Okay, where should I start? I guess with this— Angelopolis is one of the worst books I’ve ever read in my entire life (but not the worst; that honor goes to Zong!). It’s fairly bad, and it’s one of those things that makes you wonder what the author was thinking when writing it. And I tried to convey how awful this book was, but I just couldn’t do it because it doesn’t make sense to someone who is not familiar with the series. So, in order to make my review of the next book make sense, I have to explain what the first book in the series, Angelology, is about.
Now I considered doing a spork of the book, but I realized there was no way I had the time to do it, so you guys will have to live with a review. And a sporking might not have worked anyhow. I wanted to like Angelology. I really did. And truth be told, I don’t think it’s that bad; it’s less bad than it is not good.
Allow me to explain. I’ll give you a quick rundown of the plot then tell you how the setting and themes make the book fall flat.
Plot
It’s New York in the late 90’s, and we meet our protagonist, Evangeline (get it, because it has ‘angel’ in it?), a special snowflake who never really fit in with the people around her because of her mysterious past. But what’s this? In a surprising turn of events, she’s a nun in Saint Rose’s Convent in Milton1, but like all spunky young heroines, she sometimes disagrees with authority and surprises nuns and visitors alike by being young and approachable, disdaining fancy church decorations, and wearing more modern versions of a habit. She then opens a letter a dude, called Verlaine, sent to St. Rose. Wanting access to the convent’s library, he is looking for a connection between a former abbess and the Rockefeller family.
Verlaine, of course, turns out to be working for a mysterious man named Percival Grigori and isn’t really sure what he’s getting into. Because Percival Grigori turns out to be GASP A NEPHILIM2, a part of an influential family has been secretly ruling the world along with other nephilim for the past few thousand years. Percival is succumbing to a sickness that has been weakening him and hopes that, with the information found in the convent, he can use it to find Saint Gabriel’s harp and restore his health, strengthening the nephilim and reasserting control over the world or something.
Of course Verlaine fucks up, Percival sends a hit squad to kill him. Verlaine sort-of teams up with Evangeline’s long lost grandmother Gabriella3, who happens to be an angelologist working to fight against the nephilim (and also used to be Percival’s lover)4. Evangeline leaves the convent after its attacked by the nephilim’s minions, winged thugs called the Anakim, rescued by Verlaine and Gabriella. They all regroup with some other angelologists, find the harp, but OHES NOES it can only be destroyed by someone of angelic heritage. Evangeline and her grandmother get captured, but Evangeline discovers her inner angelic-ness—being the granddaughter of Percival Grigori—destroys the harp, and kills Percival after he kills her grandmother. Verlaine thinks Evangeline must now be evil because she’s nephilim and runs off to become an angelologist.
Also, the middle section of the book is consumed by this long flashback of Sister Celestine5, a nun who used to be Gabriella’s friend/angelology coworker and helped find the prison of the Watchers (the angels who fathered the nephilim) and the Harp of Gabriel. This flashback is also considerably more interesting than pretty much anything that happens in the “present” part of the novel.
Nephilim
The subject of nephilim is something that has always interested me, so it’s not surprising that I was quick to pick this book up from the campus bookstore. Trussoni actually does an okay job with many of the basic features of the creatures; they’re almost all incredibly tall (so they would have been considered giants in Biblical times), have wings, and tend to resemble Renaissance art of angels, which makes some sense, given that it’s implied they’re the inspiration for a lot of art on angels.
With that being said, though, there are a couple things I have issues with. The first is their beauty—they are constantly talked up as being more beautiful than any human being, which isn’t necessarily bad, but it’s problematic when all the pureblood nephilim have pale skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes. These are apparently angelic traits. I’ve had issues with this before: why would they all look the same? If angels are a species that procreates like humans do, wouldn’t there be a variation in physical appearance with them, too? Wouldn’t they also have different appearances?
