The gods at play in Medieval times!

-

Shadow Fallen (Dream-Hunter #5) by Sherrilyn Kenyon        

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️




I’m not sure if this is a Medieval historical romance wrapped in the banner of Fantasy or an historical fantasy novel. The gods at play in the human world with archangels and fallen angels, demons and their ilk running riot, and attempting to change the balance of power.

It’s been sometime since I’ve read a fantasy where the pantheon of gods infect and infiltrate the historical world. The time is that of William the Conqueror. Valteri the Godless, is William’s half brother, a fearsome warrior, more berserker, and a tormented soul. Tormented as a child by the clerics in charge of him who saw his mismatched eyes as a sign of the demonic. Valteri has a dream of a blond woman in a battlefield. Prophetic. Ariel, is a daughter of the archangel Saint Michael and “a Naşāru—a resolute warrior whose calling was to stay far from the mortal realm, where their licentiousness could tempt her, except for those brief moments when she was commanded to find dead warriors to return to life so that they could fight in earthly battles that were denied to her species. Her job was to protect the order of the universe. To defend the primal forces. She was not to know pain. That was for mortals to bear.”

Ariel is tricked by a troublesome demon Belial and a crone with a grudge against her. Ariel is stripped of her powers. She is the key to Belial’s attempts to regain favour of the evil god Kadar. Of course there’s tricksy moments and counter moves but how Ariel will win free and how Valteri will protect and be protected is contested every step of the way.

Things of course take a slightly different tack. My heart goes out to Valteri who is more than he seems, a lonely and abused man with a kind heart whose self protection solution is to isolate himself and move from one battle to another. Only this time William outplays him by gifting Valteri lands and responsibilities Valteri doesn’t want.

A love story filled with heartache, demons, angels and the like. 

This is my first Kenyan novel. I don’t think it will be my last. 


A Macmillan-Tor/Forge ARC via NetGalley 
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Things aren’t as they seem!

-
Image
A Murderous Tryst  (Beatrice Hyde-Care Mystery #11) by Lynn Messina    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Oh my! Bea certainly has a lot to contend with. Bea’s rattled! The Duke has been missing from their bed for a night. When a distraught Bea come downstairs the next morning she finds her beloved husband Damien clasped in the arms of a glamorous female. A female who turns out to be Kesgrave’s first mistress, Mrs. Penelope Taylor! What?! Of course Bea’s heart sinks and she falls back on her painful memories of Aunt Vera’s responses to such a situation. Bea is both shaken and traumatised, but determined not to show it.  It seems Penny has been accused of murder. Actually  Penny’s desperately trying to avoid Newgate.    As a former mistress Penny does the unthinkable thing in society’s eyes. She asks for help from Bea. Bea’s response is just as shocking. She says yes. Kesgrave is as usual inscrutable. Of course this is the beginning of a harebrained chase, complications between Bea  and Amien,  and an investiga
Read more

Women in war—Internment by the Japanese 1942-45.

-
Image
Sisters Under the Rising Sun  by Heather Morris    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A fitting tribute to the women interred by the Japanese in Indonesia and Malaya during 1942 until liberation in 1945. Amongst the internees are a group of Australian Army nurses who were not given recognition by the Japanese as members of the armed forces and therefore not prisoners of war according to the Conventions of war.  Sister Vivian Bullwinkle is the only survivor of the massacre of a group of soldiers and nurses on Radji Beach, Bangka Island near Sumatra  in 1942, after the sinking of  HMS Vyner Brooke. There are a number of civilian prisoners in the camps like Norah Chambers and her sister Ena.  Combined, the story of these women interred under terrible conditions, their struggles and achievements are monumental.  Their gifts to their fellows beyond speech. Music plays an important part in uplifting the prisoners’ spirits. It’s truly a privilege to read about their plight, their vows to each other, and their braver
Read more

A sparkling ride!

-
Image
An Inconvenient Earl  (A Royal Match #4) by Julia London      ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ What an untidy, meandering, convoluted, and strangely joyous tale! Emma Clark’s abusive husband Albert, the Earl of Dearborn had decamped to Africa, leaving Emma to wander Butterhill Hall and manage the estate alone. Months later a man turns up to give Emma the news Albert has died in Cairo from yellow fever. Said gentleman then promptly has some sort of attack and dies on Emma’s receiving room floor. Emma’s stunned. What to do? She knows her sister-in-law Adele, will toss Emma out of Butterhill Hall when she learns of Albert’s death, so Emma says nothing. Almost a year is gone when Luke Olivien, the Weslorian Comte ve Marlaine, son of the Duke of Astasia, turns up to deliver Albert’s pocket watch to Emma. Luka is an anthropologist. He’s been travelling with Bedouin tribes studying their migratory habits and trade routes. Emma does all she can to avoid having Luka tell her that Albert is dead. She ignores him, fl
Read more