Archangel and Quatrain by Sharon Shinn

Fantasy/Science Fiction Romance

I picked up both Archangel and Quatrain by Sharon Shinn on a recent trip to the library. I previously read one book in the Samaria series and all of the books in the Twelve Houses series.

Archangel is the first book in the Samaria series and Sharon Shinn has created an unusual world. When this world was settled the starship Jehovah stayed above the world. The world was populated with angels and ordinary mortal people. The world was to stay at peace and harmony. The angels with their wonderful singing voices were to guard the mortals, oracles were to guard the forbidden knowledge and Jehovah was to watch over all.

Hundreds of years have passed and all of that harmony is in danger. Jehovah has chosen Gabriel as the next archangel. The archangel’s mate or angelica must be a mortal and Jehovah has chosen Rachel. Rachel does not want the job, Raphael, the current archangel, does not want to step down, and many no longer believe in the power of Jehovah. Disaster and chaos are treating to destroy the world.

There is a wonderful flow to Archangel. Sharon Shinn takes the time to develop the characters, and build the world while keeping the story moving. Once I started reading I had trouble putting Archangel down.

Quatrain contains 4 four side stories from Sharon’s series. Flight was a wonderful side story set in the same time as Archangel. Flame is set in the world of the Twelve Houses. The other two are from series I have not read. This would be a good introduction to Sharon Shinn’s books and an interesting addition to existing novels.

ACE published Archangel in 1996 and Quatrain in 2009.