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Outcast Angels #1
Descent
Escaping heaven was only the beginning. Faced with the choice between fighting in a war they never wanted or betraying their maker, Fomor and his angelic companions escaped to Earth and became the Rephaim. After decades of wandering, they find a new home, and a new purpose in protecting the humans they have come to love. But evil cannot be avoided, it must be destroyed… When demonic forces bring Heaven’s war to Earth, threatening to enslave humankind and create supernatural soldiers with blood sacrifices, honor and love demand that the Rephaim fight back. But the battle will cost them more than they know, and one of their own will pay an ultimate price. As the fate of the Earth and her inhabitants hangs in the balance, Fomor and his companions must win the fight for their new lives or watch as the world is annihilated. Poised on cliff-edge of fantasy and history, this epic adventure does not disappoint.
- GenresFantasy
336 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 1, 2013
7 people are currently reading
78 people want to read
About the author
C.L. Roman
39 books29 followersC.L. (aka Cheri) Roman, writes fantasy and sci-fi with a paranormal edge. You can find her at www.clroman.com and on Facebook. Cheri and her ever-patient husband live in the not-so-wilds of Northeast Florida with Jack E. Boy, the super Chihuahua, and Pye, the invisible cat.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 16, 2013
When I was a child, the television show "Hercules" was just the coolest thing ever (not to mention that Kevin Sorbo is pretty hot as Hercules). A dude with super huge muscles who rescued the underdogs from trouble and waged a battle against evil...and had a pretty hilarious sidekick? I asked my dad once where Hercules came from. After all, if every myth is borne from a kernel of truth, where was the truth in the Hercules myth? My dad sighed and told me a story of angels coming to Earth, falling in love with human women, and creating the "ancient men of yore..." But who were those angels?
In a nutshell...
C.L. Roman has here created a wonderfully engaging, page-turning, and exciting work that should grace the real or virtual shelves of anyone bearing even a mere interest in angelic fiction. The story itself is rather epic and flies readers along an exciting journey containing mystery, love, intrigue, and battle while characters struggle to determine the extent of loyalty, love, and remaining true to one's purpose. Characters are loveable, gritty, real, determined, have unique voices (if you have read my blog long enough, you know this is super important to me!), and made me laugh and cringe at the appropriate moments. The plot follows two sides of the story (good and evil, to put it super simplistically) and expertly entwines these sides in a complicated dance that leaves readers wanting more after the pages run out. It will make you giggle. It will make you sad. It will make you think.
I grant this book a 4 out of 5 rating!
Let's get down to it now...
The Good
The good about this book? I guess I really can't just say "everything", can I? When children give me those pesky one-word answers, I prompt them to rephrase themselves in the form of full sentences. Here, dear reader, you shall get a few paragraphs. :)
Imagine you are an angel.
Imagine you have lived with your angelic family for eons.
Now imagine there is a war in Heaven, some members of your family have rebelled against Abba, and you are faced with an impossible decision: kill members of your family in defense of Abba...or become one of the Fallen.
But what if there is an alternative?
...but that alternative may be worse than death...becoming a traitor?
This is essentially the scenario presented to the angelic unit whose Earthly journey we follow the beginnings of in this book. C.L. Roman opens her work with a quote from a presenter at a fictional convention, and then actual verses from one of my absolutely favorite books; the Bible.
"And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they [were] fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, 'My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also [is] flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.' There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare [children] to them, the same [became] mighty men which [were] of old, men of renown." (Genesis 6:1-4)
And you thought the Bible wasn't interesting (seriously, there is a talking donkey in the Old Testament - "Shrek" totally stole that idea from God). :P
Anyways, my imagination has run wild with that passage before (hanky panky with an angel?! What teen girl's imagination doesn't run wild with this image at some point?), and I am so glad that C.L. Romans pursued writing a book containing her imaginings about the same passage!
Captain Fomor presents those under his command with a choice: stay behind in Heaven and face being given an impossible order, or follow him to Earth, become traitors for not fighting beside Abba (even though doing so would mean killing brothers and sisters, however rebellious), and face an uncertain future.
