Archangel's Kiss by Nalini Singh

Archangel's Kiss by Nalini Singh

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars


Ms. Singh has created an incredible, yet dark world here with the Guild Hunters. There is a mix of the sublimely beautiful and awe-inspiring and the deeply chilling and sometimes revolting. Although I prefer the traditional biblical angelic storylines, she has taken most of what I find alluring about angels and paired it with a storyline that features a race of angels who are sensual, primal, dark, and dangerous.

Archangel's Kiss is definitely urban fantasy romance on the dark edge. Singh doesn't shy away from showing the savage acts of cruelty (even more disturbing by the casual manner in which they are committed) by these angels. I have to give it to her for that, because they are definitely not human by any stretch, and sometimes you read these PNR/UF books with paranormal creatures who are only paranormal on the surface, but all too human underneath. Not the case here, and anytime you think different, their ageless view of life, and the fact that those endless eons, and their unfathomable power gives them a view of right and wrong that feels decidedly amoral from a human viewpoint. Once again, I am put in the shoes of Elena, this time as a fledgling angel who is in over her head, when she used to be considered a very powerful human at one time. That is another level of authenticity of the world-building that captivated me. Singh is a master at painting the scenery with a careful choice of words that plants me right into a vivid, high definition landscape. I feel as though I am watching an awesome fantasy movie on the big screen with visions of incredible beauty paired with moments of chilling violence, and books that are written to stimulate my imagination to this degree always impress me.

Elena's character has a fortitude and a determination that makes for a satisfying heroine. Raphael is the combination of my favorite hero traits--possessive, dangerous, ruthless, and devoted--added to an allure of the otherworldly, unfathomably powerful that takes him over the top in the best ways. And yes, with wings, hard to resist. I can't do it, in fact. Throwing in the fact that he is the epitome of masculine beauty, he is the hero of my darkest dreams. Together, they are magic.

And yet, I found that I didn't get quite as enthralled with their romance as I was in the first book. I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Perhaps there was too much going on, with the storyline about who was mutilating and harming angels and vampires, the threat of the archangel Lijuan, who has become frighteningly far from natural in her angelic evolution, and Elena's unresolved issues of her past. Don't get me wrong. I did enjoy the romance. How could I not. Just not to the degree that I expected, based on the first book. I found that the angelic world-building and the fascinating and intriguing cast of characters almost overshadowed that for me. I felt as though I hadn't attained much more in their relationship progression from the first book. Yes, I do know that Raphael loves Elena, and that he is violently possessive over her. That she gives him a human capacity for feeling he thought lost. That he'd give her the world. And I know that Elena loves Raphael more than she feels is safe, and that she worries about losing herself. I suppose I can see that she has made progress in the trust front, so that is good. And yet...I don't know, I guess I want more. Good news, there is another book with their story, so I have a feeling I will get what I want in Archangel's Consort.

Perhaps this would have been a five star book if I hadn't been so blown away by Angels' Blood. It makes me feel guilty not to give it five stars, but something in me can't be satisfied enough to give it that highest rating. However, it's definitely 4.5 stars. I can't give it any less. I'm enthralled by this world, and that's a very good sign. Nothing less than I would expect from a wordsmith like Nalini Singh.

My casting choices:

David Gandy as Raphael



Emilia Clarke as Elena Deveraux










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Sweet Silver Blues by Glen Cook

Sweet Silver Blues by Glen Cook

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I definitely enjoyed this book, my first read by Mr. Glen Cook, and the first of many, I think. This series is a scrumptious idea: hard-boiled noir detective with faerie creature-infused fantasy, the setting not quite urban, and not quite traditional fantasy. Mr. Cook has made his own world here, and it's a fun world. I must admit that I was a bit confused at times. The characters speak in a 'cant' that took me to some time to get the hang of. Sort of like 40s movie speak, but unique to this story, with some fantasy/magic-specific references. The narrative is on the terse side, which I do like, but at times I did have to reread to make sure I was getting the drift.

