Customer Reviews

The Darkangel: The Darkangel Trilogy, Volume I

5 star:		(107)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Meredith Ann Pierce published "The Darkangel" in 1982, well before the current 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' craze. Pierce's heroine, Aeriel is kidnapped by a darkangel to spin and weave for his twelve-and-one bride-wraiths, whose blood he has drained and whose souls he has imprisoned in his necklace. He needs to find a fourteenth bride and go through a final blood-sucking, soul-stealing marriage ceremony before he can become a true vampyre.

Luckily, Aeriel doesn't strike him as bride-material: "'You?' he cried, and Aeriel's heart shrank, tightened like a knot beneath the bone of her breast. 'You be my bride? By the Fair Witch, no. You're much too ugly."

The darkangel himself is quite something to look at:

"Then he opened his wings, and Aeriel found she could not move for wonder. Before her stood the most beautiful youth ever she had seen. His skin was pale and white as lightning, with a radiance that faintly lit the air. His eyes were clear and colorless as ice. His hair was long and silver, and about his throat he wore a chain: on fourteen of the links hung little vials of lead."

To continue with the story, the beautiful darkangel flew forth from his castle to find a princess, and instead found Aeriel, the mud-bud (an appellation borrowed from Carol Burnett's retelling of "The Princess and the Pea").

"The Darkangel" resembles "The Princess and the Pea" in that Aeriel is a sort of 'bride-in-disguise.' The aspiring vampyre doesn't realize that he wants to marry her until after she has made friends with his previous thirteen wives, suborned his vicious gargoyles, escaped from his castle, and almost got him killed by a Lunar lion.

I can't give away any more of the plot, but I'd like to add that you need to be in the right frame-of-mind to truly appreciate the beauty of "The Darkangel"---pensive, perhaps and willing to believe in the magical power of love. (You also need to believe that someday it will be possible to terraform the Moon).

"The Darkangel" has two sequels: "A Gathering of Gargoyles"; and "The Pearl of the Soul of the World."

Meredith Ann Pierce's "The Darkangel" is the first book in a stylized epic trilogy set in a world that is so dry and thin-aired it can barely support its population - although it manages to do so through magic and machinery. The world has been cursed by the White Witch and her seven unnatural sons, the darkangel vampyres.

Aeriel is a slave, a foreigner in Avarra, the country of her mistress, Eoduin. A marriage is to take place in their village and, as customary, Aeriel and Eoduin are out gathering nectar-flowers for the wedding. Without warning, Darkangel, the dark-winged vampyre, sweeps down upon them and carries off the lovely Eoduin to be his 13th bride. The young slave is blamed by Eoduin's parents for the kidnapping. Now, alone, bereft, without her lady, who has also been her beloved companion since infancy, Aeriel seeks to be taken by the same Darkangel in order to find and avenge her mistress. Returning to the scene of the kidnapping, she sees the face of the Darkangel for the first time when he comes to take her to care for his thirteen wraithlike wives, including Eoduin. Aeriel is awed. "Then he opened his wings, and Aeriel found she could not move for wonder. Before her stood the most beautiful youth she had seen. His skin was pale and white as lightning, with a radiance that faintly lit the air. His eyes were clear and colorless as ice. His hair was long and silver, and about his throat he wore a chain: on fourteen of the links hung little vials of lead."

Darkangel flies Aeriel to his gargoyle guarded castle. Her task is to weave clothes for the thirteen wraiths. Although once beautiful young women, as each becomes the Darkangel's bride, she, overnight, turns into a withered creature with no blood, no heart, and no soul. All their souls hang around their husband's neck in vials of lead, to be given to the Water Witch, a lorelei, after he collects just one more. In only twelve months, the last bride will be taken and he will become the true seventh vampyre son.

Aeriel's dilemma is whether to destroy her vampyre master for his evil deeds or to save him for the sake of his beauty. She has seen a spark of greatness through the ugliness of his spirit. The miserable wraiths and Talb, a dwarf-like man who lives underground, convince Aeriel to kill him. They have been victims for a long and terrible time. So, she sets off on a dangerous quest, (aren't they all?), to find what is necessary to rid the world of the monster.

Filled with faery legends and lore, this is both a fascinating myth-like tale and a dark romance. The icarus vampire shines here as dark goth hero. He himself has been cursed by the Water Witch to live with a heart of lead. "Darkangel" is an enchanting novel geared for ages 12 and up, but so elegantly written that most adults who like fantasy should enjoy it immensely. I did.
JANA

I found this title when I saw a list of Magic Carpet Books on the back of a novel. I started reading The Darkangel because the summary sounded interesting. Sure enough, the book had a very early narrative-hook (and more as the story went on), and I just had to read it through in one day. Meredith Ann Pierce superbly accounts a story about a young slave, Aeriel, looking to find revenge for her beautiful mistress, Eoduin, who was captured and taken as a bride by the darkangel. Instead, she finds adventure, mystery, and a dash of romance along the way. There's just enough twists to make the plot interesting and intricate, but not too complicated. Anyone who likes romantic fantasies will fall in love with The Darkangel.