SPOILER ALERT: Those under Captain Fomor's command follow him to Earth and spend the next leg of their existential journey figuring out just what that means. Did they truly leave the War behind? What happens if Sabaoth (a.k.a. God) ever finds them? Did "Lucky" (Satan) die during the battle? What if humans discover their true identity? What if members of the Fallen made it to Earth?
The one question they did not consider: what if they fall in love with humans?
Okay, now to get to actually analyzing the book (see, I got carried away by the story again...). First, the characters are unique, distinct, and have their own personalities that practically leap from the pages and beg you to identify with them in some way. They are superbly created, and expertly fashioned in such a way that their interactions make sense given the situations into which they are thrust. Yay! I have my favorite, of course. : )
Setting? Well, this takes place immediately before (and partially during) the great flood depicted in Genesis, a time when humans among the world were so decadent, base, and immoral that God wiped the slate clean and started again. Don't get me started on whether or not the Flood covered the entire planet or just the Middle East...I'm letting theological scholars debate that one. What matters here is that Romans wrote things in such a way that they just plain make sense given chronological events of certain natures. Yeah, I'm being vague, but you should read the book to figure out what I mean. That all being said, Romans did a wonderful job of setting the stage, and her writing is so good at drawing the setting that I could practically hear the birds noticeably not singing in trees around me as I sat next to Gant during his internal struggles...but there I go nearly ruining something again.
Plot? Intricate. Thrilling. Engaging. Kick-you-in-the-pants-if-you-dare-to-put-the-book-down-because-you-must-know-what-happens-next kind of plot. Not something that has already been done a million times. (If I write another fragment and try to pass it as a sentence, my brain is going to melt.) Romans works with two sides of the story presented, and braids them together in such a way that they are melded together. Despite point-of-view flipping between different individuals, things continue to make sense. Loved it!
I could not peel myself out of this book for the life of me, and that is the mark of a good book!
The Bugly (bad/ugly)
My nitpicks, despite the fact that I loved this book, are as follows:
First, the opening chapter is a little confusing. Who is doing what? Readers are thrown into a conversation about big, huge, important things that are happening with little time to orient to exactly what in the H E double toothpicks is going on and who is what side and just what the...
Second, some of the conversations are confusing regarding who is saying what. Pronouns or "[this person] said" were lacking in a few areas and I had to double back and reread to figure out who was talking. This is a problem.
Third, the book ended. :P Yeah yeah yeah, all good things have to come to an end, but there were some HUGE plot points that were not wrapped up by the end of the book. I totally get having a cliff hanger so that readers are actually persuaded to read the next book in a series, but there should not be too many danglers. In my opinion, there were too many danglers here.
Okay, so my major nitpick is coming out of the fact that I hold a master's degree from a seminary (post-secondary education place where they teach people who are theologically inclined, pastors and the ilk) and I picked up a few things here and there that made me shake my head while reading Descent. Namely this - near the beginning, Roman has a seraph (angel with six wings) flying thusly: two wings covering its face, two wings covering its feet, and two wings beating air. Okay, this is what the Bible says:
"Above him were seraphs, each with six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying." (Isaiah 6:2).
Nora, that matches. What is your problem? My problem is with a translation problem with Hebrew.
In the original Hebrew language that much of the Old Testament was written in, "feet" was often colloquial for *cough* um....*blush*...genitals. Now, what makes more inherent sense? That an angel would cover its face and feet while flying, or that it would cover its face and genital areas? Don't even try to start arguing with me about whether or not angels have genitals - for the sake of this post, let's just say they do because Captain Fomor and his compatriots are clearly sexed. (I think of the movie "Dogma" where an angel is revealed to have no genitals, and how freaked those around...it....were.) I don't know what Romans' background in Hebrew is, but I assume that she has some because the last few pages of the book have various words in Hebrew presented in their original script (complete with translations). Yet her angels still sometimes covered their feet while flying....unless Romans was using it colloquially as well...