The characters stand out, particularly Garrett. He's quite the tough guy, a wiseacre, who doesn't like to take orders, but will do so if the mission calls for it. He's not infallible, which is good, but he's very capable. He's not quite a boy scout, but he does have a deeply-held sense of honor that emerges on a fairly regular basis, despite his cynical narrative voice. The secondary characters are just as interesting. In this case, Garrett's mentor is an undead corpse-like being who has lots of wisdom and smarts to make up for his decaying body. And his sidekicks are a vegetarian, lecherous elf/human hybrid, and three troll/human hybrid heavies with female names, and the inability to hold their liquor. The 'deadly dames' are two sexy gnomes, one with a bad temper, and another with a bad reputation that she happily earned. Garrett is on the hunt for his ex-flame who inherited his recently deceased friend's bequest of one-hundred thousand marks of coinage. He has to go to the toughest country in the realm, and deal with ferocious unicorns, a shifty centaur, and really nasty vampires, and other heavies of various species.

I definitely appreciate the fruits of Glen Cook's imagination on offer here, and the humor was great. It made up for my moments of confusion. Although Cook keeps the action nicely interspersed in with the often-times humorous narrative, the climax was fantastic in its intensity, as Garrett and his crew take on a whole nest of vamps.

Although I did love straight mysteries growing up, I love fantasy/paranormal mysteries even more. This book has not helped my addiction. I'm glad I've been collecting these books, because I want to keep checking in with Garrett, PI on his adventures in and around TunFaire.



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Bone Song by John Meaney

Bone Song by John Meaney

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


If I could say one thing about Bone Song, it is certainly unique. I like that Mr. Meaney wrote a book that was entirely out of his imagination. I did see shades of "Blade Runner" and noir/cyperpunk aspects in his story, but he didn't play it safe or familiar in any other way.



The idea of bones having power to run cities, and for necromancers to kill gifted people so they could harness the power of their bones, was something I have not encountered in my reading. It was pretty gruesome, at times, although this book is far from gory.



The worldbuilding in this story was very solid. I do admit, I was totally scratching my head at first. Mr. Meaney builds his world from the ground up, even using a very different calender and number of days system that I have ever encountered. I am pretty sure that Quintember 37, 6066 is a date I will never see in real life. And last I checked, there are not twenty-five hours in a day.



I loved the infusion of mythical beings and various types of ethereal creatures into this novel. In the cities of Bone Song, wraiths of various types are enslaved and used to power the city in various ways. For example, the elevator in the police building is run by a wraith named Gertie. There are also stone-beings, and deathwolves who guard the premises of the police station and rich people's homes. Mages and witches are employed on the police staff, on airplanes, and in hospitals. And zombies are fairly common, although not accepted by everyone.



The world of crime-solving had a uniqueness as well. Instead of forensic medical examiners, there are Bone Listeners who read the bones to find out how people died. It was a bit creepy how that was done. Well, very creepy.



This story managed to mix the paranormal with science in an intriguing way. I won't deny that I wasn't lost, at times. I was quite lost. But, I was also intrigued to keep reading. That's not to say this book wasn't a bit dry at times. It was. But not so dry that I wanted to give up on it. I truly had to see where the story was going, so I persevered through the drier moments.



I really liked the main character, Donal. He was a tough guy, but also seemed to want to do the right thing, and genuinely cared about people. His situation was pretty harrowing at times, and I felt like I had to hold my breath, at the various twists and turns in this story. When the book felt dry, his character kept me reading. That's a good thing, because that's why I read books, for the characters that stand out and earn my loyalty.



I liked the secondary characters as well. I did feel like Laura, the commander of the unit that Donal joins, and his love interest, could have been more deeply characterized. I didn't feel like I knew a lot about her, which seemed important, considering her relationship with Donal, and her very interesting nature. I had a love/hate relationship with the point of view switches. I felt they were too abrupt, and it took a while to figure out where the story was going when the POV changed. If that had been more smooth, I think I would have been fine with seeing the other characters' viewpoints. I feel like there is more to learn about Viktor, Xilia, Alexa, Harald, and Shushana.



I have to be honest and say I didn't like the ending. It was way too abrupt and didn't seem to make a whole lot of sense. I have this feeling that it's a cliffhanger sort of ending, so I won't throw the book against the wall. I'd like to see where John Meaney goes with this story, so I'm looking forward to reading the next book.



Bone Song won't appeal to all readers, but I am glad I read it. It was a unique world with some elements that really stood out to me. Overall, I think Mr. Meaney wrote quite a fascinating book, and I would like to see more of his world where the bones have their own songs to sing.



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