Release Date: November 22nd, 2012
Finished Date: December 14th, 2012
Publishers: Self-Published
Source: For Review
Source: For Review
Format: Kindle
An army of angels walk among us. They have kept us safe and ignorant, so far.
Earthbound for centuries and ruled by the Elders, they have established hidden cities, a society and The Code: obey your Elders, kill all demons, eliminate Rogue-angels, protect the mortals, remain hidden. Their warriors are the ungifted earthborn angels armed with blades and the ‘borrowed magics’ of distilled angel-blood tattoos.
Alyxandria is a young warrior with a fondness for customized knives and illegal night-races. If only she could overcome the taint of her parents who abandoned her to become Rogues.
When Alyx saves Israel, a gifted mortal with a past, she is forbidden to see him again. But she can’t help herself, drawn to him through their Guardian-bond, an ancient and long-forgotten bond; if he dies, she dies.
An encounter with a handsome Rogue leaves Alyx questioning all she has been taught to believe. Alyx begins to dig into the Elders’ secrets. Two thousand years of secrets that begin with the death of the Archangel Raphael. She is not prepared when she uncovers an Elder’s dark plan.
Somewhere on earth is a key to unlock hell. Somewhere on earth are pieces of an amulet that controls Lucifer and his army. Somehow Israel is the link and now both sides are after him. Who can Alyx trust when Good and Evil is no longer clear?
The war for earth begins.
The Review: I feel the synopsis pretty much said it all, I can’t add anymore so on with my thoughts….
I did enjoy Angelfire eventually but to be honest, I struggled for the first 50%. Now, it wasn’t the writing – more the pacing that had me struggling – but I do totally get why because it’s the first book in a series, we need to meet the characters, find out about the world and get a feel for things. I always make a point to finish a book I start and because it is the first book, I expect it to be quite slow but I had really looked forward to this since getting it for review and maybe I built it up in my own mind to be great from the offset (if you know what I mean). Anyway once I was past that point and the plot started picking up pace and things slotted into place, it got very good and I enjoyed it a whole lot more.
I liked the take on Angels and Demons, the Angel society seems quite oppressive particularly for those who have too little or no magic who are then made to become warriors, forfeiting their lives for the cause whilst the ‘magically gifted’ are given every privilege and look down upon the warriors that keep them safe. On the other side we have Demons, from hell who have found that by inhibiting humans, they can partake in many sins on earth… the Angels try to prevent this and the only way to do that is to kill the human host. Things are changing though as the demons get a new advantage over the Angels and we see the revealing of a prophecy and we all know how much I love those. The characters are good, Alyx has a lot of potential but I feel like we are only just touching on that and the same with Israel… they bring about a lot of questions and curiosity in me, Alyx’s back story is touched upon and there seems to be a good story to be had from that and also from Israel as we get further down the line and learn a few things about him. I’m also really interested in Jordan and what he could bring to the story. The world created is quite vast really with the Angel realm and their different cities, the way they live, their belief system and their governing body, the human world and it’s areas, the people associated with Israel and also the demon world (although we don’t visit it), the impact they are having on earth, the humans they possess and their aims so that’s why I understood the slowness of the first half of the book and can overlook it. The story was a slow burner but once things started slotting into place, the action was great and it really got into the Urban Fantasy feel which is a genre I adore. With it being the first book also, it posed a lot more questions than it answered so you’re going to need to be in this for the series not a stand alone book and for all I struggled, I can see the potential this has as a series and will definitely look out for its sequel, hoping for more action and reveals now that we know ‘Alyx’s world’ and its dynamics.
1 comment:
I think I've seen this one around but I've been fairly fed up with angel books lately, added to that the fact that it took you over 50% to get into it, I don't think this is for me. But thanks for a great insightful review :)
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