See, that nitpick is not something that I expect anyone to pick up on unless they have a background in ancient Hebrew, so it is neither here nor there. If you have some spare time, though, you may find it interesting to read Ruth 3 now knowing that "feet" often meant genitals. Ruth uncovering Boaz's "feet" has a slightly different meaning than often first assumed. ;)
In a nutshell...
C.L. Roman has here created a wonderfully engaging, page-turning, and exciting work that should grace the real or virtual shelves of anyone bearing even a mere interest in angelic fiction. The story itself is rather epic and flies readers along an exciting journey containing mystery, love, intrigue, and battle while characters struggle to determine the extent of loyalty, love, and remaining true to one's purpose. Characters are loveable, gritty, real, determined, have unique voices (if you have read my blog long enough, you know this is super important to me!), and made me laugh and cringe at the appropriate moments. The plot follows two sides of the story (good and evil, to put it super simplistically) and expertly entwines these sides in a complicated dance that leaves readers wanting more after the pages run out. It will make you giggle. It will make you sad. It will make you think.
I grant this book a 4 out of 5 rating!
Let's get down to it now...
The Good
The good about this book? I guess I really can't just say "everything", can I? When children give me those pesky one-word answers, I prompt them to rephrase themselves in the form of full sentences. Here, dear reader, you shall get a few paragraphs. :)
Imagine you are an angel.
Imagine you have lived with your angelic family for eons.
Now imagine there is a war in Heaven, some members of your family have rebelled against Abba, and you are faced with an impossible decision: kill members of your family in defense of Abba...or become one of the Fallen.
But what if there is an alternative?
...but that alternative may be worse than death...becoming a traitor?
This is essentially the scenario presented to the angelic unit whose Earthly journey we follow the beginnings of in this book. C.L. Roman opens her work with a quote from a presenter at a fictional convention, and then actual verses from one of my absolutely favorite books; the Bible.
"And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they [were] fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, 'My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also [is] flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.' There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare [children] to them, the same [became] mighty men which [were] of old, men of renown." (Genesis 6:1-4)
And you thought the Bible wasn't interesting (seriously, there is a talking donkey in the Old Testament - "Shrek" totally stole that idea from God). :P
Anyways, my imagination has run wild with that passage before (hanky panky with an angel?! What teen girl's imagination doesn't run wild with this image at some point?), and I am so glad that C.L. Romans pursued writing a book containing her imaginings about the same passage!
Captain Fomor presents those under his command with a choice: stay behind in Heaven and face being given an impossible order, or follow him to Earth, become traitors for not fighting beside Abba (even though doing so would mean killing brothers and sisters, however rebellious), and face an uncertain future.
SPOILER ALERT: Those under Captain Fomor's command follow him to Earth and spend the next leg of their existential journey figuring out just what that means. Did they truly leave the War behind? What happens if Sabaoth (a.k.a. God) ever finds them? Did "Lucky" (Satan) die during the battle? What if humans discover their true identity? What if members of the Fallen made it to Earth?
The one question they did not consider: what if they fall in love with humans?
Okay, now to get to actually analyzing the book (see, I got carried away by the story again...). First, the characters are unique, distinct, and have their own personalities that practically leap from the pages and beg you to identify with them in some way. They are superbly created, and expertly fashioned in such a way that their interactions make sense given the situations into which they are thrust. Yay! I have my favorite, of course. : )
Setting? Well, this takes place immediately before (and partially during) the great flood depicted in Genesis, a time when humans among the world were so decadent, base, and immoral that God wiped the slate clean and started again. Don't get me started on whether or not the Flood covered the entire planet or just the Middle East...I'm letting theological scholars debate that one. What matters here is that Romans wrote things in such a way that they just plain make sense given chronological events of certain natures. Yeah, I'm being vague, but you should read the book to figure out what I mean. That all being said, Romans did a wonderful job of setting the stage, and her writing is so good at drawing the setting that I could practically hear the birds noticeably not singing in trees around me as I sat next to Gant during his internal struggles...but there I go nearly ruining something again.
