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- In the Arms of Immortals Reviewed By Amy Lignor Of Bookpleasures.com
In the Arms of Immortals Reviewed By Amy Lignor Of Bookpleasures.com
- By Amy Lignor
- Published October 24, 2009
- GENERAL FICTION REVIEWS
Amy Lignor
Reviewer Amy Lignor: Amy is the author of a historical fiction novel entitled The Heart of a Legend, and Mind Made, a work of science fiction. Presently, she is writing an adventure series set in the New York Public Library, as well as a teen fiction series, The Angel Chronicles. She is an avid traveler and has been fortunate to have journeyed across the USA, where she has met the most amazing people, who truly bring life and soul to her books. She lives in the Land of Enchantment (for now) with her gorgeous daughter, Shelby, her wonderful Mom, Mary, and the greatest friend and critic in the entire world - her dog, Reuben
View all articles by Amy LignorAuthor: Ginger Garrett
ISBN:
978-0-7814-4888-8
"The Age of Fear has Begun."
I
am a writer of angels; I am a lover of angels. They are the one
character in fiction and life that appeal to me. I know...I
know...vampires are in, but angels have so much more to say, give,
and do, than the blood-suckers or non-bloodsuckers that are covering
the bookshelves right now. I am pained by this book for many
reasons, but mostly becuase this is the second in a series and I've
not been able to read the first one. But this little jewel of a
book, that landed in my house, has made me remember how good
adventure can be when mixed with soul, heart, and very good
writing.
We begin with Mariskka Curtis. She is an
ex-nurse who did something unthinkable. When one of her
patients passed away, she not only stole the woman's Rolex, but she
also stole a manuscript and claimed it as her own. Now, of
course, just like all irony in life, this book became a number one
bestseller and Mariskka needs to somehow learn how to write and come
up with a sequel. If not, everyone in the world will find out
that she is nothing but a thief.
She wakes
up one morning, ready to taste her frothy cappucino from her
million-dollar machine. Walking into the kitchen, she spies two
men. The Scribe, with his Book of Life laid out on the table,
and an angel named Mbube. (Quick fact: Mbube is the Zulu
word for lion.) Anyway, Mariskka - a complete non-believer who
lost God a long time ago - is sent into the story of the Scribe.
I assumed it was to find her faith and bring her back to the life she
could have if she would only believe in the power that protects us
all.
However, this book has many, many surprises.
We are taken away from Mariskka and sent into the world of Sicily in
1347. We soon meet up with a young girl by the name of
Panthea. Panthea is the rich daughter of Dario, who basically
owns Sicily. Panthea is going to be engaged to Armando - a
mighty warrior who has fought for her father, and has loved her since
she was a child. Her father thinks this is a good match for his
daughter. Panthea disagrees...in a way. She loves
Armando, but he is sometimes too gentle with her. She wants the
fire in her belly; she also wants to be the first women's libber in
Sicily and own her castle and lands in her own right - not have to
acquire them through marriage and take a backseat to her husband like
she did her father. Panthea lost her mother when she was very
young. When her mother was ill, she ran to the church to
"negotiate with God." She gave Him all the money in
her pockets and begged Him to keep her mother alive. God failed
her. Her mother was taken and, ever since, Panthea has blamed
the higher powers for her loss, notr knowing that her loss would be
much, much greater in the end.
A huge, foreboding ship
docks in the Sicilian harbor and a dashing, dark figure emerges from
the ship. This man's name is Damiano. He has come from a
great distance and works for a master whose realm stretches as far as
the winds. He is here to do a job, and he will not be
derailed. When he is invited to dinner, Panthea flirts
outrageously with the man - trying to stop her father from simply
handing her and his own realm over to Armando like a sack of grain.
She needs something more. She needs to be noticed, and perhaps
this "bad boy" whose dark stare fills her with excitement
is the way to get out of the "contracted" boring lfie that
her father is throwing her into. Too late, she finds herself in
the hands of a literal monster. Too late, she finds her world
collapsing down around her ears as the Black Death comes to her
village.
We also meet Gio. Gio is a medicine woman
- some would say witch - who uses her herbs and intelligence to cure
the sick and bring babies into the world. (There is a part
where she uses ants to "stitich" a wound, which was a
fantastic bit of writing). Lazarro is the priest in the town.
He believes, like everyone did at that time, that the only people
smart enough and worthy enough to take care of the sick, were men of
the cloth. Only they had "God's ear" and could beg
the Lord to spare a soul from death.
These
characters were my favorite, because they represented the two sides
that go head to head still today: Science versus religion. They
were also my favorite characters because of their backstory, which I
won't reveal because I feel that everyone should buy this book and
read it immediately. Let's just say that Gio and Lazarro have
known each other all their lives, and because of one painful moment,
when they both 'died' from a falsehood - they became enemies.
But when the Black Death hits, they must fight together to save their
world from utter destruction.
There are so many
wonderful points written into this thrilling novel, that it was
completely impossible for me to put it down. A few of note, was
when the author told me that it was a good thing that angels were
immortal. God was right to make them that way, because they are
the one things we'd want to destroy if we could. Why?
Because an angel who follows us through our life and sees the
atrocities, lies, and sins that we commit as we grow up, knows
everything bad about us. We'd want to kill them simply for
their memories of us when we were...let's say...not acting in a very
god-like manner. The author also wrote, "How little work
there is for the devil when men walk the earth." What can
you say to that? Turn on the news. She's right. God
isn't starting the end of mankind - man is. That's what the
word means, perhaps. Mankind: Man killing off his own
kind.
The author also explains what pain can do.
In fact, when a lightning bolt of sheer peace hits a character's
body, her hands open and her fingers stretch. The character
never knew that she'd "been walking through her whole life with
fists." That part gets to me, because it's true. Why
else would we be in constant need of doctors and massage therapists
down here? God didn't make the pain and stress, but he made the
"healing" people who would try their best to combat the
pain. In other words, life hurts - but life is the greatest
gift He could offer us in the first place.
This is a
non-stop thriller. The adventure, the prose, the characters,
all combine to make this a truly "un-put-downable-read."
Even the descriptions of the town - Sicily's marketplace that is
perfumed with roasting meats and dry herbs, with cattle tracking mud
on the recently swept streets - brings you to another world to
experience first hand the love, life, and loss that happened so long
ago. I guess the only hard part for me, writing wise, was the
angel. For me, angels have always been the most literary
characters, with wonderful voices and manner of speaking that make
words flow through your ears and lift you into Heaven. Mbube is
clipped and short with his words, almost like a child who can't speak
English. This is only me, of course. I know where the
author was going with her character and I appreciate her point of
view...because its different from mine.
Which is, in the
end, what we're talking about. Whether we agree or disagree -
on science versus religion - doesn't matter. As a human race we
should be preserving what we have before another plague is needed to
bring us back together.
Read this. Love this.
Be thrilled by the adventure and gasp at the pain. But, more
importantly, understand everything the author says. She has
alot to say, and I can't wait to read more. The final book in
this trilogy is going to be about the witches persecuted in Europe.
I'll be looking for that one with an eager eye. Ms. Garrett,
I'm a new, huge, fan.
Enjoy!