Ángeles Goyanes

This book took me totally by surprise. The narrator is a woman in prison, waiting for the death penalty, making her last confession to a priest. She was clearly Catholic, though she has a worldly nature that makes the priest uncomfortable. She tells the priest the story of her life, which started in the year 1212 in Angers,France, even though it is now present day. As the story goes on from there, you worry that the woman won't be believed; as she describes slaughter in the name of God, the Children's Crusade, being sold at a slave auction in Alexandria, falling in love with an angel, travelling in time, attack by spirits, alone in a convent, rape, marriage, an evil baby, murders, safe with an angel - and that's just how the book starts.

There are so many things that happen in this book; even on a single page, that you cant help getting totally engrossed. This is not only a page turner, but addresses some fundamental problems of an immortal living with and loving a mortal can have, that I've ever seen discussed anywhere else. A lot of thought and planning was put into this book - it's just not one of those sensationisltic, hit them with actions, over and over. This one, very much has meaning and thought behind the prose- and it comes out in the characters themselves: their thoughts, their feelings, their actions and their dialogue. It is really impressive.

There are three main characters: Juliette, the mortal woman who loves an angel, Shallem, the angel that she loves who loves her back and Canat who is an angel who shares a soul with Shallem. They love each other like no other, because, they are two halves of one whole. The three live together several centuries, having adventures, playing God's on Earth to humans, even having children. But Juliette can't be immortal forever, and Shallem has plans of his own. You have to understand, these angels - they are fallen angels. God exiled them to Earth after they had that fight so long ago. Shallem and Canat escaped the prison, being strongest of the angels, and went around like they owned the place, until Shallem met Juliette - then everything changed. There is a secondary character, Eonar, who is also a fallen angel, but a nasty one, he hates Shallem, and wants to cause him pain. So the three of them have to contend with Eonar too.

There are many differences between mortals and immortals in this book. All immortals can't stand mortals, they'd just as soon kill them as look at them. The only thing stopping them from wiping them out totally is God's injunction not to hurt mortals. That doesn't mean, that they can't kill a few hundred or thousand at a time if they get pissed off, or are simply inconvenienced. It doesn't matter which! Another difference, besides longevity, is that an immortal's soul is built for eternity, where a mortal soul must be renewed by God every 120 years, or it gets sick. Another difference is that immortals don't have to work like mortals. I've seen this in vampire novels before, where one guy will become his own lineage, leaving everything to himself as a younger relative. Here, they have invaluable antiques, looted from tombs and places never found by man, including gold and precious gems. I think Canat had 110 houses all over the world that he kept filled with such treasure. Then there is communication, immortals can communicate across time and space without saying a word - something telepathic, We humans, talk, talk, talk whenever the mood takes us. And then there's entertainment, immortal entertainment may include killing people, horrifying them, or trapping their souls, while mortals might go to a movie. It's all so very different, more than just a matter of perspective - we are on the same planet, but in two, totally separate worlds.

So why Juliette and Shallem? He said it was her soul that he loved. But who's soul was it? Another angel? We know it's not human, because immortals hate humans. Juliette never felt comfortable around humans. So, what could it be? There are hints, but they never tell you, could this mean a sequel? I hope so, I couldn't get enough of this book.

As Juliette goes on with her story, not only does the priest believe her, but he is so wrapped up too, he keeps trying to have her continue. After much love, violence, action, history, tragedy, happiness, betrayal, sadness and joy her story comes to an end. The priest is exhausted - but wait, what's happenening? You'll have to read the book to find out.w

My recommendation is that anyone who can read English or Spanish should read this, it's the thumpingest - thumping good read off all time! I don't think you'll find another one like this one. Wait and see. This is a story primarily about love, in all it's ways, shapes and forms, some which are weird or unusual, like Juliette and Canat. They both love Shallem, totally and completely. When they are alone, all they talk of is Shallam. Yet,in a funny way, they love each other too, and trust each other to do the right thing, at least where Shallem is concerened. It's a funny relationship. Just go out and buy the book, and don't t let one or two typo's or homophones get in the way of enjoying the story!… (mehr)