A Plague of Angels [Paperback]

Sheri S. Tepper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1994

Atop a twisting,  canyon-climbing road, a witch lurks in a fortress  built strong to keep out dragons and ogres. In  another part of the countryside, a young orphan is  maturing into a beautiful woman in the enchanted  village that is her home. Somewhere nearby, a young man  is seeking adventure after running away from his  family's small farm. Suddenly a strange and  terrible prophecy sets off a chain of events that will  bring these three together in the heroic, romantic,  and thrilling tale of an age-old battle.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Tepper ( Sideshow ) cleverly adopts elements of both fantasy and science fiction in this portrait of a world on the verge of chaos. Looking to space for a better world, most of Artemesia's inhabitants have deserted their land for the stars, leaving behind crumbling gang-infested cities, fortified suburbs protected by dwindling technology and a half-wild, half-rural land where renascent mythical beasts and fairy tale "archetypes" now live. There Abasio, a farmboy who is being pursued by vengeful gang members, meets Orphan, who is herself being pursued by the minions of Witch. Witch is convinced that in accordance with a delphic prophecy, Orphan can provide the "guidance system" for her space shuttle and thus allow her to settle the moon. Abasio, Orphan and their few allies are called to fulfill their destiny and defend the battered Earth from Witch's mad scheme for world domination. If the fantasy and SF elements don't always merge seamlessly, the setting is well-realized and Witch's psychosis is lurid and frightening. Tepper's prose is colorful and, while occasionally strident, tempered with wry wit and astute observations about human nature.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

YA-A thought-provoking story with lots of action. "Orphan" has a destiny, as does Abasio Cermit. Somehow, these two destinies are intertwined. Abasio leaves his farm for the gang-filled, drug-infested city of a far-off future. Orphan leaves home also. The story of how these two come together to save a crime-ridden, overpopulated, plague-filled world is the basis of Tepper's novel. It is a mixture of myth, science fiction, and apocalyptic prophecy. A Plague of Angels has the same themes as those found in Tepper's previous novels, but it is a little easier to understand. The ending is not very effective (a series of deus ex machinas come in and, with the help of Orphan and Abasio and numerous other human and mythical characters, save humanity from itself), but the story is well worth reading.
Susan McFaden, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 588 pages
• Publisher: Spectra (November 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553568736
• ISBN-13: 978-0553568738
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.2 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #400,770 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Worth a Read, but not putting Effort into it, February 18, 2005

By 

Netbrian - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Plague of Angels (Paperback)

This book has many excellent qualities, including interesting characters, a well-developed universe, and a good handling of a grandiose storyline. Unfortunately, the author tends to get incredibly preachy, and has a truly vexing tendency to divide different parts of the world into "things I like" and "things I don't like". While this sort of writing may well be par for course for this author, the book would have been much better off without it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mental Recognition of a great book does not quite cut it, December 18, 2004

By 

Milli Thornton "author of Fear of Writing: fo... (Youngstown, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Plague of Angels (Paperback)

This is an amazing book, but I wish I could have felt more for the characters. The story had all the elements of danger, intrigue and romance you could hope for, but there was something about the storytelling itself that seemed rather mechanical.

The logistical errors in the manuscript drove me crazy . . . doesn't this publishing house (Bantam) proofread anything? Still, it was worth hanging in for the climax. The book is rather long and if you don't read it consistently (ideally, every day) you might lose sight, like I did, of certain details the author brushed over -- seemingly minor points that become important at the end of the book.

I can't say I'm now a Sheri S. Tepper fan, but I'm glad I tried at least one of her books. The ending was gripping, I just found the path to get there rather tedious at times. The book didn't take me by the heart.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars No acceptable solutions to the problem of this novel, May 11, 2001

By 

Keeva Cox (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Plague of Angels (Paperback)

This book seemed fairly promising, but unfortunately, it failed to deliver on most of the promises. I loved the basic premise and the idea behind the book, but that's pretty much it.

The book started off incredibly slow. The first 80 or so pages are mainly background information, and could have easily been worked in elsewhere in the novel.

Sheri S. Tepper went into incredible detail on things that weren't very important to the story, but left it mainly to the reader's imagination on the bigger elements. Such as Orphan's guardian angel. You can surmise fairly early on what it is, but you don't actually find out what it looks like until at least midway through the book.

The whole book is done in past tense, however, for whatever reason, Sheri S. Tepper decided to switch to present tense for the last chapter. This made absolutely no sense to me. It would have worked had she started off the novel in present tense, then went through the middle of the book like a flashback, finally switching back to present tense at the end. Since this didn't happen, the present tense at the end of the novel had a really jarring effect on me.

I could go on about the other problems I had while reading this book, but suffice it to say, it's pretty bad when you keep reading a novel in the hopes that it gets better to only be disappointed at the end that it didn't. My only real regret is that I purchased this novel new at bookstore. Had I bought it used, it wouldn't seem like such a waste of money.

All in all, the book had the potential to be an awesome mix of sci-fi and fantasy. It's just sad that it didn't happen that way.