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Rogue Angel #1
Destiny
An ancient order tied to the Vatican…A blood fortune buried in the caves of France…A conspiracy of power, greed and darkest evil…
Archaeologist and explorer Annja Creed’s fascination with the myths and mysteries of the past leads her to a crypt in the caves of France, where the terrifying legend of the Beast of Gevaudin hints at the unimaginable. What she discovers is shattering: an artifact that will seal her destiny; a brotherhood of monks willing to murder to protect their secret; and a powerful black-market occultist desperate to put his own claim to centuries-old blood money. Annja embarks on a high-tension race across Europe and history itself, intent on linking the unholy treachery of the ages with the staggering revelations of the present. But she must survive the shadow figures determined to silence her threat to their existence.
Archaeologist and explorer Annja Creed’s fascination with the myths and mysteries of the past leads her to a crypt in the caves of France, where the terrifying legend of the Beast of Gevaudin hints at the unimaginable. What she discovers is shattering: an artifact that will seal her destiny; a brotherhood of monks willing to murder to protect their secret; and a powerful black-market occultist desperate to put his own claim to centuries-old blood money. Annja embarks on a high-tension race across Europe and history itself, intent on linking the unholy treachery of the ages with the staggering revelations of the present. But she must survive the shadow figures determined to silence her threat to their existence.
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 11, 2006
81 people are currently reading
1887 people want to read
About the author
Alex Archer
99 books236 followersA house name for the Rogue Angel series, published by the Harlequin Publishing's Gold Eagle division.
The first eight novels were written by Victor Milan and Mel Odom. New writers joining the series starting with book nine include Jon Merz and Joseph Nassise.
The first eight novels were written by Victor Milan and Mel Odom. New writers joining the series starting with book nine include Jon Merz and Joseph Nassise.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 282 reviews
July 4, 2017
*** 4 ***
A buddy audio-read with my friends at BB&B!
Now that is what I call cool audio!!! This was fun, since the first time I read it when it first came out in paper format years ago, and I remember enjoying it then as well. I always look upon this series as on a TV series with a new episode out every month. Full of action, not to complicated, a main MC who is a modern-day supper woman, and many tidbits of history, mythology and a healthy mix of action scenes, sward and gun fights, adventure and imagination. It is OTT, it is unbelievable, but it is a great way to spend an afternoon with and audio book!
Annja Creed is an archaeologist and an adventurer, who pays her bills by working for a bit of a scummy dude who publishes mostly "doctored" stories about History"s Greatest Monsters. She tries really hard to stay true to her craft, but that does not sell well and it is usually turned into sensationalized stories. Annja is not proud of it, but it does bring home the bacon. On a trail of a story of possible werewolf in Paris, Annja meets and interesting old gentleman, Reux, finds a mysterious medallion, and eventually holds the sword of Joan of Arc. Meanwhile, two separate groups are trying to either abduct her or kill her, and she shows off some skills in all types of fighting and survival.
Now, I read a lot of reviews which gave this book low ratings, because they found Annja to be "to perfect, to good at absolutely everything, to Mary Sue-ish... ". I get it and I would agree, if the premise of the series was to be taken as a serious, literary Urban Fantasy and was shooting for immortality. This is not the case. You have to approach this series as a contemporary Pulp-Fiction, not looking for political correctness nor emotional involvement. This is for entertainment purposes only and should be approached in that way, no high expectations, no deep insights, not high standards. This is a great fun to listen to when your brain is tired of thinking about work, chores, or the more serious books you have been reading and need a bit of a break from. And there is nothing wrong with filling the lets-just-have-some-adrenaline-fun niche. Some of us totally appreciate it!!! Call me simple, call me lacking in standards, I don't mind. Just don't tell me what I should or should not enjoy - and this is pure fun:):):)
So, if you are to good for some relaxation with Lora Croft on steroids and without the thieving part, because Annja-Superwoman Archaeologist would never steal something on purpose, she is too much of a Marry Sue for that:), and are not willing to hang with us folks from low places, this would not be a good choice for you! You have to be capable of chilling and just enjoying the great job the voice actors are doing in order to appreciate this series. I know I will try to listen to as many of those as I could:)
Now I wish you all Happy Reading and many more wonderful books to come!!!
A buddy audio-read with my friends at BB&B!
Now that is what I call cool audio!!! This was fun, since the first time I read it when it first came out in paper format years ago, and I remember enjoying it then as well. I always look upon this series as on a TV series with a new episode out every month. Full of action, not to complicated, a main MC who is a modern-day supper woman, and many tidbits of history, mythology and a healthy mix of action scenes, sward and gun fights, adventure and imagination. It is OTT, it is unbelievable, but it is a great way to spend an afternoon with and audio book!
Annja Creed is an archaeologist and an adventurer, who pays her bills by working for a bit of a scummy dude who publishes mostly "doctored" stories about History"s Greatest Monsters. She tries really hard to stay true to her craft, but that does not sell well and it is usually turned into sensationalized stories. Annja is not proud of it, but it does bring home the bacon. On a trail of a story of possible werewolf in Paris, Annja meets and interesting old gentleman, Reux, finds a mysterious medallion, and eventually holds the sword of Joan of Arc. Meanwhile, two separate groups are trying to either abduct her or kill her, and she shows off some skills in all types of fighting and survival.
Now, I read a lot of reviews which gave this book low ratings, because they found Annja to be "to perfect, to good at absolutely everything, to Mary Sue-ish... ". I get it and I would agree, if the premise of the series was to be taken as a serious, literary Urban Fantasy and was shooting for immortality. This is not the case. You have to approach this series as a contemporary Pulp-Fiction, not looking for political correctness nor emotional involvement. This is for entertainment purposes only and should be approached in that way, no high expectations, no deep insights, not high standards. This is a great fun to listen to when your brain is tired of thinking about work, chores, or the more serious books you have been reading and need a bit of a break from. And there is nothing wrong with filling the lets-just-have-some-adrenaline-fun niche. Some of us totally appreciate it!!! Call me simple, call me lacking in standards, I don't mind. Just don't tell me what I should or should not enjoy - and this is pure fun:):):)
So, if you are to good for some relaxation with Lora Croft on steroids and without the thieving part, because Annja-Superwoman Archaeologist would never steal something on purpose, she is too much of a Marry Sue for that:), and are not willing to hang with us folks from low places, this would not be a good choice for you! You have to be capable of chilling and just enjoying the great job the voice actors are doing in order to appreciate this series. I know I will try to listen to as many of those as I could:)
Now I wish you all Happy Reading and many more wonderful books to come!!!
August 1, 2019
I decided to try out this series as I had noticed through my library that they had over 40 books in the series, so I wanted to try something just a little bit different. By looking through the reviews on here, this book is up and down from one stars to five stars, which tells me that it is random for some people and what impressed or didn't impress them. I am in the impressed category as with this first book it grabbed me right away in the first chapter with some action continuing on with mystery, suspense, adventure, and lots more action.
Annja Creed is an archaeologist a/k/a treasure hunter a/k/a adventurer. She has been interested in locating the Beast of Gevaudin which is considered a legend in France. Annja decides to go on an adventure to France to see what she can find. On her quest to find the Beast, she stumbles into another mysterious find which leads her into a fight with some villains who are after a certain treasure. Trying to escape the clutches of these bad guys she meets up with a old man named "Roux" who helps her escape.