Plot? Intricate. Thrilling. Engaging. Kick-you-in-the-pants-if-you-dare-to-put-the-book-down-because-you-must-know-what-happens-next kind of plot. Not something that has already been done a million times. (If I write another fragment and try to pass it as a sentence, my brain is going to melt.) Romans works with two sides of the story presented, and braids them together in such a way that they are melded together. Despite point-of-view flipping between different individuals, things continue to make sense. Loved it!
I could not peel myself out of this book for the life of me, and that is the mark of a good book!
The Bugly (bad/ugly)
My nitpicks, despite the fact that I loved this book, are as follows:
First, the opening chapter is a little confusing. Who is doing what? Readers are thrown into a conversation about big, huge, important things that are happening with little time to orient to exactly what in the H E double toothpicks is going on and who is what side and just what the...
Second, some of the conversations are confusing regarding who is saying what. Pronouns or "[this person] said" were lacking in a few areas and I had to double back and reread to figure out who was talking. This is a problem.
Third, the book ended. :P Yeah yeah yeah, all good things have to come to an end, but there were some HUGE plot points that were not wrapped up by the end of the book. I totally get having a cliff hanger so that readers are actually persuaded to read the next book in a series, but there should not be too many danglers. In my opinion, there were too many danglers here.
Okay, so my major nitpick is coming out of the fact that I hold a master's degree from a seminary (post-secondary education place where they teach people who are theologically inclined, pastors and the ilk) and I picked up a few things here and there that made me shake my head while reading Descent. Namely this - near the beginning, Roman has a seraph (angel with six wings) flying thusly: two wings covering its face, two wings covering its feet, and two wings beating air. Okay, this is what the Bible says:
"Above him were seraphs, each with six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying." (Isaiah 6:2).
Nora, that matches. What is your problem? My problem is with a translation problem with Hebrew.
In the original Hebrew language that much of the Old Testament was written in, "feet" was often colloquial for *cough* um....*blush*...genitals. Now, what makes more inherent sense? That an angel would cover its face and feet while flying, or that it would cover its face and genital areas? Don't even try to start arguing with me about whether or not angels have genitals - for the sake of this post, let's just say they do because Captain Fomor and his compatriots are clearly sexed. (I think of the movie "Dogma" where an angel is revealed to have no genitals, and how freaked those around...it....were.) I don't know what Romans' background in Hebrew is, but I assume that she has some because the last few pages of the book have various words in Hebrew presented in their original script (complete with translations). Yet her angels still sometimes covered their feet while flying....unless Romans was using it colloquially as well...
See, that nitpick is not something that I expect anyone to pick up on unless they have a background in ancient Hebrew, so it is neither here nor there. If you have some spare time, though, you may find it interesting to read Ruth 3 now knowing that "feet" often meant genitals. Ruth uncovering Boaz's "feet" has a slightly different meaning than often first assumed. ;)
October 25, 2013
The 1st time I read the synopsis, I knew I wanted to read the book. I have a deep fascination for angels, when I saw it was about angels, I was sure I was going to like it.
Descent is a deep reading that will take the reader to the beginning of the time, it is a kind of a re telling of the Bible but much more enjoyable, and even if you are not a believer you will like it.
The story has some flaws that make me give it a 4. The beginning is really confusing, I even thought that the Messenger from the 1st chapter was the main character and when he didn't appear again I was kind of lost. The characters are presented at the same time and I didn't know who was who, it took me some time to clear that.
The chapter where the bad guys appear where a bit boring, I knew they where essential for the plot but I couldn´t avoid jumping from line to line to arrive to the chapters of the main characters.
But the good things super a los the flaws. The main characters are really good developed, some more than others because they don’t have the same amount of importance. I really liked Gant and Sena, there was a specific scene of both of them that melted my heart. They were really cute. The issue of love is wonderfully developed, I’m sure the author is a romantic because the love scenes were amazing, I even took note of some of the quotes.
The writing style is easy to follow though there were some terms that confused me, I don’t know if they were written in Hebrew or what but I think a glossary of terms would have been useful.
