Recent Reads

Archangel, by Sharon Shinn

Theological science ficton with romance. That doesn't sound like a very appetizing description, but the book won me over.

The basic premise of the book is that the people of the various tribes in the land of Samaria live under the guardianship/rulership of angels, winged and supernaturally powerful men and women who mediate between the people and their god, "Jovah", and possess the power to alter weather, heal sickness, and call down divine gifts or thunderous wrath from their deity. An angel named Gabriel has a grave problem: Jovah has designated him as the next Archangel, or ruler over the angels, which means that in order to lead a critically important musical ceremony required by Jovah upon pain of divine wrath, he must find and marry the mate whom Jovah has chosen for him much sooner than he would otherwise wish to. Complications develop, of course. She's not where the records say she should be. Even worse, she has a prickly personality, a calamitous personal history, and decidedly unorthodox views on politics, marriage and angels. And meanwhile, just as in ancient Israel, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness are opposed by those who prefer the comfortable corruption of worldly power.

It's almost as if the author deliberately set out to write a book based on a futuristic version of ancient Israel, but with actual flesh and blood angels. (Was Shinn thinking of the opening verses of Genesis chapter 6?)

The savvy SF reader will quickly pick up on hints that all is not quite as it seems. The angels, who must interbreed with humans to reproduce, appear to be the result of genetic engineering. The method by which the Oracles communicate with Jovah suggests a form of telecommunications, and Jovah may to be an armed orbital platform or spacecraft operating on instructions to regulate the society it oversees and preserve the status quo by requiring the continued performance of musical religious rituals. There are other hints of a backstory that, I hope, will be revealed in subsequent books in the series.