Karyn Henley

I'm not a fan of children's bibles, as a rule. Often they're too preachy, dogmatic, or even dull. I first encountered The Children's Bible when it was still published by an obscure publishing house - a copy was given to my twin daughters at their baptism. I grabbed it one day for school religion/bible/whatever classes and was amazed to find the kids - 9 and 10 year olds, loved it. The illustrations, rather than twee, faux-germanic or just bad were fun, vibrant, playing with the so-human show more characters of the narratives. Suddenly kids were interested in God-stuff, and in the stories of God's whimsical people. The selection of the stories was perfect, the delivery spot-on. I have recommended it to everyone I know ever since. show less

'Beginner' is absolutely the correct word for this book. I had this book when I was in, I think 1st grade, and the Bible stories in it were very, very condensed/simplified to make the stories easier to understand for young children, and the illustrations are very simplistic. Looking back, my feelings about this book are pretty ambivalent. Sure, the Bible in its "regular" format isn't appropriate for young children, but at the same time the Beginner's Bible took out the pretty fucked up/ugly show more shit that happened in the original Bible, presenting young kids with a pretty sanitized version.

I'm glad I'm not a Christian anymore, lol. show less

Melaia, a teenage temple priestess, has been raised to believe that angels no longer live in the human realm. Witnessing the murder of an angel--at the hands (talons) of a shapeshifting hawk-man, no less--shakes her perception of her world. When the region's overlord barters her harp-playing for a sack of gold, Melaia is uprooted from her cloistered temple life and sent on a journey to play the harp for the king. Along the way, she'll learn more than she ever wanted to know about "the show more affairs of angels" and about her own heart.

This is an intriguing fantasy world with some original concepts, especially the draks--birds with human hands and human souls, through whose eyes the villain can spy on whomever he chooses. Can they regain their human forms? Melaia still doesn't know, but by the end, she has a personal interest in finding out.

Not much is resolved in this series opener. The primary antagonist is immortal, after all. He'll be back. Melaia's maybe-sort-of-romance has barely bloomed. She's embraced her destiny but not accomplished her mission yet. The book is actually one setup after another, and the author's knowledge flows beneath that of the characters. She has much more planned for them. And personally, I'm fine with the open-endedness here.

Ms. Henley knows her way around a sentence, and her characters do sound like they belong in another, older world. I'm most interested in Trevin, the young, ethically compromised kingsman who lost a finger as a child and, until he meets Melaia, has lost his hope that the world can be a good place. I'd also like more page time with Jarrod, the snappish but dependable warrior/historian.

Unfortunately, the novel doesn't deliver in some crucial ways. The convoluted mythos was tough to follow, and I've read a fair amount of speculative fiction. The actions of the characters are simple enough, but half the time, the explanation of their motives left me thinking, Oh ... hm ... okay then? rather than, Oh, right, that makes sense. And I have to say it: these immortal angels tend to behave like twenty-something humans.

The main character is probably the least interesting person in this book, yet we are restricted to only Melaia's point of view. On top of that, the point of view is written too shallow for me to connect with her. I hear her thoughts, but I don't think them with her. I'm told how she feels, rather than experiencing her world through her senses. If only this book had been written in deep point of view, I would really have enjoyed it. As it is, the narrative distance leaves me with an emotionally sterile reading experience.

Still, I'm curious as to what will happen next (and how Trevin lost his finger). Hopefully, in the second book, Ms. Henly will deepen her characters' motivations and fully submerge in their point of view. If she does, I'll keep reading. show less

Initially I wasn't certain how to feel about BREATH OF ANGEL. I originally became interested because I thought it was straight up fantasy. When I began reading it I realized it was far more rooted in Christian religiosity then I first thought. Which is fine, I read Christian centered fiction often enough, but it threw me for a loop.

However the story engages you with the world itself. Melaia is a little hard to feel riveted by, she's very mindful of her actions and what is and is not proper show more and is sometimes a little too worried about how others think of her. In a book landscape littered with teenagers who aren't at all very responsible or who act recklessly with little thought of the consequences Melaia stands out. She's careful, even when she acts rashly. Though naive and rather sheltered initially, she's curious and a quick learner. She wants to know, wants to find out and despite the dangers is eager to embark on a different path in her life to fill that yearning.

What I found most enjoyable was the interplay between the 'myths' and 'truth' Melaia grew up with, sang songs about and told stories about. I wouldn't say she's the most open minded person in the world, but she at least doesn't close off from the possibility. She accepts that what she may have learned isn't necessarily the whole truth and eventually accepts her role in the War.

The thing is the book lags on more often than not. Not so much that it gets boring, but becomes mired down in the facts and trying to incorporate a more acceptable version of Angels. Admittedly a lot of stories take a liberal view when it comes to Angels and aren't necessarily any where near what you'd learn about in Sunday School, but I find it irksome at times I felt as if Henley was preaching about them to the reader. As for being mired down, this is a world building saturated novel. For the amount of information we learn you'd think this was twice the length it was. It gets to be overwhelming at times and some of the secondary characters suffer for it as they don't become individuals, but devices for the plot to trot out at times.

This is a different novel however and should appeal to fans of fantasy or paranormal. Henley's ideas are intriguing and thought-provoking, hopefully with the second novel she's able to tighten things a bit more. show less