Descent is a really enjoyable read about friendship, loyalty, faith and love. It is well structure and easy to follow even if you haven’t read the Bible because everything is perfectly explained
Descent is a deep reading that will take the reader to the beginning of the time, it is a kind of a re telling of the Bible but much more enjoyable, and even if you are not a believer you will like it.
The story has some flaws that make me give it a 4. The beginning is really confusing, I even thought that the Messenger from the 1st chapter was the main character and when he didn't appear again I was kind of lost. The characters are presented at the same time and I didn't know who was who, it took me some time to clear that.
The chapter where the bad guys appear where a bit boring, I knew they where essential for the plot but I couldn´t avoid jumping from line to line to arrive to the chapters of the main characters.
But the good things super a los the flaws. The main characters are really good developed, some more than others because they don’t have the same amount of importance. I really liked Gant and Sena, there was a specific scene of both of them that melted my heart. They were really cute. The issue of love is wonderfully developed, I’m sure the author is a romantic because the love scenes were amazing, I even took note of some of the quotes.
The writing style is easy to follow though there were some terms that confused me, I don’t know if they were written in Hebrew or what but I think a glossary of terms would have been useful.
Descent is a really enjoyable read about friendship, loyalty, faith and love. It is well structure and easy to follow even if you haven’t read the Bible because everything is perfectly explained
July 17, 2015
The story is a great take on that verse in the book of Genesis about the sons of God finding the daughters of men attractive.
I always wondered about that and have believed for some time that what the Bible meant was that angels did in fact mate with humans. Why not?
Descent really expanded on that idea and told a really interesting story about forgiveness, redemption, and love. That being said, I found that I couldn't really differentiate between the angels and I was left wanting to know more about them. The only ones that were clearly defined were Formor and Volot. Towards the end of the book I got to know more about Gant but I was left wondering about Phaella, Jotun, Sena. I don't feel like they had distinct personalities.
Same thing with the humans.
The characters who I felt were more developed and had clear personalities were Benat and Molek. I really liked the way Benat always spoke in the third person. It added to his pitifulness. Astarte was really great too.
Finally, I felt like the end was rushed and some aspects were introduced so late in the book that it was hard for me to give it the importance that it seems to have merited.
Great story. Interesting concept of angels, humans, and the beginning of civilization. More character development, specially of the angels, is what I find lacking.
I always wondered about that and have believed for some time that what the Bible meant was that angels did in fact mate with humans. Why not?
Descent really expanded on that idea and told a really interesting story about forgiveness, redemption, and love. That being said, I found that I couldn't really differentiate between the angels and I was left wanting to know more about them. The only ones that were clearly defined were Formor and Volot. Towards the end of the book I got to know more about Gant but I was left wondering about Phaella, Jotun, Sena. I don't feel like they had distinct personalities.
Same thing with the humans.
The characters who I felt were more developed and had clear personalities were Benat and Molek. I really liked the way Benat always spoke in the third person. It added to his pitifulness. Astarte was really great too.
Finally, I felt like the end was rushed and some aspects were introduced so late in the book that it was hard for me to give it the importance that it seems to have merited.
Great story. Interesting concept of angels, humans, and the beginning of civilization. More character development, specially of the angels, is what I find lacking.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 26, 2013
Descent is the first in the Rephraim series by Cheri Roman, and I have been lucky enough to read it hot off the press!
I should preface this review by noting that my tastes in fantasy tend to run to the flippant, and also that being an atheist, I was not as comfortable as many others would be with the religious references in Descent, although I’m sure that would be no impediment to most readers.
Descent is the story of seven angels, who under their military commander Fomor, decide to desert and plead neutrality in a heavenly war. To avoid the conflict, they come to Earth, and this is the tale of their exiled adventures and entanglements with humans – and the Fallen.
This is the first in a series of books, and as such Roman does a great job of strongly establishing the characters and setting in motion a chain of events which will make you eager to read the next book in the series.
There is drama here in aptly biblical proportions – birth, death, love and loss, and lots of action to keep you turning the pages into the night. It is moderately gory in parts, which does establish an appropriate level of revulsion towards the Fallen and their offspring.
