Archangel

I really really did not like this book. I went into this novel pretty damn excited since I had read a short story by Sharon Shinn and loved it. She has a very lovely writing style and the world she had built was intriguing. Both of which were pretty true for this book, however its the elements she's inserted into this book's plot that I absolutely detested. This review gets a little rant-y, so you've been warned.

Shinn's Samaria series is set in an alternate reality where angels and humans co-exist. Everyone across the realm is ruled by one Archangel who is divinely chosen every 20 years. Before said angel can become archangel he must first find his angela, which is basically his predestined mate. This happens via the archangel-to-be show more consulting the oracle and the oracle basically giving him a name and address. Unfortunately, for future archangel Gabriel his angela is Rachel, a farmer's daughter who is currently MIA. Thus, Gabriel begins a tedious search for his would-be wife only to discover that Rachel has been a slave for five years. His reaction to finding out that Rachel is someone who had been forced into slavery? Annoyance that his angela is even lower on the social totem pole than he originally thought. This is quickly followed by embarrassment that his peers will know what his wife was.

Seriously. Gabriel is a dick-head. He doesn't get any better as the book progresses either. His character is over-bearing, contradicting, and just all around unlikable. Everyone tells Rachel to give him a chance and that he's a nice guy, but honestly you never really see that in the story. Its like he's constantly thinking/spouting things because its the "correct" answer but his actions consistently contradict his words. However, despite my instant dislike of Gabriel, I was prepared to see him redeemed to the reader. But then page 57 happened....

Up until this point in the story Rachel had made it pretty clear to Gabriel that she has a severe phobia of heights. So, upon arriving at an angel stronghold, she practically begs him to let her find an alternative method of getting to the top that doesn't consist of being flown up there by him. So what does Gabriel do? He flings her over his shoulder and zooms on up to the very top, then is embarrassed when she cries and has a panic attack. His reaction to the panic attack is this:

"He had never seen anyone in the grip of hysteria before, but instinct and anger supplied him with the antidote. Transferring both her wrists to one of his hands, he slapped her full across the face."

...... I'm sorry that shit is not acceptable. First off, hitting someone is never the antidote. I don't give a shit if Rachel was writhing around on the floor as if possessed by a demon and vomiting pea soup, there is no excuse for hitting her. Also, smacking her under the justification of snapping her out of a fit, but mostly because you're angry and embarrassed of her, is so very very wrong. What made this scene even more disturbing is what happens afterwards... which is nothing. Nothing. Gabriel just freakin' smacked a woman in front of witnesses and what is everyone's reaction? Anger, outrage, fear, hurt, sympathy? Nope. Nothing. Everyone just basically moves on as if he had just offered her tea. Rachel's reaction to being hit? Just a confirmation that, yep, he hit her and then she moves on. Does Gabriel express any sort of personal conflict, remorse, or regret over hitting her? Nope. He apologizes but its made pretty damn clear he isn't sorry at all and says it almost like some sort of politeness reflex so he can walk away from her.

I'm sorry, but this condoning of violence against women is just so fucking wrong. It condones violence through the normalization of a woman being slapped "for her own good" and that such violence has no bigger of an impact than someone sneezing. This scene happens and is quickly brushed off without displaying any of the emotional, psychological, and physical impacts it has on Rachel, the people who witnessed it, or even Gabriel. At this point I'll admit I completely gave up on enjoying the novel. However, for whatever reason, I was still determined to finish it.

I continued with the book, constantly annoyed with the imbalance of power between Rachel and Gabriel. All the power rests in Gabriel's hands and he's not afraid to make it clear to Rachel that he hold the power, but this wasn't the only thing that annoyed me. Rachel was treated by all the characters as a hysterical potential disaster to the point where it became the main part of her character. People are constantly telling her she's over-reacting, physically restraining her because of said over-reactions, and generally just patronizing the hell out of her. And when she's not being patronized, Rachel is being kidnapped or assaulted.

After one such kidnapping, Rachel determines that the only way to save Gabriel and (basically) the world is to jump off a cliff. It was at this point that I thought wait... I've read something like this before:



This conclusion immediately lead me to start picturing Gabriel like this:



Its sad that I was actually able to find a picture of Edward Cullen as an angel. Anyway, in summary, I hated this book. The heroine was annoying and treated like she was completely incompetent for 99% of the book. The hero was an abuser and tyrant. Who, with very little lead-up, did a 180 and turned into a "nice" guy at the very end. The romance wasn't believable as Rachel and Gabriel's page time was primarily separate from each other and moments when they did spend time together were mostly off-page where the reader was basically told, "In the following two weeks Gabriel and Rachel spent oodles of time together". And lastly, the villain and conniving woman were cartoonishly evil and dealt with in a rather absurd and anti-climatic manner.

However, in Shinn's defense I did enjoy her writing voice and the world she has built here is pretty interesting. But I won't be picking up another book in this series. show less

Surreal Sci-fi. In the far future world of Samaria, the new Archangel Gabriel seeks to find and keep his angelica, Rachel, so they can lead members all theplanet's races at the yearly Gloria. If they don't, Jehovah will destroy theworld.