After the meet up with Roux, the book keeps twisting and turning with more mysteries as Annja is lead to what is considered the sword by Joan of Arc. As she pursues all these different treasures she is basically hunted by all kinds of bad guys including some monks from a monastery. The whole book was a mystery and a thrill ride as Annja goes from one extreme to another finding treasures and fleeing bad men.
I would consider the character, Annja to be a cross between Indiana Jones and Lara Croft (the video game heroine) as she basically has the skills of both of them to get her through and out of her predicaments. I found the book refreshing and fun as the action just keeps kicking from the first chapter to the last chapter. I will be continuing on with the series, but it is going to take awhile as there are a total of 61 books in this series! I look forward to pursuing all of them in the future. Giving this book four stars!
Annja Creed is an archaeologist a/k/a treasure hunter a/k/a adventurer. She has been interested in locating the Beast of Gevaudin which is considered a legend in France. Annja decides to go on an adventure to France to see what she can find. On her quest to find the Beast, she stumbles into another mysterious find which leads her into a fight with some villains who are after a certain treasure. Trying to escape the clutches of these bad guys she meets up with a old man named "Roux" who helps her escape.
After the meet up with Roux, the book keeps twisting and turning with more mysteries as Annja is lead to what is considered the sword by Joan of Arc. As she pursues all these different treasures she is basically hunted by all kinds of bad guys including some monks from a monastery. The whole book was a mystery and a thrill ride as Annja goes from one extreme to another finding treasures and fleeing bad men.
I would consider the character, Annja to be a cross between Indiana Jones and Lara Croft (the video game heroine) as she basically has the skills of both of them to get her through and out of her predicaments. I found the book refreshing and fun as the action just keeps kicking from the first chapter to the last chapter. I will be continuing on with the series, but it is going to take awhile as there are a total of 61 books in this series! I look forward to pursuing all of them in the future. Giving this book four stars!
July 3, 2017
This was the first Graphic Audio read I’ve completed and that made this book a lot of fun. I liked the sound affects and the cast, it really was like a movie in my head.
Annja is an archaeologist and works for something akin to the National Inquirer but for history. She is better than the place she works for but it pays the bills and lets her travel the world to research histories. This takes her to investigate a serial killing wolflike beast that is thought to have killed around 40 people before its disappearance.
It appears that Annja might have a tie to Joan of Arc and her sword and meets some very interesting older gentlemen along the way that have agenda’s of their own. I liked Roux and hope that he gets to play a role in future books. He is a great opposite for Annja since she is a bit Mary Jane and he is a little morally ambiguous.
Drawbacks for this book that are that Annja was too good at everything. She is still pretty young and even if you start to think that she is perhaps Joan of Arc reincarnate it doesn’t explain how a 24 year old has so many skills at everything. Also I’m a bit of a romance reader and I like to have a romantic interest to root for. Roux seems a bit too old and I didn’t really like anyone else in the series thus far, so there wasn’t anything like that to hope for, yet.
I liked this with the Graphic Audio. I’m not sure I’d like the written story as well. It needed something else going on with the plot maybe or some character development to be a little stronger.
Annja is an archaeologist and works for something akin to the National Inquirer but for history. She is better than the place she works for but it pays the bills and lets her travel the world to research histories. This takes her to investigate a serial killing wolflike beast that is thought to have killed around 40 people before its disappearance.
It appears that Annja might have a tie to Joan of Arc and her sword and meets some very interesting older gentlemen along the way that have agenda’s of their own. I liked Roux and hope that he gets to play a role in future books. He is a great opposite for Annja since she is a bit Mary Jane and he is a little morally ambiguous.
Drawbacks for this book that are that Annja was too good at everything. She is still pretty young and even if you start to think that she is perhaps Joan of Arc reincarnate it doesn’t explain how a 24 year old has so many skills at everything. Also I’m a bit of a romance reader and I like to have a romantic interest to root for. Roux seems a bit too old and I didn’t really like anyone else in the series thus far, so there wasn’t anything like that to hope for, yet.
I liked this with the Graphic Audio. I’m not sure I’d like the written story as well. It needed something else going on with the plot maybe or some character development to be a little stronger.
June 17, 2017
Thank you to Choko for setting me up with this series!! Graphic audio is so cool! Its like the old BBC radio shows, but better. Sound effects and wonderful actors.
This is the beginning of the series by Alex Archer that begins with Joan of Arc and her sword that ends up in the hands of our amazing heroine, archaeologist Annja Creed.
People keep trying to kill her, but Annja is way too tough. Excellent series! On to the next one.😘
This is the beginning of the series by Alex Archer that begins with Joan of Arc and her sword that ends up in the hands of our amazing heroine, archaeologist Annja Creed.
People keep trying to kill her, but Annja is way too tough. Excellent series! On to the next one.😘
September 28, 2011
Have you ever been reading a book when all of a sudden a turn of phrase, an offensive passage, or something altogether different pops up and it all comes to a screeching halt? Whatever it is, it bothered you so much that it colored the rest of your reading and you just couldn't go on, whether or not it was an irrational reaction. In my case it happened with the first paragraph, chapter two (pg. 26):
Excuse me? One, I know what the heck ancient means - very old - and I'm pretty sure 99.9% of the Earth's population does too. Two, most people use ancient as an exaggeration, not as a "mistake." I see nothing wrong with that. Three, oh, ho-ho! so being a "trained archaeologist" makes someone that much better and smarter than the layman, eh? It just struck me the wrong way and I got a sense of smug superiority that irked me something fierce.
I had other problems before getting to this point as well, but even though I read about forty pages more, I couldn't get past this one little paragraph. Others problems: I could smell a Mary-Sue from a mile away. Apparently this Lara Croft (whom you couldn't help but think of) wannabe knows EVERYTHING at the ripe old age of - well somewhere in her twenties, it wasn't mentioned in what I read. Puh-lease. Also mentioned was her hour-glass figure, although not in so many words. Are you gagging yet? And she's an expert at some sort of martial arts, where get this, she was taught by a nun. Annja was an orphan or something, so she was raised by them. Something that strikes me as odd, she can spot someone tailing her. I'm not quite sure where or how she could have developed this skill in her line of work, but whatever. So basically, she's perfect at every single thing. Sorry, that doesn't work for me. I don't mind a brainless, action-packed read, but frankly, this wasn't a very well-written one as it was pretty flat and boring, and I couldn't even make it seventy pages.
The rental Avery had arranged turned out to be an old Renault pickup truck. If Annja had been a layman, maybe she'd have mistakenly called it ancient. But she was a trained archaeologist and she knew what ancient meant.
Excuse me? One, I know what the heck ancient means - very old - and I'm pretty sure 99.9% of the Earth's population does too. Two, most people use ancient as an exaggeration, not as a "mistake." I see nothing wrong with that. Three, oh, ho-ho! so being a "trained archaeologist" makes someone that much better and smarter than the layman, eh? It just struck me the wrong way and I got a sense of smug superiority that irked me something fierce.
I had other problems before getting to this point as well, but even though I read about forty pages more, I couldn't get past this one little paragraph. Others problems: I could smell a Mary-Sue from a mile away. Apparently this Lara Croft (whom you couldn't help but think of) wannabe knows EVERYTHING at the ripe old age of - well somewhere in her twenties, it wasn't mentioned in what I read. Puh-lease. Also mentioned was her hour-glass figure, although not in so many words. Are you gagging yet? And she's an expert at some sort of martial arts, where get this, she was taught by a nun. Annja was an orphan or something, so she was raised by them. Something that strikes me as odd, she can spot someone tailing her. I'm not quite sure where or how she could have developed this skill in her line of work, but whatever. So basically, she's perfect at every single thing. Sorry, that doesn't work for me. I don't mind a brainless, action-packed read, but frankly, this wasn't a very well-written one as it was pretty flat and boring, and I couldn't even make it seventy pages.