The second thing I had an issue with was their history. In Angelology, we’re told that nephilim secretly rule the world, but in the past they did it more directly. The royal houses of Europe, for instance, are all related to/descended from the nephilim, which doesn’t work for several reasons. If they’re all nephilim, shouldn’t they all have blond hair, blue eyes, and be really tall? We know that not every medieval ruler fit that description. We also know that dynasties were sometimes established on the spot by conquerors who weren’t from ruling families—William the Conqueror took over England, for instance, and he wasn’t king before then. And nephilim also have extended lifespans—Percival Grigori remembers Victorian England, and he was an adult then. Wouldn’t the history books have records of kings who lived for remarkably long times? Just maybe?
Also, isn’t ‘nephilim’ a plural word? Wouldn’t the singular of ‘nephilim’ be ‘nephil’ or something similar? [seraph=>seraphim, cherub=>cherubim]
Angelologists
But more than the nephilim, the angelologists are the biggest problem with the world building. You see the angelologists don’t just study angels. Their goal is to kill all nephilim—not make peace with them, not remove them from power, or imprison them with the Watchers—nothing but the complete annihilation of an entire race. For a society that decided to distance itself from the Roman Catholic Church, because of the Crusades and the Inquisition6, it’s pretty big on genocide. Evangeline has a flashback, due to stumbling upon a facility, in which a young nephilim is held and tortured in a dungeon, and never once does someone stop and say, “Hang on, we’re kind of being dicks about this whole business.”
Do basic rights not extend to non-humans?
Weirder than that, I’m wondering why none of the angelologists go public with their information. Yes, the nephilim are in places of power, but to paraphrase Artemis Fowl II: monkeys pose a bigger threat. There are more of them. We have guns and weapons and numbers while, right now, nephilim have an outdated aristocracy and good looks.
“But it’s not like there’s any evidence, is there?” the astute reader might ask. Well, that’s where you’re wrong, because the angelologists have evidence. They have preserved biological tissue and organ samples taken from dissections of nephilim7 as well as family trees and genealogies that are apparently completely accurate dating back to Noah. Yes, that Noah. Sister Celestine tells Evangeline that no one believes in angels because they have no faith—but this isn’t a faith versus science issue! You have the hard evidence! The only reason people don’t believe isn’t because they don’t have faith, it’s because you haven’t shown them the evidence yet!
Angels
Angels…don’t actually appear that much, which is fine, I guess. This is the first book in the series, and they mostly act as the background. But Gabriel is mentioned a lot as is Lucifer; you’d almost think that Trussoni was not so subtly leading up to something…
Angels are all apparently blonde with blue eyes, though (grrr), and seem to fit the stereotypical descriptions of angels in art: basically dudes with wings. That’s…frustrating, but it can still be done interestingly. For example, Trussoni’s angels are actually very vulnerable in their wings, because they have so many blood vessels running through them that hurting the wings risks the angel bleeding to death.
[Although angels can apparently unfold their wings without tearing their clothes, they’re both physical and spiritual beings, which shouldn’t work if major blood vessels run through the wings, but… yeah…]
But I’m not sure what role the archangels are supposed to have. They are mentioned as opposing the nephilim and, yet, apparently let them rule the world. In this universe, the Book of Enoch actually happened, meaning the archangels should have killed all the nephilim, but the ones on Earth are descended from them so…yeah, you missed a spot.
Also! Fun fact! The strings on Gabriel’s harp are made from his hair!
God
What makes all of this really strange is that, for a book about angels where the main character is a nun, there’s not that much talk of God or Jesus. God’s opinion about nephilim isn’t discussed—why He let them live, or why He let any of this happen—which is kind-of what all of you should be thinking. Given you have evidence that angels exist, what God’s doing should be kind of a key question throughout all of this?
Christianity
One character in Sister Celestine’s flashback makes the suggestion that Jesus is not the Son of God but rather the son of Gabriel and Mary. This is offensive and stupid, but given that it’s a theory a character threw out there and didn’t state as fact within the world of the book, I didn’t think much of it. We’ll talk about that more when we get to the next book.
