Author: Nalini Singh
Publishing store: USA: Berkley Sensation
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Plot: 7/10
Style: 8/10
Cover: 6/10
Final: 7/10
My hands were shaking. My heartbeat was quick as that of a rabbit and my chicks were red. No, I'm not exaggerating, whether you believe me or not. I simply love the Guild Hunter world, I love Raphael and Ellie, Sara and Deacon, Illium, Jason, Dmitri... Oh yes, Dmitri. I better drop the topic here...
So, anyway. I was looking forward to getting to know better two intriguing characters - Ashwini and Janvier. We had only a glimpse of them in one of the stories ("Angels' Pawn"), a very spectacular glimpse.
Ash, a hunter, with special and yet dark powers that few truly understand.
Janvier, a vampire, driving Ash both to madness and to ecstasy. Young for a vampire, and yet already trusted by the Seven.
Who wouldn't like to dive into their story, to discover the intimacies of their relationship? With Nalini's novels the outcome of the romance is clear from the first pages of the book. Still, the route to the happiness and happy ending is always full of plot twists and dramas, never easily guessed.
"Archangel's Shadows" had a tough challenge - the previous part, "Archangel's Legion" was definitely the best book of the series. Full of action and a comeback to Raphael and Ellie pairing, it was barely fitting the 'romance' box. Now, the hunter and her Cajun had to deal with the leftovers after the war, what meant from the beginning that the adventure will be less epic and much more mundane. And so it is, with another reference to the first part - a huge investigation going on that is definitely too dangerous for the main character to take on.
The cherry on this cupcake is definitely a surprisingly not-so-background character that all the fans had been waiting for - Naasir, a strange feline vampire. Quick in moves and wits, he doesn't reveal much to us, creating more secrets than revealing. Who or what is he exactly? What's the story behind his origin? We can only hope Nalini will give him his own story one day.
As much as there was a little excess of romance and not enough action in this part (spoiled me after the Archangel's Legion!), I loved the masterful intertwining of the other characters - Dmitri, Illium, Naasir and... Caliane. Yes, in the midst of a grim investigation there's always time for a family reunion, even if it consists of an Archangel, an Ancient, and an angel newly made...
I hereby declare the challenge invalid. Because you simply cannot compare a part full of war and action to a part dealing with the aftermaths, a part full of delicate hope and careful planning for a lighter future.
I love the Shadows, all three of the: Ash, Janvier and Naasir. I love how deep each of those characters is, how complicated their stories are. In a kind of supernatural way - it's so realistic. Nobody has an easy life from a point A to a point B. Nobody has a perfect family, and some have it worse than the others. And as we can learn from Ash's example, even what an outsider may consider a pathology is never so easily defined... But hush, or I'll spoil too much.
Just read it! Now, get the book and read it! And if you don't know the series yet, it's high time to change it!
Side note (spoiler):
