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published 1997; trade paperback 1997; paperback 1998, Ace Books
Jovah's Angel takes up 150 years after the end of Archangel. Problems are sweeping across Samaria, in the form of storms, floods, and droughts that the angels cannot control. The current Archangel, Delilah, is swept to the ground in a storm, during which her angelico, Levi, is killed, and she herself is crippled by a broken wing. When she is told she can never fly again, she simply disappears from the Eyrie.
The oracles consult Jovah on what should now happen. He announces that if she cannot fly, Delilah can't be the Archangel. He appoints the angel Alleluia, a shy and reserved woman who has no inclinations toward power. It becomes apparent to the angels and the powerful mortals in Samaria that Alleluia has been chosen because she is the only one of the angels that the God still listens to. She can calm storms that no other angel can.
In the 150 years since Gabriel and Rachel's reign, Samaria has advanced technologically. Factories are growing up in the cities, and engineers are appearing. But the ancient technologies left behind by the first settlers are failing. The failure of the last recorded music player at the Eyrie prompts Alleluia to search for an engineer to fix it. She meets Caleb Augustus, and begins to have feelings for him. Meanwhile Delilah has taken a job as a singer at a nightclub in Luminaux, where she draws huge crowds, and has taken an Edori man, Noah, as her lover. Noah is also Caleb's best friend.
While trying to communicate with Jovah to stop the storms, Alleluia and Caleb learn Jovah's secret -- that he is truly an orbiting spaceship called Jehovah. This presents Alleluia and Caleb with a new problem: whether to tell the people of Samaria what they know about the God they all have worshiped for so long.
I enjoyed this story a little bit more than Archangel. The romances between Alleluia and Caleb, as well as Noah and Delilah, are unforced. The "evil" they combat is more mysterious because no one knows the source of the problem, and the ending is everything that could be wished for in this story. I wouldn't suggest reading this book without having already read Archangel, though. Jovah's Angel really is a sequel and not a stand alone work, despite the time span between the plots.
Review by Catherine George
Reviewed March 9, 1998
ISBN 0-441-0040-0
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