Like I said above, religion doesn’t seem to inform the characters’ actions as much as provide things for Trussoni to draw upon. When the convent is under attack, one of the nuns decides that all the nephilim should be destroyed, and no one talks about forgiveness or mercy—all things that Christianity teaches. Something that people who have dedicated their lives to their faith should know.
Most annoyingly of all, there comes a point in which Verlaine asks Gabriella how Evangeline “gave up everything worth living for” (354) in becoming a nun. Gabriella points out that what’s worth living for is up for debate, but… really? I get that Evangeline’s reason for joining a convent isn’t precisely the best (it basically boils down to because her father said so), but what makes it all so problematic is that when Evangeline leaves the convent, it’s written like we’re supposed to unanimously see this as a good decision, because now she and Verlaine can pursue a relationship. This all goes to shit by the end of the novel (and the next one) anyway because she goes into hiding. As someone who has heavily considered monastic life, this just seems… insensitive.
Conclusion
Angelology is a bad book. However, it’s not an awful book. It’s one of those books you could easily enjoy if you don’t look too closely at it, sort of like a Michael Bay movie. It’s probably more enjoyable if you’re into thrillers and conspiracy stories. That all being said, it’s miles ahead of the sequel, Angelopolis, a monstrosity of a book is trauma-inducing as it is stupid. I’ll see you guys there.
1 Get it? Milton? BECAUSE ANGELS DAMNIT!
2 But you probably already knew that if you know anything about the name. ‘Grigori’ means ‘Watchers.’ As in the group of angels that fathered the nephilim.
3 GET IT THE NAME HAS GABRIEL IN IT
4 …you see where this is going? No? Okay.
5 LIKE CELESTIAL ANGELS AND HEAVEN D’ARVIT!
6 Not that the book has any grasp of those other than popular history, which is to say… none.
7 Presumably after torturing them to death.
Danielle on 21 April 2014, 01:46 said:
This book sounds like a slightly more well-thought-out City of Bones. Only without so much outright idea theft.
Interestingly enough, the Bible (the “canon” for what is essentially Bible fan fiction, like this book) takes place in the Middle East, where natives are not blond haired and blue eyed. When angels appear to people in the Bible, many of them don’t even know they’re angels at first, implying said angels adopted Middle Eastern features when they assumed human form. If angels were really all blond haired and blue eyed, wouldn’t the people in the Bible have known that at first sight?
Only on Doctor Who.
And that’s what gets me about books like this. You can talk about angels (servants of God) and demons (servants of Satan) all day long, but you can’t bring God or Satan into the picture. It’s like being allowed to talk about employees of McDonald’s and Burger King, but not being allowed to mention the companies by name.
And I get it: religion makes some people uncomfortable. It’s fine to not want to bring God and Satan and any other religious figure into the equation. But if that’s what authors want to do, it would be easier to just steer clear of deeply religious concepts and draw from other ancient narratives.
wat
You’ve considered monastic life? That’s awesome.
On another note, that seems to be a trend in fiction: Characters who are raised within a particular religion almost always leave that religion with the author’s blessing. It’s portrayed as this incredible awakening, the part where we’re supposed to give a cheer for independent thought and making your own decisions. And I get it: there are people out there who left their parents’ religion for any number of reasons. I respect that. What’s troubling is that characters who choose to remain within their parents’ religion are almost always portrayed as weak-minded, unquestioning, oblivious, or downright bigoted.
facepalm
Congratulations on getting through it, Juracan. I’m not sure I could’ve.
The Smith of Lie on 21 April 2014, 12:57 said:
I find it interesting to see how Angels (and by extension Fallen Angels/Demons/Devils) are portrayed in urban fantasy. Considering that Christian Mythology is part of still practiced and pretty big religion, there is a lot of space for controversy.
