Tuesday, April 20

Jovah's Angel - Sharon Shinn

On Samaria angels intercede with Jovah, asking his for rain, to stop storms, and to favour the people of the land. Archangel Alleluiah was happier with her life before, but when Delilah fell from the sky during a tempestuous wind storm, breaking her wing, she could no longer function as Archangel, and Jovah named Alleluiah her successor. Jovah seems to listen to Alleiah's requests more than those of the other angels, but he seems hear his people less and less well - all over Samaria things are getting worse - were one area floods, another's in drought, and between it all the nomadic Edori are being squeezed and confined. With the annual Gloria only months away, the new Archangel needs an angelico, but she's more concerned about whether Jovah will hear even their great songs raised in tribute.
A hundred and fifty years after the events in Archangel, and faith is once again being lost. Equal parts mystery/adventure, romance, and a compelling tale of faith, belief, culture and technology, Jovah's Angel explores what happens when the technology that founded a colony begins to fail, when a community's culture is externally warped (there's a strong indigenous cultural flavour to the Edori), the idea of a living god, and the transmutation of faith. All of which sounds far heavier and less entertaining than Shinn's creation actually is.
I'm so pleased I stumbled on to Shinn's writing - she's rapidly becoming my favourite new writer and I'm about to embark on another series of hers that I can only hope will be as entertaining, involving and promising. Watch this space! - Alex

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