July 20, 2017
This was really weird for me because up until now I've never encountered this type of audiobook. It's actually great because it really brings the book to life and yet the constant audio effects distract me. Thankfully the plot is pretty simple and easy to follow and Annja - the protagonist of the series is a likeable one. She reminds me of Buffy. The whole book brought memories of that awesome show.
The book is very action oriented and it's structure is similar to that of a TV show episode. I liked the spin Alex Archer took to the stories of Joan of Arc and the Beast of Gevaudin. It's always nice to see how different authors spin the old legends and give them new life :) And if this continues to be the case I can see myself enjoying the rest of the series for a long, long time.
The book is very action oriented and it's structure is similar to that of a TV show episode. I liked the spin Alex Archer took to the stories of Joan of Arc and the Beast of Gevaudin. It's always nice to see how different authors spin the old legends and give them new life :) And if this continues to be the case I can see myself enjoying the rest of the series for a long, long time.
January 4, 2021
I usually start out my reading for a new year with a book that I have long felt I should read or one that has been sitting on my shelf for a long time and simply needs to get read. However. this year, after having survived 2020, I decided I was just going to start out 2021 with what promised be a fun read.
This one certainly fit the bill. The description featured quite a few of my reading buttons: history/archeology, action, adventure, and the influence of the supernatural. It looked like a cross between Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider and that turns out to be exactly correct. It’s also the start of a long series which is often a bonus for me.
Mel Odom is the author behind this first entry in the series. He’s a writer primarily known for his novels set in existing properties, everything from Forgotten Realms, to Buffy, to Mack Bolan, to NCIS, and even Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. The novel itself is chalked full of the action and adventure that I was looking for and works well to set up the main character, Annja Creed, an archaeologist with a penchant for arcane history and adventure. She is as intelligent as she is beautiful. The book also sets up that she is heir to Joan of Arc's mystic sword but leaves the details of her destiny purposefully vague so as to explore that aspect in future novels. The other primary characters are also introduced, gray characters that have their own agendas that may or may not always align with Annja’s. I really liked that aspect.
The book is not without flaws and won’t win any literary competitions but that is not why I was reading it. For a fun all-round pulpy action-adventure novel, it works well. Escapist entertainment…just what I needed.
This one certainly fit the bill. The description featured quite a few of my reading buttons: history/archeology, action, adventure, and the influence of the supernatural. It looked like a cross between Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider and that turns out to be exactly correct. It’s also the start of a long series which is often a bonus for me.
Mel Odom is the author behind this first entry in the series. He’s a writer primarily known for his novels set in existing properties, everything from Forgotten Realms, to Buffy, to Mack Bolan, to NCIS, and even Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. The novel itself is chalked full of the action and adventure that I was looking for and works well to set up the main character, Annja Creed, an archaeologist with a penchant for arcane history and adventure. She is as intelligent as she is beautiful. The book also sets up that she is heir to Joan of Arc's mystic sword but leaves the details of her destiny purposefully vague so as to explore that aspect in future novels. The other primary characters are also introduced, gray characters that have their own agendas that may or may not always align with Annja’s. I really liked that aspect.
The book is not without flaws and won’t win any literary competitions but that is not why I was reading it. For a fun all-round pulpy action-adventure novel, it works well. Escapist entertainment…just what I needed.
January 29, 2015
Things Annja Creed Is Absolutely The Best At: An Incomplete List
- archaeology
- languages
- judo
- boxing
- swords
- rock climbing
- ropes
- gymnastics
- guns
- anthropology
- ethnography
- motorcycle tricks
- television production & special effects
- writing books
- being on Letterman
- being super hot
she's like... 24? In short, this book was hilariously, catastrophically stupid. I read it because I was at a truck stop and apparently the audio book is a popular choice? who knew. It was on my reader so I thought I'd give it a shot. MISTAKE.
- archaeology
- languages
- judo
- boxing
- swords
- rock climbing
- ropes
- gymnastics
- guns
- anthropology
- ethnography
- motorcycle tricks
- television production & special effects
- writing books
- being on Letterman
- being super hot
she's like... 24? In short, this book was hilariously, catastrophically stupid. I read it because I was at a truck stop and apparently the audio book is a popular choice? who knew. It was on my reader so I thought I'd give it a shot. MISTAKE.
July 3, 2017
*3 stars*
This was lots of fun to listen to, but I doubt if I would have enjoyed it as much if I had read it. The audio book has loads of great sound effects and a multi cast. I would recommend it if you want to rest up after a challenging read - it's fast paced, over-the-top, believe the unbelievable, action/adventure escapism. Thank you Choko! :)
This was lots of fun to listen to, but I doubt if I would have enjoyed it as much if I had read it. The audio book has loads of great sound effects and a multi cast. I would recommend it if you want to rest up after a challenging read - it's fast paced, over-the-top, believe the unbelievable, action/adventure escapism. Thank you Choko! :)
April 29, 2008
I’m giving this book two stars because I actually finished it. I liked the characters at first, but as the book progressed, I felt that they started to become very annoying. “Oh Roux thinks he’s always right.” “Garin is an asshole.” “Annja can kick anyone’s ass and knows everything about everything.”
I thought Annja’s fighting abilities got out of hand by the end of the book. She learned karate from the nun’s in New Orleans??! That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever read. The fight scenes were very hard to read, and the end of the book seemed a jumble. There were way too many plot lines happening as well.
I’m glad I got this book at the library, and I will not be reading any of the other books in the series.
I thought Annja’s fighting abilities got out of hand by the end of the book. She learned karate from the nun’s in New Orleans??! That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever read. The fight scenes were very hard to read, and the end of the book seemed a jumble. There were way too many plot lines happening as well.
I’m glad I got this book at the library, and I will not be reading any of the other books in the series.
August 3, 2023
3.5 at times
After reading the description of the Rogue Angel book series, I figured it might be something I liked. Finding out it was written and created by Mel Odom sealed the deal for me (Gold Eagle just has a stock author name for all their book series for some reason). I've enjoyed some of his other books and even though this is an early novel series for him, I was still pretty hopeful that this would be a good adventure. It's pretty much everything I expected, so solid points for that.
Rogue Angel is a book series that introduces the character Annja Creed to the world. She's an archaeologist by trade and for the start of her series she works for a TV show doing segments on histories monsters. So her dynamics of work and scholarship are a bit different from other characters written in this vein, which had me a bit worried, because I do like the archetype of someone working in a stuffy university. In the description it seemed like this was yet another female Indiana Jones styled character similar to Lara Croft and that is sort of who Annja is, but they took away some of the things the other characters had. Indiana Jones had university access and Lara Croft had access to, basically, infinite money, meanwhile, Annja has none of these things. So, while she is, essentially, a bit more of Lara Croft mixed with Indiana Jones, her life situation is extremely different and it makes her different enough to not feel too generic.