But some pretty fun things can be done with Angels even without involving God directly. There’s a Polish book Siewca Wiatru (which roughly translates as He Who Sows the Wind), that takes place in Heaven itself, but with God absent, having left his Angels (and human world) behind for some unexplicable reason. It reads more like a normal fantasy though, but still does some interesting things with the theme.
Other book that comes to mind is Good Omens. I love the part where heavenly host and forces of hell stand against each other, ready to do battle and it is mentioned that an expert eye would be able to distinct between them.
Anyways, I’m waiting for the review of Angelopolis, seeing how you’re pupming up hype for it.
Holy Irony on 22 April 2014, 11:23 said:
This article gave me a good chuckle after a long day of work. Bravo for your patience, sir.
(self-promotion alert)
That reminds of an idea I had for a book. It’s called “G.O.D. : Grand Organization of Destiny”.
The pitch was thusly :
“If god didn’t exist, we should invent Him.” Voltaire
“Oki doki.” Main character
So that’s the plot in a nutshell : a bunch of humans with weird psi powers somehow find themselves in control of what seems to be Heaven, only there is no God or angels to be found. And in the meantime, the recently deceased are waiting in queue, and there’s more of them each day. So of course, the characters decide to take over the damn thing and impersonate God and his angels. Someone has to, right ?
It was kind of a tongue-in-cheek thing, of course. I never got around to actually write, because it’s work and I’m lazy.
(/self-promotion alert)
The Smith of Lie on 22 April 2014, 14:10 said:
Guess who decided to write another silly spitefic about a book he has never read and knows next to nothing about? If you answered “That stallion of a man, god among mortals and literary genius, The Smith of Lies, who is also ruggedly handsome and respectable” then you are weird. And little creepy. But I indeed am going to spoof this title. You have been forewarned, run, save your souls while you can…
Johan Weishaupt looked outside the window. City of New York sprawled at his feet. The sight would be breathtaking, he could look down at all but a very few buildings, yet after few months it became sort of commonplace. Doors opened and youg Asian women entered. “Sir, we got report from Milton.” He shot her inquisitive look, raising one eyebrow. “Indeed?” She nodded. “It is hard to believe, but it considers the other shadow government, the one that was opposing us for last century.” That merited the rise of second eyebrow. And predatory grin. “Very well, please leave it at the desk, I’ll send the orders soon.” After a short pause he added, an please inform the other members of the council, they’ll want to know. Especially Hagbard.”
Few hours later the dispositions were given, agents informed and events set in motion. All Johan had to do was to wait. Wait and reap rewards of this unexpected windfall.
“So, we need to fund and destroy the harp before Grigori lays his hands on it?” Evangeline sounded pretty dubious about the whole proposition, but recent events killed any potential skepticism in a bud. “Pretty much.” Answered Verlaine. Ex-nun sighed heavily. “Very well, let us be about it.”
Yet they were not to achieve their goals easily, Nephilim were not going to be dissuaded. Host of Anakim fell upon them like furies, down from the sky. It quickly became obvious that two of them were no match for thuggish creatures, not in the numbers they showed up in. “Run Evangeline, I’ll slow them down.” She was about to point that as a wing-less, bipedal humanoid Verlaine was ill equipped to prevent a flying opponent from chasing her. Especially on the open ground, that favored the ability to move in three dimensions greatly and was what allowed Anakim to gain their current tactical advantage in the first place. Before she could bring up those finer points of land to air combat her train of toughs was interrupted by an explosion. Turns out that semi-angelic creatures do not take well to surface to air missiles.
Neither Evangeline and Verlaine nor Anakim noticed black van that appeared out… out of somewhere she guessed. It was one of passengers, riding a missile launcher, who killed the Anakim. And yet, he and his weapon were not the biggest surpruse. That title was taken by vehicle mounted 2 cm Flakvierling 38, which also proven that one can make an airborne mincemeat.