A two sentence description doesn't do justice to the complex world building in this story. But there is a secret at the heart of the tale that I'mreally avoiding giving away. But for those don't mind spoilers, this is ascience fiction novel, not fantasy.

The world of Samaria is complex and real. What if Angels were physical beings that interceded with Jehovah for manna, medicine, and good weatherthat falls from the sky. What if peace was not enforced by civilization, butby the sure and certain knowledge show more that your god not only listens, but willsmite you if you don't all get along. What if god tended to play geneticmatch maker.

The characters are equally fascinating. Gabriel is vibrant and alive. A little arrogant, but entirely driven by love of his fellow living beings. Rachelis a bit of prickly pear, more useful than a wild rose.

Their romance is believable and well done. The central adventure of the story is compelling. There is a central conceit that plays out over thecourse of the story which makes the villain, well, a perfect Lucifer inevery way.

A truly engrossing book. show less

Gabriel, an angel, is in line to be the next archangel when he and his wife sing the Gloria at the upcoming annual celebration. The first problem is that, while Gabriel knows the name of his potential wife, he doesn't know where she is. He has only six weeks to find her before they have to sing together.

Rachel in a slave in Semorrah for five years. She was born a farm girl. When her farm was attacked, she was a small child whose body was sheltered by the dead body of her father. When the attackers finally left, Rachel ran until she was found by the Edori who adopted her and raised her. She found happiness and a young man to love. But then their encampment was attacked by Jansai raiders looking for slaves. Rachel was captured and sold show more and left wondering about the fate of the rest of her adopted family.

Gabriel is reluctant to give up his search for Rachel in order to attend a wedding in Semorrah but as the next archangel he needs to get along with the wealthy merchants. He is very surprised to find Rachel there. He takes her back to his mountain Eyrie to marry her and make sure that she's ready for their vocal performance.

Rachel isn't pleased with what she sees as Gabriel's high-handedness. She has been filled with rage at her situation for most of her life. She had just convinced a young woman to buy her as her servant and then free her when Gabriel swoops in and wrecks her life again. It doesn't help that Gabriel doesn't have time to spend with her to get to know her. He's busy trying to deal with the consequences of the current archangel's actions which have done nothing to keep that harmony that their god Jovah requires.

So, there is Rachel in the Eyrie where she is trapped since the only way to get to it is to be flown by an angel and she is deathly afraid of heights and suffers from vertigo while Gabriel is off meeting people. There is the jealous rival who has always wanted Gabriel and is doing her best to sabotage Rachel. And there are the music practice rooms where Rachel is introduced to recordings of the great angelic singers of the past. Rachel refuses to sing herself leaving major uncertainty about her ability to fulfill her role at the Gloria.

Then there is the villain of the piece in Archangel Raphael who has held his position for the previous twenty years and who doesn't want to yield power to Gabriel. But the more Gabriel looks into things, the more he sees what Raphael has neglected. Gabriel comes to believe that Raphael doesn't believe in Jovah and has convinced his supporters that Jovah is a myth. Raphael has encouraged greed and lawlessness and is ruining the harmony that Jovah requires.

This was a stunning story quite different than the book summary. It actually reads as a fantasy with some science fiction elements like screens to talk to Jovah used by the oracles and devices implanted in babies which let Jovah know about and keep track of the population. The current generations don't know about the history of their world or about the goals of the founders or the existence of a ship in space. There are winged angels and humans on the world. There is a god named Jovah who can be invoked by the singing prayers of the angels. Jovah can control the weather and sometimes sends down medicinal plants or necessary seeds. Jovah is their god.

I enjoyed this story which is the first of the Samaria series and look forward to rereading and listening to the rest. show less

Gabriel, an angel, is in line to be the next archangel when he and his wife sing the Gloria at the upcoming annual celebration. The first problem is that, while Gabriel knows the name of his potential wife, he doesn't know where she is. He has only six weeks to find her before they have to sing together.

Rachel in a slave in Semorrah for five years. She was born a farm girl. When her farm was attacked, she was a small child whose body was sheltered by the dead body of her father. When the attackers finally left, Rachel ran until she was found by the Edori who adopted her and raised her. She found happiness and a young man to love. But then their encampment was attacked by Jansai raiders looking for slaves. Rachel was captured and sold show more and left wondering about the fate of the rest of her adopted family.

Gabriel is reluctant to give up his search for Rachel in order to attend a wedding in Semorrah but as the next archangel he needs to get along with the wealthy merchants. He is very surprised to find Rachel there. He takes her back to his mountain Eyrie to marry her and make sure that she's ready for their vocal performance.

