Archangel’s War by Nalini Singh – Dual Review, Excerpt & Giveaway
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Description:
Wings of silver. Wings of blue. Mortal heart. Broken dreams. Shatter. Shatter. Shatter. A sundering. A grave. I see the end. I see. . .
The world is in chaos as the power surge of the Cascade rises to a devastating crescendo. In furiously resisting its attempts to turn Elena into a vessel for Raphael’s power, Elena and her archangel are irrevocably changed. . .far beyond the prophecy of a cursed Ancient.
At the same time, violent and eerie events around the world threaten to wipe out entire populations. And in the Archangel Lijuan’s former territory, an unnatural fog weaves through the land, leaving only a bone-chilling silence in its wake. Soon it becomes clear that even the archangels are not immune to this deadly evil. This time, even the combined power of the Cadre may not be enough. . .
This war could end them all.
Sandy’s Review:
ARCHANGEL’S WAR is the twelfth instalment in Nalini Singh’s contemporary, adult GUILD HUNTER dystopian/ paranormal/ urban fantasy series focusing on Archangel’s, angels, vampires, shifters and hunters. ARCHANGEL’S WAR is the continuing story of New York’s Archangel Raphael, and his consort, human turned angel Elena Deveraux. ARCHANGEL’S WAR should not be read as a stand alone as it picks up immediately after the events and cliff-hanger of Archangel’s Prophecy wherein the Archangel’s are preparing for war against two of their own.
Told from several third person perspectives including Raphael and Elena ARCHANGEL’S WAR focuses on the prophecy having revealed death and destruction, resurrection and renewal in the wake of Lijuan’s madness, the Archangel of India, as she prepares to take over the world. With fellow Archangel Charisemnon by her side, Lijuan amasses an army of the undead as she slowly destroys the very people she protects, while making preparations to take down the Archangel of New York. Lijuan’s actions have triggered the Cascade (an event that causes massive power fluctuations and other changes among the members of the Cadre) but also an event that will see Raphael and Elena’s powers merge in an effort to protect the people they love. Lijuan’s growing power awaken the ancient Archangel’s from their ‘Sleep’ but an awakening that brings together Archangel’s from around the world.
ARCHANGEL’S WAR is an action-packed, spirited and edgy story about the madness for, and of, power; the dramatic actions of a psychotic and powerful mind; and the desperate fight to protect the innocent and the damned. Nalini Singh pulls the reader into an animated and forceful sequence of events; a character driven tale with epic results; and the mind numbing chaos and capability of the supernatural.
Barb’s Review:
Archangel’s War by Nalini Singh is the 12th book in her fantastic Guild Hunter series. WOW! That is all I can say, as I kept thinking about this book all through the night. Nalini Singh is such an amazing author, and she has outdone herself with this book. I can’t get over the mind-boggling action from start to finish, and that she keeps the flow going so seamlessly. Bravo…Archangel’s War was an epic fantastic exciting, action pack thrill a minute. I have always loved Elena and Raphael, but in Archangel’s War they have fully taken my heart.
We have been waiting for this war, as it has been leading up to this for a while, and we begin months after the last book left off, with Raphael and Elena being woken up by the havoc of the Cascade going wild. All of the countries are being violently affected, with total chaos (earthquakes, horrific storms, terrible lightening, etc), which is also waking up ancients who have been asleep for many years.
But they also discover something weird happening in China, which has all the Archangels working together to stop what is coming. Lijuan, the Archangel of Death, has become the ultra-powerful mad woman all the other archangels feared, and war is closer than they thought. In a short time, all hell breaks loose, with all suffering; but New York (Raphael’s territory) is severely taking a beating that had me holding my breath throughout the entire book. Who will survive is the big question? Can Lijuan be stopped?
Because this is a masterpiece, I cannot tell too much more, as the whole book is filled with spoilers. Archangel’s War is an intense, emotional, suspenseful roller coaster of a ride that is not to be missed. I could not put this book down, constantly on the edge of my seat. Nalini, I bow down to you, as you are a master story teller. If you have not read this series, do not start with this book. Do yourself a favor and start at the beginning. For those who have read this series, you are in for a fantastic read. Nalini Singh is one of my top favorite authors, and if you are not reading her books, you need to start now. No one does world building & fantastic characters better than Nalini Singh.
Free of any angelic oversight, vampires across China would inevitably give in to bloodlust. They would torture and murder, rend and tear. They would become a horde that spilled over into neighboring territories. The Cadre would execute every single living being in China, stain its soil a permanent red, to prevent that outcome.
“Kill it. Burn the entire territory down to the ground.” Charisemnon bit out the words, but even the Archangel of Northern Africa had a grim look on his handsome face at the idea of such a death toll.
“If only that were a viable choice,” Astaad murmured. “It will not end the threat posed by Lijuan.”
“And death on such a scale?” Neha’s sari was a deep yellow with a rich pink and gold border and the silk of it whispered as she moved a hand in a strong negative. “It will leave a stain across eternity.”
“You are all being very careful not to look at me,” Caliane murmured in a quiet voice that held the echoes of hundreds of crying children; they were ghosts of the dead that his mother carried within and would into her final Sleep. “But of all those here, I am the only one who understands the toll it takes to wipe out thousands of innocent lives—I cannot be permitted to hide from my knowledge.”
It was a bleak truth. Alexander had killed in battle, as had Raphael and many of the others. Some of their number had murdered in cold blood, but none had unleashed wholesale slaughter. Caliane had wiped out the thriving populations of two cities.
She’d spared the children, but their fragile hearts had broken under the trauma. Most had simply curled up and died. Angelkind had fought to save those tiny human lives and failed. Raphael’s palms curled inward, his skin remembering the calluses that had formed from digging grave after grave.
It hadn’t been in penance for his mother’s horrific crime. Nothing could be penance enough for that.
“Such an action is a burden that will haunt you through time.” Caliane spoke with no self-pity, with potent directness. “Atonement is an impossibility. The ghosts of the lives I took have become my constant shadows. I hear them in the gray hours before dawn, when the world is quiet, and I have no answers for them when they ask me why they had to die.”
Raphael’s shoulders bunched, his gut tight. This was the first time he’d heard his mother speak of her terrible act, the first time he’d understood that she’d not only come out sane after her long Sleep, but with all her memories intact. In the bleak lines of her face, he saw the truth: his mother remembered each and every soul she had condemned to the pitiless ocean.
“But what I did,” she continued without mercy to herself, “would pale in comparison to eliminating the people of an entire territory. We would not survive the weight of the dead on our conscience. The Cadre will fall and Lijuan will rise again from beneath the bones of her dead.”
© Copyright 2019 by Nalini Singh
Nalini’s publisher, Berkley, is offering winner’s choice of one book from Guild Hunter series (except Archangel’s War) to ONE (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe
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