“Sister Evangeline I presume?” The man was wearing some kind of uniform, but she could not identify the formation. Only insignia present was a blue triangle with a sort of circle inside. “I’m sergeant Williams. Glad we could be of help.” Evangeline exchanged a look with Verlaine, but he apparently had no idea who the soldiers were either. So not Angelologists than. Sergeant noticed. “I will insist, that you’ll lead me to the harp. It needs to be secured before those guys” he gestured with his heads towards the red stains that used to be Anakim, “can reach it.”
Meanwhile Percival Grigori was awaiting his servants’ return. The victory was at hand. All the years of playing in the shadows, the centuries of hiding from humans and manipulation were to finally pay. He couldn’t keep the smile of his face, when he heard the steps behind the doors. Yet, when the doors opened, it were not his servants who entered. He actually had no idea who the man was. Tall, with shaggy hair and unkempt beard the stranger was no one Percival Grigori would wish in his employ. “What is the meaning of this?!” Instead of producing an answer, the man produced a revolver. Grigori could not actually say how it appeared in the hand of his assailant. It was as if he pulled it out of thin air by magic. Shots rang. Percival had time to think about the surprise awaiting intruder when he find out that it was not so easy to kill Nephilim. Bullets, hah! Mere inconvenience. And yet they hurt. Much more than they should. He looked down at his chest. He was bleeding. His kneels hit the floor. Life was escapign from him with frightening speed. “How… Why?” He could not speak any more. His vision began to darken when he heard “The enlightened send their deepest regards.” And in his last moments Grigori knew. It wasn’t as if by magic, that his killer produced his gun. It was by magic.
Johan Weishaupt looked outside the window. City of New York sprawled at his feet. The sight would be breathtaking, he could look down at all but a very few buildings, yet after few months it became sort of commonplace. Doors opened and youg Asian women entered. “Sir, we got report from Milton.” He shot her inquisitive look, raising one eyebrow. “Indeed?” She nodded. “All known members of Grigori family has been eliminated, their deaths blamed on local organized crime syndicate, Harp of Gabriel was secured and sister Evangeline was sent to the biology department.” He smiled. It was another good day in business of running the secret conspiracy ruling the world from the shadows.
Tim on 22 April 2014, 18:52 said:
Nobody knows, the etymology isn’t clear for the word like it is with Seraphim. So you’re really just left with the fact that “Nephil” is a really awkward looking word.
It’s not really all that surprising since YHWH is something of a plot hole factory when used in fiction: it’s hard to really sell the reader on there being a genuine problem if someone who could solve it entirely and effortlessly is established to exist from the word go. It’s why even in stories where Satan appears, God often still doesn’t.
Juracan on 22 April 2014, 21:35 said:
Yeah, but it could be worse. The makers of Prometheus claimed that Jesus was one of the Engineers. Which makes no sense given that you’d think someone would have mentioned if there was a pale giant walking around two thousand years ago.
To be fair, it’s just mentioned that it’s hair, and someone proposes that it’s Gabriel’s own hair. Which is weird— why would someone make a harp out of his or her own hair?
Oh God. Now I feel as if I have to live up to everyone’s expectations. I hope I didn’t hype it up too much…
Love your spitefics, by the way.
Oh, I agree. I’m not saying that God needs to make a personal appearance in the story. But I think there should be someone addressing it. Take Darksiders for instance: there’s a “Creator” who is referred to, but where he is isn’t specified. But it’s clear that the people of that universe know about him and care about what he does.
Here, it’s not just that God’s not appearing in person; it’s that no one seems to even consider what He’s doing during all of this. Does He approve of the plan to kill the nephilim? Does He want the nephilim? Is this all part of His plan? The characters don’t seem to care.
They have almost definitive proof that there’s a God, and apparently He’s not a major concern.
Joanna on 23 April 2014, 08:55 said:
“To be fair, it’s just mentioned that it’s hair, and someone proposes that it’s Gabriel’s own hair. Which is weird— why would someone make a harp out of his or her own hair?”
