Scenting Hallowed Blood [Paperback]

Storm Constantine (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 14, 2007

High Crag on Cornwall's desolate storm-lashed coast is a mysterious place with dark secrets. On these bleak shores, the rebel offspring of the angelic race landed many millennia ago. Their memory was never forgotten and across the centuries, seers, mystics and witches basked in the occult power of this prehistoric landscape, awaiting the rebirth of the Fallen Ones. Yet their modern day descendents, the Grigori, are already among humanity, hidden yet preparing for world dominance as the new millennium approaches. Scenting Hallowed Blood is the second volume in Storm Constantine's acclaimed Grigori trilogy, exploring the myths of the fallen angels and the Nephilim.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Scenting Hallowed Blood is the second book in the Grigori Trilogy. Book one is Stalking Tender Prey, Book Three is Stealing Sacred Fire. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Storm Constantine has written stories all her life. Her interests have always lain in the realms of the fantastical, but she was influenced by the mythology of Ancient Egypt and Greece more than by contemporary fantasy writing. After beginning—and never completing—several full-length works, in 1985 storm began work on the first of her Wraeththu novels The Enchantments of Flesh and Spirit. This was completed in 1986, and submitted to Futura MacDonald, who accepted it for publication.

Although characters in the Wraeththu novels inhabited a fantasy world, they were drawn from real people who were part of the alternative nightclub/music scene of the mid-eighties. The Wraeththu are hermaphrodites—male and female in one body—which mirrored the way people seemed at the time; very androgynous. In writing the Wraeththu books, Storm was determined to destroy the typical image of fantasy literature, of having cardboard characters and derivative plots. She was interested in exploring the concepts of gender and sexuality, which resulted in the books being seen as ground-breaking science fiction/fantasy. Storm herself, however, wishes her work was not rigidly categorized into a genre.

‘I wouldn’t go so far as say my work is utterly mainstream, but neither do I see it as straight science fiction or fantasy. I like to think my books appeal to more than hard-core science fiction fans. Letters received by my information service show that a great number of readers have been led to the genre by my work—people who would not normally read SF or Fantasy.

The reason for this perhaps stems from Storm’s feeling that it is very important for different media to intermingle; writing with music with art with film. She has always worked with bands, either as an illustrator or contributing written work, such as when her work appeared on the sleeve of Fields of the Nephilim’s albums Earth Inferno and their retrospective collection Revelations. Publicity resulting from her working with, and managing, bands attracted a new audience to her novels.

‘I wanted exposure in music/media magazines like The Face and 20/20, not purely in magazine like Interzone or Starburst, who cater exclusively for SF fans.’

The Enchantments of Flesh and Spirit was published in 1987, initially in hardback, and was later followed by the concluding volumes of the Wraeththu series: The Bewitchments of Love and Hate and The Fulfillments of Fate and Desire.

During 1988/89, Storm formed the Thirteenth Key project, which comprised a group of writers, artists and musicians, who together produced a magazine, video, and a soundtrack of music to accompany the video, all loosely based on the Wraeththu concept. The video Scrying of Continuum, was shown at SF conventions in 1989, and the magazine, Paragenesis, and the tape, Eyespeech, were sold to mail order.

In 1989, Vikki Lee France and Steve Jeffery formed the information service Inception, which in many respects continued the spirit of Thirteenth Key, and allowed fans to maintain a close contact with Storm’s working life. Inception, now in its eleventh year, continues to thrive, and produces two regular magazines, Inception, and An Occasional Axolotl. Storm contributes regularly to both zines. They also produce regular chap-books of Storm’s work, as in the poetry collection, Colurastes, and the illustrated short stories "Dancer for the World’s Death" and "An Elemental Tale."

In 1990, Macdonald/Orbit Published Storm’s fourth book The Monstrous Regiment—a departure from the territory of Wraeththu, although still, as her editor once put it, "quintessential Storm". Aleph, a sequel to The Monstrous Regiment, appeared in 1991.

1991 also saw Storm moving publishers, to Headline, which Storm saw as a major step forward in her career. Her new publishers were more open to her ideas concerning the packaging and promotion of her work, which she felt was a major contribution to the success of Hermetech, her first novel wit --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Immanion Press (June 14, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 190485320X
• ISBN-13: 978-1904853206
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,215,747 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not perfect., October 20, 1999

By 

Chris Cooley ([e-mail]) (nowhere in particular.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scenting Hallowed Blood (The Grigori Trilogy #2) (Marketplace Series) (Paperback)

I felt a bit let down reading this after _Stalking Tender Prey_, a book which left me with such high expectations. Constantine's talent for textured prose, distinctive characters, and gleefully ambiguous morality (and sexuality) are still evident, yet (to me) the neo-paganish mysticism introduced becomes overbearing to the point of distraction at times. Still, it was an entertaining read, and I plan on buying the third, final novel.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Like being on Neptune whit Aeschylus, September 22, 2001

By 

Ventura Angelo (Brescia, Lombardia Italy) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Scenting Hallowed Blood (The Grigori Trilogy #2) (Marketplace Series) (Paperback)

This book is wonderful. Mixing ancient mythology whit modern Angst, creating an eerie feeling, when you realize that this uncanny fantasy might really say something on the real history of this world (like I felt whit the Wraeththu series). Shem is the disillusioned idealist, a Prometheus that,once freed,feels betrayed by his own people and by humanity,that he feels has abandoned him. Shemyaza and the Titan (a giant,a god,a...Nephilim?)Prometheus:both givers of forbidden knowledge to humans. Read Aeschilus' Prometheus Enchained, then you will notice some similarity whit Shemyaza's story.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pagan's Rejoice!, July 24, 2002

By 

"uulemnts" (Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scenting Hallowed Blood (The Grigori Trilogy #2) (Marketplace Series) (Paperback)

This book practically drips with Pagan imagery. The mood and feel of the book is very much derived from where the book takes place, in Cornwall's desolate storm-lashed coast. The sea imagery is amazing, not as good as in Sea Dragon Heir, but that is only because of the locations being different. The landscape reflect the inner conflict of Shemyaza and is very appropriate because of this. This book reads faster that the first book or the trilogy and is even harder to put down because of the descriptive nature of Storm's Writing.