My least favorite of the 4 in the series; though the plot has the makings to have been one of the better ones. The trouble came in because there was so much detail about incidental activities and not enough detail about the meat of the plot. Instead of going on and on and on about how nice the Edori lifestyle is (okay, do a dozen scenes, fine... but not half the book with the same "moral" shown through different scenes), it would have been much more enjoyable to find out more about the alien threat to Samaria.

And the main romance between Susannah and Gaaron was just stupid. No love at first sight but a controlled reserved love because of X Y Z... it was a slow growing love I guess, only we weren't shown any of this slow growing, just told at the end that it happened. And it was a completely passionless telling too... "oh, if you don't tell me you love me I'm leaving".. what kind of foolishness is that when a romance novel resolves its romance through coercion? ( )

I loved the first three Samaria books and was somewhat disappointed with this one. It started with yet another Edori bride being chosen for the Archangel-elect, a supposedly rare event. There were three main conflicts in this book: between the Archangel-elect Gaaron and his Angelica, between Gaaron and his sister Miriam, and between Samaria and mysterious invaders. The resolutions of each of these conflicts seem either too sudden or too drawn-out. Still, I enjoyed this book, even if it wasn't as good as the others. ( )

Susannah is an Edori who realises that her lover is not as faithful as she'd hoped. When Gaaron, the Archangel-to-be tells her the god has picked her to become his wife, she takes the opportunity to escape. But unknown to them both, when mysterious attackers appear on Samaria, only Susannah will be able to stop them.
Another in the Samaria series - this is set well before the first published book in the series. I liked finding out more about the Edori, but it makes what happened to them several hundered years later more upsetting.

This book takes us back to an earlier time in this world. I really liked having more time with the Edori tribe and their culture and loved the characters but I didn’t feel I learned much more about the world. ( )

Another beautiful love story from [author: Sharon Shinn] on the world of Samaria. Susannah and Gaaron are beautifully matched, each demonstrating a different kind of strength. The conflict addresses the question of what might be happening in the wider universe the Samarians have chosen to forget. Unfortunately, the ultimate confrontation with the otherworldly visitors is supremely undramatic and unsatisfying, taking place largely offstage and with none of the principals even understanding what has happened. In addition, the part of the young Jansai girl Kalki seems strangely overdetermined considering how little effect she has on events. ( )