A review by lindakat
Angel Mage by Garth Nix

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

 

It took me finishing this to realise that Angel Mage was supposed to be inspired by Three Musketeers. Despite the characters’ names and the literal musketeers, I saw no correlation between Dumas’ works and Angel Mage. Also, everyone was gender swapped and that was unnecessary too. 

I did not enjoy this story at all, literally nothing happened. The world building was ok, the magic system unique (but why were the angels enslaved? How is that even possible, makes no sense?) but the characters were 2D and there was not one hammer in the works, epic Tolkien-esque quest or even a plot twist. 

So, what happened was, Lilith needed to go to sleep in order to be alive when a vessel would be born that would apparently be strong enough to do this thing. This in itself made no sense to me because magic was dying out in the world, so wouldn’t the vessel’s spark or magic that allowed them to hold the thing also be diluted due to how genetics work. Sorry, that’s a little convoluted but I’m trying to avoid spoilers and the only thing that was (supposed to be) a surprise was what Lilith wanted the human vessel for. 

After hearing Lilith’s plan, we then find out there are only four humans that could be potentially used in her scheme. We’re introduced to them, they go on a quest that originated through Lilith’s machinations and manipulations, and then the quest is over in the last chapter, resolution is met. The End. 

Something, anything needed to happen in this book.