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Angels’ Flight

Nalini Singh

Published 2012                        345 pages

Summary (from the book jacket)

In Angel's Wolf a vampire becomes fascinated with the seductive angel who rules Louisiana. But all is not what it appears to be in her court.

In Angels' Judgment a hunter must track one of her own gone bad, while surviving the deadly tests placed in her way by the archangels themselves. Unexpected backup comes from a stranger who might just be the most lethal threat of all...

Plus first time in print:
In Angels' Pawn a vampire hunter faces off against two rival factions and the angel manipulating them both, and a vampire whose help is not entirely selfless...

And never before published:
In Angels' Dance an angel trapped in the mountain stronghold of the Refuge finds herself under siege by a warrior angel from a martial court.

The Review

Angels’ Flight is a collection of novellas set in Nalini Singh’s popular urban fantasy/romance Guild Hunter series. In case the book’s description doesn’t quite make it plain enough three of the four novellas have already been published before, so if you are an avid series fan there is a danger that you could have already read the majority of this collection before. All the stories are set in the Guild Hunter world and between them feature nice mixture of human, vampire and angel characters and relationships.

The collection starts with Angels’ Pawn. Originally this was an e-novella published back in 2009 to coincide with the publication of Angels’ Blood and the start of the Guild Hunter series. It features Ashwini, a guild hunter tasked with the returning an escaped young female vampire back to her angel master. Angelic and vampiric politics complicate the matter, so for support Ashwini takes along Janvier, a sexy Cajun vampire who is usually the target of her hunts rather than a fellow hunter. This story is more urban fantasy than paranormal romance. It serves up a slice of Guild Hunter life to readers – full of danger and action with a large helping of will-they-won’t-they sexual tension but no real romance. It’s an enjoyable, but ultimately forgettable, piece of fluff which works well enough as a supplement to the Guild Hunter series.

Angels’ Judgement was originally published in the Must Love Hellhounds anthology back in 2009. This story is a great mixture of UF and romance, and has a story line that follows features Sara, a Guild Hunter on the verge of promotion to Guild Directorship, and Deacon a fellow hunter who specialises in hunting Guild Hunters who have gone rogue. It also prominently features a hellhound but this has little real bearing on the story (except that it was obviously part of the brief for the original anthology). The storyline follows Sara and Deacon’s hunt for a rogue hunter who is killing vampires. The fantasy action is fast paced; the mystery is as solid as any reader can hope for in a 75 page novella and the romance satisfying enough, given the room it has to develop in this action-packed novella. Loved it!

Angel’s Wolf is originally from last year’s Angels of Darkness anthology. It follows the romance between Noel, an emotionally scarred vampire and Nimra, a ridiculously kind angel who suspects one of her closest companions is trying to kill her. (Ridiculously kind? – Yes, in a world where angels have been painted to be majestically powerful and cruel Nimra’s just too nice for belief.) The mystery element of the story is suitably obtuse but the romance didn’t really pull at my heart strings, unlike Nalini Singh’s full length novels which always pack a romantic punch.

Angels’ Dance is the only completely new story in this collection. It is also the longest novella weighing in a nearly 130 pages. This is the one story fans may not have read before but it’s worth seeking it out because it’s the strongest story out of the whole bunch. The story is set 400 years ago and gives insight into the earliest years of Raphael’s rule as an archangel. It follows the romance between two angels, Galen and Jessamy. The novella is highly romance driven, action takes a back seat and the longer word count allows for greater relationship development. Another great story!

Angels’ Flight can be enjoyed by established series fans or used as an introduction to the Guild Hunter world by readers new to the series – it contains no spoilers for the full length novels and no prior series knowledge is required. Since I hadn’t read any of these novellas before this collection was released, I was pretty thrilled with my book purchase – and that’s saying a lot because as a general rule I dislike romance novellas (personally, I prefer a longer word count and the greater relationship development that allows). However, Nalini Singh’s never-fail mixture of fast-paced plotting, dangerous heroes and sexy romance quickly won me around.

Editor’s Note: Avid series fans who have already read most of this collection before and only want to purchase Angels’ Dance need not despair – Angels’ Dance will be available as stand alone e-novella in early 2013.

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