Book Review: Angelica

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Angelica     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Sharon Shinn
Class/Genre:   Fantasy   Science Fiction
Series: Samaria # 4
Ace, March 2003, $23.95, 496 pp.

On the world of Samaria, the angels live among mankind and mate with mortals whose children can be either angel or mortal. They sing in prayer to their god Jovah and they have power to change the weather or rain down medicine for the sick. The Archangel who in a few months will be Gaaron guides all the angels. He goes to the oracle to request she ask the god who his bride should be and she tells him it is Susannah, an Edori woman.

Susannah loves the roaming life of the nomadic Edori and she is understandably shocked when Gaaron sweeps down in the middle of the clan and tells her their God expects her to marry him. She bows to Jovah’s will and agrees to go to Gaaron’s hold to be his wife. She struggles to acclimate to her new environment especially when the world is in a state of terror. Men from somewhere other than Samaria are randomly appearing and disappearing, leaving destruction in their wake. Gaaron is so concerned about the people that he ignores Susannah who is determined to force her angel to lean on her in times of trouble and learn to express what is in his heart.

Fans of Anne McCaffrey’s Pern series are going to love ANGELICA, the fourth novel that deals with the unique culture of Samaria. Readers will believe that this world where angels walk alongside mortals really exists because the author goes into minute detail about its social and cultural infrastructure. Sharon Shinn is a gifted storyteller who makes the readers believe Samaria exists outside of the creative imagination of the author.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner

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