Archangel (Shinn novel)
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Archangel is a 1997 science fiction novel by Sharon Shinn. It is the first book in the Samaria series of novels.
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[edit] Background
Samaria is a planet that has been settled with colonists from Earth some time in the past. The colonists made the journey in a ship named Jehovah, which was possessed of artificial intelligence. In order to keep the peace on Samaria, Jehovah created a race of angels. The ship also commanded that if a Gloria was not sung on a certain plain each year by ALL peoples of Samaria it would destroy a mountain. If the Gloria was still not sung after that, it would destroy the city of Semorrah. Again, if the Gloria is not sung, Jehovah would destroy the world. Time has passed since then and the people of Samaria worship Jovah as a deity now. Only a select few, the Oracles, know the truth.
[edit] Summary
The next archangel-to-be, Gabriel, is reluctant to marry. He is shocked to find that his angelica, his bride, is an Edori-slave. Their personalities couldn't be more different and they hate each other. To further complicate their marriage is Judith, Gabriel's childhood friend and secretly an angel seeker. Other than his marital problems, Gabriel has to deal with the corrupted soon-to-be-ex Archangel, Raphael. Raphael doesn't want to step down and doesn't believe that there is a Jovah. This is heresy and Gabriel must immeadiately take control over Samaria for the good of the people but his bride, Rachel, keeps making his life difficult. If she doesn't get kidnapped, then she is running away. If she isn't insulting everyone, then she is off committing suicide. Even with all of her defects, Rachel is quite the complicated character too. She has grown to hate the angels because of what they had done to her family when she was younger. She especially has a grudge against Raphael, the archangel. Even with all their troubles, Gabriel and Rachel finally realize that they love each other and Samaria is saved, for now.
[edit] The angels
The angels were once human but were then genetically modified in Jovah's labs. According to the holy book, the Librera, the angels were made by Jovah to oversee Samaria, and also to control the temperamental weather elements. Aside from the addition of wings, angels were made larger and more muscular. They can carry up to twice their body weight. Their metabolisms were enhanced, as well as their respiratory systems. Angels radiate body heat and are able to withstand the extreme cold of high altitudes; indeed too much heat makes them uncomfortable. Angels are forbidden to breed with each other as it causes the expression of some rather nasty recessive genes. Children that had been born of angel and angel unions are sometimes called "lucifers", and die painfully and young. Instead, angels breed with mortal men and women and hope for an angel baby. Angel babies are rare and are a hard birth for the mother and the child. Mortal women do not have a high survival rate. However, because it is said that Jovah himself dances when an angel comes into the world, angelic children are valued highly. There are mortal women, known as "angel-seekers", who frequent the angel holds in order to seduce an angel to sleep with them. If they bear an angel child, they will be welcome in any angel hold across Samaria. Angels also always possess beautiful voices in order to pray to Jovah.
[edit] The people
There are certain divisions of the population on Samaria. The Edori are the wandering people, who could be called Gypsies. They never stay in one place for too long, and have travelled every hill and valley of Samaria. The Manadavvi are highly cultured and wealthy. They are an aesthetic people, obsessed with money and the wonders that it buys. They tend to dwell in the more fertile lands of Gaza. The Jansai are merchants that tend to resemble Middle Easterners. They keep their women behind veils and walls. The Jansai are also known as calculuating and greedy, and the primary motivators of the Edori slave trade in the novel. They live in the desert city of Breven, in Jordana.
[edit] Characters
Characters in Archangel, as listed in the 1997 paperback edition are:
In the Eyrie
- Gabriel, leader of the host, an angel;
- Nathan, his brother, an angel;
- Hannah, a mortal woman, widow of the former leader;
- Judith, a young mortal woman;
- Ishi, an angel;
- Eva, an angel;
- Obadiah, an angel;
- Matthew, an Edori
In Monteverde
- Ariel, leader of the host, an angel;
- Magdalena, her sister, also an angel
In Windy Point
- Raphael, leader of the host and Archangel of Samaria;
- Saul, his foremost follower, also an angel;
- Leah, Raphael's wife, the current angelica
In Semorrah
- Lord Jethro, a wealthy merchant;
- Daniel, his son;
- Lady Clara, Jethro's wife;
- Lady Mary, Daniel's wife;
- Anna, a bondwoman;
- Rachel, an Edori slave and later angelica
Others
Elijah Harth, Abel Vashir, Malachi of Breven, Pete, Naomi of the Chievens, Luke, Josiah, Ezekiel, Jezebel
