty morphing private parts. Yes there is genuine romance that comes into play and a relationship that grows, but the sexual overtones are what really dominate the space of the relationship. I really just think this aspect is going to be too offensive to too many different crowds for this to be a truly enjoyable read for most.
There are also a lot of vaguely spiritual, new age ideas thrown around. While I know there's definitely an audience for that sort of thing, my main problem with it (aside from my not being within that audience) is that the pseudo religious aspects are never really explained in a way that felt satisfying, at least not in this particular story. I never quite got the spiritual transformation from hara to har that Constantine mentions nor did I really get the point or message there. Toward the end, I finally did understand why the transformation from human to hara had evolutionary value and this revelation did help explain SOME of the spiritual components, but it never really answered the question of WHY. Was this whole world just contrived to offer something different for the sake of being different? Or is there something in Constantine's vision that I'm not getting? Is this a forum to confront sexual insecurity or uncertainty? Is it just a fantasy where women can be totally removed from the equation? While the story of Stoff and Tyse is wrapped up well, the my fundamental issues with the world itself absolutely still remained by the time I turned over the final page. And though I place a lot of blame on Constantine for the foundational problems of the mythos, Wynn cannot be entirely let off the hook since my one and only exposure to this world is through his book - his contribution to the myhtos.
PLOT/TONE
While a lot of the plot points that involve the hara have already been discussed there was fortunately a lot more to the plot than just a story about two hara coming to terms with themselves. The underlying narrative and tone are both really well done and part of what made this a read that I stuck with. At it's core, the story is about surviving in a land that becomes increasingly unforgiving and tremendously hazardous. Wynn has an absolutely superb grasp over how to build up a dramatic sequence and squeeze the maximum amount of impact from each climactic moment. The story is as violent as it is sexual and the gore is some of the most grotesque I have ever found in a book. Wynn's writing is described as "gritty and uncompromising" as per the book's synopsis. While I initially thought that was just marketing white noise, it's actually the only summary of Wynn's style that I find appropriate. Unfortunately, a lot of the plot's impact relies heavily on the element of surprise so I can't go much deeper than this, but I will say that it is a rather compelling marriage of mysticism and science fiction.
CONCLUSION
Wynn's writing is ultimately the only thing that really got me through this book. It's starkly detailed, aggressive, and believable. It's a shame that I cannot say the same for the mythos itself. I also wish that I could have enjoyed the world a bit more since it was such an integral part of the plot yet just did not work for me. Don't get me wrong, the world of Wraeththu is definitely a trip like no other, but it's not something I will ever be revisiting. I'm very impressed that Wynn was able to make me care so much about the world and its people even if I didn't care for them on a fundamental level. I think it's a testament to good writing, but I do hope that he has work that lies outside of the Wraeththu Mythos, preferably something a little more palatable for a larger portion of the population - if so I'll probably give that a shot. If you're already a fan of the mythos then this novel is an easy recommendation. I'm sure any current fans who read this review will be scoffing at how taken back by the sexual aspects I was since this is what marks the Wratheau continuity, but I think it's entirely fair to say that A LOT of people just aren't going to be that into it for one reason or another. This is probably going to be the only 4/5 rating I ever give where I just wouldn't recommend this to anyone I know. There is apparently a group that finds this sort of thing appealing and if you are among them, then you will be right at home. If you're like me and have never heard of this mythos before now, then I'm really not sure whether or not you'll like this. I have a feeling the ratings for this book are going to be all over the map and the only thing I can really promise is that Wynn truly is a fantastic writer even in a less than fantastic story space.
Now, while I gave this a 4/5 this rating is going to be somewhat hypocritical because as a general rule, I hated this world and was really weirded out by the concept in general. While I will get into that in just a little bit, the primary reason I give this such a high rating is because despite how uncomfortable and disturbed I was throughout the two hundred something pages is simply the fact that I had a hard time putting this book down. The author somehow manages to make this totally alien setting feel relateable (sort of), delivers a cast of compelling characters, and provides a narrative that is exceptionally well paced. Not to mention that this is a piece brimming with dramatic moments that feel satisfyingly cinematic.
BOOK CONSTRUCTION/FORMATTING
This work was read in print and while I don't normally pay a whole lot of attention to the construction of a book, this one is particularly well done. It sports what is known as a "soft touch" cover which looks like matte if you just sit it on a table and look at it, but once you pick it up, you will notice that it actually has this soft, almost rubbery feel to it. I thought this finish was really cool and it made the book feel really great to hold. What's more is the interior is exceptionally well done. The fonts look just right, the page size that was chosen felt appropriate, and the overall aesthetic of this piece really just stood out in a way that I feel like most books really don't. I don't mean to knock printed books, in fact they are my preference over eBooks, but since paper books take up space and cost more, I find myself being pickier and pickier about what I want to have a physical copy of versus what I'm content to just download to my Kindle app. This is the sort of book that is crafted well enough for you to really be missing out if you were to read it as an eBook, because the look and feel of the print edition is just so finely crafted.
