Angel Mage

Written by Garth Nix

Narrated by Kristin Atherton

A new fantasy masterpiece from Garth Nix, bestselling author of the Old Kingdom series.

More than a century has passed since Liliath crept into the empty sarcophagus of Saint Marguerite, fleeing the Fall of Ystara. But she emerges from her magical sleep still beautiful, looking no more than nineteen, and once again renews her single-minded quest to be united with her lover, Palleniel, the archangel of Ystara.

It's a seemingly impossible quest, but Liliath is one of the greatest practitioners of angelic magic to have ever lived, summoning angels and forcing them to do her bidding. Four young people hold her interest: Simeon, a studious doctor-in-training; Henri, a dedicated fortune hunter; Agnez, a glory-seeking musketeer; and Dorotea, icon-maker and scholar of angelic magic.

The four feel a strange kinship from the moment they meet but do not suspect their importance. And none of them know just how Liliath plans to use them, as mere pawns in her plan, no matter the cost to everyone else . . .

Fans of Cassandra Clare, Holly Black, and Leigh Bardugo will fall in love with Angel Mage, a feminist fantasy that takes place in an alternate European world ruled by fearsome magic and deadly passions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: Oct 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9780593104446

Garth Nix

Garth Nix is an award-winning and New York Times bestselling author whose beloved Old Kingdom fantasy series begins with Sabriel. His many other novels include Shade’s Children and A Confusion of Princes, and he has written such children’s series as The Seventh Tower and the Keys to the Kingdom, as well as co-writing TroubleTwisters and Have Sword, Will Travel with Sean Williams. His work has been translated into forty-two languages and has sold more than seven million copies. 

Reviews for Angel Mage

[amberwitch · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not the first time Nix has had a morally ambiguous or villanous protagonist. Fantasy in a renaissance/medieval with a magical system based on the calling of angels.
Liliath, the maid of Ellandra, raise in a neighboring country after 100+ years of magical sleep to pursue her obsession once again.
Her pursuits tangle up the descendents of escapees from Ellandra, an unlikely quarter of youngsters, the Queen and her musketeers as well as her cardinal.
Although the magical system is inventive, the story reads like Rachel Hartmans Seraphina and Alexander Dumas Musketeer stories, making it feel a bit derivative.
As a reader I got distracted by the Musketeer references, trying to remember the plots and people to map them to the story.
Other than that, the story was pretty wellwritten, apart from the monologues at the very end.

[herenya_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The audiobook was well read and I really liked the four protagonists: the musketeer, the scholar, the clerk and the student doctor. Dorotea (the scholar) was my favourite; I love the way she baffles people when she doesn’t react the way they expect her to.

I didn’t enjoy hearing about the antics of the antagonist, although the final analysis of her motives was unexpectedly satisfying, and I didn’t start to get interested in the system of angel magic until the story was nearly over.

(Maybe I should read The Three Musketeers before I read any more fantasy inspired by it?)

[mrnattania72 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was just too confusing for me to follow. The magic and angels were cool, but I just couldn't wrap my head around the fantasy world created.