From the minute I started reading, I knew this was a great book. I loved the author's Ms. Pierce's descriptions of the characters, especially the darkangel and Aeriel. The setting was great too. The book begins with Aeriel and her mistress, Eoduin gathering hornflowers, when suddenly a darkangel (aka icarus) appears and carries Eoduin away to his domain to be his bride. A day or two later Aeriel decides to avenge Eoduin's aduction and goes to the place where she was taken. The icarus soon arrives and just as Aeriel was about to kill him, he unfolds his wings to reveal the most beautiful person Aeriel has ever seen. Then the darkangel carries her off too, also to his domain. There Aeriel serves as a servant and as time passes she knows that she has to kill the icarus before he finds his final bride. To find out what happens, READ THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!

I found this book many moons ago at a school book fair. I was attracted to the cover and after reading the back of the book...I had to buy it. It was the only book I bought at the fair. Was I lucky!!! It turned out to be one of the greatest books I'd ever read. That was over 17 years ago...and I can still honestly say that the story still moves me to this day. The story of Aeriel and Irrylath, which carries on through the two remaining books in the trilogy, is what started my "love" affair with vampires and vampire novels. But this trilogy, unlike many other vampire series, is more fantasy based and driven. It doesn't stick with the same myths and legends surrounding vampires. Instead it interweaves a very human story...the journey of a young girl who learns a great deal about herself, her heritage, true love, and what life is all about...on her quest for vengence. There are elements of magic, mystery, ancient gods, and mystical far off lands throughout the series. Not to mention the romantic and tragic thread woven in as well. This series has it all. It is a must read for anyone who loves a good fantasy novel...and a definite for any vampire enthusiastist who like a tale told with a new and inviting twist. The Darkangel is a literary delight for young and old fantasy lovers alike.

One of the classic fantasies of our time, Darkangel is a carefully crafted tale about love, redemption, and the tiny spark of goodness that may linger in the blackest soul.

Aeriel is a young slave girl to the beautiful Eoduin, a high-ranking young woman in their desert village. But one day as they are picking flowers, a strange creature with enormous dark wings scoops Eoduin up and leaves Aeriel seeking revenge for her mistress. She too is taken captive, and discovers that the hideous darkangel of legend is a gorgeous young man, with giant black wings and an icy heart. She is to spin and weave clothing for his living-corpse wives, from whom he has drained their souls. Aeriel finds herself with a terrible dilemma: should she kill the darkangel, or try to redeem him?

The sense of true fantasy is evident in this book, naming the sun Solstar and such things. Though some things (like saris) are recognizable, overall the book has a sense of comfortable otherworldliness. The writing style is descriptive, poetic.

The darkangel himself is thoroughly hateable in a likeable sort of way. Just when I am really starting to despise him, he displays a tiny hint of humanity. I actually felt very sorry for him near the end, and during the storytelling session, which is quite an impressive feat. His flailings between his humanity and the darkness inside him are quite compelling, as are Aeriel's attempts to understand him.

Aeriel is an awesome contradiction, a determined young woman who is also unsure of herself. Perhaps it's because her determination stems from a desire to help free the wives of the darkangel, and to protect innocent people in future. Her dangerous journey to find the starhorse is like a very long poem, beautiful and evocative.

And then there's the bizarre little man who lives in underground caverns, who advises Aeriel. He's a perfect gem of the Lloyd Alexander school, funny and wise and quirky. The little mage never makes things too easy, but manages to be a truly engrossing character. Hope he returns in the next two books of the trilogy.

A warning: If you like standalones, this will stand on its own, but is obviously meant to be part 1 of ?. A few paragraphs near the end indicate twists in the future, so be forewarned.

This book is the classic that it deserves to be, a glorious tale of strength and redemption. A must-read!

I first read this when I was twelve years old. At the time I liked it but since a friend's sister lost my copy of the final book of this series I couldn't re-read it. Thus it remained a kind of shadow memory of an enjoyable trilogy in my mind. At the time I junked it in with Garth Nix's "Sabriel" as dark and enjoyable complex young adult fantasy.

