Angel Mage
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4.4 • 23 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A new epic 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, the beginnings of a found family, but do not suspect their importance. And none of them know just how this morally grey heroine 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 of magic and monsters that takes place in an alternate European world ruled by fearsome magic and deadly passions.
* PW Best Books 2019 * Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Book of the Year (2020) *
Angelic Magic: Discover a world where icons of ivory and gold are the key to summoning fearsome angels—and forcing them to obey.Musketeer Fantasy: In an alternate Europe inspired by the swashbuckling tales of The Three Musketeers, a glory-seeking cadet must navigate deadly court intrigue and even deadlier passions.High Stakes Fantasy: A single-minded quest to reunite with a lost love could either save the world or unleash a second magical plague, and the heroine doesn’t care which.Unwitting Pawns: Follow a doctor, a fortune hunter, a musketeer, and an icon-maker who feel a strange kinship, unaware they are merely pieces in a century-spanning game.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Nix (Frogkisser!) builds a Dumas-inspired world filled with angelic legions in this tremendous fantasy that follows Angel Mage Liliath, newly risen from more than a century of magical sleep and ready to reunite with the archangel of Ystara, whom she both loves and compels. Her scheme to return to Ystara depends on the presence of four friends, all 18-year-old provincials newly arrived in the neighboring capital of Sarance: a scholar and icon painter of unusual ability; a new cadet in the Queen's Musketeers; a clerk who serves the Cardinal; and a student doctor of some skill. Liliath gathers supporters among the Refusers, whose ancestors fled their native Ystara and cannot be touched by magic following an angelic disaster that cursed the population. Readers familiar with The Three Musketeers will see echoes of it here: a chance meeting among the four friends, an intrigue with some jewelry, and Liliath in the role of the mysterious female foe. A unique magical system based on angel summoning and icons, deft characterization including male and female protagonists and LGBTQ representation and an affectionate rendering of Dumas's style will delight teen and adult fans of swashbuckling romance. Ages 14 up.)