It is amusing to note, that at one point of the story it was commented that she's "not just some video game character." Referencing that she's not a Lara Croft clone. Then, sometime later in the story when a gun fight breaks out and she has to choose weapons she chooses, not one, but two pistols. So, uhm... tell me more about how you don't want Annja seen as just another Lara Croft? I thought that was kind of a goofy thing, as if Annja Creed would ever overshadow the popularity of Lara Croft...
Anyway, even though this was a good story, it still sits around the three star mark for me. I think part of the problem is that the book suffers from the same "new hero" journey that a lot of stories do. It has exciting moments, sure, but this is the story of a generally boring regular person coming of age into the light of being nearly a super hero of sorts. So, these initial stories, while important, feel often slow for me. Lots of time spent on developing the characters and their interactions, lots of mood setting, etc. Meanwhile, I feel like the mystery Annja is trying to solve takes a back seat a bit for character development, whereas I want to find out what happens next! I do agree that stuff can be important, but it is also rather boring from time to time. I expect the future novels to be much faster paced where they can focus more on Annja solving mysteries and using her powers and new friends to get her through the hardships, which, I imagine, will be great fun.
This being Annja's "coming of age" story of sorts has her investigating an old French mystery called La Bete. In this journey she stumbles into things that involve Joan of Arc. It turns out there is a bit of a treasure mystery surrounding La Bete, but Annja didn't really know about this, so she's stumbled into a hornets nest with a gangster, LeSauvage, that is after the treasure. Another more mysterious party, Roux, who is actually looking for pieces of Joan of Arc's broken sword. These two parties cross paths with Annja stuck right in the middle! Roux is an excellent character with an extremely mysterious past. His past acquaintance Garin comes to Annja's rescue at some point, which holds LeSauvage at bay.
It does follow in the footsteps of Indy and Tomb Raider that there is a degree of actual magic in the world. I don't want to give too much of it away, but the major component of the Rogue Angel series deals with the fact that Roux manages to find all the missing pieces of Joan of Arc's sword. Garin decides to put his murderous intent of Roux on hold in favor of helping Annja view the sword pieces, because Roux thinks she might be special. Turns out, she is, when she goes to touch the sword hilt, the sword reassembles itself and disappears. It goes "somewhere," but Annja finds she can summon it at will. This is why the book is titled Destiny. Roux theorizes that Annja was destined to wield the sword.
In the end, while it was slow going at times, I found the overall story very enjoyable. The mad rush to try and find a treasure while being hunted by gangsters was a good ride. Unravelling what actually happened in history was well written and good fun too. So, this has all the makings of a good series of stories and I look forward to more tales to come now that the stage has been set and future volumes can focus more on good stories rather than Annja's creation. I will say, if you are a fan of modern Lara Croft stories (the 2018 era-ish), then Annja Creed does a really good job of hitting that mark as well.
After reading the description of the Rogue Angel book series, I figured it might be something I liked. Finding out it was written and created by Mel Odom sealed the deal for me (Gold Eagle just has a stock author name for all their book series for some reason). I've enjoyed some of his other books and even though this is an early novel series for him, I was still pretty hopeful that this would be a good adventure. It's pretty much everything I expected, so solid points for that.
Rogue Angel is a book series that introduces the character Annja Creed to the world. She's an archaeologist by trade and for the start of her series she works for a TV show doing segments on histories monsters. So her dynamics of work and scholarship are a bit different from other characters written in this vein, which had me a bit worried, because I do like the archetype of someone working in a stuffy university. In the description it seemed like this was yet another female Indiana Jones styled character similar to Lara Croft and that is sort of who Annja is, but they took away some of the things the other characters had. Indiana Jones had university access and Lara Croft had access to, basically, infinite money, meanwhile, Annja has none of these things. So, while she is, essentially, a bit more of Lara Croft mixed with Indiana Jones, her life situation is extremely different and it makes her different enough to not feel too generic.
It is amusing to note, that at one point of the story it was commented that she's "not just some video game character." Referencing that she's not a Lara Croft clone. Then, sometime later in the story when a gun fight breaks out and she has to choose weapons she chooses, not one, but two pistols. So, uhm... tell me more about how you don't want Annja seen as just another Lara Croft? I thought that was kind of a goofy thing, as if Annja Creed would ever overshadow the popularity of Lara Croft...
Anyway, even though this was a good story, it still sits around the three star mark for me. I think part of the problem is that the book suffers from the same "new hero" journey that a lot of stories do. It has exciting moments, sure, but this is the story of a generally boring regular person coming of age into the light of being nearly a super hero of sorts. So, these initial stories, while important, feel often slow for me. Lots of time spent on developing the characters and their interactions, lots of mood setting, etc. Meanwhile, I feel like the mystery Annja is trying to solve takes a back seat a bit for character development, whereas I want to find out what happens next! I do agree that stuff can be important, but it is also rather boring from time to time. I expect the future novels to be much faster paced where they can focus more on Annja solving mysteries and using her powers and new friends to get her through the hardships, which, I imagine, will be great fun.
This being Annja's "coming of age" story of sorts has her investigating an old French mystery called La Bete. In this journey she stumbles into things that involve Joan of Arc. It turns out there is a bit of a treasure mystery surrounding La Bete, but Annja didn't really know about this, so she's stumbled into a hornets nest with a gangster, LeSauvage, that is after the treasure. Another more mysterious party, Roux, who is actually looking for pieces of Joan of Arc's broken sword. These two parties cross paths with Annja stuck right in the middle! Roux is an excellent character with an extremely mysterious past. His past acquaintance Garin comes to Annja's rescue at some point, which holds LeSauvage at bay.
It does follow in the footsteps of Indy and Tomb Raider that there is a degree of actual magic in the world. I don't want to give too much of it away, but the major component of the Rogue Angel series deals with the fact that Roux manages to find all the missing pieces of Joan of Arc's sword. Garin decides to put his murderous intent of Roux on hold in favor of helping Annja view the sword pieces, because Roux thinks she might be special. Turns out, she is, when she goes to touch the sword hilt, the sword reassembles itself and disappears. It goes "somewhere," but Annja finds she can summon it at will. This is why the book is titled Destiny. Roux theorizes that Annja was destined to wield the sword.
In the end, while it was slow going at times, I found the overall story very enjoyable. The mad rush to try and find a treasure while being hunted by gangsters was a good ride. Unravelling what actually happened in history was well written and good fun too. So, this has all the makings of a good series of stories and I look forward to more tales to come now that the stage has been set and future volumes can focus more on good stories rather than Annja's creation. I will say, if you are a fan of modern Lara Croft stories (the 2018 era-ish), then Annja Creed does a really good job of hitting that mark as well.
February 11, 2013
Gentlemen, I give you the Rogue Angel series.
With all the “new pulp” talk these days, it’s time to start looking at some contemporary novel series. The 70′s and 80′s were good for the men’s action adventure books, this millennia, not so good. I keep expecting kindle and e-book publishing to solve that little problem, but in the meantime, Let’s see what else is out there.
Unleashed upon the world by Gold Eagle, the Mr. Hyde version of Harlequin Romance, in 2006, the series is up to #40 at the present. Impressive when you consider Doc Savage flamed out at 181, but still a way to go to reach the output of the Shadow. The series is going strong and is making bank for it’s publisher. Each one is written by “Alex Archer” who is this centuries Kenneth Robeson. Each cover features a twentysomething woman wielding a sword.