CHARACTERS
Beyond book aesthetics, the other component to this work that is really well constructed is the cast of diverse characters. There are a vast plethora of colorful characters that readers will meet along the journey. There are fatherly mayor figures, rowdy scavengers, hippie farmers, and a great many more. The people in this book are survivors of an apocalyptic event which isn't particularly well explained, but I got enough to gather that it was some combination of war and disease (primarily disease) that led to the world's downfall. What's more is that these characters are all male...kind of.
The people that inhabit the story space aren't precisely human. They were once, but now they are a new species called hara. What is strikingly different about a hara is that they're not really male at all. Through a rather mortifying transfusion of blood, the humans that become hara loose their sex. Instead of male privates, they wind up with something else - something neutral which can change into the male or female part on a whim. This creates a real conundrum for these guys because mentally, they still associate themselves as guys, because before this transformation, they were indeed men - most of which were straight men. Dealing with their rather alien sexuality and their inexplicable attraction to each other is a major source of internal conflict for these characters that ultimately makes them feel a bit more relateable since they openly acknowledge that their current state feels uncomfortable and even unnatural. A good portion of the story's plot and surprises revolve around the nature of this species, so I won't really go too much farther into WHAT these people are since there are things about their evolution that are slowly unveiled as the story proceeds.
The main character is named Tyse and we read the story through his perspective. His best friend Stoff, is a "man" who makes him feel like he did in the old days. He thinks of Stoff as a pal, a buddy, but they have a hara sort of attraction to each other that threatens to dissolve the only connection Tyse has to his past life. The story spends a lot of time on their relationship with one another. While that wasn't really anything I was into, it's also something that I will hold off on discussing until the section of this review. At the end of the day, I still felt myself routing for both of them to survive the events of this book especially since the author so freely kills off important characters without much warning.
WORLD/SETTING
Tyse and Stoff live in a world that is as lethal as it is strange. In true post-apocalyptic fashion, no one is safe wandering the world alone and each day is a constant struggle to protect oneself against the predators that come in a variety of forms - human, hara, animal, and others. The true world of the mythos is much bigger than what we as readers get in this book. The setting of this particular adventure is really just E.S. Wynn's corner and while the stage is set well enough, I have already admitted that this aspect is my least favorite part so let me defend that position.
A number of authors have contributed to this mythos, but Storm Constantine is the primary author and inventor of this fiction. He writes a sort of beginners guide to the general concept which I found to be incredibly helpful to have at the start of the novel. Within this introduction, the creator defends himself on several points with a good deal of fervor. This first is that this is not really a story about homosexuality or bisexuality, but more of a hermaphrodite situation. That's kind of true, but it's also kind of not, given the nature of what hara actually are. He also defended against claims of sexism in that males seem to be the only real survivors of the cataclysmic pandemic that changes the world as we know it. While I definitely get that the interpersonal problems coming from being a hara would be severely lessened if the masculine hara could be with feminine hara, I'd definitely have to agree that it seems very unlikely that women would die off and men would live since our physiology isn't so different that one gender would be able to survive something that another could not. I am also admittedly in the camp of feeling like this is a world that is a tad sexist both in the way that characters view women and the way that they are biologically incapable of surviving the disease. Constantine does mention that there are female hara-ish people that appear at some point, but don't expect to see any of them here.
I certainly appreciate the idea of creating a sort of supernatural, science fiction horror world that no one has ever thought of before, but there is definitely a threshold for just how weird a writer can make something and expect that people will actually enjoy it. For me, this world extends well beyond that threshold. The creator's introduction did make mention of this mythos having a very faithful following, but I don't personally know of anyone that I would be able to recommend this world to. I think the bizarre sexuality is just too heavily focused on for most to find it an enjoyable situation. It certainly wouldn't appeal to heterosexual readers like myself since the characters are all have mannish exteriors, and I'm not even so sure the homosexual crowd would be into it since it's not really gay sex. There are also quite a few slurs toward gay men in the first half of the book when the two characters are still struggling with their new nature. It kind of boils down to this really uncomfortable alien intimacy where two dude-like people go at it with their mighty morphing private parts. Yes there is genuine romance that comes into play and a relationship that grows, but the sexual overtones are what really dominate the space of the relationship. I really just think this aspect is going to be too offensive to too many different crowds for this to be a truly enjoyable read for most.
