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Angels on Fire
Struggling artist Lucy Blackford thought that she’s seen and done it all by the time she walked out onto her roof to commit suicide. But then she met an angel, Joth, and soon fell in love. Could Joth surrender immortality for the love of a woman?
300 pages, Paperback
First published July 29, 1998
13 people are currently reading
147 people want to read
About the author
Nancy A. Collins
337 books672 followersNancy A. Collins (born 10 September 1959) is a United States horror fiction writer best known for her series of vampire novels featuring her character Sonja Blue. Collins has also written for comic books, including the Swamp Thing series, Jason Vs. Leatherface, Predator: Hell Come A Walkin and her own one-shot Dhampire: Stillborn.
Collins was born in McGehee, Arkansas, United States. She lived in New Orleans, Louisiana in the 1980s; after time in New York City and Atlanta, Georgia she settled in Wilmington, North Carolina in the late 2000s.
Collins has written twenty novels since 1989, many of which refer to and directly include races of creatures the author calls Pretenders, monsters from myth and legend passing as human to better hunt their prey.
Collins has also written a number of highly acclaimed Southern Gothic short stories and novellas, most of which are set in Seven Devils, Arkansas, a highly fictionalized version of her hometown.
Most recently, she has focused her attention onto the Golgotham urban fantasy series,published by Penguin. Golgotham is the 'supernatural' ghetto of New York City, where creatures from myth and folklore--including witches,shapeshifters,leprechauns and centaurs--live and work in uneasy alliance with mankind.
Collins was born in McGehee, Arkansas, United States. She lived in New Orleans, Louisiana in the 1980s; after time in New York City and Atlanta, Georgia she settled in Wilmington, North Carolina in the late 2000s.
Collins has written twenty novels since 1989, many of which refer to and directly include races of creatures the author calls Pretenders, monsters from myth and legend passing as human to better hunt their prey.
Collins has also written a number of highly acclaimed Southern Gothic short stories and novellas, most of which are set in Seven Devils, Arkansas, a highly fictionalized version of her hometown.
Most recently, she has focused her attention onto the Golgotham urban fantasy series,published by Penguin. Golgotham is the 'supernatural' ghetto of New York City, where creatures from myth and folklore--including witches,shapeshifters,leprechauns and centaurs--live and work in uneasy alliance with mankind.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 27, 2016
I liked this book a lot but had a couple of reservations.
Not so sure about a muse intent on fostering art and the appreciation of art who has squirrelled away what sounds like a huge swathe of our heritage in vaults where only he can see it.
I'm not totally convinced by the relationship between Lucy and Joth. Although it is clear that Lucy has seen the angel as male and sexually attractive from the start, she is trying to build a relationship with what to all intents and purposes is a child. We see them hurrying off to bed together but Collins is wise to halt at this point because any actual sexual contact would seem like incest or abuse.
However the story is beautifully written and was a very gripping read.
Not so sure about a muse intent on fostering art and the appreciation of art who has squirrelled away what sounds like a huge swathe of our heritage in vaults where only he can see it.
I'm not totally convinced by the relationship between Lucy and Joth. Although it is clear that Lucy has seen the angel as male and sexually attractive from the start, she is trying to build a relationship with what to all intents and purposes is a child. We see them hurrying off to bed together but Collins is wise to halt at this point because any actual sexual contact would seem like incest or abuse.
However the story is beautifully written and was a very gripping read.
July 1, 2011
Beautiful.
I can't tell you how many times I've read this book. I pick it up when I want something that is uplifting without being sappy. It gave me a new perspective on the divine without being preachy or condescending. It introduced good and evil in a different context. There are ambiguous moments through out the book which can be seen as good or evil and in some cases are both. It inspired me to delve deeper into the mythology of angels.
I can't tell you how many times I've read this book. I pick it up when I want something that is uplifting without being sappy. It gave me a new perspective on the divine without being preachy or condescending. It introduced good and evil in a different context. There are ambiguous moments through out the book which can be seen as good or evil and in some cases are both. It inspired me to delve deeper into the mythology of angels.
December 27, 2016
The book has problems, but bottom line is I enjoyed it. Partly it's due to the hit-you-over-the-head message about the power of creativity. This was a re-read 18 years later.
February 6, 2020
This book stuck with me.
