Archangel’s War
By: Nalini Singh
Series: Guild Hunter #12
Archangel’s War picks up immediately after the end of Archangel’s Prophecy. Thankfully, because I needed to know! We get some resolution fairly quickly in the book, though it does take time to work through the set-up begun in Prophecy. Which is what makes the cliff-hanger ending of the previous book understandable.
I don’t want to spoil too much about the resolution of that issue, but the repercussions echo through the immortal world. For eleven books we’ve been building to this moment – the war that will change not only the landscape of the planet, but affect every single person.
Wings of silver. Wings of blue. Mortal heart. Broken dreams. Shatter. Shatter. Shatter. A sundering. A grave. I see the end. I see. . .
The Cascade is continuing to throw the world into chaos, raising towards the end-game. It’s clear that the entire world is readying themselves to deal with the war that may end everything they know. Their enemy has grown to massive deadly power, and no one is sure if even the might of all known archangels will be enough to succeed and survive. This war could end them all.
As Raphael, Elena, and their friends (and enemies) prepare for the final battle, there are moments of poignant joy and hope. I especially enjoyed the moments in Amanat, with Raphael’s mother. We’ve heard a lot of Raphael’s father throughout the series, mostly due to the horrific event the ended up defining recent memory, so to see these happier moments was a breath of fresh air. Not without their own pain, but startlingly brilliant in the joy they held. I think we desperately needed that before the horror that is to come.
A LOT of big things happen in this book, and I won’t spoil them. But the Cascade continues to ratchet everything to the nth degree. We spend a good portion of the book waiting for the final shoe to drop, and by the time it finally does – near the three-quarters mark – it’s almost welcome. From there to the end it’s a whirlwind of exhausting battle and wins and losses. It’s fraught with tension and I read it biting my nails.
This is my second time reading it. I know that it turns out okay – not without losses, but okay nonetheless. Still, Nalini Singh kept me eagerly turning pages to read it all again.
I love this series. I have from the beginning. It’s dark and dangerous and sometimes even the “good guys” aren’t good. But watching them struggle – not only to survive and succeed, but to the be the best versions of themselves – has always been an absolute joy. This ending felt right. I know I’ll be re-reading this series for years to come.
And thankfully, with Archangel’s Sun coming out so very soon, I know that I’ll be able to continue to visit these characters and this world I’ve become so attached to.
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