Kiwi paranormal romance author Nalini Singh brings us the sixteenth in her long-running urban fantasy Guild Hunter series: ARCHANGEL’S LINEAGE. The last book, Archangel's Resurrection, was frankly exhausting to read for me. It was the culmination of a huge battle for world domination between a truly evil archangel and the rest of the cadre of archangels who raged against her. I felt like I needed a scorecard to keep track of the vast ensemble of characters, and the tension was constantly ratcheted up so overly high that I never felt like I could catch my breath. I’m delighted to say that this latest ARCHANGEL’S LINEAGE, is more down-to-earth and readable.
There was one point in this book where I thought that Singh was going to try to top her previous world-encompassing battle from the last novel. Indeed, there is a massive power issue that nearly wipes out all of the creatures on the planet- angels, vampires, and humans alike. So ARCHANGEL’S LINEAGE does have over-the-top stakes raised once again for the archangels and their consorts. Despite this, though, there is not a frenetic pace to the tale, making it a more manageable disaster.
The prime couple of this whole series are Raphael, the archangel of New York, and his consort Elena, who was a prior Guild Hunter and is a masterful fighter in her own right. Interspersed with the current threat to Angelkind, Elena is also juggling problems in her family of origin. Her father has a heart attack, and Elena is torn between helping the angels save the planet and spending time with her nearly-estranged father and the rest of her family keeping vigil in the ICU. These family dynamics allow a great contrast between the smaller sphere of Elena’s home life versus the larger sphere of archangel ruling parties.
Long-term fans of this series will probably enjoy more time with Elena and Raphael, who are a swoony power couple. Newcomers should not jump in with this book but would be best served to enjoy this series in order. I feel the early books in the series were much stronger in both character development and story arc, but Singh’s ARCHANGEL’S LINEAGE is a relatable book, with both fantastical action and interpersonal bonds that are given their chance to shine.
New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh’s dangerous and beautiful world of archangels, vampires, and mortals has never faced a threat this cataclysmic…
Raphael and Elena are experiencing their first ever year of true peace. No war. No horrors of archangelic power. No nightmares given flesh. Until…the earth beneath the Refuge begins to tremble, endangering not only angelkind’s precious and fragile young, but the very place that has held their most innocent safe for eons.
Amid the chaos, Elena’s father suffers a violent heart attack that threatens to extinguish their last chance to heal the bonds between them and make sense of the ruins of their agonizing shared history.
Even as Elena battles grief, Raphael is torn from her side by the sudden disappearance of an archangel. But worse yet is to come. An Ancestor, an angel unlike any other, stirs from his Sleep to warn the Cadre of a darkness so terrible that it causes empires to fall and civilizations to vanish.
This time, even the Cadre itself may not be able to stop a ticking clock that is counting down at frightening speed…
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