Stalking Tender Prey

Summary

Stalking Tender Prey sets the stage for an epic trilogy by introducing the intertwining stories of the Grigori (fallen angels) family line which begin in a little countryside town, Lil Moor. Certain people in Lil Moor discover latent psychic abilities and the arrival of a traveling Grigori triggers a cascade of events that uncover the Grigori roots of Lil Moor. (First book of the Grigori Trilogy)

Review

Unfortunately, this book, and subsequently trilogy, pales in comparison to Wraeththu and the Magravandias trilogy. I’m a little bit surprised because Constantine has plenty of material to work with and sets up a rich landscape and sophisticated characters, but fails to do much with them.

I’d say the best point of this book was the character development, what I believe is consistently one of Constantine’s strengths. Constantine somehow (I wouldn’t say masterfully) uses dialogue, subtle nuances of action, and atmosphere to create enchanting characters, who whether by their own self-realizations or due to the fantastical circumstances of their current lives, develop in amazing ways. Also unlike Wraeththu and Magravandias characters, each of the ones in Stalking Tender Prey seem to be shrouded in this veil of impenetrable mystery, and unfortunately I haven’t been able to quite grasp or connect to any on a personal level.

However, there was just about… no plot. The only plot that moved was a recurring flashback that mainly consisted of character develop of the Grigori traveler....

... continue reading at: http://theblackletters.net/stalking-tender-prey-by-storm-constantine-1995-k/

I read this book when it was first in print and just recently re-read it.

It certainly doesn't seem to suffer particularly on re-reading after so long but it is still not the greatest book in the world.

The central character, Peveral Othmann, is heavily in denial and rather strongly divided against himself. This could make for an interesting, conflicted protagonist but instead it rather spills through to the rest of the book, make the book itself read like it is conflicted and internally divided rather than being a coherent whole.

That is quite an achievement given there is a very little bit of recent back story handled as an interview, a small bit of very ancient back story handled as either exposition or visions, and 80% or so of the book takes place in about 10 days in a very small English village.

The village life is acutely observed mind you and it is worth reading the book just for that. Several of the supporting cast are very interesting characters and that just tips into the "worth reading" rather than the "avoid" category. I'm rereading the rest of the series and there are no "what has gone before" bits in the second book so I suspect reading this is essential to reading the whole series. ( )