Customer Reviews

Guardian

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Enjoyed this one a lot more than the first book. Still well written with great characters and a good story line. But with having already read one book in the series, the learning curve for the world was not as rough. Made it much easier to enjoy the story.

There are so many fascinating things about this futuristic post-apocalyptic setting: The radiation poisoning, birth defects, the Society of Nuclear Darwinists, the Republic, the technology, the Frontier, the pleasure fringes...it's hard NOT to be passionate about this brilliantly researched world.

But with highs this high, anything less than awesome has nowhere to hide. even Delilah admits she can't think properly with Rafe around, and that pretty much explains why romance in fiction rarely works for me. But I still pick up the books, hoping to read of nifty worlds with fascinating plots, even if the characters do piss me off.

In short, you may want to both hug this book and throw it against the wall.

I read the first book in this series, Fallen, and it was quite good, with an interesting plot, complex characters and provocative universe. The story continually moved forward, so naturally I looked forward to the second story.

Unfortunately, I was very disappointed in the quality of this second story, Guardian. The two main characters struck me as one-dimensional, self-centered individuals interested only in their own agendas.

I tried very hard to finish this story, but I finally gave up after struggling through the first three-quarters of the book. I found the plot to be slow and boring with a lot of prolonged repetition of the characters' previously revealed internal thoughts.

In 2100 The Republic classifies her as a Subhuman Atomic Deviancy Evaluation; dubbed a SHADE, but ironically near New Seattle, Twenty-three knows who she truly is as the next oracle. However, as a Shade, establishing her identity means those who defend the caste system will assassinate her. Still she must reveal her angelic blessed skill.

Fallen angel Rafe searches for the seer Delilah Desjardins. He finds her as she comes out in the open claiming to be the Oracle although the powers in new DC starting with new President Van Buren refuse at first to accept a Shade as the Oracle. Rafe abducts Delilah before she is murdered and struggles to keep her safe from killers who reject numbers as humans. He also has to contend with his need for her if he is to keep her safe from him as that would cost her ability to read the future.

"The Eyes of the Republic" see everything in Claire Delacroix's post-apocalyptic nod to 1984 as this Brave New World is unsafe for anyone who tries to break caste boundaries; racism is the law. In fact slavery of a Shade is an acceptable practice to the point that Shades have a number not a name. The cast is solid as Delilah begins her dangerous journey to become accepted as the Oracle through a landscape of de jure and de facto racism. Readers will enjoy the stunning detail of the future of the Republic as Ms. Delacroix provides a vivid dark FALLEN earth.

Harriet Klausner

Delilah Desjardins is Shade with a secret. She is the one true oracle of the Republic but when she tries to reveal herself for who she really is, Delilah is caste aside and is soon running for her life. Before Delilah realizes what is happening, she is taken captive by what she first thinks is a hunter out to take her in but she soon discovers he is her only hope for survival. Raphael has no memory of his past. All he remembers is his mission and that is to make sure Delilah is officially seen as the oracle of the Republic. To accomplish this they will need to learn to trust each other if they are to survive the coming obstacles and treachery.

Delilah is the daughter of Lilia, who is the heroine in the first book of the Eyes Of The Republic series. She was taken from her mother at birth because of a third eye and marked as a Shade. A Shade is a human born with some type of birth defect or mutation. They are labeled as Shades and treated as slaves and experimented on. Delilah escaped this fate and was sent to the Citadel of the Daughters of the Light of the Republic nine years ago. The Daughters plan to name a false oracle but Delilah knows that it is her the angels speak through and will not sit quietly by and let this happen. Delilah is confident in the fact that she is the true oracle and will do anything necessary to get people to believe it. I liked that she wouldn't let anyone take this away from her and she was also a compassionate person that really felt for her fellow Shades. Her unyielding faith in the angels was admirable. Even in the darkest situations she believed. The problem I had with her was no matter what Raphael did, she didn't trust him and it bugged me because I felt he more than proved himself. She was attracted to him but I felt her love for him came out of no where and didn't feel genuine.

Raphael has been on earth for a few months and has enjoyed his pleasures along the way. He will not apologize for the fun he has been having and I liked him for all his faults. He wasn't too keen on completing his mission at first but once he saw Delilah it all changed. It was lust with him at first but he fell for her a lot faster than she did for him. I wasn't a fan of these two characters together but separate, they are wonderful.

Ferris is also a Shade and a friend of Delilah's. He is mute but he won't let that stop him from helping his friends and keeping a promise to one of the very few people who were ever good to him. I really hope to see him in future books. Where there are angels there is bound to be the devil. He makes another visit to the Republic in Guardian. He is dark with matching wings, well built and every bit as malicious as you'd expect. Like in Fallen, he is trying to recruit an angel to his side. You know he has something wicked planned and I'm both anticipating and dreading to see what he has in store.

I felt Guardian was even better than Fallen. The frighting world of the future is expanded in the 2nd installment of this series and light is shed on some of the darkest corners of the Republic. Secrets are being revealed and hero's are rising but will it be enough to survive the coming storm? I look forward to starting Rebel and finding out.