It’s probably some kind of magic or spiritual thing. As a concept it’s not inherently problematic. There’s plenty of precedent in Christian folklore about supernatural relics made out of (or anointed with) the bones, teeth, ashes, blood, etc. of saints. Hair isn’t that crazy.
Juracan on 23 April 2014, 10:20 said:
I suppose it’s fine for a relic, but I think it’s a tad odd that one would make an instrument for one’s own personal use out of his or her own hair.
But no, it’s not a problem, just a weird little tidbit that came up in the book.
gervasium on 29 April 2014, 11:47 said:
“They have almost definitive proof that there’s a God, and apparently He’s not a major concern.”
Do they, though? They have evidence of incredible things that are usually mentioned in mythology associated with God, which would help the case for God’s existence but not really prove it.
Those are my thoughts, not having read the book. And again, not having read the book, but considering religious people feature prominently throughout, it does seem very irrealistic, that no one would have commented on how the literal existence of angels and nephilim affected their perception of God.
The Smith of Lie on 29 April 2014, 12:21 said:
This reminds me of one of the best (in my opinion) Paladin archetype characters in fiction – Sanya from Dresden Files. Who is an agnostic wielding a holy sword given to him by an archangel. He does not deny that God may exist and it is even highly probable, but as far as he knows he could have just as well have been given the sword by sufficently advanced alien.
Similarly, in Scion tabletop RPG there are creatures that qualify as angelic, but they are not a proof of existance of Abrahamic god (who is actually implied to be one persona under which the Titan Aten is known).
So yeah, presence of Angels does not preclude nonexistance of God. Though God and Angels usually coexist.
Brendan Rizzo on 9 May 2014, 09:04 said:
You know, I thought this was actually referring to Rasputin somehow, since these authors tend to be idiots who think Don Bluth’s movie was historically accurate.
And that is one thing that I really don’t like about a lot of fantasy works. The hero can never just be a normal human; they have to secretly be descended from OMGSuperPowerful!People. It’s basically a rehash of the idea that royal bloodlines are inherently superior to those of the plebs and that only people of royal descent are capable of doing anything.
Yeah, this sort of thing is pretty much why I stay away from these kinds of books— the authors almost never know the difference between evidence and faith. Maybe it’s just the scientist in me, but fantasy stories which rely on the knowledge of the supernatural being hidden from most people just really get on my nerves.
Well, I have never read this book, but judging from what you’ve said, it seems like it’s So Okay It’s Average, and you only discussed it so that we would be prepared for your spork of the sequel. So, I can’t wait for that to happen.
Juracan on 12 May 2014, 16:40 said:
Oh, he gets a mention/reference in the sequel, which ties the Nephilim to the Romanovs and the Russian Revolution.
Oh Christ, you have no idea how funny that is. Because we haven’t even gotten to the sequel yet, where we find out…
…no, I think I’ll save it.
The Smith of Lie on 13 May 2014, 02:18 said:
Ok, with all the teasing and obvious emotions you have for that sequel, I dare you, I double dare you – spork it.
Elli Who Is Making Her First Ever Comment on 14 June 2014, 11:17 said:
Okay. Maybe this isn’t a big deal, but—I just cannot get over the harp-strings-made-out-of-hair thing. Because here’s the thing: hair breaks really easily. Especially if you pull it so there’s a lot of tension on it and then pluck at it—which is exactly what you do to harp strings. I just can’t see it happening. Maybe I’m wrong, though. Is this a real thing? It could be, but I would be very surprised.
Asahel on 14 June 2014, 13:50 said:
@Elli
I don’t think it’s a real thing. Anyone feel free to correct me if someone has managed to make harp strings out of hair.
I think Gabriel’s harp is supposed to get a pass, though, since its made out of angel’s hair (and is thus probably capable of things far beyond the ken of ordinary human hair).
Elli on 16 June 2014, 16:45 said:
@Asahel
That makes sense (about it being an angel’s hair).
I’ve also heard of a song or a poem or something about a girl who died and someone made a harp out her bones and hair. That still doesn’t make much sense to me.