Overall, a gripping read from Cheri Roman, and well worth a look.
I should preface this review by noting that my tastes in fantasy tend to run to the flippant, and also that being an atheist, I was not as comfortable as many others would be with the religious references in Descent, although I’m sure that would be no impediment to most readers.
Descent is the story of seven angels, who under their military commander Fomor, decide to desert and plead neutrality in a heavenly war. To avoid the conflict, they come to Earth, and this is the tale of their exiled adventures and entanglements with humans – and the Fallen.
This is the first in a series of books, and as such Roman does a great job of strongly establishing the characters and setting in motion a chain of events which will make you eager to read the next book in the series.
There is drama here in aptly biblical proportions – birth, death, love and loss, and lots of action to keep you turning the pages into the night. It is moderately gory in parts, which does establish an appropriate level of revulsion towards the Fallen and their offspring.
Overall, a gripping read from Cheri Roman, and well worth a look.
September 2, 2013
3 1/2 of 5 Stars
Seven angel warriors find their way to Earth after escaping the war in Heaven. Captain Fomor leads his squadron on their endeavor on Earth. They end up in a village where they begin to form relationships with the humans making it their new home.
Unfortunately, they cannot escape the war it has found its way to Earth. The Fallen angels are making humans their prey, and it is up to warriors and their new family to save them.
C. L. Roman’s first novel in the Rephaim series is a success. It is well-written and packed with excitement. This thought-provoking novel is an enjoyable read. If you enjoy battles between good and evil, romance, and action this is the perfect novel.
ARC provided by author in exchange for an honest review.
Seven angel warriors find their way to Earth after escaping the war in Heaven. Captain Fomor leads his squadron on their endeavor on Earth. They end up in a village where they begin to form relationships with the humans making it their new home.
Unfortunately, they cannot escape the war it has found its way to Earth. The Fallen angels are making humans their prey, and it is up to warriors and their new family to save them.
C. L. Roman’s first novel in the Rephaim series is a success. It is well-written and packed with excitement. This thought-provoking novel is an enjoyable read. If you enjoy battles between good and evil, romance, and action this is the perfect novel.
ARC provided by author in exchange for an honest review.
August 8, 2015
I had very high hopes for this book as I read all the great reviews. This is my first book out of 20 that I just couldn't finish - I'm not one to just quite, but I became detached from the book and just couldn't do it.
I really like the authors writing and character building which is why I gave it 3 stars. Everything started off sooooo slow and what really turned me off is all the characters fell in love right off the hop... if you don't mind that then you may like this book. However, if your like me and crave the tension between the characters then you probably won't enjoy this book... a there was no tension, I NEED TENSION.. :)
Which untimely led to me closing this book and reading SANCTUM (guards of the shadowlands #1).... OMG now that series I couldn't put down.
I really like the authors writing and character building which is why I gave it 3 stars. Everything started off sooooo slow and what really turned me off is all the characters fell in love right off the hop... if you don't mind that then you may like this book. However, if your like me and crave the tension between the characters then you probably won't enjoy this book... a there was no tension, I NEED TENSION.. :)
Which untimely led to me closing this book and reading SANCTUM (guards of the shadowlands #1).... OMG now that series I couldn't put down.
September 26, 2013
was definitely looking forward to reading this book, and it didn't disappoint. The central conflict, the war in Heaven, is a wonderful background plot to Captain Fomor and co.'s plight. The results of the war - and The Unit's flight to Earth - are witty and well-worked.
Overall, a wonderful piece of fiction and a good read. Heart-rendering and exciting, it keeps the blood pumping and the reader excited from start to end.
4.5/5
Overall, a wonderful piece of fiction and a good read. Heart-rendering and exciting, it keeps the blood pumping and the reader excited from start to end.
4.5/5
March 2, 2014
Cheri Roman teaches in the classroom next to mine! When she published her first novel, I knew I wanted to read it. Well written and engaging with a nice twist at the end. I look forward to her next volume. :)
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews