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Song of the Sulh
Humanity's time on Earth is done and a new, androgynous species has risen to take its place. Deep in the mountains of the eastern coast of the New World lives Raven, a human boy, and the last remnants of his ancient tribe. His adopted father, Two Comet, persuades Raven that the only chance for the survival of his heritage lies in Raven joining humanity's usurpers: Wraeththu. Reluctantly, Raven agrees, but in a final act of defiance conceives a child with his close friend, Pale Fawn. Raven is incepted into a phyle of the Wraeththu tribe of Sulh, a band of travelling scholars who welcome the ancient wisdom he brings to them. When Raven's human tribe inevitably succumbs to extinction, Raven and his chesnari, Fen, find a way to send Pale Fawn, and the child she carries, to safety far across the ocean to the east. Raven accompanies Fen to his homeland, Alba Sulh, and meets his people, the Waterlanders, a tribe of both Wraeththu and human women. Here, there is a mystery concerning Fen's vanished sister, Serena, and other women who disappear mysteriously into strange - and predatory - etheric rifts. Following an inner call, both Raven and Fen are driven to seek out the family members they have lost, and follow the Waterland mystery to its source across the eastern seas. What they find makes them realise their role in the new world order will be more crucial than they could have dreamed. Song of the Sulh is a strong, character-driven story, and an innovative addition to the canon of the Wraeththu Mythos.
- GenresFantasy
313 pages, Paperback
First published June 30, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 28, 2025
There is a strong element of fan fiction in Song of the Sulh. The world of the Wraeththu was created by Storm Constantine when she wrote The Enchantments of Flesh and Spirit and to enjoy the Song of the Sulh I would suggest it is really advisable to read that first.
The Earth had been hit by a terrible plague of warfare, natural disasters and the dreadful creeping sickness which had killed the vast majority of the human population. Then a new race appeared, the Wraeththu. I am not sure how they evolved, if evolution was involved at all, but they were there ready to take over. They were intelligent, immune to disease, very long lived and in possession of powers that humans would consider magical. They were also sexless androgynes incapable of reproducing and many had a hatred for humans, particularly women.
Song of the Sulh relates the adventures of Raven and Fen, two young former humans who have been through the process of inception to become Wraeththu. Though, before he did that, Raven had sex with Pale Fawn, his step-sister, and made her pregnant. That has ramifications later in the story. The adventures begin in North America, round about North Carolina, an area called Megalithica in this new Earth. It moves to England, or Alba Sulh, specifically the fenlands around Cambridgeshire and Norfolk, then on to Malta, or Malita, in the Mediterranean, the Maghrebeuropan Sea, on to Shilalama which seems to be somewhere in the area of Azerbaijan, and then back to North Carolina. I won't go into details, various adventures occur, the most important of which is Raven and Pale Fawn being reunited and their daughter, Nituna, is introduced.
It is a little complex to explain what happens next. Pale Fawn explains that Nituna is not human because neither is Pale Fawn – not any more. Just like Raven, Pale Fawn had been incepted but she is not Wraeththu. She is Kamagrian and a parage – Raven is Wraeththu and a har (confusing, isn't it?) Pale Fawn is not sure why Nituna is as she is as her parents were both human when they procreated. Her only explanation concerns their step-father, Two Comet:
“Something in the rituals Two Comet performed for us before we conceived [Nituna] allowed a Kamagrian soul to gain access. She was born Kamagrian. I was incepted shortly after she was born.”
And what was Raven's response?
Raven all but slapped himself. "The three day fever you had at Salvina Roku. Of course, I should have known what it meant.”
Well, that's more than the rest of us did.
Raven, Fen, Pale Fawn, Nituna and various others are sent back to Megalithica to found a refuge for fugitive humans and other species on the Outer Banks. After many trials everything begins to work and then Raven and Fen hear a bombshell: a method of intercourse for Wraeththu has been discovered. They need little persuasion and volunteer to give it a try. Very little detail is given, probably wisely, as these are two androgynes with exactly the same physiology and it is difficult to imagine impregnation occurring between two such beings. The author gets a little carried away in her description:
Fen plunged deep into Raven, igniting the fires within, taking aruna to its highest level, nudging against the seal and opening the cauldron of creation, and, as Raven opened up to him, the sky erupted in colour. Ribbons and swirls, of crimson and white, of violet and cerulean, curtains of brilliance, the aurora, and along with the rhythmic sigh and sob of the surf came the rush and rumble of the aurora itself. At the moment of completion, in Raven's mind's eye a comet exploded, raining fire down upon them, a glorious chrysanthemum filling the sky.
I think one might say the Earth moved for them.
It is an OK story as long as you don't mind lots and lots of androgyne on androgyne snogging, cuddling and kissing. But read Storm Constantine first.
The Earth had been hit by a terrible plague of warfare, natural disasters and the dreadful creeping sickness which had killed the vast majority of the human population. Then a new race appeared, the Wraeththu. I am not sure how they evolved, if evolution was involved at all, but they were there ready to take over. They were intelligent, immune to disease, very long lived and in possession of powers that humans would consider magical. They were also sexless androgynes incapable of reproducing and many had a hatred for humans, particularly women.