Honestly, I loved this book. I would recommend it to anyone that wants to read an angel fantasy novel with a wonderfully painted story. This novel took me by surprise and I've told many about it.
Honestly, I loved this book. I would recommend it to anyone that wants to read an angel fantasy novel with a wonderfully painted story. This novel took me by surprise and I've told many about it.
August 28, 2018
Not as good as Sunglasses After Dark or the Left Hand Magic books but enjoyable enough. Interesting take on religion, creation and angels.
May 13, 2016
Reread, brought about by the fact that people weren’t writing good Dean/Castiel fic fast enough. (They still aren’t.) This was…dumber? than I remembered it from my last reading, age 15 or thereabouts. Not that it’s bad, exactly: Collins creates a unique version of heaven and hell. But I guess it feels very created, unnatural and inorganic. As a piece of world-building, it was never something I could lose myself in.
The characters never really worked for me, either. Lucy’s kind of stupid and shallow and annoying; she’s supposed to have the potential to be one of the greatest artists of all time, but I just couldn’t see it. As for Joth: well, beyond having a stupid name, he’s pretty much a blank slate. Which is sort of the point—angels don’t have free will or personality before they fall—but as a potential love interest, that doesn’t make him very exciting, does it?
I don’t know. A lot of this is Fridge Logic; I didn’t have nearly this many problems while I was actually reading the book, which zips along nicely—at least until it crashes up against its ridiculous tacked-on epilogue. ARGH. I just…you know what, forget it. Anybody have any REALLY GOOD angel romances to recommend?
The characters never really worked for me, either. Lucy’s kind of stupid and shallow and annoying; she’s supposed to have the potential to be one of the greatest artists of all time, but I just couldn’t see it. As for Joth: well, beyond having a stupid name, he’s pretty much a blank slate. Which is sort of the point—angels don’t have free will or personality before they fall—but as a potential love interest, that doesn’t make him very exciting, does it?
I don’t know. A lot of this is Fridge Logic; I didn’t have nearly this many problems while I was actually reading the book, which zips along nicely—at least until it crashes up against its ridiculous tacked-on epilogue. ARGH. I just…you know what, forget it. Anybody have any REALLY GOOD angel romances to recommend?
June 2, 2012
Angels on Fire follows Manhattan artist Lucy Bender and her quest to save the fallen angel Joth.
I absolutely loved the story, as well as the writing style, it was easy to follow and had a nice flow to it. It was funny, but had it's deeply serious if not a bit unsettling points as well. It contained much stronger language than I would have imagined, and one rather descriptive sex scene.
That being said the only thing stopping 4-5 stars were the grammar and spelling mistakes, as well as the main character Lucy doing her best to be annoying. I really hated Lucy, I almost stopped reading the book because of her. She is one of the most selfish characters I have ever come across, however in the last few chapters she admits to her flaws and somewhat redeems herself.
Overall I would say it's worth checking out.
I absolutely loved the story, as well as the writing style, it was easy to follow and had a nice flow to it. It was funny, but had it's deeply serious if not a bit unsettling points as well. It contained much stronger language than I would have imagined, and one rather descriptive sex scene.
That being said the only thing stopping 4-5 stars were the grammar and spelling mistakes, as well as the main character Lucy doing her best to be annoying. I really hated Lucy, I almost stopped reading the book because of her. She is one of the most selfish characters I have ever come across, however in the last few chapters she admits to her flaws and somewhat redeems herself.
Overall I would say it's worth checking out.
October 24, 2013
Great imagination - it took me a little time to really buy into the premise of this story but once the characters caught me up, I really enjoyed it. I loved the ending, and can't say that I really say that much about the books I read. I liked the different take on this fantasy-type book and will be looking to read more in the future.
August 28, 2012
I found the whole premise lame. This version of angels was unconvincing, and all the characters were unappealing. The pictures at the beginning of each chapter were the only interesting thing about the whole book.
July 12, 2008
I'm not a Collins fan, but this is one of my favorite books ever. Fascinating new perspective on non-human creatures (angels/demons) and the interactions between those creatures and humans.
February 7, 2009
Sad but powerful story that is fabulously written. You laugh, you cry and hope that life could only be such.
January 6, 2013
A very interesting creation-ist type story. Nancy Collins is a master of recreating fables.
December 3, 2013
i really like it because this are the types of stories a really love!
#go joth!
#go joth!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews