Customer Reviews

Angelica

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

... Sharon Shinn is always on my must-buy list, and another Samaria book immediately catapults her at the top of my list. I found that ANGELICA was a satisfying return to a very rich and engrossing setting, and I read it in record time.

For those of you not familiar with the setting, Samaria is a world settled by the remnants of a religious colony, led by a host of angels that protect the common people. Shinn's stories deal with love and discovery of the world around them and their past as two common themes, and I truly love the way she handles things. Characters are definitely her strongpoint, and she's able to immediately make you feel for them at the very beginning of the book. Her prose is magnificent as well, and she's apt at making you truly feel you are *IN* the story.

ANGELICA follows the story of three people: Susannah, an Edori woman; Gaaron, the steadfast angel destined to be the next Archangel, and his hellion of a sister, Miriam. This storyline was hinted at in the pages of ARCHANGEL, and those wanting more of a taste of the Edori of Samaria will find this book a wonderful read. The Edori really play more of a role than the angels do, so those purely interested in the romance/angels aspect might be a bit disappointed if expecting it to be a clone of Archangel. The storyline follows Susannah the most, though the entire story is not romance-based like ARCHANGEL. Rather, we are thrown into the turmoil of the year just before Gaaron is to ascend to power, when strange visitors are attacking the peaceful people of Samaria, and they must decide what to do with the new, frightening threat. Shinn's storyline truly surprised me, and I found it very interesting. She always makes me wonder what she is doing next, and I find that delightful in an author.

I would not recommend this as a starting point for the series--go out and buy ARCHANGEL instead. After you've read the first trilogy, this will be a satisfying return to the world that Shinn has so masterfully created. If you start out reading this book without the tidbits from the others, you will miss some of the better hints of the story that Shinn never explains fully, expecting you, the reader, to be a returning friend to the setting. The details of Samaria are subtle in this book, and first-time readers of the series will miss all the parts that made me smile with happiness.

Bottom line: A wonderful read. The ending is a bit abrupt, but still satisfies. If you're looking to start the series, skip this and go onto ARCHANGEL instead. If you're looking to pick up an easy, wonderfully told read, please pick up Angelica. Truly worth the hardcover price (something you cannot say about a lot of books nowdays).

Return to the planet Samaria, where a secretive god watches over the land, where winged angels sing prayers to control the weather, and where opposites meet and find true love...Once again, the talented Ms. Shinn had created one of her fascinating melanges of fine world-building, music, and excellent characterization. ANGELICA takes place only a few hundred years after the founding of Samaria by interstellar colonists fleeing seeking peace and harmony, and at first glance, the plot may seem to echo that of ARCHANGEL, Shinn's first book in this series: Susannah, a woman of the wandering Edori tribes, has been selected by the overseeing "god" to marry Gaaron, the archangel-to-be. But as the story takes place much earlier in the history of the culture, and with mysterious violent invaders threatening lives and stability, the fascination with these people and this planet is woven anew, and differently, and engagingly. What is not different is Shinn's marvellous ability to evoke the glories of song, whether in formal prayers in an angel hold, or around an Edori campfire, along with her talent for creating the most memorable of characters and a truly unique socio-cultural matrix. Shinn is one of my favorite writers working today, and as I applaud her for this novel, I am impatiently awaiting the next.

While I enjoyed the return to Samaria, the book wasn't quite up to par with the first two books in the series. Susannah and Gaaron were pleasant, strong characters but a bit uninspired and passionless for my taste. They spent such little time together that it was difficult to believe that they'd really fallen in love. The story moved along well but did not develop as fully as I'd hoped it would, and left the relationship between the Archangel-to-be and his angelica mostly untouched. I agree, too, that the ending was quite abrupt--I would have liked to have experienced the wedding and the Gloria. There also seemed to be less music in this book, and as music is such an integral part of this series, it felt a little lacking. It would have been nice to have had Gaaron and Susannah sing together more than just the once!

Try Shinn's earlier books--The Shape-Changer's Wife and Archangel.

This book is just okay for me. The characters are not as engaging as other characters in Shinn's previous books. The storyline is basically about a marriage of convenience between two characters, a plotline that has been written before in 'Archangel'. Unfortunately the book doesn't work out quite as well. Mainly because Gaaron and Susannah spend the majority of their time apart from each other doing their own thing that I find it very hard to believe these two manage to fall in love with each other in the end. The secondary female character, Miriam, is an annoying, spoiled, selfish, whiny brat that I don't care much to read about. The conclusion of the mystery is not much of a conclusion either. All in all, a disappointing read to me.

I love Sharon Shinn, LOVED every book she's written including the first three books in this continuing series. Halfway through ANGELICA I found myself wondering if I'd accidentally bought one of them over again. It's the same basic idea repackaged, though, this time with less insightful social commentary and more drawn-out chapters that revolve around the less enthrawling (and sometimes annoying) supporting characters. I did read the whole book so I can't complain to much, I guess. But when I'm paying top dollar for a hardcover from an author I've grown to ADORE, I suppose I expect progression and not reiteration. The cynical part of me wonders if she is padding ANGELICA in order to stretch the story line into a second trilogy.