There are also a lot of vaguely spiritual, new age ideas thrown around. While I know there's definitely an audience for that sort of thing, my main problem with it (aside from my not being within that audience) is that the pseudo religious aspects are never really explained in a way that felt satisfying, at least not in this particular story. I never quite got the spiritual transformation from hara to har that Constantine mentions nor did I really get the point or message there. Toward the end, I finally did understand why the transformation from human to hara had evolutionary value and this revelation did help explain SOME of the spiritual components, but it never really answered the question of WHY. Was this whole world just contrived to offer something different for the sake of being different? Or is there something in Constantine's vision that I'm not getting? Is this a forum to confront sexual insecurity or uncertainty? Is it just a fantasy where women can be totally removed from the equation? While the story of Stoff and Tyse is wrapped up well, the my fundamental issues with the world itself absolutely still remained by the time I turned over the final page. And though I place a lot of blame on Constantine for the foundational problems of the mythos, Wynn cannot be entirely let off the hook since my one and only exposure to this world is through his book - his contribution to the myhtos.
PLOT/TONE
While a lot of the plot points that involve the hara have already been discussed there was fortunately a lot more to the plot than just a story about two hara coming to terms with themselves. The underlying narrative and tone are both really well done and part of what made this a read that I stuck with. At it's core, the story is about surviving in a land that becomes increasingly unforgiving and tremendously hazardous. Wynn has an absolutely superb grasp over how to build up a dramatic sequence and squeeze the maximum amount of impact from each climactic moment. The story is as violent as it is sexual and the gore is some of the most grotesque I have ever found in a book. Wynn's writing is described as "gritty and uncompromising" as per the book's synopsis. While I initially thought that was just marketing white noise, it's actually the only summary of Wynn's style that I find appropriate. Unfortunately, a lot of the plot's impact relies heavily on the element of surprise so I can't go much deeper than this, but I will say that it is a rather compelling marriage of mysticism and science fiction.
CONCLUSION
Wynn's writing is ultimately the only thing that really got me through this book. It's starkly detailed, aggressive, and believable. It's a shame that I cannot say the same for the mythos itself. I also wish that I could have enjoyed the world a bit more since it was such an integral part of the plot yet just did not work for me. Don't get me wrong, the world of Wraeththu is definitely a trip like no other, but it's not something I will ever be revisiting. I'm very impressed that Wynn was able to make me care so much about the world and its people even if I didn't care for them on a fundamental level. I think it's a testament to good writing, but I do hope that he has work that lies outside of the Wraeththu Mythos, preferably something a little more palatable for a larger portion of the population - if so I'll probably give that a shot. If you're already a fan of the mythos then this novel is an easy recommendation. I'm sure any current fans who read this review will be scoffing at how taken back by the sexual aspects I was since this is what marks the Wratheau continuity, but I think it's entirely fair to say that A LOT of people just aren't going to be that into it for one reason or another. This is probably going to be the only 4/5 rating I ever give where I just wouldn't recommend this to anyone I know. There is apparently a group that finds this sort of thing appealing and if you are among them, then you will be right at home. If you're like me and have never heard of this mythos before now, then I'm really not sure whether or not you'll like this. I have a feeling the ratings for this book are going to be all over the map and the only thing I can really promise is that Wynn truly is a fantastic writer even in a less than fantastic story space.
August 15, 2024
A Wraeththu survivalist tale about har whom still think they’re men, embracing the truth of what they’ve become with slow reluctance brought on by indoctrinated bigotry while mysterious forces hunt them down, destroying everyone and everything they knew. Living on the road, losing freinds and family; this is a much grittier and rougher perspective than depicted by Storm Constantine’s poetic prose. Passion does grow between the har whom slowly realize they’re no longer men and the Aghama becomes a symbol of hope and a spiritual guide as they learn to fight back against the hunters.
A very different sort of har becomes the focus of this particular story, letting out a dying scream for patriarchy as combat and violence ensues around them. If you’re interested in exploring this side of Wraeththu, pick up this book.
A very different sort of har becomes the focus of this particular story, letting out a dying scream for patriarchy as combat and violence ensues around them. If you’re interested in exploring this side of Wraeththu, pick up this book.
July 15, 2015
I received this book in a giveaway on Goodreads. I should have checked it about a bit more before I entered. This book is not my type of book. The author is a really good writer. Their descriptions of the land and people are great. I didn't really like the book because it did not have a woman character at all. I guess the author thought it would be a better world without them. This is just my opinion. I hope our world never turns out like the author's. Lol Thanks E.S. Wynn.
December 1, 2018
Pretty good
I've always been a wraeththu fan and this is a great story. I like the characters and it has some emotional weight. I will admit there are things that bother me about the wraeththu world and lore but I can't complain about this story. I definitely recommend if you like Wraeththu.
I've always been a wraeththu fan and this is a great story. I like the characters and it has some emotional weight. I will admit there are things that bother me about the wraeththu world and lore but I can't complain about this story. I definitely recommend if you like Wraeththu.
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