Angel-Seeker (Samaria Series #5) by Sharon Shinn

From the Publisher

The award-winning author returns to Samaria in this richly romantic tale that begins where Archangel left off. In that time, the women who craved the attention of angels were known as angel-seekers, a term used with awe by some--and scorn by others.

Publishers Weekly

The lack of music as well as emotional depth mars Shinn's otherwise engaging, romance-filled tale of strong, capable women, the fifth entry in her popular Samaria series. The action immediately follows that of the first book, Archangel (1996), as new leadership rebuilds Samaria. The angel Obadiah, central to the reconstruction plan, is struck from the sky by an unseen enemy. Wounded, he drags himself to a desert oasis, where rebellious Rebekah, sequestered from men like all Jansai women, defies her tribe and secretly cares for him. Rebekah later encounters Obadiah when she attends a fair dressed as a boy and they begin an intrigue. Meanwhile, Elizabeth, born to a life of privilege, has fallen on hard times. Longing for a return to luxury, she flees to an angel hold to become an angel-seeker, one of many women who desire to attract an angel and bear an angel child, since such a liaison guarantees a comfortable existence in the angel hold. The two women's stories bring them inexorably to a meeting. The music so important to Samaria doesn't ring out-neither of the women sings-and with three protagonists and two love stories, the novel covers perhaps too much ground. Still, Shinn smoothly blends the romantic sensibility of yesteryear with the feminism of today, all in a richly textured landscape. (Feb. 24) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

On the planet Samaria, winged humans appropriately called angels act as rulers and mentors for a varied population of humans. Elizabeth, a young woman who's fallen upon hard times, travels to Cedar Hills hoping to meet an angel and improve her lot, while Rebekah, a woman of the angel-hating Jansai tribe, comes across a wounded angel who changes her life. Shinn's latest Samaria novel (Angelica; Archangel) fills a gap in the history of a fascinating world built upon a complex system of technology and faith. Recommended for most sf collections. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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