"superb interpretation of the endless end of days"

A hundred years ago the winged seraph arrived on earth, which to the faithful meant the end of days. However, instead of the apocalypse as predicted by the religious tomes, the war between the angelic seraph and the demons of hell continues with no end in sight. The earth is enthralled in an ice age like none before and plagues released by both sides have devastated the populace in an eerie pandemic collateral damage though mortal religious wars have flared up. New beings surfaced: entities with the ability to perform magic. These mages live in affluent prisons used and abused by their hosts.

One stone mage Thorn St. Croix has remained hidden amidst the humans after escaping from a maximum confinement facility that though luxurious drove her crazy. Thorn crafts jewelry for a living, but hides her magical prowesses knowing that if even her friends' find out she would be exposed and punished for her escape with death. However, she has little choice but to use her untrained power as the forces of the Dark have kidnapped her former spouse while police officer Thaddeus Bartholomew accuses her of the abduction and probable murder.

The cast is incredible as the audience believes in the existence of seraphs, mages, and humans barely surviving in a world dramatically changed (not sure how the web survives) by the seemingly eternal Apocalypse war. The story line is filled with amateur sleuth action while the raging hostilities add to the excitement as much as mage- heat does. Fans of post apocalypse fantasies will appreciate this superb interpretation of the endless end of days (in human terms) as centuries and probably millenniums mean nothing to immortal combatants.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted November 5, 2006

Summary

In a novel filled with lush imagery and exhilarating action, Faith Hunter creates a near-future world caught in the throes of an ambiguous apocalypse—where a woman with everything to hide finds her true destiny revealed.

As humanity struggles with religious strife and seraphs and demons fight a never-ending battle, a new species has arisen. "Neomages" are human in appearance, but able to twist left-over creation energy to their will. A threat to both humans and seraphs, they are confined in luxurious Enclaves.

Thorn St. Croix is no ordinary neomage. Nearly driven insane by her powers, she is smuggled out of an Enclave and now lives among humans, channeling her gift of stone-magery into jewelry making. But when Thaddeus Bartholomew, a dangerously attractive policeman, tells her that her ex-husband has been kidnapped, Thorn risks revealing her identity to find him. And for Thorn, the punishment for revelation is death.