The Wraiths of Will and Pleasure: UK Edition Bk. 1 (Wraeththu Histories)

After being away for many years, Storm Constantine returns to the saga of Wraeththu, picking up threads from the original trilogy and weaving them into a stunning new novel, The Wraiths of Will and Pleasure. The setting is, again, a future earth in which humanity has been supplanted as the dominant species by the hermaphrodite Wraeththu. Though they believe themselves to have inherited the earth, in truth Wraeththu have yet to learn the truth about their origins. They have expanded their number through mutating humans into hara like themselves, but now comes the time for them to probe the mysteries of creation. After a magical Festival night that surpassed all others, when the world of Wraeththu was shaken to its core, two hara, Ulaume and Flick, embark upon separate journeys in search of meaning and truth. Their paths cross, and they find they share a single destiny: to discover the truth about who holds power in the fabled city of Immanion and to defend the outcast harling Lileem, who is linked with the strange Kamagrian tribe. From dangerous skirmishes with other tribes to life in hiding on the river boat Esmeraldarine; from chance encounters in the town of Galhea, to the isolated Kamagrian city of Shilalama, Ulaume and Flick must fight to retain their freedom and protect Lileem, who might be the key to the destiny of all Wraeththu. Many characters from the previous novels reappear in Wraiths. Besides Flick and Ulaume, the story includes Calanthe and Orien, plus Seel and his consort Swift, along with Swift's enigmatic hostling, Cobweb. There is also the Tigron Pellaz and swirling above all of them, forever the puppeteer, the powerful Thiede, mother and father of Wraeththudom.

Storm Constantine has written over twenty books, both fiction and non-fiction and well over fifty short stories. Her novels span several genres, from literary fantasy, to science fiction, to dark fantasy. She is most well known for her Wraeththu trilogy (omnibus edition published by Tor), and is currently at work on a new set of novels set in the world of Wraeththu, beginning with The Wraiths of Will and Pleasure (Tor, 2003). Wraeththu are magical and sensual hermaphroditic beings, who when their story first began, almost twenty years ago, broke startling new ground in the often staid fantasy/sf genres.

Her influences include myth, magic and ancient history and the foibles of human nature. She uses writing and fiction to bridge the gap between mundane reality and the unseen realms of imagination and magic. She strives to awaken perception of these inner realms and the unexplored territory of the human psyche.

Aside from writing, Storm runs the Lady of the Flame Iseum, a group affiliated to the Fellowship of Isis, and is known to conduct group members on tours of ancient sites in the English landscape, in her husband's beat up old army Land Rover. She is also a Reiki Master/Teacher, has recently set up her own publishing company, Immanion Press, to publish esoteric books, and teaches creative writing when she gets the time.

Neil Gaiman, author of the Sandman series, once said: 'Storm Constantine is a mythmaking, Gothic queen, whose lush tales are compulsive reading. Her stories are poetic, involving, delightful, and depraved. I wouldn't swap her for a dozen Anne Rices!'