Archangel's Ascension

Archangel's Ascension (Guild Hunter 15)- Nalini Singh

Berkley Publishing

Release Date: May 6, 2024

Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Aodhan and Illium. Adi and Blue. Sparkle and Bluebell. Friends become lovers, their future a wild unknown.

Finally reunited in New York, they must now learn to navigate the monumental shift in their relationship. But for these two members of Archangel Raphael’s legendary Seven, there is no time to rest. As they investigate a case for the Tower that echoes the darkness from Aodhan’s past, they will be forced to confront not only the scars that mark them both, but the promise of a vast power that flickers in Illium.

The threat of ascension has haunted and troubled Aodhan’s Blue for too long, the forces of change immutable and without mercy...and uncaring of Illium’s fierce wish to remain part of the Seven. Change is a constant in an immortal’s life, and this new horizon will bring with it both terrible heartbreak and a joy extraordinary enough to reverberate through time…

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Archangel's Ascension threw a curve right from the start by being broken into two timelines: "Today" which is actually 700 years in the future, and "Yesterday" which is the present for the series' normal timeline. I admit to a moment of panic when I fiugred that out, but I should have had more faith in one of my favorite authors. The majority of the book takes place in the current timeline, so situation normal.

Aodhan and Illium admitted in their last book that they loved each other and in this book we get to see them trying to figure out what that means. Because despite what they think, both men still have some issues they need to deal with. Together in New York they investigate the murder of a young vampire and his human girlfriend that has some similarities to Aodhan's past. Meaning he has to face that past, and we as readers get to learn some more about it. 

The murder investigation is pretty basic, but does a good job of helping reset a 'situation hopefully normal' and reminding everyone life doesn't need to be all about wars, zombies and other major craziness, but can be about the more day to day concerns as well. And perhaps should be. It also allows Aodhan a chance to consciously fit more into himself in a way he hasn't before. We see him trying to talk to strangers, to allow physical contact with friends. We see both Adi and Ilium talking to others to try and figure out how not to mess up their changing relationship and hurt each other as they grow. There's plenty of angst along the way, perhaps more than is needed, but readers who have been with the series since the beginning and have been cheering the two on will probably be more lenient with the repetition than they would be otherwise.

The title gives away what the "today" section will be about, and on the whole I thought that was really beautifully done. I did cry a bit in a few places, have to admit. You can tell the series is almost wrapped up, and it will be interesting to see if Singh goes back to the present day for the end, or jumps to her new future and shakes things up there.

This sequel to Archangel's Light is what readers have been waiting for- the conclusion of Illium and Aodhan's story.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review 

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The Exorcist and the Demon Hunter

 

The Exorcist and the Demon Hunter- Amy Kuivalainen

BHC Press

Release Date: September 26, 2023

Rating: 📚📚📚

Synopsis: My name is Jael Quinlan and I’m a freelance exorcist, no matter how much the churches in Melbourne hate it. There’s a darkness growing in my city and my boss Uriel, the sternly handsome and badass Archangel of the North, is expecting me to get to the bottom of it.

The problem is these demons are unlike any I’ve ever seen and they are all giddy about an upcoming apocalypse. On top of that, I’ve been having some crazy visions about a demon hunter on the other side of the world named Mychal. He’s frighteningly scary and has a serious depression problem. 

It turns out I’m caught up in one of those special missions from a higher power (you got to hate those) and I know I’m going to need Mychal’s and Uriel’s help in order to stop two rampaging Watcher angels and Hel’el (the big bad Devil himself) from kicking off a new apocalypse. 

I honestly don’t know what a human exorcist can do in a battle of supernatural good and evil, but all I know is finding out is going to be one hell of a ride.

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Amy Kuivalainen is a go-to fantasy author for me, and I was excited by the idea that in this book we would finally get to learn Mychael's full story. Having read the Firebird series, I had some definite theories about him, but that just led to more questions. Cleverly, this book was written enough as a standalone that if you haven't read the Firebird series (which is great, and you should read), you don't come to this one feeling lost. If you have read it, you know there are mysteries surrounding the Demon Hunter before you meet him, but you only have suspicions and aren't actually ahead of any new readers.

The first half of the book was a surprise to me (which I don't mean in a bad way) because it focused entirely on Jael, the exorcist. A freelance exorcist with a rather Buffy-like attitude to authority and tradition, Jael isn't connected to any particular church or religion, but just believes demons shouldn't be possessing people. She has the ability to get rid of them and has been trained since she was a teen by the archangel Uriel to do so, and as far as she's concerned, that is that. Melbourne seems to be dealing with a particularly severe demon infestation and Jael is trying to handle that and understand why those demons are so fixated on her. At the same time, she's trying to hang on to shreds of a normal (or semi-normal) social life to balance her out, and it isn't always working. 

Surprisingly, we don't meet Mychael until about halfway through the book, when things get even worse in the supernatural world. The book changes up at this point: Jael tells her story from the first person, while Part Two alternates between Jael's first-person and different third-person POVs. Mostly it worked, but I was thrown by it once and awhile, especially at first. It took a little adjusting. 

Kuivalainen's other books have all been more Finnish or Russian mythology-related, including the Firebird series with Mychael, so I was intrigued by the idea of her expanding her world-building here to focus on a more  Judeo-Christian theology. Jael isn't specifically of any church or belief, but the monotheistic God of Abraham is clearly the way she feels comfortable relating to the divine, and we are talking to priests, rabbis, demons, and archangels here. I don't know if everyone will be comfortable with this approach, but I thought it worked pretty well.

While her Magicians of Venice series is still my favorite, I enjoyed this book. People who have read the Firebird series will definitely want to read it because it happily wraps up a few loose ends that you thought had just been given endings in the last book. No further spoilers than that though!

Thanks to BHC and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review