The Rogue Angel series is about Annja Creed, a world-traveling archaeologist who has been given the sword of St. Joan of Arc. Raised by an orphanage, she travels the earth seeking adventure and relics. The whole premise sounds silly, but I’ve read the first book in the series and it works. I have to give credit to whoever edited this book: the plot is tight, filled with action, and the characters interesting. Here is professionalism at work. You may not get the flashes of brilliance found in K W Jeter’s Kim Oh books, or the bow-chica-wow-wow of the Baroness series, but Rogue Angel #1 was a solid good read.
Destiny begins with Annja searching in the Cevennes Mountains of France for evidence of an 18th century monster known as “The Beast”. Although a trained Archaeologist she earns her coin working for a cable TV show called Chasing History’s Monsters. She realizes the show sensationalizes her work, but it’s one way to pay the bills. Unfortunately for her, other people are searching for the remains of The Beast, including a French gangster known as Lesauvage and a mysterious order of monks. While trekking through the mountain chain, an earthquake splits the ground open, sending Annja falling into a cave. There she finds evidence of The Beast’s death at the hands of a warrior. On the run from the bad guys, she takes a medallion from the cave before the earth seals it back up.
She escapes to her apartment in Brooklyn with a rubbing of the medallion, but the same forces trying to prevent her from finding The Beast pursue her to the United States. By the conclusion of the novel, the reader learns how the sword of St. Joan can be summoned by Annja and what it can do in combat. The gangsters are punished and he innocent rewarded. But Annja has learned there are people still out there who are very interested in her and the sword….
The action of Destiny is non-stop. One minute Annja is trying to kill a poisonous snake, the next she’s on the run from motorcycling minions of the French gangster. It’s not over-descriptive:
“Annja went, stumbling over the first couple steps, then running for all she was worth. The door closed behind them. Her breath sounded loud in her ears as she rapidly caught up with Garin. Gunshots sounded behind her, muffled by the door, and she knew the Brotherhood of the Silent Rain was tearing up Roux’s study.”
Destiny also introduces two characters pivotal to the series: Garin and Roux. Both have been afflicted with immortality since witnessing the death of St. Joan. Roux was an alchemist who acted as the saint’s adviser Garin, the bastard son of a knight, his apprentice Both were too late to stop the the execution of the saint. They distrust each other and have maintained a tense relationship over the past half-millennia.
I’m hoping the character of Annja develops with the series. She uses the internet extensively, but is a loner socially. There is mention of a cop on the New York Police Department she dates, but he’s regulated to a minor role. She knows nothing of her parents, as all records in the orphanage where she was raised were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
I have a few historical issues with the events in the book. For instance, a group of knights are described as destroying a renegade monastery in France during the 18th century. Granted, there were still knightly orders in western Europe by the 18th century, but they were mostly gentlemen’s organizations. And “The Brotherhood of the Silent Rain” as the name of a medieval catholic monastic organization? Hardly. Most were named for saints or precise aspects of the faith.
I’m going to give this series a chance and see where it goes. I’m working on the second book.
With all the “new pulp” talk these days, it’s time to start looking at some contemporary novel series. The 70′s and 80′s were good for the men’s action adventure books, this millennia, not so good. I keep expecting kindle and e-book publishing to solve that little problem, but in the meantime, Let’s see what else is out there.
Unleashed upon the world by Gold Eagle, the Mr. Hyde version of Harlequin Romance, in 2006, the series is up to #40 at the present. Impressive when you consider Doc Savage flamed out at 181, but still a way to go to reach the output of the Shadow. The series is going strong and is making bank for it’s publisher. Each one is written by “Alex Archer” who is this centuries Kenneth Robeson. Each cover features a twentysomething woman wielding a sword.
The Rogue Angel series is about Annja Creed, a world-traveling archaeologist who has been given the sword of St. Joan of Arc. Raised by an orphanage, she travels the earth seeking adventure and relics. The whole premise sounds silly, but I’ve read the first book in the series and it works. I have to give credit to whoever edited this book: the plot is tight, filled with action, and the characters interesting. Here is professionalism at work. You may not get the flashes of brilliance found in K W Jeter’s Kim Oh books, or the bow-chica-wow-wow of the Baroness series, but Rogue Angel #1 was a solid good read.
Destiny begins with Annja searching in the Cevennes Mountains of France for evidence of an 18th century monster known as “The Beast”. Although a trained Archaeologist she earns her coin working for a cable TV show called Chasing History’s Monsters. She realizes the show sensationalizes her work, but it’s one way to pay the bills. Unfortunately for her, other people are searching for the remains of The Beast, including a French gangster known as Lesauvage and a mysterious order of monks. While trekking through the mountain chain, an earthquake splits the ground open, sending Annja falling into a cave. There she finds evidence of The Beast’s death at the hands of a warrior. On the run from the bad guys, she takes a medallion from the cave before the earth seals it back up.
She escapes to her apartment in Brooklyn with a rubbing of the medallion, but the same forces trying to prevent her from finding The Beast pursue her to the United States. By the conclusion of the novel, the reader learns how the sword of St. Joan can be summoned by Annja and what it can do in combat. The gangsters are punished and he innocent rewarded. But Annja has learned there are people still out there who are very interested in her and the sword….
The action of Destiny is non-stop. One minute Annja is trying to kill a poisonous snake, the next she’s on the run from motorcycling minions of the French gangster. It’s not over-descriptive:
“Annja went, stumbling over the first couple steps, then running for all she was worth. The door closed behind them. Her breath sounded loud in her ears as she rapidly caught up with Garin. Gunshots sounded behind her, muffled by the door, and she knew the Brotherhood of the Silent Rain was tearing up Roux’s study.”
Destiny also introduces two characters pivotal to the series: Garin and Roux. Both have been afflicted with immortality since witnessing the death of St. Joan. Roux was an alchemist who acted as the saint’s adviser Garin, the bastard son of a knight, his apprentice Both were too late to stop the the execution of the saint. They distrust each other and have maintained a tense relationship over the past half-millennia.
I’m hoping the character of Annja develops with the series. She uses the internet extensively, but is a loner socially. There is mention of a cop on the New York Police Department she dates, but he’s regulated to a minor role. She knows nothing of her parents, as all records in the orphanage where she was raised were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
I have a few historical issues with the events in the book. For instance, a group of knights are described as destroying a renegade monastery in France during the 18th century. Granted, there were still knightly orders in western Europe by the 18th century, but they were mostly gentlemen’s organizations. And “The Brotherhood of the Silent Rain” as the name of a medieval catholic monastic organization? Hardly. Most were named for saints or precise aspects of the faith.
I’m going to give this series a chance and see where it goes. I’m working on the second book.
August 13, 2016
Well, for starters, the beginning of this book is very off-putting. It's one of those series that I can tell the writing style is going to bug me endlessly. The writing itself, too, was very awkward at times and often told me who Annja was, rather than show me through her actions. In this way I found it condescending, almost as if this book were intended for a much younger, and less intelligent, audience. As an added bonus, Annja is the Maryest of all Sues. She has some type of martial art skills, can sense thugs tailing her, and was, apparently, taught most of this by nuns. All of this is told within the first few chapters, but none of this is really explained in a way that flows or makes sense. Half the problem is that we get the hefty dose of Exposition whenever she gets a moment in the midst of battle. 'Cause, you know, breaking up the fight scene for a little bit of Boring is the best thing to do when you want to keep your readers interested! Woo!
