Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Overview
Two hundred years ago, the god Jovah created a legion of land dwelling angels, led by an appointed Archangel. Now, Jovah has a new appointee: Archangel Gaaron. For his life-mate, his Angelica, Jovah has chosen a woman named Susannah. Slowly, an unspoken affection develops between the two. But there is a terrible threat besetting the land-and the true hearts of Archangel and Angelica may never be known.
Synopsis
Two hundred years ago, the god Jovah created a legion of land-dwelling angels, led by an appointed Archangel. Now, Jovah has a new appointee: Archangel Gaaron. For his life-mate, his Angelica, Jovah has chosen a woman named Susannah. Slowly, an unspoken affection develops between the two. But there is a terrible threat besetting the land—and the true hearts of Archangel and Angelica may never be known.
Romantic Times
Not only is this for your keeper shelf, this superbly crafted stand-alone inspires a need to get the other Samaria books. Endearing characters, meticulous world-building and a melodic whisper that threads its way throughout the narrative create a page-turning treat.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewSharon Shinn returns to the world of Samaria (where angels coexist with mortals) in Angelica, a prequel of sorts to her popular Archangel trilogy (Archangel, Jovah's Angel, and The Alleluia Files). The story focuses on an Edori woman named Susannah -- the reluctant angelica -- a legendary character briefly referenced in the previous Archangel novels. Taking place approximately 200 years before the events of Archangel, the main plot revolves around the awkward relationship between the Archangel elect, Gaaron, and his chosen angelica (life-mate), Susannah.
Although Susannah is quite happy traveling with her nomadic clan (and is already romantically involved with someone else), she yields to the will of Jovah and goes with Gaaron back to the angels' stronghold, the Eyrie, where the beautiful sound of singing angels can be heard day and night. But before Gaaron can spend time with his wife-to-be, he must deal with mysterious black-skinned invaders who are burning whole villages to the ground and incinerating all that live there. To make matters worse, the invaders can somehow appear and disappear at will. With more and more people being killed by the invaders and the big wedding drawing closer, Gaaron and Susannah must try to save the people of Samaria while also salvaging their tenuous relationship.
The world of Samaria is a delightful temporary escape from the all too often depressing real world. I mean, how can you go wrong on a planet filled with romance and heavenly music where winged angels watch over you? Paul Goat Allen
Romantic Times
Not only is this for your keeper shelf, this superbly crafted stand-alone inspires a need to get the other Samaria books. Endearing characters, meticulous world-building and a melodic whisper that threads its way throughout the narrative create a page-turning treat.Publishers Weekly
Beautifully told, with engaging depth and richness, this stand-alone novel, the latest in Shinn's Samaria series (Archangel, etc.), will win new readers and delight existing fans. In an expansion of a folk tale briefly related in Archangel, the Edori wanderer Susannah becomes the Angelica of the archangel Gaaron, giving up her peripatetic life and her faithless lover to live with the angels. One subplot concerns the mystery of the strange men who can literally disappear and have long sticks that shoot fire and destroy entire campsites and villages. In another subplot, Gaaron's sister, Miriam, a perverse and uncontrollable mortal, goes to live with the Edori but ends up involved in something much larger when her tribe captures one of the alien men. Underneath the action lies a love story, all the more realistic for its quietness, as a homesick woman used to showing her feelings comes to love an angel used to hiding his. Threaded through the intertwining plots is the gorgeous prose music, the bright strand that links all the Samaria novels. The fantastic tone of the novel belies its SF underpinnings: Susannah's dreams of silver and glass panels evoke technology, and the dramatic conclusion, melding machine and dream, is an emotional high point. This SF-fantasy hybrid will please lovers of plot and world-building as well as romance. (Mar. 4) Forecast: Women, the obvious target for this one, will be attracted by the ethereal yet far from glamorous female figure on the jacket. A review in Romantic Times will give an extra boost. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.VOYA
This welcome, much-awaited addition to the Samaria books carries strong romance and science fiction themes that will surely please previous readers. The independent storyline, set much earlier in Samaria's history than Archangel (Ace, 1996) and its successors, will encourage new readers to pick up the volume and be absorbed in the world as quickly as old fans. It is only a few centuries after Samaria was settled, and its inhabitants are quickly dividing into isolated groups. In particular, the nomadic Edori have become estranged from the rest, so that very few possess the otherwise common kiss-a crystal implanted in the arm. When the "god" Jovah declares that the Archangel Gaaron must marry one of the Edori, the proposed couple and their respective communities are in for a period of adjustment. With more obvious science fiction ties than Shinn's earlier volumes-this time there are aliens-this installment is a definite departure. The earlier works felt more fantasy than science fiction, despite being set on another planet. This novel will intrigue fans of Anne McCaffrey's later Pern books, for it asks similar questions about how a culture forgets its extraterrestrial origins. The romantic theme of an arranged-and largely unwelcome-marriage, as well as the free-love practices of the Edori and unattached angels, mark this book as an adult book for young adults, but mature readers will find it an enjoyable, pleasant escape with the requisite happy ending. VOYA CODES: 5Q 4P S A/YA (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Broad general YA appeal; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12; Adult and Young Adult). 2003, Ace, 485p,— Beth Karpas