Everyone has a past…

Hey there, I finally got the time to read the 4th book of Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter series, Archangel’s Blade. This time the story is not focusing on Raphael and Elena but on the vampire working as Raphael’s right hand, Dmitri. So far we knew nothing about him except that he loves sex, has a very cynical tongue and violence seems to be his hobby.
Nice description, huh? Definitely a man we would want to date? Doesn’t seem like it.
Oh…there’s something else we know: He’s about a millenium old – so yes, Dmitri has a past and everyone, even the youngest of us are aware that the events of the past are what shapes our character, what forms us.
In this book, we not only learn why Dmitri has sealed his heart within a castle of ice, we also meed a hunter named Honor, who had had to experience tortures that would have broken most people completely.
Two people with scarred souls and an adventure that forces both to face their past and look into the abyss of their hearts – that is what Archangel’s Blade is about.
And of course it is also about love, finding trust and surely it does not lack a very sensual kind of eroticism. Ms. Singh chooses her words so carefully that she manages to place images in the reader’s mind, to make one’s skin get goosebumps, to long with her characters.

I remember that I wasn’t all too happy about the 3rd book of the series but with the story focusing on Dmitri and Honor, it got more interesting and more enticing again and I am looking forward to book #5. 🙂

On a more philosophical note concerning the theme of the book: most of us have more than one relationship in our lives – which means we all have a past, I am sure we all have been wounded and scarred somehow. Sometimes it needs a lot to allow oneself to commit again, to allow oneself to love again but I think it is good to be brave. We cannot erase our past or forget about it, it’s made us who we are. But we can learn and take a step forward – I think it’s worth it because love is the one feeling that can drag us out of the darkness that we created.

LLL – long live love

Hi darlings,
I know it’s been a while since the last review, but what should I say, unfortunately life was keeping me rather busy. But I managed to continue the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind and right now I am almost finished with “the pillars of creation”, another book of the series – even though this time it is not that focused on Kahlan and Richard, the usual protagonist, but on some new characters. Enticing nevertheless. LONG LIVE LOVE – the love for books!
You now, I’ve been wondering how I could recommned this series best if I was still working in a bookstore. I could not tell everyone about the actual storyline as it is much to complicated to explain within 3 minutes and “it’s a fantasy epic with love, action, magic etc set in its on world” is just not enough. What I love so very much about those books is the way they are written – that each character has their unique way of speaking, a dialect, slang, etc, they all have their cute habits and the descriptions are so vivid, that I don’t see the words before my eyes but a movie inside my mind. This, ladies and gentlemen, is why I cannot stop reading Terry Goodkind these days next to the phenomenal storyline that is never ever boring. Mr. Goodkind is seriously a genius when it comes to developping his stories. (I am actually more or less stunned when I count the pages I have already read and the ones still ahead – it’s wonderful when an author has so much to tell about the characters he creates. What do you think…is it the author who just has superb ideas or is it the main characters, sitting on the author’d shoulder, telling him their story?)

As much as I love the series I also have the desire to read something different inbetween the next few books. I still have to catch up with some other series I am reading, for example, the 4th book of Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter series… there’s a lot to do!

Archangel, lend my thy light

Alright, this is the third book of the Guild Hunter series by Nalini Singh.
(I want to touch the wings on the cover…)

So yeah, the next adventure of Elena and her archangel Raphael. This time,it’s family business.
(Yes, ain’t we all scared of meeting mother-in-law? Uuuuuuuuhu.)
It’s nice to get a peek into Rapahel’s past and into his world this time with a closer look at the group of his SEVEN, the angels and vampires that are his elite. There’s also another glimpse into Elena’s past and we get to know a little more of her family relations as well (definitely leaving enough space for a 4th book here…), but I won’t tell you too much about it here.
Actually I can barely tell you anything about the story, except that it’s about the Wakening of a sleeping Archangel that causes quite a turmoil and of course there is our creepy, eerie and rather crazy Archangel of China, Lijuan, too, who takes a rather important role in the turn of the events.

And yes, there are definitely some drool-worthy scenes with our dearest Raphael again. 😉

To be honest though, I had expected a little more. The first book was superb, the second one was addictive and this one…well, I needed more than 3 days – so you can guess it did not quite catch me as much as the prequels.
Don’t get me wrong, it is definitely worth reading and once you passed page 100 you totally get into the story, but it is not quite as surprising as the others were. But I think the best advice is to grab a copy and make up your own mind about it.

What I would like to thank the author for is the word “Consort”. I had never been aware of it so much and seeking for it for a long time.
Not just a partner or a husband/wife but someone who literally is a part of you and who makes you live – as in feeling alive and strong as never before.

Oh well, let’s keep our eyes open for more stories of Nalini Singh!