Reviewed by EBookObsessed on
Warning: Spoiler-ish. You have been warned.
I received a copy of Archangel’s Prophecy back in July and immediately jumped on it, and I have tried not to think about it since but as the release date is tomorrow, I am forced to relive this torment in print. In fact, just trying to make myself sit down write this and I have gotten up to start the laundry, see if anyone needs lunch, and look through some of the paperwork piling on my desk. I really don’t want to talk about this story.
What is the most important thing you need to know about this story; the fact that you don’t know what happens. Nalini Singh brings you the most important twist in this series and she leaves you hanging. It’s brilliant and it is evil!!!
The story of Elena trying to track down whoever has been killing vampires is more than enough of a story to hold your interest. We could have gone with that and happily paid our $7.99. What makes this story so painful is that we see Elena deteriorating over the course of the story. She loses more feathers than is normal for an angel and then more and more as her wings start to droop. There is a lot more to her symptoms but let us say that the angels healers have no idea what is wrong with her. They are also kicking up the investigation of old lore about other humans who were made by an angel by ambrosia to see why this is happening to Elena. Is there something wrong with her specifically? Is it because she was a hunter? Or is the transformation to angel temporary? But even their best scholars are finding no written record of a prior transformation. What is worse than not finding any records is the possibility that there were no prior human to angel transformation and it is all folklore.
Angels are supposed to be seen as perfect to the humans which is why angels with deformities, like Jess with her twisted wing, are kept secluded in the santuary. Elena is a well-known angel in the New York area and hiding away will cause speculation so Elena needs to be careful to stay alert and keep her wings up when she is investigating the vampire killer. Raphael assigns her another angel to look out for her in case she has another episode and cannot fly. It is easy to disguise her escort as a bodyguard, but if she collapses and needs to be carried away, people will start to talk and her transformation will once again become a problem for angelkind.
There is no question that Nalini Singh knows how to do her job. No matter how painful it was to see Elena falter and deteriorate, and no matter how many scenes there were between Elena and Raphael silently staring and thinking that each moment could be their last, I couldn’t stop reading. I had to know what happened to her (because of course she would be fine!) until I got to the end and then the screaming began.
In the Guild Hunter series, we have watched Elena make a miraculous transformation from a human/Hunter to an angel, growing actual wings and learning to fly. Over the next nine books, we see Elena growing in strength and her flying ability. She is becoming a capable angelic warrior. So I am blaming what is happening now on all those fans who keep clamoring for an archangel baby.
In story after story, Nalini has written lines and made statements that not only are births a rarity to the long-lived angels but as a baby angel herself Elena is not strong enough to carry Raphael’s baby. It could take centuries for her to be on his level. But no, fans want a baby NOW! In Archangel’s Prophecy, Nalini goes as far as to indicate that Elena and Raphael are so different that they might as well be two separate species. (Now I am not talking about lions and tigers making ligers. I am talking about mating a lion to an ostrich different.) So now we have a prophecy that Elena needs to transform so she can become a vassal. Oh, we are confused, says every character in the story, a vassal for what? Duh! Angel baby, of course. One that will be cute and adorable and have to go live at the sanctuary for years and then we will have to worry about him/her being used as a pawn and will Lijuan try to possess Raphael’s powerful baby! But people, here is the next rule: if Elena transforms and becomes a “vassal” everything Elena disappears!! She becomes a walking womb. That is her transformation.
As I said before, we end this torture with no answer so make sure you have an industrial size box of tissues next to you before you start and a pillow to scream into; and yes, I will be knocking people out of my way to get to the bookstore on release day to get to Book 12. I might even call in sick to work because I have to know what, in a world of humans, vampires and angels, what could Elena possibly become that better be cooler than being an angel?
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Reading updates
- Started reading
- 24 November, 2018: Finished reading
- 24 November, 2018: Reviewed