When the Darkangel has acquired his fourteenth wife in a year's time and collected her soul, Aeriel learns, he will take all the souls to his mother, a water witch, and become a full-fledged vampyre with his six brothers. His brides are all indistinguishable, fragile wraiths, their hearts cut out, their blood drunk, their souls collected into little vials that hang from a necklace around the Darkangel's neck. Instead he takes Aeriel back to his home, an abandoned palace carved out of the side of a mountain, to spin clothes for his thirteen brides. When he comes, the Darkangel is too strong and beautiful to kill, as cruel and selfish as he is. Knowing that Eoduin's father means to sell her, she goes back to the mountain, hoping the Darkangel comes again so that she can kill him. No one in the town believes Aeriel - the Darkangel is just a story, after all - and some even accuse her of causing her mistress' death. Now nearly a woman grown, she accompanies Eoduin in the climb up the mountain to collect hornbloom nectar for Eoduin's cousin's wedding - the tradition being that you are not married until the bride and groom have shared the bridal cup, and the bride's cousin must collect it on the day.īut when they reach the mountaintop, the Darkangel flies down, all pale luminescent beauty and a dozen black wings, and snatches Eoduin, carrying her off to make her his bride. But I’ve always been a sucker for a pretty cover, so I think I’ll just wait it out.Īeriel was bought at the slave markets as a baby and raised alongside her young mistress, Eoduin, the beautiful daughter of the town syndic. If you can’t wait that long, of course there is always local used bookstores and the used section on Amazon. The second book, 'A Gathering of Gargoyles', was released with its new cover this month with the third and final volume, 'The Pearl of the Soul of the World', hitting stores in February 2008. 'The Darkangel' is solid, finely wrought fantasy with hints of science fiction thrown in. Nevertheless the idea of romance is there the pale beautiful face, the night black wings, the other worldly power, all elements that have followed the vampire into more modern settings.īut leave whatever vampire expectations you have behind you. More adventure and self-discovery than romance, this is a story of Aerial and her growth. Written years before a revolution was led by authors everywhere towards bodice-ripping novels that featured blood-sucking hunks, Pierce crafted an original fantasy with a vampire at its heart. 'The Darkangel' is not the vampire story you might expect. With guidance from Talb, Aeriel escapes the Darkangel and goes on a quest to find an object that will help her save his withered soul. But when she realizes that with the Darkangel’s final bride he will not only come into his full power but that he will join others of his kind to take over the world, she takes action. While the Darkangel is cruel and seems heartless, Aeriel still sees some good in him. She even becomes close to the Darkangel, sharing stories with him and coming to care for him, although she does not realize it at first. Aeriel also makes friends with the Darkangel’s gargoyles, bringing them food and coming to love them. A magician of sorts, he helps Aeriel survive her first few months there, providing her with food and company when the voices of the wraith brides become too much. Instead he has brought her to his castle as a servant she is to weave the clothes for his brides and when he chooses his 14th and final bride it will be Aeriel that weaves the bridal gown.īelow the castle, in deep caves, lives a little man by the name of Talb. At first she thinks she too will become one of his brides but he scoffs at the idea, claiming that she is too ugly. When the Darkangel steals away Eoduin, Aeriel, her slave and friend, vows to avenge her mistress and waits for the Darkangel to return.īut when the Darkangel comes back to claim Aeriel, she finds that he is too beautiful for her to kill. He keeps his wives in his cold castle, wraiths without their souls, which he wears in lead vials around his neck. The Darkangel, once a mortal and not quite a vampire, must have 14 brides before he can come into his full power and immortality. But I was lucky that it wasn’t just another pretty face, what I found within the pages is a solid young adult fantasy worth reading more than once. I have to admit that the cover is what first caught my eye. The series is being reissued by Little, Brown & Company with gorgeous new covers. First published in 1982 'The Darkangel' by Meredith Ann Pierce is the first in the Darkangel trilogy.
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