Sharon Shinn has such tremendous talent and ability. Her prose is magnificent. Just a few sentences bring the world of Samaria alive - both its people and its land. Her books make me want to sing! Her characters are fascinating - incredibly human,but fasicinating in spite of their very humaness. Ms. Shinn rarely falls into the trap of relying on stereotypes to fill in the details of her main characters.

Unfortuately, Ms. Shinn cheated herself on the ending to this magnificent work. The end felt rushed and abrubt, as if Shinn was meeting a deadline, ran out of inspiration, or had a page limit.

Though Angelica can stand alone, for your own benefit read the rest of Ms. Shinn's Samaria series before picking up Angelica.

I just finished Angelica, and I'm sad! I was so thrilled about another Sameria book, I consider the trilogy to be my favorite books ever. It was so wonderful to be immersed in this amazing world again, and now it's over!

Samaria just feels like an old friend. Reading about the people, the cities, the angels again was so comforting. I absolutely adore the world Sharon Shinn has created. I think I would be happy with a thousand more tales of Samaria. By the way, I'm with the reviewer who said they had hoped for a book about Hagar. That would be an excellent fifth book! (Wishful thinking!)

Now, normally, I don't go for prequels. I don't like the kitschiness of it. I hate that we're supposed to go, "Oh but they don't even know what's going to happen in a few years." To me, it's slightly insulting. I feel like a pawn, and I hate it. But Angelica isn't like that in the slightest. There are very few allusions to events that are going to occur in two hundred years, and I appreciate that. This is simply a tale set on the same world, just at a different time. I loved that Mahalah is free to give her speeches about how the Samarians are forgetting who they are and where they came from.

My one and only problem is this: (and when I think about it, I have this problem with all of the books) the ending of the love story was very unsatisfying to me. She did the same thing in Archangel. I want MORE. She really seems to shy away from the physical, and I don't like that. I think she's really not giving us what we want, which is (not necessarily sex) but a more concrete form of intimacy than we're given. To me, she seems really hung up on these Jerry Maguire "you complete me" moments, and that just doesn't work when you end the book right there, you know?

When all is said and done, I loved every moment of reading this book. I loved the descriptions of Edori life the most, I think. Miriam's story, in my mind, was far more satisfying than Gaaron and Susannah's. Another great installment. I hope there will be more!

Boredom propelled me one day to surf books on Amazon.com. While I love the fantasy and vampire genre, I somehow accessed someone's scifi/romance listmania...which isn't bad at all. Then I saw Arhangel and Angelica on a lot of other lists too and the ratings seemed great, so I decided to buy them.

To tell the truth, I expected much more. Archangel was definitely a good read, but it wasn't exciting. Angelica is even longer and although the author's writing is descriptive, it's a bit tedious. Don't get me wrong, I love long books just because you have more to read, but Angelica didn't have very many exciting, heart-stopping scenes of adventure and intrigue. The action stays in one place and many of the events are very long. Sharon Shinn's plotlines are very interesting (which is why you can't say her books are bad) but her writing style is a bit boring. I like the world of Samaria that she has created; it's unique and fascinating.

I would actually give Angelica 3.5 stars, but there's no such thing so I bumped up the rating a little. It's a good book, but it's one that I wouldn't buy. Archangel, the first in this series, is probably better.

I was excited to discover a new Samaria book, and slightly surprised as well, since the first books that dealt with the planet were dubbed a trilogy. However, given that the story of Susannah, the first Edori angelica, was brought up in more than one of the three, maybe it isn't such a surprise, after all. This is a prequel, of sorts, and as such, it does an interesting job of explaining some things that show up in later books. As a whole, though, the book was rather disappointing. The ending was fairly rushed, no wedding, no Gloria, and we don't find out what happens to some major supporting characters-- like, do Nicholas and the Edori girl actually fall in love or does she return to her tribe? (the fact that I don't remember her name even though I read the book three days ago is an indicator of how very forgettable this book is). In the end, if you're a fan of the series, this book is worth reading.

Angelica is a book with great potential - wonderful characters, great plot, adventure, and love - everything you expect from Sharon Shinn. The plot of this book technically falls prior to the beginning of the Samaria series (Archangel), but it is a stand-alone with no ties to the initial trilogy (Archangel, Jovah's Angel, and The Allelulia Files) or to Angel-Seeker.

Unfortunately, the book doesn't so much close or come to an end as it just stops. I re-read the last half of the book to make sure that I didn't miss anything that would have left me hanging. I suppose that Sharon Shinn technically wraps it up with characters and plot, but after reading the trilogy, Angelica leaves a lot to be desired.

Jovah's Angel and The Alleluia Files are great reads and very fulfilling, but by far, the two best books in the Samaria books are Archangel and Angel-Seeker, though I cannot decide which tops my list.

Happy reading!