Another issue, and perhaps it is due to being in eBook format, was the odd word spacing in some places. At the start of a new section or chapter, there would be three or four words capitalized, and sometimes there would be a space after the first letter in the sentence. But not always. I got the sense that the main letter(s) may have been of a fancier font in the printed version and yet no one cared to fix it later on when made into an eBook. The thing is, though, it also appears in the middle of sentences. All of a sudden I would come across a word with a ran dom space added in the middle, making the reading slow and awkward. Plus the tense changes and weird use of is/are littered throughout... Ugh!
There are even a few instances where I wondered whether or not the author(s) were aware of their writing/voice. It's like I am being told a story buy someone who thinks both that they are clever, and that no one else can see the obvious path their story is taking. There is one instance where a sword magically disappears. I figured out where it went right away -it's not the first time it's been used in a story- but the characters hadn't a clue and argue about it for a time. Later on, while Annja is in a taxi, she starts to fall asleep and pictures herself holding the sword and.. The sword is in her hand!
I had to stop reading for a bit, there. Am I supposed to find that Not Completely Obvious? It's just getting silly. And what is with the exclamation point? I can't help but wonder what the story would be like told from her point of view, in her voice. It has to be better than this, right?
Annja herself is, as I mentioned, a Mary Sue. I have seen her in many, many stories and she has not changed at all. She is still perfect in mind and body, and turns the heads of every male in a hundred mile radius. Everyone wants her, and her goal is to correct the wrongs of the world. The supporting cast, Roux and Garin specifically, are not too much better. Their goals, even when expressed, are still not very clear. As with Annja, their personalities are quite flat - there seems to be little consistency in their actions.
Oh, and for anyone wondering about any Romance in the novel... there isn't even a kiss scene. Unless you count that one character who woke up surrounded by naked ladies. There was nothing going on there, though, so.. it doesn't count.
Anyway, I hope Annja and her entourage find each other a personality in the next book because.. this is just awful. I think that's why I am still reading this.. it's like a disaster in progress I just have to watch.
Note: I read this book as the "Collector's Edition" Rogue Angel: Renaissance. If you're interested in reading the series, this version will get you three books for the price of one.. go for it. It's a good deal if you want to check out the series and see if it's for you.
I won't be coming back to it, though - I didn't even finish the last book in this trio. It's just not for me.
Another issue, and perhaps it is due to being in eBook format, was the odd word spacing in some places. At the start of a new section or chapter, there would be three or four words capitalized, and sometimes there would be a space after the first letter in the sentence. But not always. I got the sense that the main letter(s) may have been of a fancier font in the printed version and yet no one cared to fix it later on when made into an eBook. The thing is, though, it also appears in the middle of sentences. All of a sudden I would come across a word with a ran dom space added in the middle, making the reading slow and awkward. Plus the tense changes and weird use of is/are littered throughout... Ugh!
There are even a few instances where I wondered whether or not the author(s) were aware of their writing/voice. It's like I am being told a story buy someone who thinks both that they are clever, and that no one else can see the obvious path their story is taking. There is one instance where a sword magically disappears. I figured out where it went right away -it's not the first time it's been used in a story- but the characters hadn't a clue and argue about it for a time. Later on, while Annja is in a taxi, she starts to fall asleep and pictures herself holding the sword and.. The sword is in her hand!
I had to stop reading for a bit, there. Am I supposed to find that Not Completely Obvious? It's just getting silly. And what is with the exclamation point? I can't help but wonder what the story would be like told from her point of view, in her voice. It has to be better than this, right?
Annja herself is, as I mentioned, a Mary Sue. I have seen her in many, many stories and she has not changed at all. She is still perfect in mind and body, and turns the heads of every male in a hundred mile radius. Everyone wants her, and her goal is to correct the wrongs of the world. The supporting cast, Roux and Garin specifically, are not too much better. Their goals, even when expressed, are still not very clear. As with Annja, their personalities are quite flat - there seems to be little consistency in their actions.
Oh, and for anyone wondering about any Romance in the novel... there isn't even a kiss scene. Unless you count that one character who woke up surrounded by naked ladies. There was nothing going on there, though, so.. it doesn't count.
Anyway, I hope Annja and her entourage find each other a personality in the next book because.. this is just awful. I think that's why I am still reading this.. it's like a disaster in progress I just have to watch.
Note: I read this book as the "Collector's Edition" Rogue Angel: Renaissance. If you're interested in reading the series, this version will get you three books for the price of one.. go for it. It's a good deal if you want to check out the series and see if it's for you.
I won't be coming back to it, though - I didn't even finish the last book in this trio. It's just not for me.
March 2, 2008
It doesn’t get much more “fluffy” than this, but then again, that’s not totally a bad thing. If you’re looking for a quick, action-packed read, this book will fit the bill. The character of Annja is just a little too Lora Croft to be completely comfortable (and as such, just a little too perfect as well), but that doesn’t overly detract from the fun ride. This is adventure pulp for the 2000’s and it’s pulp done well and the perfect tonic after a few too many “serious” books.
February 8, 2020
This is a very nice dramatization of the first Annja Creed novel. Rather than a reading, it's a full-cast treatment with music and sound effects, a "movie in your mind" as the caption terms it. It's the origin story for the series, which answers the question of what would happen if a female Indiana Jones got Sara Pezzini's Witchblade. It's very well produced and performed, and the story is very enjoyable.
July 26, 2013
I was not impressed by this book, it felt rather B. Like the show Relic Hunter, a total B tv-series, but still at least that show was funny while this book was lacking.
I also saw that there are like 40 books out! All with the same plot. Annja finds an artifact, is hunted by bad guys, kidnapped yada yada. The first few books are written by one author, the rest by different ones so I am sure there is a difference in quality too. I decided not to read any more.
Yup Annja, she is great at everything! She is special too. There is some complaining when she works for a crappy network tvshow, well do some teaching or digging then. Anyway, she finds a coin, bad guys comes, monks comes, God comes (almost) and she finds two weird guys.
First, why was the baddie after her? It was stupid. Do some research man instead of sending goons after an innocent woman. Honestly worst baddie ever, there is something called google. Then there were the monks...eh, secret? Lame secret! One would think the Catholic Church would not bother about something that happened 250 years ago when they have bigger problems right now. There were some eyerolls there.
Conclusion.
The book has something promising, but I wont read 40 books of the same story when the story was lacking
I also saw that there are like 40 books out! All with the same plot. Annja finds an artifact, is hunted by bad guys, kidnapped yada yada. The first few books are written by one author, the rest by different ones so I am sure there is a difference in quality too. I decided not to read any more.
Yup Annja, she is great at everything! She is special too. There is some complaining when she works for a crappy network tvshow, well do some teaching or digging then. Anyway, she finds a coin, bad guys comes, monks comes, God comes (almost) and she finds two weird guys.
First, why was the baddie after her? It was stupid. Do some research man instead of sending goons after an innocent woman. Honestly worst baddie ever, there is something called google. Then there were the monks...eh, secret? Lame secret! One would think the Catholic Church would not bother about something that happened 250 years ago when they have bigger problems right now. There were some eyerolls there.
Conclusion.
The book has something promising, but I wont read 40 books of the same story when the story was lacking
January 12, 2010
If you are a history/mythology buff and liked Indiana Jones but hated the portrayal of Laura Croft, this is the book to pick up. She's a positive female role model, who doesn't fall prey to the over-sexed stereotype which actually gets lamp shaded in some parts. The book itself is a mix of fantasy/Historical fiction and a good one for comic lovers.
