The Eyes of the Republic are Everywhere.
When her estranged husband’s mysterious death is declared an accident, Lilia Desjardins knows that it is a lie. She leaves all she knows to risk the dark heart of the Republic — only to find that she herself has been targeted by forces unknown.
Adam Montgomery will do anything to complete his earthly mission, even if he has to tangle with the enigmatic Lilia Desjardins. But when his contact is murdered and he must rely on Lilia’s silence to save him from the slave dens, Adam knows that his wings were only the first sacrifice required of him.
As danger and intrigue surround them, Lilia and Adam realize that they must work together — body, mind, and soul — in order to save the world.
I’m always been intrigued with stories of angels. They sound like such glorious beings, with their wings and their strength and their wisdom. As a result, I’ve read a lot of stories featuring angels, and I’ve rummaged around in a lot of medieval story anthologies and mythologies. I like to find stories that aren’t as well known.
My favourite angel stories, whether fiction or mythology, are always the ones in which angels are not entirely like us. They’re powerful, but not fully attuned to the mundane. They’re alien in that way, and we might not fully understand each other. In many of these stories, God is an even higher angel, one even more apart from the world that we know, and angels are the intermediaries between mankind and hte divine.
I like the idea of angels guiding us when we lose our way, maybe lighting the darkness with their radiance. I like the notion of them keeping us in tune with our higher purpose when we become disoriented amidst the flotsam and jetsam of the material world. I also like the idea of the connection being tenuous, of the possibility of our losing the message in the static. It adds a little spice to the mix.
So, I wasn’t truly surprised when angels of that otherworldly variety showed up in the first draft of my book, FALLEN. And it wasn’t hard to believe that in a cynical future-set society, people wouldn’t even believe that the angels were angels. In the radiation-poisoned world of my future-set series, scientists are sure that the angels are mutants. Even my heroine, Lilia, who discovered these two angels, doesn’t believe they’re angels – at least not at first. But Armaros and Baraqiel, the two angels she found, are undeniably odd. They don’t talk. They’re radiant, emanating their own light. They don’t seem to sleep, and they watch people with bemusement. It’s as if they can read people’s thoughts.(They can.) And their presence, while miraculous, creeps people out a bit. People sense that things are going on, that the angels are communicating with each other and with something higher, without our being able to discern it.
There is another kind of angel in mythology, of course, one with a more intimate knowledge of the material world and its seductive power. Fallen angels in popular mythology are those who defied God and lost their celestial status as a result. They are commonly associated with Lucifer, who according to the old stories refused to bow down before man when God created him. Lucifer did not see himself as subordinate to mankind, so the sin of pride saw him cast out of heaven.
There is another old source, though, called THE BOOK OF ENOCH that tells a different story of this dispute with the divine. Here, a group of angels called the Watchers felt that God had abandoned mankind in the proverbial wilderness. They intervened to teach Adam and his descendants what they needed to know to survive. The Watchers descended to earth and took flesh, teaching men about metallurgy, for example, and herbal healing, and a host of other skills. They were purportedly seduced by the beauty of the daughters of men and lost their direction a bit, but left a line of very attractive descendants.
When I found that story, I knew I could work with it. In the world of FALLEN, there are angels who sacrifice their wings to help humanity through its crisis. They are overwhelmed by sensation when they first take flesh, but then must work as men within society to fulfill their missions. Naturally, they must rise above the temptations of the flesh, and rediscover their nobility of purpose. They must also evade danger, because the scars from the loss of their wings can condemn them in this future-set society. They are in between us and the angels who have kept their wings, having a connection to both but not being fully one or the other.
They are volunteers, fallen angels with both a noble mission and a vulnerability, which makes them perfect heroes from my perspective. They are destined to regain their wings once their missions are complete, which means they’re only earthbound temporarily. It’s risky to love a man like this, but my heroines (I’m two for two) fall hook, line and sinker. Even knowing the truth doesn’t change their responses.
And you already know that the power of love can move mountains. (That’s why you read romance, right?) Love can even persuade a fallen angel to stay on earth with the woman who has captured his heart, after his mission is complete and he has the chance to return heavenward. That’s the good stuff.
Take a peek at the excerpt from FALLEN on my site and see whether these angel heroes steal your heart away as fast as they took mine. (Montgomery is one fabulous piece of business, IMO, but then, I’m a bit biased!) There are reviews on my blog HERE if you’re curious.
FALLEN goes on sale today, September 30, and to commemmorate that, we’re raffling off a signed copy of FALLEN here on the blog. Tell me what you like about angels, and we’ll pick a winner tomorrow.
Good luck!
Claire
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