Song of the Sulh relates the adventures of Raven and Fen, two young former humans who have been through the process of inception to become Wraeththu. Though, before he did that, Raven had sex with Pale Fawn, his step-sister, and made her pregnant. That has ramifications later in the story. The adventures begin in North America, round about North Carolina, an area called Megalithica in this new Earth. It moves to England, or Alba Sulh, specifically the fenlands around Cambridgeshire and Norfolk, then on to Malta, or Malita, in the Mediterranean, the Maghrebeuropan Sea, on to Shilalama which seems to be somewhere in the area of Azerbaijan, and then back to North Carolina. I won't go into details, various adventures occur, the most important of which is Raven and Pale Fawn being reunited and their daughter, Nituna, is introduced.
It is a little complex to explain what happens next. Pale Fawn explains that Nituna is not human because neither is Pale Fawn – not any more. Just like Raven, Pale Fawn had been incepted but she is not Wraeththu. She is Kamagrian and a parage – Raven is Wraeththu and a har (confusing, isn't it?) Pale Fawn is not sure why Nituna is as she is as her parents were both human when they procreated. Her only explanation concerns their step-father, Two Comet:
“Something in the rituals Two Comet performed for us before we conceived [Nituna] allowed a Kamagrian soul to gain access. She was born Kamagrian. I was incepted shortly after she was born.”
And what was Raven's response?
Raven all but slapped himself. "The three day fever you had at Salvina Roku. Of course, I should have known what it meant.”
Well, that's more than the rest of us did.
Raven, Fen, Pale Fawn, Nituna and various others are sent back to Megalithica to found a refuge for fugitive humans and other species on the Outer Banks. After many trials everything begins to work and then Raven and Fen hear a bombshell: a method of intercourse for Wraeththu has been discovered. They need little persuasion and volunteer to give it a try. Very little detail is given, probably wisely, as these are two androgynes with exactly the same physiology and it is difficult to imagine impregnation occurring between two such beings. The author gets a little carried away in her description:
Fen plunged deep into Raven, igniting the fires within, taking aruna to its highest level, nudging against the seal and opening the cauldron of creation, and, as Raven opened up to him, the sky erupted in colour. Ribbons and swirls, of crimson and white, of violet and cerulean, curtains of brilliance, the aurora, and along with the rhythmic sigh and sob of the surf came the rush and rumble of the aurora itself. At the moment of completion, in Raven's mind's eye a comet exploded, raining fire down upon them, a glorious chrysanthemum filling the sky.
I think one might say the Earth moved for them.
It is an OK story as long as you don't mind lots and lots of androgyne on androgyne snogging, cuddling and kissing. But read Storm Constantine first.
October 15, 2021
⭐⭐⭐½
I'm WAY behind on both filming and uploading two other Wraeththu book reviews, but ye gods. This one had a lot of promise, but unlike (so-far-)all of Storm's "problematic leads," I couldn't bring myself to like Raven, for a few reasons. One of the illustrated maps in here —while an idea I just love— doesn't match the text, and by the time we got to Magical Autism, I thought I was going to have a conniption, or at least a low-key migraine.
When I can visualise an outline of the plot, I love the story! It's really quite interesting, and I like to imagine "what next?" after the end. But a few of the details were really just too goddamn much.
So, it was enjoyable, except for a few huge "WTF?!?!" moments that (except for maybe the maps?) the reader literally cannot ignore.
I'm WAY behind on both filming and uploading two other Wraeththu book reviews, but ye gods. This one had a lot of promise, but unlike (so-far-)all of Storm's "problematic leads," I couldn't bring myself to like Raven, for a few reasons. One of the illustrated maps in here —while an idea I just love— doesn't match the text, and by the time we got to Magical Autism, I thought I was going to have a conniption, or at least a low-key migraine.
When I can visualise an outline of the plot, I love the story! It's really quite interesting, and I like to imagine "what next?" after the end. But a few of the details were really just too goddamn much.
So, it was enjoyable, except for a few huge "WTF?!?!" moments that (except for maybe the maps?) the reader literally cannot ignore.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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December 21, 2012DNF
I was very hopeful for this tale, and there was much that was enjoyable. However a lot of the language and terms used between the tribes were an anomaly to me, and not explained well enough without a glossary to keep me continuously confused. As a result, I was unable to get into this story deep enough to keep reading it. If I did not have such a long list of review commitments I would have stuck it out, but unfortunately I had to make the decision to move on to different reads. I may pick this up again during less hectic commitment schedules.
I was very hopeful for this tale, and there was much that was enjoyable. However a lot of the language and terms used between the tribes were an anomaly to me, and not explained well enough without a glossary to keep me continuously confused. As a result, I was unable to get into this story deep enough to keep reading it. If I did not have such a long list of review commitments I would have stuck it out, but unfortunately I had to make the decision to move on to different reads. I may pick this up again during less hectic commitment schedules.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews