Elizabeth (the delinquent, ecumenical) (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hermionesviolin) wrote2005-07-11 12:38 am
hermionesviolin) wrote2005-07-11 12:38 am
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Sharon Shinn - Samaria books
I read these books on the recommendation of ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
diadeloro.
My biggest love for the books was THEOLOGY.
They all deal with issues of belief in a God -- how you know god exists, how you discern the god’s will, etc. -- but they also take up other issues as major themes as well.
The first, Archangel, is Kate’s favorite.
It definitely is a good book. It feels formulaic at times, but it was sort of something i noticed in passing, and simultaneously i thought, "But it's executed so well," and obviously everything's formulaic when you boil it down. I was reminded of Laura Kinsale’s Shadowheart -- the dynamic between the two romantic leads, the political intrigue. No hot BDSM, though. It’s definitely the most intense of all the books, though, in terms of the conflicts they face and also the characters themselves.
Its secondary focus is issues of free will, both in terms of predestination and duty.
The next book, Jovah’s Angel, has as its secondary focus, issues of technology. I wasn’t impressed at the beginning, but the big theology revelation won me over hardcore.
[spoiler: *cough*Asimov’s Foundation*cough* In going through stuff in my room, i found my copy of Psychohistorical Crisis which i’m even more tempted to read now that i’ve read these books.]
The third book, The Alleluia Files, felt like it was going to be a retread of Jovah’s Angel, and it does deal with issues of technology. It was also heavily about fanaticism, though. Had more love stories than the previous ones, which made a certain sense given the themes. It was also, primarily at the beginning, about living on the run and then about learning to trust people, which it occurs to me later maps nicely onto the ideas that run throughout the books about discerning whether there is a god and about faith and decisions and so on.
[spoiler: When Tamar first heard Lucinda sing, i was thinking “slash!” but i really doubted Sharon Shinn was gonna do that, and then of course as the novel progressed, we see them both developing love stories with other people. It wasn’t until Tamar met Conran that i realized she and Lucinda were twins.]
Angelica is the fourth book and while the previous books have jumped ahead centuries through the history of Samaria, this one brings us back to the early days, to give us the novel-length version of a tale whose nutshell we have been given in the other Samaria books. It also gives away secrets we have learned in the trilogy, so read the trilogy first.
It’s about love and community and belonging.
Angel-Seeker is the fifth book, the last Samaria book Shinn has written. It takes place a couple years after Archangel and is the most conventional of any of the books. About relationships and sex and love. It’s also more about the lives and problems of individual mortals as opposed to focusing on the concerns of the angels as the other books do.
While i was reading Jovah’s Angel i found myself really wishing i knew more about the Peoples of the God of Abraham. You can enjoy the books knowing nothing about them, but i recognized just enough to know that the author was doing more than just taking the modern concept of angels and using Biblical names. Though certainly it is far from an exact parallel allegory.
diadeloro.My biggest love for the books was THEOLOGY.
They all deal with issues of belief in a God -- how you know god exists, how you discern the god’s will, etc. -- but they also take up other issues as major themes as well.
The first, Archangel, is Kate’s favorite.
It definitely is a good book. It feels formulaic at times, but it was sort of something i noticed in passing, and simultaneously i thought, "But it's executed so well," and obviously everything's formulaic when you boil it down. I was reminded of Laura Kinsale’s Shadowheart -- the dynamic between the two romantic leads, the political intrigue. No hot BDSM, though. It’s definitely the most intense of all the books, though, in terms of the conflicts they face and also the characters themselves.
Its secondary focus is issues of free will, both in terms of predestination and duty.
The next book, Jovah’s Angel, has as its secondary focus, issues of technology. I wasn’t impressed at the beginning, but the big theology revelation won me over hardcore.
[spoiler: *cough*Asimov’s Foundation*cough* In going through stuff in my room, i found my copy of Psychohistorical Crisis which i’m even more tempted to read now that i’ve read these books.]
