Where did you get the book: E arc from Berkley
Publisher: Berkley
Publishing Date: Out now
Reviewed by Has
Archangel’s Eternity opens up a thousand years after the events of the last book, and things are pretty peaceful although there are rumblings of tensions within the Cadre and something is stirring. For Raphael and Elena, they are also facing a huge life altering event that changes everything between them.
Elena and Raphael return for the hauntingly poignant conclusion to New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh’s genre-defining Guild Hunter series.
A thousand years.
It’s been a millennium since Elena’s fateful first meeting with Archangel Raphael. She has survived war and loss, experienced beauty and cruelty. But no matter what, she has always held on to her mortal heart, as she and Raphael have held on to each other. Passionate and vibrant, they’ve built a life that has stood the test of time, growing ever stronger with each turn of the sun.
But change is coming—of a magnitude they could have never imagined—and it will forever alter the trajectory of their existence.
Even as they grapple with the cataclysmic shift in their personal lives, the Cadre of Ten, which has maintained a hard-won peace for centuries, begins to simmer with dangerous fault lines. The specter of madness looms in one archangel, the promise of war burns between two others, and in darkness far from mortal and immortal eyes stirs an ancient, slumbering power.
Suddenly, the future is terrifyingly uncertain . . . at the very moment that Elena and her archangel need to protect a treasure infinitely more precious than eternity.
*Blurb taken from Goodreads*
Writing this review is going to be bittersweet for me because this is the final book in the Guild Hunter series, which I have loved and enjoyed so much during the past twenty years. For me, this book was like the second half of a bigger book from the previous book, Archangel’s Ascension. While that instalment focuses on Ilium gaining ascension and his romantic relationship with Aodhan, it also focused about Elena’s relationships with her human family and tying up a few story threads from the previous books.
In this final entry the world has evolved and changed with a more technological advanced New York city but while things have changed, it is the same chaotic and vibrant city. Elena and Raphael are settled in their roles and more in love than ever and content with their lives. Although Elena still grapples with the passing of her human family, she tries to remain grounded with her immortality by remembering and celebrating the lives that have passed on and retaining the small elements of her humanity.
I really adored how Elena and Raphael have evolved over the course of the series along with their romance. I loved how committed, devoted and steadfast they were with each other from facing external dangers and threats while supporting and working on their own inner conflicts and issues. It was a joy to follow their journey these past years and this book was a celebration of their personal arc and that of the other side characters, like Illium, Aodhan, Venom, Holly and others.
I really adored how Elena and Raphael have evolved over the course of the series along with their romance. I loved how committed, devoted and steadfast they were with each other from facing external dangers and threats while supporting and working on their own inner conflicts and issues. It was a joy to follow their journey these past years and this book was a celebration of their personal arc and that of the other side characters, like Illium, Aodhan, Venom, Holly and others.
It was also a delight to see some older characters that reappeared, and there are some added tensions and conflicts which had their own development as well as resolving long-term threads. The character growth for some was also a surprise and a twist to my expectations and I really appreciated how this added onto the progress of their characterisation in the series.
Nalini Singh tied these plots and character elements seamlessly and in a lot of ways it was like a long goodbye to this world. However my favourite aspect of the book was the personal change that Elena and Raphael faced over the course of the book. It was a joy to read and a lot of readers will be really happy to see this turn of events in their lives and how it affected their characters and their found family.
I was sad to say goodbye to these characters because they were so memorable and engaging and I loved the world that Nalini Singh has created, although in her author’s note, she has stated she will return for short stories and never say never for a return. But this is the final chapter for the main characters and this was a fantastic culmination for this world although while this one has closed, there is a sense of another one that has opened for others.
The Guild Hunter series is one of my all time favourite series, I have to salute Nalini Singh for creating a rich, stunning, and sweeping epic world and characters that are vivid and colourful. This was a wonderful culmination and a perfect ending for a memorable world and I will definitely be revisiting this series with rereads.
I give Archangel’s Eternity an A!