Archangel’s Sun (Guild Hunter) by Nalini Singh – Dual Review

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Description:
The Archangel of Death and the Archangel of Disease may be gone but their legacy of evil lives on—especially in Africa, where the shambling, rotting creatures called the reborn have gained a glimmer of vicious intelligence.

It is up to Titus, archangel of this vast continent, to stop the reborn from spreading across the world. Titus can’t do it alone, but of the surviving powerful angels and archangels, large numbers are wounded, while the rest are fighting a surge of murderous vampires.

There is no one left…but the Hummingbird. Old, powerful, her mind long a broken kaleidoscope. Now, she must stand at Titus’s side against a tide of death upon a discovery more chilling than any other. For the Archangel of Disease has left them one last terrible gift…

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Sandy’s Review: ARCHANGEL’S SUN is the thirteenth full-length instalment in Nalini Singh’s contemporary, adult GUILD HUNTER dystopian/ paranormal/ urban fantasy series focusing on Archangel’s, angels, vampires, shifters and hunters. This is the archangel of Africa Titus, and Angel Lady Sharine, aka the Hummingbird’s story line ARCHANGEL’S SUN can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary but for back story and cohesion, I recommend reading the series in order. For followers and fans, the Hummingbird is Illium aka Bluebell’s mother.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Titus and Sharine) ARCHANGEL’S SUN picks up in the aftermath of the Cascade that destroyed many of the Archangel’s strongholds and cities throughout the world. At the request of New York’s Archangel Raphael, Lady Sharine has been tasked with helping archangel of Africa Titus in his struggle to rebuild but the war continues in Africa as Lijuan and Chrisemnon’s creations-the reborn- are terrorizing and destroying everything and everyone in their path but a more dangerous weapon and heinous creature is about to be revealed, and with it the possibility of the destruction of angelkind. What ensues is the continued battle with the reborn, and the building romance and relationship between our leading couple.

Lady Sharine is an artist among the angels, the mother to Illium, and a mother –like figure to Archangel Raphael but Sharine’s past is shrouded in heart break and despair, and our heroine has struggled with the knowledge that everyone she has loved has been taken from her or destroyed her faith in the world. Believed to have been wounded, insane and broken, Lady Sharine is a strong woman, and an even stronger ‘warrior’ with a hidden ability of which nobody is aware. Titus knows he comes off as obnoxious and loud, preferring to yell rather than coddle his warriors but with the arrival of Lady Sharine something softens within our story line hero, as they work together to rid his holdings of the zombie-like reborn, and in doing so, search for a possible link and antidote to the flesh eating virus.

The relationship between Titus and Shirane begins acrimoniously as Titus believes Shirane is too frail and sickly to help with the rebuild. Centuries of rumors and innuendo regarding Shirane’s mental and emotional health have weighed heavily amongst the angels and Archanges but Shirane is about to surprise Titus with her abilities and powers, not only as an artist, but an angel worthy of being a consort. The lone $ex scenes is passionate but mostly implied.

There is a large ensemble cast of virtual secondary and supporting characters most of whom we have met in the previous instalments: Archangel Raphael, Sharine’s ex and Illium’s father Archangel Aegaeon, Raphael’s mother Archangel Caliane; Archangels Suyin, Neha and Alexander; vampire Trace; Titus’ spymaster Ozias; angels Tanae, Tzadiq, Orios; as well as Titus’ sisters Zuri, and Nala.

ARCHANGEL’S SUN is a story of betrayal and revenge; recovery and revelations; friendships, relationships and love. The premise is edgy and tragic ; the characters are energetic, colorful, captivating and strong; the slow building romance is sensitive. Another wonderful addition to Nalini Singh’s GUILD HUNTER series.

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Barb’s Review:
Archangel’s Sun by Nalini Singh is the 13^th book in her fantastic Guild Hunter series.  Once again Nalini Singh continues to amaze us with another fantastic addition to this series.  The last book was so intense, exciting and mindboggling from start to finish, and I thought perhaps Archangel’s Sun would be at a slower pace; but even though this book was not as epic, it was an amazing wonderful story that also kept the flow continue to be seamless.

With all the world affected, the Archangels are all working overtime to fight the horrific situations throughout.  Titus, our hero, has taken over as the Archangel of Africa, where the evil now deceased Lijuan, created the horrible reborn (rotting creatures/crazed vampires).  Titus has his hands full, with all of his angels and warriors struggling and working night and day to kill the reborn; as well as trying to stop the other deceased Archangel Charisemnon’s (Archangel of Disease) creations that could be even worse.   To his surprise, Raphael sends help in the form of the infamous Hummingbird (Sharine); which he isn’t too pleased about, since she is a well-loved woman with gifts, but not someone who is able to help in this battle.  Of course, he will be in for a big surprise

Sharine, our heroine, (Illium’s mom, as well as Aodhan’s adopted mom) has been helping run Lumia, but accepts Raphael’s decision to go to Africa.  Sharine has spent many years slowly putting herself back together (recovering from her tragic fractured mind, and from a deep slumber),  to rise up become what she was meant to be.  I absolutely loved Sharine, her confidence, toughness, and her learning the powers she had fully forgotten about.  She was such a delight, and it was so much fun to watch her early on stand up to Titus, and his shock at her behavior, as she was supposed to be a quiet gifted and fragile woman who people adored, not someone constantly answering him back. 

Titus is a well-respected and fierce 3000 year warrior, who found himself after a rough beginning falling for the wonderful Sharine.  I loved watching them together, as she managed to bring him down a peg or two, especially when their feelings for each other became apparent.  Together they worked to find clues as to what Charisemnon was hiding, and we also got to see Sharine learn to use her powers to help Titus and his team.

Archangel’s Sun was a wonderful, sweet, fun, romantic, as well as emotional story that made this into a fabulous addition to this series.  Both Titus and Sharine were a fantastic couple that had us rooting for them from the start.   As in just about every book I read from Nalini Singh, I could not put this book down.  Though enough details are given through the book, I do suggest you read the previous book for cohesion.  If you are new to the series, you should start where it all began. Bravo to Nalini for giving us a fantastic couple in Titus and Sharine.    Nalini Singh is one of my top favorite authors, and if you are not reading her books, you need to start now.

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