Customer Reviews

The Fallen Angels

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

 

 

This title is a permanent keeper in my at-home library. My Mom bought this book for me in hardcover when it was first printed in the 80's by the author Susannah Kells. It went out of print for a while, so I was so happy to see it come out in paperback. If you like the French Revolution, if you like mystery, if you like a little bit of foxy romance thrown in to spice things up, and also, a tad bit of violence (hey, it's the French Revolution - people were losing their heads left and right!) then this will be a great read for you. There are two big surprises, one midway through the book and one at the very end that you just don't see coming. This is a fun and entertaining read, not nearly as ponderous or detail-driven as a lot of Bernard Cornwell's other books. I reread it at least a couple of times a year, and I never get tired of it. Grab a copy for yourself. I'm sure you'll like it.

The authors are listed as Bernard Cornwell and his wife, Susannah Kells. I get the feeling that Kells had a lot more to do with the writing, although her name is listed second in much smaller print. I bought this expecting another Bernard Cornwell, and what I got is a lot closer to Barbara Cartland. It's mostly a romance - a bodice-ripper. If this is what you want, go for it.

This is not quite a sequel of Cornwells' and Kells' CROWNING MERCY but it is tightly related. Several generations have gone by since the previous book. Instead of turmoil surrounding the English Civil War, the turmoil surrounds the French Revolution. The terror is in full force on the continent and the English are wondering if the chaos is going to jump the channel. The fanatics on the French side have their own worries. They want to know how they are going to continue to finance their excesses. Actually, it is a small group within the leadership that has this worry. There are the Illuminati, who base their actions on a rationalism that has no place in it for mercy or anything else that gets in the way of their goals.

The Illuminati hit upon a scheme. In England there is an heiress who is one of the richest persons in Europe. If someone from within the Illuminati can be maneuvered into marrying her, he can take control of her fortune and funnel that back to the continent. It also provides a bridgehead for exporting the Terror to England.

Standing in the way of this plan is the heiress, Campion Lazender. She is just as bright as her namesake and is in love with a mysterious stranger who may or may not be a part of the plot. She must also watch out for treachery within her own family. Her wealth is lusted after no less than her body.

It is an enjoyable and exciting story.

Lots of action, evil villains and star crossed lovers. This author doesn't pull punches, people stink, sweat and die in the most horrible ways. Lots of red herrings to throw you off the path trying to figure who really is a good guy and who the real baddies are. I guessed the biggest one about 1/2 through the book, but I was still never 100% of my guess until the last pages.

When I bought this book, on Kindle, I expected a typical Bernard Cornwell book. I expected a thoroughly researched, historical novel of near epic proportions. What i got was one of the worst bodice rippers I have ever seen.

Start with the setting. It is 1893, mostly England, at the time of the Reign of Terror in France. The estate of the Earl of Lazon is one of the biggest in England, but we are only told this. There are no scenes of movement to show it, merely mentions of the fact, often mentions of the fact. London scenes of gambling dens/bawdy houses, are, again, described, but not really shown. Venues of debauchery are glossed over (if you don't want to describe them, why mention them) and cursorily described. Only the scene of an execution in Paris has the kind of detail (ie: "Sneezing in the basket") that I have come to expect in a Bernard Cornwell novel. The final scene, in Auxigney, is so poorly described that I was never really sure where we were.

The Characters are lackluster and stereotypical. In every bodice ripper, we are told that the heroine is beautiful, with golden wheat (raven, glossy chestnut, copper , etc) colored hair. In this novel we are told this twice in the first chapter and several other times throughout the book. We are told, again and again, that she is headstrong, yet she is persuaded to marry a worthless lordling that anyone who has ever read ANY Jane Austen would know, is a pretty uniform with no substance at all. We are given only the briefest glimpse of his motivations, and he remains a cardboard stereotype throughout the book. His last appearance leaves one totally unmourned. The Earl lies in bed, groans once in a while, urges the heroine to marry, then dies just before the wedding. The uncle is affable, ineffectual, and a cardboard cutout of the useless, probably gay, fop, until he turns into the cardboard cutout of a villain (which does not surprise anyone who has ever read any Victorian novel). The True love is a gypsy (how banal is that?), with the true heart, sex appeal, and noble beyond his station. The brother seeks revenge for his true live, who is a ghost even before she is dead. There is not one person in this cast to sympathize, empathize, or bother to remember.