But like "Sabriel" this book really wasn't written for young adults. This whole series is very dark and complex, perfect for older readers or mature young adults. It's also the only non-realistic fantasy book I ever read that I liked. In realistic fantasy, things happen for a reason, in non-realistic fantasy weird stuff happens that no one even tries to explain. This book is almost dreamy because of the style.

This is the tale of an odd world, where days last two weeks and nights the same. The world is dying slowly, but people still cling to it. In her village Aerial has no idea of all this. She lives with her masters (she's a slave) and one day is with her mistress and friend Eoduin when a darkangel, a creature like a vampire out of a story, flies up and snatches Eoduin away so he can drink her blood and steal her soul.

To avenge her friend Ariel heads on a quest to kill the darkangel, but is overcome by his beauty and power and the small spark of good in him, the soul he still has. With the help of strange and wondrous beasts, she alone must kill the vampire before he takes his fourteenth bride and gives the souls to his evil mother the Lorelei. Then he will become a true creature of pure evil and along with his six vampire brothers will destroy the world.

This book is sparsely written with little characterization but it's still fascinating and haunting, just like the darkangel of the title. Reading it again was great fun, but I really think this only deserves four stars. It's very, very good, but so sparse that you get little true feeling for the characters, in spite of the descriptions of thoughts.

Four stars and I am going to read the second books again (it's been years) called "A Gathering of Gargoyles."

After I had finished reading The 4th Harry Potter book, my english teacher just handed me this book out of the blue and said, "Here, read this." Little did I know that it would take me on a journey so Amazing that I would end up adding it to my favorites list. This book was so wonderful that I am currently reading the last book out of the trilogy. This tale is about a girl named Aeriel who is captured by a beautiful darkangel who she knows she must kill but soon comes to find love for him. However, beneath this main plot are many smaller ones that will follow into the past and fate of Aeriel. It will keep you guessing the mysterious ways of this world and how Meredith Ann Pierce even thought of such a wonderful story. I strongly recommend that after reading this book you continue to the other two, because it would just be silly not to! This story will change your perspective of literature and love!! SO BUY IT!!

Aeriel, a slave in the land of Avaric, has known no family more than her mistress, Eoduin, and her nurse (no, not the hospital kind. Nurse-maid?). So when the Darkangel sweeps Eoduin up into his twelve wings, she must follow him to save her friend. When she is then taken - as a maid to his thirteen wives - she is stunned to discover that his thirteen once beautiful wives were now wraiths, horrible creatures who need garments woven with Love and Charity. Within time, Aerial begins to learn to love the small piece of good in the Vampyre. But can Aeriel, with help from her small duarough friend, Talb, and those pitiful wraiths, kill the Darkangel?

This is a true, classic piece of fantasy. Aeriel is a character you can sympathize with - a not-quite-so beautiful girl who makes many mistakes, though is still just as smart as any opponent. The only thing I have against her is how she is as smart as a whip at times, but as dumb as a chair the next. It is confusing to the reader in understanding the terms Ms. Pierce uses on distinguishing days from months. I, personally, still dont know which a day-month is.

Another irritating fact is how she [Aeriel] puts too much on love alone - if she had simply killed the almost-Vampyre instead of trading his heart of lead for her heart of... muscles... the whole mess would never have begun. However, besides those [minor] complaints, this book is a piece of true gold.

Meredith Ann Pierce wrote a haunting, stunning tale of fear, hatred, fantasy, mystery, and, most of all, love, beginning with this one book. May her pen never still.

I picked this book up the first time at my school library. I was still up at three in the morning trying to finish it; it was that captivating. It has all the components of a fairytale, and yet is worked into a fantasy novel that includes vampires, gargoyles and other strange and macabre creatures. Don't be put off by the word 'vampire' though, this book isn't yet another vampire book of that most over-used genre, but an incredible story with a huge scope and scale that stretches from a small village, to the vampire's forbidden castle, to a seemingly endless desert. It begins when a young Aerial's mistress is kidnapped upon the hills by a dark angel, or a vampire. Taking it upon herself to rescue her, she sets off on a wonderful journey that includes characters you've only ever seen in myths and legends. With her bravery, kindness and story-telling abilities Aerial gradually begins to lighten the darkangel's world and teach him of his own dark heritage.
I read this book when I was thirteen, but when I went back to the library to get it out again, it was gone! But ... I've finally found it again, and I'm just about to go down to the public library to order it. I've never read the third book in this trilogy - 'The Pearl of the Soul of the World', but upon looking at reviews, I see there is a character called Ravenna in it! What a fluke, as my nickname was Ravenna long before I even remembered any of these books. I'll be reading that one as soon as I can, hopefully to find that the character who shares my name is a good one.