Who alone can master the Millennial power? Book three of The Grigori Trilogy: Stealing Sacred Fire Peverel Othman has come home, though not as himself. Through the old magic of the Grigori he is now once again Shemyaza, an angel of awesome power who led the rebellion of angles to mate with and enslave humans. Now as this millennium draws to a close Shemyaza calls his followers to him for the final battle to decide who controls the fate of humanity. Answering his call are: his six Grigori brothers and sisters who once again want to rule humanity for their own pleasure, Daniel his once human vizier who is now also becoming Grigori, and the Yarasadi freedom-fighters who will stop at nothing to see their culture recreated to be the new Eden on earth. As the final battle unfolds to decide the fate of humanity can Daniel remember what it is to be human and convince Shemyaza that humans can share equally in the new millennium with the Grigori before it is too late and we become their slaves forever?
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From the Publisher
Stealing Sacred Fire is the third book in the Grigori Trilogy, preceded by Stalking Tender Prey and Scenting Hallowed Blood.
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
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Somewhat dissappointing,
By JLT "jtouchst" (TX) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Stealing Sacred Fire (Paperback)
I eagerly awaited the conclusion to this series. The first book completely snared me: The story of half breed twins whose lives are changed for ever by a mysterious stranger. The second,though not as strong as the first, still held my attention. This third however was a disappointment, heavily bogged down in mysticism and self absorbed characters. The story could have been told in 150 pages rather than 400. Not only that, but loose ends are not satisfyingly tied up. The conclusion feels rushed but at the same time overly long. I know I was really hoping that the story would come back to some of the principals in the first book but it doesn't. They are little more then an after thought and the charas that the novel does focus on simply don't engage the reader's sympathy at all. Read the novel to complete the series but don't expect it to have the same verve as the first two books.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A captivating gothic dark fantasy trilogy,
By
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This review is from: Stealing Sacred Fire (Paperback)
I would like to review the Fallen Angels trilogy (STP,SHB,SSF) here. I finished the trilogy in 3 days because the series is addictive despite some of its shortcomings. Stalking Tender Prey (first book) is brilliant once you overcome the rather slow pace in the beginning. STP has all a perfect gothic dark fantasy should have and it is not for those with high moral standards. Its hero (PO) is a disturbing yet alluring amoral character whom you either dislike or care for. I find myself doing the later and the transformation of PO from a demonic character in the first book to almost a god of love in the 3rd book is mesmerizing. The second book delves into the usual good versus evil fantasy realm and hence to me the weakest of the trilogy but still an engrossing read. The concept of the 3rd book, transformation of a divine king in flesh to the ultimate Messiah of mankind, would be a challenge for any writer. But Storm delivers because she is gifted and writes from her heart. Her alternate view of Christianity and salvation is fascinating and almost believable. But like all Storm's books her ending tend to be rushed with all her fascinating views cramped into a few pages. I love the Wraeththu trilogy and of course tend to compare any of Storm's books to it. The Fallen Angel series is not as great but this dark fantasy is still too good to be missed.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An unnecessary sequel,
By
This review is from: Stealing Sacred Fire (Paperback)
Storm's writing is great, but this repeated ordeal of Shemyaza feels like Frodo being told that there is another Ring to melt in another volcano. The Grigori story could well have ended whit the previous novel. We would have been spared the executive manager who suddenly speaks like a taliban would and the Iraqi dictator that renegades Islam for an antediluvian deity.If you can't get real, get plausible,at least!
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