A long book which is split into five sections, but there are connections between all. It is far too long and convoluted for a synopsis to do it justice, but suffice to say it is set in a world with Christianity which is slightly reminiscent of old Russia, but also has a parallel pagan religion of a god who is sacrificed on a tree. Blood being spilled and drunk is a key feature of both religions. In the case of the tree religion, an ancient father tree, on which the young boys or men were sacrificed, is finally cut down by a local lord and its spirit then morphs into human form and goes looking for something. What exactly I wasn't sure, as it seemed to involve a kind of indiscrimate vengeance against certain people who are horribly put to death for no real reason, and also a determination to have a son - which can't be done directly but by creating women who are then sent off to suffer and bear children for it. Meanwhile, it enjoys an exhalted position in the semi-Christian church.

There is a lot more to it, and the storyline is not linear, but instead dots about in the timeline so that sometimes we are shown the earlier life of characters who, in an earlier section, were either at the end of their lives or else had already died. As usual, the writing is baroque and gothic and gorgeous with vivid descriptions, but I do require some involvement in the story and characters. When the characters are all not really human and are often unpleasant into the bargain, I find that alienating, so I can't award this book more than 2 stars. ( )

If you are a fan of Tanith Lee, and love her writing style for its intrinsic qualities, you will very likely love this book. Personally, I very much enjoyed it, because time spent reading it was like time spent inside the author’s dream. However, I can see that the book might not be for everyone.

In a musing on the cyclical nature of things, Lee spins a fable – and then spins it again, and again, creating characters and situations which sometimes parallel each other, sometimes loop, twist, and intertwine, meeting at junctions and arcing in tangents. Time seems to come unhinged, if the reader tries to keep track of sons, daughters and incarnations in this gothic fantasy…

The imagery and symbolism take top billing over plot: vampire moths, dark angels (or demons?), human sacrifice, decadent perversions, beautiful madwomen, religious/sacrilegious rites, (were)wolves in the forest, and innocents meeting their doom… making ones way through this prose sometimes feels like pushing ones way through dusty velvet curtains, lush and redolent of exotic incense… but a bit of an effort to get through.

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