Angel Mage

I remember owning a couple of books from this author's Abhorsen series years ago but I never read them. Even this book wasn't on my radar, but when I happened to read the synopsis around the time of its release, I thought it was a bit different from my usual reads and wanted to give it a try. I can't say I was blown away by it, but it turned out to be a good read.

I liked the idea of this world, each kingdom having its own archangel with their own host of lesser angels, and the mages of the kingdom being able to summon them using icons. I particularly loved the way the icons are described in detail and it would be very interesting to see some artwork related to it. But we are never given any details of the world itself, beyond the basics. It's almost not until the end that the Doom of Ystara is revealed, and while it made for a nice mystery, I just wasn't sure the revelation was worth the wait. There are also too many names of people we care nothing about, a hierarchy of the angels which I couldn't remember at all, and so many different angels who could be summoned that I stopped who was capable of what magic. The only part of the world that I could remember atleast a little was the top most power players in the kingdom of Sarance and their archangel.

The best part of the book was that it was fast paced right from the get go, with the readers being thrown in the middle of the action in the prologue itself. As there are too many characters introduced to us in the beginning, it took a while for me to realize who the important ones are and then try to remember them. This book is told through third person (I think) and had a level of detachment in the narrative style which prevented me from getting to know any character closely. I found the dialogue also to be a bit repetitive and annoying at times. There are only a few action sequences but I thought they were described very well. But on the whole, I was very interested to know what the end goal was and how it would be achieved, and that's what sustained me to keep going. I'm also a bit conflicted about the ending - it felt underwhelming but also appropriate, so I don't know what to say about it.

Whenever there is an ensemble cast, I'm always excited to get to know them all but unfortunately, that didn't happen here. Lilliath is probably the only one we spend a significant amount of time with, and she was very much a mystery throughout. All I could understand was that despite her promises to her followers, she really seemed very selfish and had her own motives, without any care to protect those around her. Among the other four main characters, the only one I really got to know a bit was Dorotea. She is a scholar and has powers that no one understands but I loved how confident she was in herself, and just wanted the opportunity to continue her education. Her quest for knowledge and her belief that books are the biggest treasure really endeared me to her. Henri, Simeon, Agnez and Dorotea's instant connection and friendship was also lovely to read about, but it would have been nice to know a bit more about them individually.

To conclude, I think this was a book that had a lot more potential but not all of it worked on page. If you have read the author's previous books and enjoyed them, then the writing style might work for you. If you like books which focus more on the plot but not a lot on characterization, then this might be the right book for you. It has an interesting world and magic system, but there was just something missing. And I also feel it could have been better fleshed out if it was a duology rather than trying to compress it all into a standalone book.

This was the first Garth Nix book I have read and it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience! Garth Nix has crafted a world that seems both eerily familiar and utterly strange. The angel magic referenced in the title is a clever construct. The idea that calling upon angels lets you do wondrous things at a cost to ones lifespan produces a nicely calibrated magic system. The more powerful the angel, the more it takes from the summoner. I am a fan of well constructed magic systems and this is up there with some of the best.

The meat of any story is the characters. Angel Mage focuses on two sides of the same story, producing an interesting dichotomy. First we have Lilliath - a supremely powerful Angel Mage, able to do more things than anyone else. In many ways she is the enemy, but Garth Nix has built up some interesting shades of grey and you cant help but sympathising with her from time to time, despite her ruthlessness. The other side is represented by 4 fairly different characters, who are kind of brought together by Lilliath. The friendship and camaraderie that they develop provides a strong counterpoint to the ruthlessness of Lilliath.

There are some wonderful twists on classic tropes within this story. There are strong female protagonists in this story. All the key figures in power are women, which is a nice and welcome change from standard depictions in fantasy.

I hope to return to this world at some point. It was well built and although this story stands alone you can feel that there is plenty more stories to be told in this setting

Books, Coffee & Passion

Angel Mage is the best written book I've read this year. Garth Nix is a painter with words, everything in this world was vivid, interesting and exciting, combine this with an unique magic system and impressive characters like Liliath, Rochefort, Dorotea and Agnez and the result is an amazing story that kept me engaged until the very last word.
The world building is absolutely epic, there's angelic magic, a magic “plague”, a mysterious mission, lots of angels summoned, 4 characters (Agnez, Dorotea, Henri and Simeon) that have a bound they can't explain which leads them to a loyal friendship, a rivalry between Pursuivants (the cardinal's soldiers) and Musketeers (the queen's soldiers) and I couldn't put my Kindle down. This story enthralled me completely, I was invested in these characters' stories and there was actually a time I found myself rooting for Liliath but also rooting for Agnez, Dorotea, Henri and Simeon. I think this speaks volumes about how deep Garth Nix managed to pull me into this book. I loved this society, how there were so many female strong roles and also the diversity in the story. Yet, I'm rating this book 4 stars and not 5 because there was too much information, too much happening at the same time and I think that I would love this more if there had been more depth to some story lines, for example I wanted much more from Rochefort (and her feelings for Dorothea) and from the rivalry between Pursuivants and Muskeeters. I think this story shouldn't have been a standalone, I'm hoping that Garth Nix will give us more from this world. I NEED more! Overall, I highly recommend this book and, after writing this review, I am going to order a physical copy from BD because I need this book in my bookshelf so I can reread again and again.
*I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Garth Nix, Katherine Tegen Books and Edelweiss for providing this copy. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. *