Furthermore, you learn some history about Joan of Arc, and La Bête du (The beast of) Gévaudan. The story stands alone, so you don't have to worry about getting into the other books in the series, but if you want to start a good one that currently doesn't have a movie series as well check it out.
Furthermore, you learn some history about Joan of Arc, and La Bête du (The beast of) Gévaudan. The story stands alone, so you don't have to worry about getting into the other books in the series, but if you want to start a good one that currently doesn't have a movie series as well check it out.
August 29, 2021
Probably wouldn't have gotten a three if the audio book hadn't been a full cast. Not a bad concept but it felt cliché.
August 17, 2021
Super fun book. It seemed to start a bit fast, but as the story continued everything came together and I found myself really enjoying it.
June 6, 2023
OK maybe a tad high on the rating, but I’m stoked! Read the 1st several of these as they came out, then sorta lost track of them and in recent times couldn’t for the life of me remember the series name (Rogue Angel), the heroine (Annja Creed), the author (Alex Archer) but only the name Roux who becomes sorta Annja’s mentor…didn’t help locate anything. Then the other day I went into one of my regular used book shops and casually looked at the sci-fi shelves…hallelujah! There they were, 3 of them calling to me. Snapped them up, and several more at another shop, now that I know they’re “sci-fi” category - I’d always thought of them as action/adventure stories.
Anyway, I blew through this first of the series in 2 sessions, every bit as terrfic as I remembered. And, I’ve got #2 thru 6 too! There’s 57 print novels (publisher Worldwide used a stable of in-house writers under the pen name Alex Archer) put out between 2006 and 2017; since then they’ve gone strictly “books on tape” or whatever other name you choose; I’ll eschew them, but I’ve got a whole bevy of new material to hunt for - woot!
Anyway, I blew through this first of the series in 2 sessions, every bit as terrfic as I remembered. And, I’ve got #2 thru 6 too! There’s 57 print novels (publisher Worldwide used a stable of in-house writers under the pen name Alex Archer) put out between 2006 and 2017; since then they’ve gone strictly “books on tape” or whatever other name you choose; I’ll eschew them, but I’ve got a whole bevy of new material to hunt for - woot!
January 15, 2013
2.5 stars. This book had a very intriguing idea; it's sort of a cross between Indiana Jones and the TV show Relic Hunter with a hint of magic. I was excited by the idea, but ultimately Destiny ended up being kind of meh for me.
I just didn't like the main character, Annja. There was a lot of telling instead of showing. For example, we were told quite a lot that Annja is a people person and loves to talk with the locals, but I didn't really feel like she was that friendly. I was also frustrated by her continued denial of the supernatural way after the point when she had seen it for herself. To me, it definitely felt like Annja was written by a man - sort of like an idealized version of a kickass woman. She knew everything, kicked ass with every kind of weapon out there, and was slamming hot while doing it.
Overall, I didn't connect with any of the characters. It was an interesting premise though and a quick read (although I had to push through to the end), so I'll probably check out the next few books. The series does have promise.
I just didn't like the main character, Annja. There was a lot of telling instead of showing. For example, we were told quite a lot that Annja is a people person and loves to talk with the locals, but I didn't really feel like she was that friendly. I was also frustrated by her continued denial of the supernatural way after the point when she had seen it for herself. To me, it definitely felt like Annja was written by a man - sort of like an idealized version of a kickass woman. She knew everything, kicked ass with every kind of weapon out there, and was slamming hot while doing it.
Overall, I didn't connect with any of the characters. It was an interesting premise though and a quick read (although I had to push through to the end), so I'll probably check out the next few books. The series does have promise.
October 3, 2021
The book starts with a brief scene in 1430 England where an impassionate young woman is burned at the stake and her sword shatters.
Then we move to the modern-day. Annja Creed is an archeologist. Because it’s not easy to get funding for excavations, she also works for Chasing History’s Monsters, a TV show about mythical beasts around the world. She does her research and narrates her own episodes. This time she’s in France, hunting la Bete, a supposedly werewolf-type creature that killed people in the 1760s. However, she soon finds that someone is shadowing her, and then she is attacked in broad daylight.
She continues her search, heading to the mountains. There she encounters a mysterious older man who calls himself Roux. Her assailants continue to follow her.
The book has multiple POV characters, including the main villain who is ruthless after la Bete because he thinks it will lead him to treasure. A hidden order of monks is also involved.
This was a fun and fast-paced action/adventure. It has a good mix of historical detail and fantasy.
Annja is a good main character who reminds me of Sidney Fox, from the TV show Relic Hunter. She has a lot of skills but unlike many heroines these days, she’s personable and gets along with most people, even though at times she can be a bit too blunt. She knows how to shoot and learned karate from an early age. She’s an orphan who learned to take care of herself.
I also found Roux a fascinating character but I won’t spoil his story here.
Then we move to the modern-day. Annja Creed is an archeologist. Because it’s not easy to get funding for excavations, she also works for Chasing History’s Monsters, a TV show about mythical beasts around the world. She does her research and narrates her own episodes. This time she’s in France, hunting la Bete, a supposedly werewolf-type creature that killed people in the 1760s. However, she soon finds that someone is shadowing her, and then she is attacked in broad daylight.
She continues her search, heading to the mountains. There she encounters a mysterious older man who calls himself Roux. Her assailants continue to follow her.
The book has multiple POV characters, including the main villain who is ruthless after la Bete because he thinks it will lead him to treasure. A hidden order of monks is also involved.
This was a fun and fast-paced action/adventure. It has a good mix of historical detail and fantasy.
Annja is a good main character who reminds me of Sidney Fox, from the TV show Relic Hunter. She has a lot of skills but unlike many heroines these days, she’s personable and gets along with most people, even though at times she can be a bit too blunt. She knows how to shoot and learned karate from an early age. She’s an orphan who learned to take care of herself.
I also found Roux a fascinating character but I won’t spoil his story here.
July 16, 2017
This was really weird for me because up until now I've never encountered this type of audiobook. It's actually great because it really brings the book to life and yet the constant audio effects distract me. Thankfully the plot is pretty simple and easy to follow and Annja - the protagonist of the series is a likeable one. She reminds me of Buffy. The whole book brought memories of that awesome show.
The book is very action oriented and it's structure is similar to that of a TV show episode. I liked the spin Alex Archer took to the stories of Joan of Arc and the Beast of Gevaudin. It's always nice to see how different authors spin the old legends and give them new life :) And if this continues to be the case I can see myself enjoying the rest of the series for a long, long time.
The book is very action oriented and it's structure is similar to that of a TV show episode. I liked the spin Alex Archer took to the stories of Joan of Arc and the Beast of Gevaudin. It's always nice to see how different authors spin the old legends and give them new life :) And if this continues to be the case I can see myself enjoying the rest of the series for a long, long time.
September 27, 2021
Found this graphic audiobook very entertaining and engaging to read, was an very good one to relax and listen to and never got boring. Loved the arkeologic aspect an Jean of arc's sword with magical powers. However thinking back on it I'm not sure why I enjoyed it so much. Can't put my finger on what was so entertaining or unique with this. Maybe it was the listening experience, maybe it was the "Lara Craft/Indiana Jones-esque" kind of story that was compelling as I'm haven't seen the movies much or to used to the storyline. Might continue on with the series though but not sure on how Alex Archer can spann the story in more then one book
November 26, 2019
I finished this last week, so details have already lost me.
