Subject: Reviews: ARCHANGEL, JOVAH'S ANGEL, THE ALLELUIA FILES by Sharon Shinn

From: "Michael I. Lichter" <[email-masked]>
Date: 18 May 1998 10:24:48 -0400

ARCHANGEL by Sharon Shinn
          Ace, April 1997, ISBN 0-441-00432-6, 390pp, US$6.50

                      JOVAH'S ANGEL by Sharon Shinn
            Ace, May 1997, ISBN 0-441-00404-0, 389pp, US$13.95

                   THE ALLELUIA FILES by Sharon Shinn
          Ace, April 1998, ISBN 0-441-00505-5, 474pp, US$13.95

                  Reviews Copyright 1998 Michael Lichter

I don't believe any more in angels than I believe in gryphons or honest
politicians, and my contrary nature generally directs me way from anything
that is fashionable, so in this age of angel hype, what am I doing reading
a triad of novels about angels? Part of the story is the striking cover of
ARCHANGEL, which portrays a young woman holding a feather in one hand, a
glowing ball in the other, standing enraptured on a bleak plain. The rest
of the story is just some good, mostly old-fashioned, enjoyable writing.

These three novels tell us about life on Samaria, a primitive place ruled
by angels. Thankfully, these are not mystical, extra-nice angels, but are
in fact only (almost) human. Humans and angels must come together as
lovers because angels cannot interbreed; all angels have one normal human
parent and one angelic parent. Genetically engineered for strength,
flight, and singing ability, the angels form a separate religious estate,
enjoying special honors and privileges, and living apart in grand
mountaintop aeries. The angels are ruled by the Archangel, an angel chosen
by the god Jovah to serve for a twenty year term. Unbeknownst to the vast
majority of Samarians, however, the god Jovah is in fact the spaceship
Jehovah.  Responding to voice commands from the angels, Jehovah controls
the weather, and drops food and medicine when needed, and, as a special
added bonus, decides who the Archangel must marry. Finding the Archangel a
mate is critical, because each year the Archangel and his or her spouse
must sing a mass at a particular time and place or Jehovah will destroy
the planet.

This marital imperative drives the romance in each of the three novels. In
fact, more than anything else, these novels *are* romances. The presence
of angels gives the novels a claim to the category of "fantasy," and the
technological origin of the god and the angels adds the category of
"science fiction," but romance is the backbone of the series. In each
case, the romance is played out against the background of a crisis, a
dangerous puzzle which can only be solved by the joint action of humans
and angels together.

In ARCHANGEL, the crisis is a ruthless ruler who colludes with wealthy
merchants to maintain the persecution and enslavement of a people called
the Edori. Archangel-to-be Gabriel must find Rachel, his reluctant mate,
and convince her to see beyond her hatred of angels. If he does not
succeed, he will forfeit his place, and slavery will continue.

One hundred years later, nerdly Alleluia is appointed Archangel when her
predecessor, the proud and flamboyant Delilah, is crippled in an accident.
Jovah is going deaf, the angels are thus losing their ability to control
the weather, and the final result is flooding and drought that threaten
human survival on Samaria. Alleluia, together with her mate-to-be Caleb,
must discover the true nature of Jovah, and figure out how to fix it
before all is lost.

Another hundred years on, corrupt Archangel Bael is angling to install his
son Omar on the throne. Tamar is a member of the Jacobites, a persecuted
heretical faction who believe -- correctly -- that Jovah is not divine,
and that Alleluia discovered the truth. Bored angel Jared is enlisted by a
merchant friend to search for the "Alleluia Files", the fabled proof of
Jovah's true nature that the Jacobites also seek. Only if Jared can win
Tamar's trust can either succeed in securing the evidence, which is their
only hope for saving the Jacobites and stopping Bael's plans.

If this sounds a bit formulaic, it is. It is not at all difficult to
figure out who is fated to become lovers with whom, predict which unlikely
coincidences are going to occur, and speculate pretty accurately about how
the story is going to get to happily-ever-after. Of course, there are
worse things than predictability. At the outset of a tragedy, you know
that the hero is going down in flames, and at the outset of a light
romance you know that by the end the stubborn heroine is going to melt
into the arms of the dashing hero. Whether the familiarity of the formula
engenders comfort or boredom depends on the talents of the writer and the
tastes of the reader. Though no Shakespeare, Shinn is a good humored,
enjoyable storyteller, and she manages just fine.

Stories about spaceships which become gods are not new; Frank Herbert's
THE JESUS INCIDENT is one example. Stories about humans who, through
technology, take on aspects of holy creatures are not new; this was a
specialty of Roger Zelazny.  See, for example, his classic LORD OF LIGHT.
Stories about humans who, like the people of Samaria, lose track of their
origins and consequently mythologize what was once well-understood, are
ubiquitous; Miller's A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ is probably the best
classical example.  What Shinn brings to her stories that set them apart
is a light touch, romance, and some intricate plotting. These are, I
think, enough.

	%A	Sharon Shinn
	%T	Archangel
	%I	Ace
	%C	New York
	%D	April 1997
	%G	ISBN 0-441-00432-6
	%P	390 pp.
	%O	paperback, US$6.50

	%A	Sharon Shinn
	%T	Jovah's Angel
	%I	Ace
	%C	New York
	%D	May 1997
	%G	ISBN 0-441-00404-0
	%P	389 pp.
	%O	trade paperback, US$13.95

	%A	Sharon Shinn
	%T	The Alleluia Files
	%I	Ace
	%C	New York
	%D	April 1998
	%G	ISBN 0-441-00505-5
	%P	474 pp.
	%O	trade paperback, US$13.95

Michael Lichter, UCLA Department of Sociology, and
UCLA Center for the Study of Urban Poverty
e-mail: mailto:[email-masked]  WWW: http://www.ben2.ucla.edu/~lichter/