Anyways, great review Juracan! (I should have said that before sorry)
Kari on 15 May 2015, 05:44 said:
thread necromancing
Like you, I have considered monastic life (I am currently settling for consecrated virginity, though) and like you, this “Nobody is ever really happy as a nun” (and also monk, but especially nun, since women need to form babby to be happy or some shtick) nonsense is really bothering me. I acknowledge that monastic life is not for everyone and becoming a nun because your father said so is not the best motive. Also, I am all for critical voices in Christianity, I myself find it disgusting how fellow Christians treat, say, homosexuals, since even in the Bible, most rules concerning them are moot points anyway and other rules in the same books aren’t followed or treated with the same gravity either (e.g. concerning circumcision or even divorce), and Jesus explicitly states you should hate the sin, but love the sinner, which many Christians seem to forget, so I would have found it awesome, had Evangeline been that kind of person.
But she instead strikes me as one of the heroines in “historical” novels that go “Nu-uh, I hate needlework, so instead I teach myself fencing. I also hate being a lady, I’d rather be a knight. Also, dresses are stupid and cumbersome, so I will invent a short dress/wear trousers instead!” and it doesn’t bring her to the gallows or the madhouse, but inspires awe in every observer. People wondering about her being young I can understand, most nun’s aren’t that young. I can also understand her disdain for fancy churches if it’s done in a “The money that went into this could have fed X hungry people!” way (This is a Padre Pio thing after all) and not in a “Yuck, so kitschy and stupid in such an old-fashioned manner!” way. But what the heck is it with the habit? A more modern version of a habit? How would that even look? Is it more fitted (and thus, sexy)? How did she get it? Would that even be allowed??? If I would write a spunky young nun character, I’d have her have a view of habits like: “I never have the problem other young women have about not knowing what to wear, haha!”
The “All the kings and queens in Europe were actually nephilim” thing strikes me as stupid for other reasons than them not being tall, blonde and pale: It’s the anti-human stance. “No human could ever be clever, competent or wise enough to rule a country – this is what supernatural creatures are for!”
Also… Maybe it’s because I’m German. The whole WWII business gets taught in schools for so long and in such an intense manner that, to paraphrase Michael Mittermeier, our history classes were called guilt classes instead and at age 16 I thought I invaded Poland. But, seriously, the angels all being tall, fair-skinned, blond, and blue-eyed makes me seriously uncomfortable. It would have been cool if angels appeared to everyone as people of their own ethnicity, much like Morpheus in The Sandman, or even appeared as what the people thought of as the most beautiful. This could have some funny/creepy consequences: There are some poeple who think of a lot of ethnicities, body types, hair and eye colours etc. as beautiful, so angels would look really diverse to them. But if someone has a serious crush on a celebrity, the angels would all look like that celebrity.
Lastly, yea, nephilim is plural. Nephil is the singular. It just means “giant”.
Juracan on 17 May 2015, 13:07 said:
Well, not awe, really. According to the book the other nuns think her a bit odd because of it. But it never actually goes anywhere. There is not any divide between her and the other nuns other than by age. It seems to me that Trussoni is trying to make her sympathetic to readers but there’s nothing in her actions to back up these descriptions of her supposed humility or piety.
Yeah, that got to me too. Granted, it was only after reading the second book that I took a more critical look at this one, but it certainly does that idea across. Because despite the fact that the Nephilim are supposed to be evil, the “purebred” ones are still described as being much more intelligent and attractive and humans have very little they can do against them.
I love the idea of angels appearing different depending on who looks at them! Honestly, that works a lot better and is less problematic than having them as one ethnicity and then describing them as the most beautiful creatures to ever exist. And it makes more sense, because there’s no reason to believe that mythological/religious creatures from the ancient Near East would look like the stereotypical northern Europeans.
Thankfully, the sequel starts using ‘Nephil’ as a term. It’s about the only thing in the sequel that’s done better than in this novel.