This is the second book in this series by Claire Delacroix and an improvement on the first instalment, 'Fallen'. That book took a long time to get going but 'Guardian' started well with our heroine, Twenty-Three, being kidnapped by a mysterious man. The man calls Twenty-Three 'Delilah' and seems to know things about her. He's Rafe and is mysterious for various reasons, one of which is that he has no memory of his life before a year previously. Someone is instructing Rafe what to do but he doesn't know who that someone is or what their motives are.

Delilah knows that she is the Oracle, a woman who is meant to help guide the President of the Republic and who speaks the words of God through the help of angels. But her situation is fairly dire as there is a false Oracle and consequently a price on Delilah's head. Can she trust Rafe? Will Rafe find out who he is? Can Delilah be installed as the Oracle?

This was an enjoyable read with fast pacing and the interesting background setting of the former novel. Rafe and Delilah's relationship was well-written and although I felt there were a few plot holes it was overall an exciting and imaginitive book.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2009

I looked forward to reading GUARDIAN, because when I read FALLEN, the first book in the fallen angel trilogy, I was an instant fan of Delacroix's new urban fantasy series.
The author has created a gritty post-apocalyptic world set in the year 2100, where secret forces of good battle the evils of government corruption and the horrific treatment of the enslaved humans, called shades, who are victims of radiation-induced genetic defects. Fallen angels, as darkly appealing as any Byronic hero, work covertly to save humanity.

In GUARDIAN, Rafe is urged by unknown forces to attend the ceremony at the Citadel of the Daughters of the Light, where a new and false Oracle for the Republic is about to be selected. When twenty-three, a young woman and a shade at the Citadel, disrupts the proceedings with a prophetic vision, chaos erupts and Rafe feels compelled to protect the shade who shimmered with Angelfire, and whom he suddenly knows to be the true Oracle. With the help of an old woman and Ferris, a young shade, twenty-three is given a new identification bead and her true name, Delilah.

Born with the third eye of prophecy to Lilia Desjardins (the heroine from FALLEN), Delilah was harvested by The Society of Nuclear Darwinists as a child, but then rescued by those who have looked over her ever since - angels - while at the Citadel. Now, the only thing Delilah knows is that she's been kidnapped by a man whom she believes to be a shade hunter and that other hunters are trying to kill them. Unable to trust Rafe, who can't seem to tell her just who is he or whose orders he's following, Delilah follows her instincts. She sets out to contact the reverend, a woman who Delilah believes can help her realize her destiny, which is to be the true Oracle. Rafe follows Delilah, determined to protect her, while drawn to her both physically and spiritually.

Delilah and Rafe become prey, fleeing to the underground, encountering a fringe society of Wraiths, and turning to each other in passion, all while trying to escape the premier shade hunter. Their journey takes them from the Seattle to other side of the country where they confront the malevolent network behind the conspiracy to install a false Oracle for the Republic, one whom could be controlled. Lilia and Montgomery actively work to assist Delilah and Rafe, nicely tying the first two stories in the series together.

In GUARDIAN, the hero and heroine do the work of the angels, but need each other in ways that are entirely of this world. The reader will enjoy discovering if they are able to finish their quest without losing each other. Delacroix continues to deliver the goods with her masterful storytelling. The author gives us a fascinating, fast-paced story, unique and intriguing characters, and the enduring theme of love and hope found in all of the author's work (she also writes as Deborah Cooke and Claire Cross).

The Guardian by Claire Delacroix
Futuristic Paranormal Romance - Sept 29th, 2009
3 Stars

The Guardian is the second book in Claire Delacroix's futuristic paranormal fallen angel's trilogy.

Clair Delacroix's fallen angel's trilogy starts with the first book The Fallen which should be read first in order to truly understand the series and enjoy the story with its many interesting and unusual characters.

The Guardian tells the story of Rafe a fallen angel who is sent on a mission to save Delilah Desjardins a seer who has the gift of foresight. Rafe must ensure that Delilah survives long enough to reach her true calling to become the Oracle for the Republic but to do so Rafe is forced to kidnap Delilah in order to keep her safe. While on the run from those who would keep Delilah from her true destiny Rafe and Delilah are strongly drawn to each other and despite Delilah's attraction to Rafe her fear of the attracting and how It will affect her gift as well as her fear for Rafe's safety cause her to flee from his protection causing Rafe to race after her in order to not only save her for the Republic but also for himself and his own heart.

Claire Delacroix does an excellent job of weaving a new futuristic world for us that is very different from what we know and has all sorts of interesting and fascinating aspects to it. The Guardian's characters of Rafe and Delilah are both very intriguing as well as being compelling and it does make you want to know what their futures will hold. The only difficulty I had was that the storyline was so complex that (I had not read the first book.) I had trouble orienting myself and think this really took away from the pleasure of reading this book.

If you like paranormal romance as well as futuristic stories this is the book for you.

Reviewed by Mary from the Bookaholics Romance Book Club