Raphael, meanwhile, no longer believing in Jovah, refuses to watch over the people and encourages every sort of wickedness to prevent the Gloria, he is willing to capture or even kill Rachel.

Though Gabriel plucks her from slavery, the two fight at once, since Rachel sides with the servants and Samaria's downtrodden folk and distrusts angels neither will she reveal whether she can sing, a talent vital to a successful Gloria (Gabriel, of course, sings like a dream). Then, quite by accident, he comes upon her in the house of a rich nobleman, where she is a slave. But when Gabriel goes to claim her, he finds the remote village long destroyed, with no sign of Rachel.

Josiah announces that Gabriel's bride shall be Rachel. At the next Gloria, or festival of song, the angel Gabriel will take over the duties of archangel from old Raphael, so he asks the oracle Josiah, who Jovah has decided will be his bride. Flying angels have been ordained by the god Jovah to watch over the people of Samaria. Chronologically, “Flight” would take place shortly before Archangel, “Fallen Angel” directly after Angel-Seeker, and “Nocturne” about seventy years after that.An odd, science fiction/fantasy hybrid from the author of the 1995 paperback The Shape-Changer's Wife. There are also three novellas set in Samaria. But I know some readers have enjoyed reading them according to the chronology of the stories: Angelica, Archangel, Angel-Seeker, Jovah’s Angel, Alleluia Files. I always think it’s best to read the Samaria books in the order in which they were written: Archangel, Jovah’s Angel, The Alleluia Files, Angelica, and Angel-Seeker. That’s actually the scene I had in my head most clearly before I started writing the book, so it’s the scene that I worked backward and forward from as I came up with t e rest of the story. The one where Rachel wakes up under Gabriel’s wing. I was singing Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” in a community choir while I was writing this book, which is clearly where I got the inspiration for all the choral sequences. One of the reasons I was nominated for the William Campbell Award for best new writer for two years in a row. Available in British and German editions as well. Published as a trade paperback in 1996 and a mass market paperback in 1997.

But Gabriel, the Archangel-elect, finds himself constantly feuding with Rachel, the bride who has been chosen for him by Jovah-and he is slowly coming to realize that the aging Archangel Raphael has no intention of giving up his power, even if it means all of Samaria could be destroyed. The new Archangel is introduced during a great musical chorale to honor the god Jovah. “Taut, inventive, often mesmerizing, with a splendid pair of predestined lovers.”-Kirkus ReviewsĮvery twenty years, a new Archangel is chosen to govern the land of Samaria. Samaria: Archangel, Jovah's Angel, The Alleluia Files, Angelica, Angel-Seeker

Archangel by Sharon Shinn