I did enjoy this.
However, it's "Ren-nau" not "Ren-alt". That really bugged me. If you are going to mention a specific brand of car as many times as they did, pronounce it correctly.
Reminded me a bit like it was trying to be a new version of Witchblade, and Beauty and the Beast... and Tomb Raider...
I'm going to listen to the next one.
I did enjoy this.
However, it's "Ren-nau" not "Ren-alt". That really bugged me. If you are going to mention a specific brand of car as many times as they did, pronounce it correctly.
Reminded me a bit like it was trying to be a new version of Witchblade, and Beauty and the Beast... and Tomb Raider...
I'm going to listen to the next one.
July 1, 2019
4 stars.
I quite enjoyed this action-packed first outing for Annja Creed from Graphic Audio. A few things left unexplained but what the heck, it was fun! But I think the SWORD needs a cool name... hope it gets one in the coming books!
I quite enjoyed this action-packed first outing for Annja Creed from Graphic Audio. A few things left unexplained but what the heck, it was fun! But I think the SWORD needs a cool name... hope it gets one in the coming books!
April 7, 2019
A good read for lunch breaks and such.
August 14, 2025
Really impressed by this story and production!
March 14, 2016
I kind of liked this book though as a book it didn't have the element that I wanted most, a great premise and plot. The protagonist was over the top good, a combination of wonder woman and Bones, with the fighting skills and knowledge, to the point of condescension. A little bit annoying.
It starts with her being chased by, not 2 groups, but 3, for looking into the story of La Bete. The story is loosely related with the story of Joan of Arc and the artifact she discovers takes part in both histories, being part of the sword.
So it starts as a mystery with an archaeological background but not much of a paranormal urban fantasy. She has extraordinary fighting skills even before any paranormal enhancement. The story mainly is her getting these enhanced skills through the archaeological find which she is destined to find yet many factions don't want her to, not because of her but all have there own reasoning. Not exactly a concise storyline and too many players to keep me interested in it all, especially with the main plot line of her becoming destined to carry the sword. I never got why she is so special. Her inability to kill the bad guy because "she just can't kill in cold blood" was ridiculous when he and his goons are there trying to kill her. Leaving him alive just leaves him to yet again, come after her. Kill him and the goons no longer have any reason to come after her. Their meal ticket is dead. Hmm, hard choice here. I think the author is trying to show how she has a strong sense of right and wrong but I felt it was an erroneous sense of justice while fleeing for her life. They are trying to kill you, you can kill them. Simple self-defense.
So 2 1/2 and I bumped it up because it kept my attention the whole time. I've wanted to start this series for a long time and I may see if I like another better since this is the starting book. I would hope to connect with the characters more.
It starts with her being chased by, not 2 groups, but 3, for looking into the story of La Bete. The story is loosely related with the story of Joan of Arc and the artifact she discovers takes part in both histories, being part of the sword.
So it starts as a mystery with an archaeological background but not much of a paranormal urban fantasy. She has extraordinary fighting skills even before any paranormal enhancement. The story mainly is her getting these enhanced skills through the archaeological find which she is destined to find yet many factions don't want her to, not because of her but all have there own reasoning. Not exactly a concise storyline and too many players to keep me interested in it all, especially with the main plot line of her becoming destined to carry the sword. I never got why she is so special. Her inability to kill the bad guy because "she just can't kill in cold blood" was ridiculous when he and his goons are there trying to kill her. Leaving him alive just leaves him to yet again, come after her. Kill him and the goons no longer have any reason to come after her. Their meal ticket is dead. Hmm, hard choice here. I think the author is trying to show how she has a strong sense of right and wrong but I felt it was an erroneous sense of justice while fleeing for her life. They are trying to kill you, you can kill them. Simple self-defense.
So 2 1/2 and I bumped it up because it kept my attention the whole time. I've wanted to start this series for a long time and I may see if I like another better since this is the starting book. I would hope to connect with the characters more.
January 25, 2013
Destiny is the first novel in the prolific "Rogue Angel" series written by Alex Archer.
Here's the synopsis for Destiny courtesy of Fantastic Fiction:
An ancient order tied to the Vatican...
A blood fortune buried in the caves of France...
A conspiracy of power, greed and darkest evil...
Archaeologist and explorer Annja Creed's fascination with the myths and mysteries of the past leads her to a crypt in the caves of France, where the terrifying legend of the Beast of Gevaudan hints at the unimaginable. What she discovers is shattering: an artifact that will seal her destiny; a brotherhood of monks willing to murder to protect their secret; and a powerful black-market occultist desperate to put his own claim to centuries-old blood money. Annja embarks on a high-tension race across Europe and history itself, intent on linking the unholy treachery of the ages with the staggering revelations of the present. But she must survive the shadow figures determined to silence her threat to their existence.
Destiny immediately launches into pure action without providing us with much background information about our protagonist, Annja Creed. Annja is an intelligent young archaeologist whose passion for her profession is most likely to rub off on us readers. With a simple plot, though strong suspense element, Destiny will likely pull you in from the get-go and will appeal to most fans of this genre.
Annja is likable because she's modest and very intelligent - not your cliched busty, arrogant and outspoken action-hero chick (with red hair) I seem to read a lot about in most urban fantasy novels these days.
The first half of Destiny is mostly made up of pure business and mystery surrounding Annja's archaeology expedition. However, when Annja returns to her home in New York, we are finally able to get a glimpse of her personal life and background, which is more interesting by this point because we're just dying to know more about Annja.
This series is going to be awesome, and I can't wait to read the next books in the series! Following Destiny in this series are Solomon's Jar, The Spider Stone, The Chosen, and Forbidden City.
For more book reviews, please visit http://dreamworldbooks.com.
Here's the synopsis for Destiny courtesy of Fantastic Fiction:
An ancient order tied to the Vatican...
A blood fortune buried in the caves of France...
A conspiracy of power, greed and darkest evil...
Archaeologist and explorer Annja Creed's fascination with the myths and mysteries of the past leads her to a crypt in the caves of France, where the terrifying legend of the Beast of Gevaudan hints at the unimaginable. What she discovers is shattering: an artifact that will seal her destiny; a brotherhood of monks willing to murder to protect their secret; and a powerful black-market occultist desperate to put his own claim to centuries-old blood money. Annja embarks on a high-tension race across Europe and history itself, intent on linking the unholy treachery of the ages with the staggering revelations of the present. But she must survive the shadow figures determined to silence her threat to their existence.
Destiny immediately launches into pure action without providing us with much background information about our protagonist, Annja Creed. Annja is an intelligent young archaeologist whose passion for her profession is most likely to rub off on us readers. With a simple plot, though strong suspense element, Destiny will likely pull you in from the get-go and will appeal to most fans of this genre.
Annja is likable because she's modest and very intelligent - not your cliched busty, arrogant and outspoken action-hero chick (with red hair) I seem to read a lot about in most urban fantasy novels these days.
The first half of Destiny is mostly made up of pure business and mystery surrounding Annja's archaeology expedition. However, when Annja returns to her home in New York, we are finally able to get a glimpse of her personal life and background, which is more interesting by this point because we're just dying to know more about Annja.
This series is going to be awesome, and I can't wait to read the next books in the series! Following Destiny in this series are Solomon's Jar, The Spider Stone, The Chosen, and Forbidden City.
For more book reviews, please visit http://dreamworldbooks.com.
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