The third book, The Alleluia Files, felt like it was going to be a retread of Jovah’s Angel, and it does deal with issues of technology. It was also heavily about fanaticism, though. Had more love stories than the previous ones, which made a certain sense given the themes. It was also, primarily at the beginning, about living on the run and then about learning to trust people, which it occurs to me later maps nicely onto the ideas that run throughout the books about discerning whether there is a god and about faith and decisions and so on.
[spoiler: When Tamar first heard Lucinda sing, i was thinking “slash!” but i really doubted Sharon Shinn was gonna do that, and then of course as the novel progressed, we see them both developing love stories with other people. It wasn’t until Tamar met Conran that i realized she and Lucinda were twins.]
Angelica is the fourth book and while the previous books have jumped ahead centuries through the history of Samaria, this one brings us back to the early days, to give us the novel-length version of a tale whose nutshell we have been given in the other Samaria books. It also gives away secrets we have learned in the trilogy, so read the trilogy first.
It’s about love and community and belonging.
Angel-Seeker is the fifth book, the last Samaria book Shinn has written. It takes place a couple years after Archangel and is the most conventional of any of the books. About relationships and sex and love. It’s also more about the lives and problems of individual mortals as opposed to focusing on the concerns of the angels as the other books do.
While i was reading Jovah’s Angel i found myself really wishing i knew more about the Peoples of the God of Abraham. You can enjoy the books knowing nothing about them, but i recognized just enough to know that the author was doing more than just taking the modern concept of angels and using Biblical names. Though certainly it is far from an exact parallel allegory.
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It also has a wonderful love story. The love story in Angelica just didn't attract me as much. Though the secondary love story (with Miriam) was actually more interesting, I thought.
Though some of my love for Archangel may, in part, spawn from the fact that it was given to me by my best friend for my 11th birthday, less than a month after I met her - the first thing she gave me. Still, that is one book that I do love to read over and over.
I thought you would like all the religion stuff; it's part of why I recced them to you. I'm glad you seemed to enjoy them. I think I'd cry if you'd hated them. :)
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I think you're right that Archangel has the best and most involving characters. And i think the stories get more derivative as she goes along, because after she's done such an intense and comprehensive and epic and sprawling story in Archangel, there's not much really new to say, so she keeps telling variations on the stories she's already told. I'm impressed with her ability to keep them interesting and to continue adding new things, but i'm not particularly inclined to argue with your statement that Archangel is the best (though i'm not entirely sure i myself am ready to make a statement about which one i think is best).
I think part of the appeal of Angelica for me was that of all the characters in all the books, i *am* Susannah more than i am any of the other characters. I am just not as amazing as Rachel is. But the seriousness (and exasperation with immature people) of Susannah and Gaaron? So me.
I was also really intrigued by the black men in Angelica because it felt really new and different. It was foreign to what we knew of Samaria up to that point and couldn't easily be mapped onto stories of the Abrahamic peoples, so i was really interested in learning more about them and trying to figure out how they would be folded into the grand narrative of Samaria.
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Anyways, yeah. You rock. I love your book/movie/fanfic/tv series synopses/reviews. I miss having lunch with you. *HUGHUGHUG* Take care of yourself, ne? And happy birthday!
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I feel like this was a lame pseudo-commentary, but i'm glad you think it's good :)
I'm glad you're having such a good time in Japan but dude, it'll be weird when September comes and i don't get to go back and have lunch with you twice a week.
*many hugs*
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However, while I did love Archangel because of its wonderful characters, I also fell in love with their world. I loved the idea of a society with angels and proof that their god truly exists and cares about them. It all seemed kinda romantic. Sharon Shinn really does have a gift for creating intricate and beautiful worlds in her books.
To me, the revelation in Jovah's Angel sort of ruined the romantic beauty of their world. Then, in The Alleluiah Files, it is like the entire society is kind of destroyed...it just loses the romantic nature...I can't really think of a better way to describe it.
I always kind of felt a sort of kinship with Rachel. Her vehemence and independence kind of reminds me of myself, or at least who I would like to be. And I was totally in love with Gabriel. They had the most exciting and sort of passionate love store of the books....more so than Gaaron and Susannah who was just kinda, "we're not in love, and now we are. oh, and by the way...we're awkward."