Rachel isn't pleased with what she sees as Gabriel's high-handedness. She has been filled with rage at her situation for most of her life. She had just convinced a young woman to buy her as her servant and then free her when Gabriel swoops in and wrecks her life again. It doesn't help that Gabriel doesn't have time to spend with her to get to know her. He's busy trying to deal with the consequences of the current archangel's actions which have done nothing to keep that harmony that their god Jovah requires.

So, there is Rachel in the Eyrie where she is trapped since the only way to get to it is to be flown by an angel and she is deathly afraid of heights and suffers from vertigo while Gabriel is off meeting people. There is the jealous rival who has always wanted Gabriel and is doing her best to sabotage Rachel. And there are the music practice rooms where Rachel is introduced to recordings of the great angelic singers of the past. Rachel refuses to sing herself leaving major uncertainty about her ability to fulfill her role at the Gloria.

Then there is the villain of the piece in Archangel Raphael who has held his position for the previous twenty years and who doesn't want to yield power to Gabriel. But the more Gabriel looks into things, the more he sees what Raphael has neglected. Gabriel comes to believe that Raphael doesn't believe in Jovah and has convinced his supporters that Jovah is a myth. Raphael has encouraged greed and lawlessness and is ruining the harmony that Jovah requires.

This was a stunning story quite different than the book summary. It actually reads as a fantasy with some science fiction elements like screens to talk to Jovah used by the oracles and devices implanted in babies which let Jovah know about and keep track of the population. The current generations don't know about the history of their world or about the goals of the founders or the existence of a ship in space. There are winged angels and humans on the world. There is a god named Jovah who can be invoked by the singing prayers of the angels. Jovah can control the weather and sometimes sends down medicinal plants or necessary seeds. Jovah is their god.

I enjoyed this story which is the first of the Samaria series and look forward to rereading and listening to the rest. show less

A rec from a friend as One of Her Favorite Books With Music In It Ever
(as a swap upon/birthday sort of thing for gifting her/making her read Gayle Foreman's If I Stay and Where She Went)


I did not expect to love this book so much. (Which we've both said.) I was giggling in high heaven at Gabriel within the first two chapters and sending text updates about my reading the whole way, which I'm sure amused her. The music is covered gorgeously, but this book about a certain set of people, the world around them, it's fragile or unbreakable faith, and the groups of people which make up that land, and it managed to balance and weaves these all together in unexpected ways I deeply appreciated.

Gabriel and Rachel of course steal the show in all show more the ways that matter, Two amazing hard-headed, stubborn, amazingly deeply feeling and quickly acting people, who actually have massive morals and deceptive choices based on invisible, unknown, histories. And how they weave into the very first tales of the Archangel and the Angelica. And how the ending is truly just perfect for these characters, and made my heart so happy. The ending alone deserves a five. show less

I am currently obsessed with angels and I saw this book mentioned in a few angel fantasy rec lists and I liked the summary so I decided the try it out. Now, I don't often read 400 page books in one day because I tend to get headaches and become weary very quickly as I read, but I COULD NOT put this book down. I got the headache all right but I just powered through. It just absorbed me and I was at page 150 before I knew what was going on. I just needed to know what came after. This was one of those books where you suddenly look up and it's like, "Oh. I'm in my room."

The plot was pretty great in a way that I could predict most of what happened as the story went along (that could just be me though) but yet I desperately wanted to read show more about how everything worked out when the characters realized. The romance was also sweet and I got quite invested in it but it never over-powered the story and that is a problem I have with a lot, a lot of books so I'm very happy I found an exception.

To be honest, I would probably give this a 4.5 because I really did get annoyed with the main characters a few times but it didn't detract too much from my enjoyment so I rounded up instead of down. show less

I love Sharon Shinn's writing, and the only thing that prevented me from reading this book earlier was that it just seemed super alternate reality holy book times, and that is not something I enjoy reading for pleasure. Well, thank you PBT randomizer for choosing this as my April read!

Although there is a bit of romance in the story, this is mainly a fantasy book, and the first in Shinn's Samaria series. Samaria has many similarities (geography, place names, people names) with the early writings of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. There are angels and humans, and they often love each other. Angels are meant to protect humans, and communicate with God on their behalf. Humans generally do not seem to have any duties, other than to help show more angels procreate.

Meet our heroine, human Rachel, whose village was destroyed when she was very young, before being rescued by a peaceful nomadic tribe, before being stolen by a marauding group of villains and sold into slavery. Rachel is spirited, angry, and stubborn.

And here is our hero, angel Gabriel. He has been chosen to be the next archangel, and needs to locate his ordained wife (Rachel), in order to marry her and lead the singing prayers at the yearly tribute concert or the world will end. Gabriel is completely without evil, strong-willed and devout.

They butt heads and at times are both buttheads. Their behavior alternated between understandable and irritating. It is a complicated relationship, but I was completely there for it.

There are power plays by both humans and angels. Faith is questioned by many. The ideas that angels can only be born of a mating between an angel and a human raised many questions, which the book dealt with well.

Shinn's descriptive writing has always been comforting for me, and overall I enjoyed the book very much, and plan to continue reading the others in the series. show less