YA Weekend: Angel Mage by Garth Nix
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (October 1, 2019)
Length: 560 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Since this was my first time reading Garth Nix, I really had no idea what to expect. With the exception of his Old Kingdom series, his books have always given me the impression of being skewed towards younger, Middle Grade readers, which was why I was surprised at the maturity and richness of Angel Mage. I’m not just talking thematically, or the world-building either; even the writing style was very lush and complex, closely resembling the tone of literary classics.
And no wonder. For this novel, Nix was clearly inspired by Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers. However, the incredible world in which the story takes place feels highly original and unique, filled with a vast trove of magical lore to die for. After more than a hundred years of dormancy, an angelic mage named Liliath emerges from her resting place with the goal of being reunited with her archangel lover once again. In her day, she was a powerful icon maker, and was responsible for the Ash Blood plague which wiped out most of Ystara and transformed many of its victims into horrific monsters called beastlings. The cursed survivors were led to the neighboring capital of Sarance by Liliath where they thrived, but now their descendants are called the Refusers, unable to be touched by magic and shunned by the angels.
As Liliath builds support among the downtrodden Refusers, she also casts her influence outward to four angel-touched young people, all newly arrived in the city: Agnez is a skilled swordswoman and a cadet in the Queen’s Musketeers; Simeon is a promising doctor recently cast out by his institute; Henri is a Cardinal’s clerk who fell into the role by a stroke of fortune; and finally, Dorotea is a scholar and an icon maker of extraordinary talent. The four of them are the key to getting Liliath what she wants, even though they are unaware of their roles in her grand scheme. But as all of them become fast friends, drawn to each other by the hidden threads of fate, eventually they realize Liliath must be stopped and only they can prevent the chaos and destruction which would result from the angel mage’s obsessive quest.
In this fantasy world based on angelic magic and iconography, there’s a lot of background information and detail to get across, making this a very tricky and dense book. I’m not surprised to hear Nix is known for being a master at world building, as evidenced by the amount of thought and effort which must have gone into creating the setting for Angel Mage. In fact, he might have even gotten carried away with it—forgetting that while a complex and rich world is all fine and good, the story needs to be interesting too—because there were sections where I found my attention flagging as I struggled with the information deluge. I hate to say it, but I had to push myself through most of the first hundred pages, because the bulk of it was so tedious.
Thankfully, things improved as our four protagonists were introduced, as the writing style loosened up with their interactions and dialogue, making the story immensely more readable. Although I really enjoyed the idea of icon making and magic from the angels, it was the character development that won me over. Agnez, Henri, Simeon, and Dorotea were all so different, but together their personalities clicked perfectly, and it was convincing and realistic how quickly they became friends. I loved Simeon, a gentle giant who is passionate about healing, as well as flighty Henri who has big dreams but little know-how on how to reach them. And yet, the women were the ones who really stole the show here, with the assertive and hotheaded Agnez offering a counterpoint to the quiet and even-tempered Dorotea. Even Liliath was a powerhouse villainess—ruthless, determined, and uncompromising in her desire to be with her love again. She’s the most frightening sort of antagonist, and while I did not enjoy her POV nearly as much as the other four, it did add a fair amount of excitement and intensity to the overall narrative.
Still, Angel Mage is the kind of book that really demands your full attention, even if it’s not always that successful at keeping it. This can make following the story a little confusing, and there’s also a lot of filler. In general, I think the plot could have used a bit more energy and more even pacing, but that’s really the extent of my complaints.
All in all, I really enjoyed my first book by Garth Nix and would definitely be open to reading more by him in the future. Fans of his will probably eat this one up and fall in love with the characters and this gorgeously crafted world richly threaded with the undertones of a Dumas classic.
The BiblioSanctum 
You know, I think I have never tried Nix, but I should
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Definitely worth it. I’m glad I did!
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Great review! I also struggled with the beginning of this book!
(www.evelynreads.com)
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Glad it wasn’t just me! I just found the first half to be so dense!
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I would like to read this since I have a copy, but I just don’t know when I’d squeeze it in. Like you, I’ve never read Nix before, but I’m curious about the world building and the characters!
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The world building was phenomenal, and the best part! Worth it for the slower, denser story.
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Woderful review as always Mogsy! And if this was your first book by this author I have never tried his books!
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Thank you! And yes this was my first book by the author, though I would love to check out his Old Kingdom series at some point.
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Nix is another author in the long, long list labelled “still unknown to me”, even though his name has come to my attention more than once. Your description of the four main characters intrigued me to no end, and I think that might encourage me to hold on for those slow and ponderous first 100 pages you speak of… 😉
Thanks for sharing!
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Haha, I confess that striking Nix off my long list of “still unknown to me” authors was part of the motivation for read this, and now I’d like to go back to his backlist and explore 🙂
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The story sounds fascinating, so I can see why the world-building is so deep. Complex worlds and backstory come with some challenges, mainly finding a balance between the delightful richness of the world and keeping the story interesting and moving forward. Thanks for the review. 🙂
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Indeed! I think Nix went a bit too heavy on the world-building with this one while letting the story slip a bit, but I’m glad the characters were able to make up for it!
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I love great characters and will deal with the rest if they’ve hooked me. 🙂
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Inspired by the Three Musketeers? Beastlings? Iconography? If I didn’t already love Garth Nix, you’d have enticed me to read this anyway. 🙂
He’s not normally too hefty, so I’m perhaps a little concerned about the slow start, but I’m glad you still found things to enjoy about this. I’m pretty excited to read it (not any time soon, no doubt, but I’ll get there). 😀
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Oh that’s good to know about Nix, I want to go back and read his backlist but I would be a little wary if they were just as dense and heavy – glad to know he’s not normally too hefty!
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I can recommend his The Old Kingdom series and the standalone Newt’s Emerald as places to get a better feel for his writing. 🙂
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I love Nix’s Old Kingdom series, he’s done some great stuff there. I’m very much looking forward to this one. I’m glad it was a pretty good read! I’ll have to make sure I don’t let myself get too distracted while reading it though (I do that with books a lot these days whoops).
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That’s awesome to hear! His Old Kingdom series has been on my tbr for ages and after Angel Mage I want to get to to those books now more than ever!
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The first one, Sabriel, is probably still my favorite of the series, but all the ones I’ve read are fun in their own ways. Oh, and if you do the audio then its narrated by Tim Curry. 🙂
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Tim Curry?!! Wow, okay, SOLD! 😀
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I’m looking forward to this one.
Lynn 😀
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It’s good this picked up after the first hundred pages and the world building was interesting and unique. I’m a big fan of Garth Nix, so I am looking forward to this, but I’ll have to bear the filler aspect in mind! Excellent review!
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