The plot is an unfortunate mishmash of Jane Austen meets Porn Queens of Vegas. It has every hackneyed cliche that has ever been used to titillate, the imagination, but fails, miserably. There is no sense of style. There is no theme. the authors have no clear idea of what it is they want to tell us. They just ramble on, and excruciatingly on, until, at last, they come to a non-earth moving climax. I am only glad that I got this book on kindle, and no trees were killed to print it. Save your money and buy a Victoria Holt, instead. Better yet, buy a Victoria Holt and send it to My Cornwell and Ms Kells.

I bought this book because it has Bernard Cornwell's name in great big letters on the front cover. But I find it hard to believe that he had much to do with the writing, it's that bad. I can only suspect that it was mostly his wife's work (she is listed as co-author, in much smaller type). If you're looking for a Barbara Cartland bodice-ripper, this is for you. If you're looking for another Bernard Cornwell book, keep looking. I feel like I was tricked into buying it, and I will be more careful in the future.

Jim Beckman

Wow. I expected better. Is it Cornwell or his wife that just doesn't get us to that place we have come to expect from Cornwell. Trite might be a description. Forgetable is probably what I am going to be left with on this one.

The period is one of my favorites, it is the dawn of the regency era, when the terror is taking over France. Great we have seen this in before in such works as Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, and in the Scarlett Pimpernel.

With those classic examples, Cornwell should know that he has do as well as they, or better. He doesn't. We have a little princess of a heroine whose backbone is forced upon us. We have a transparent villian, and we have a hero who really shines as hero only through the mist colored eyes of a romance novel. So what is a novel from one of the premier historical novelists is rally a romance with a thin veneer of historical laced on it.

Better has been done elsewhere. Can be skipped.

I couldn't put this book down! It was great! I classify it as spy novel with a romance interest. Loved it! Am disappointed to see Cornwell and Kells have not continued to write books together.

I didn't think that Bernard Cornwell could write a bad book. Unfortunately, Fallen Angels has proved me wrong. The story limps from one schmaltzy phrase to another, limping along - dragging the lame carcass of a storyline that has virtually none of the historical flare that Cornwell normally does so well. In fact, I had to check the cover several times to confirm that this was: a) written by Cornwell, and b) not published by Mills and Boon. I have read all the Starbucks, all the Grail Quest, most of the Sharpes, the Saxons (to date)and Gallows Thief. I have even read A Crowning Glory which wasn't as awful as this monstrosity.

I can't help but blame his co-author, or maybe he was just under some sort of contractual pressure...???

If you want a period romantic pot-boiler filled with corny expressions endlessly repeated then this is the book for you. If you are after the elements that have made Cornwell my favorite author and respected world-wide (ie, historical detail, attachment to characters, strong pacing etc) then stay well away from this book.

This novel is unusually dull for Bernard Cornwell, one of my favourite contemporary authors. It is mostly a romantic tale interwoven with elements of secret societies (the Illuminati) and the French Revolution. However, romance clearly dominates (and indeed overwhelms) the whole story. I found the novel mawkish and slow-paced. I had first been attracted by the reference about "A Crowning Mercy", which I had immensely enjoyed two years ago. However, the story has nothing to do with "A Crowning Mercy". If anything, it falls painfully short of the standards previously set in "A Crowning Mercy". As of the middle of the book, I had already correctly conjectured who the villain calling himself "Lucifer" might be. Maybe that explains why the end was not as tantalising as I had expected. The romance is also entirely unlikely and indeed unrealistic. Also, I thought the denouement had been dashed. There are far better novels by Bernard Cornwell: "A Crowning Mercy", the Saxon series, etc.