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An Occupation Of Angels
by
Lavie Tidhar
After Archangels materialise over the bloodbaths of WWII, they take up residence in most of the world's major cities. But what would happen if, more than quarter of a century later, something somehow managed to kill these supreme beings? Killarney knows and, as an agent working for the Bureau, a British agency that's so secret it doesn't officially exist, she finds herself...more
Paperback, 142 pages
Published
October 2nd 2010
by Apex Publications
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This book reads like a third-rate Charlie Stross wannabe writing a fourth-rate James Bond pastiche -- which is especially pathetic when you consider Stross is a third rate writer to begin with, which makes this a tenth rate book.
The protagonist is the worst sort of jut-jawed hero from the Jerry Ahern school of men's fiction -- competent and violent with no remorse or personality. The only thing unusual thing about her is that she's a woman -- but she's so bland that you wouldn't notice except f...more
The protagonist is the worst sort of jut-jawed hero from the Jerry Ahern school of men's fiction -- competent and violent with no remorse or personality. The only thing unusual thing about her is that she's a woman -- but she's so bland that you wouldn't notice except f...more
A curious mashup of genres that doesn't quite come together. Killarney is a master agent for a British spy service, except their brief is not human enemies, but angels; the angels have come to Earth at the end of WWII and become another element in the global Cold War power game and its associated espionage.
But while Killarney appears be a super-agent à la James Bond, she narrates the book in first person with the blunt, simplistic, repetitive sentences appropriate to the hard-boiled genre. (It d...more
But while Killarney appears be a super-agent à la James Bond, she narrates the book in first person with the blunt, simplistic, repetitive sentences appropriate to the hard-boiled genre. (It d...more
This is a short story that flies by at such a rate it almost felt like flash fiction.
Mr Tidhar is a well travelled chap, and this comes out in his vivid description of various places across the world. It is even more impressive that he manages it with a minimal amount of words.
This story is based around the premise that Angels came to earth and ended the Second World War. The cold war turns out to be rather different. Angels are not quite how we imagine them to be, and mankind lives in fear of t...more
Mr Tidhar is a well travelled chap, and this comes out in his vivid description of various places across the world. It is even more impressive that he manages it with a minimal amount of words.
This story is based around the premise that Angels came to earth and ended the Second World War. The cold war turns out to be rather different. Angels are not quite how we imagine them to be, and mankind lives in fear of t...more
Near the end of the second world war, the angels came, drawn to places of great suffering and bloodshed. They've remained on Earth since then; some of them, like Metatron, silently watching over us, while others, like Azrael, getting involved in organized crime. That's the setup, but that's not the interesting part of this novella.
The interesting part is that someone's starting killing angels.
The killing isn't what interests our protagonist, MI6 agent Killarney, at first. After all, she starts t...more
The interesting part is that someone's starting killing angels.
The killing isn't what interests our protagonist, MI6 agent Killarney, at first. After all, she starts t...more
A spy thriller novella about an alt history Cold War with angels. Would have been more interesting if I hadn’t already read Tim Powers’s Declare. As it is I have read that, and this is flat and personalityless. It has this style which basically consists of saying, yeah, if I was a short film, I’d be in black-and-white and I’d have all these weird jump cuts. Because that’s, like, artistic. But whatever, it was good background noise for lying around after having my wisdom teeth dug out with a pick...more
I liked the premise behind this novella, but the fact that it's so short and so fast paced ended up hurting it in my eyes. The main character's voice didn't do it for me, and I wasn't a huge fan of the writing style. Plus it was hard to visualize a lot of things or really dive into the world because, like I said, everything went by too quickly. I think if this was a longer novel, it would've worked better. I mean, a Cold War with angels? That's pretty awesome. Sadly the book didn't quite live up...more
Fast-paced and stylistically intense, An Occupation of Angels is pseudo-paranormal spy story set in a world where angels came to Earth ending World War II. Killarney is a secret agent first assigned to assassinate an archangel, then tasked with discovering who's really behind the systematic slaying of the angels of the world. Could it be Nazis?
Tidhar's style is urgent and wickedly ironic. This is a religious study with little religion, a spy story with Nazi conspiracies, but not like the other...more
Tidhar's style is urgent and wickedly ironic. This is a religious study with little religion, a spy story with Nazi conspiracies, but not like the other...more
May 18, 2011
Maverynthia
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
People like like a little fantasy with thier espionage books.
A bit cheesy at the end however was a nice good spy-like romp of fun.
The only problems I had was keeping the characters straight and keeping the settings in mind.
I'm also glad this book isn't one I wanted to throw across the room. It doesn't like to use shock language like other books would. Though, the comparing human/thin = good and large/obese = bad did give a good record scratch while I was reading.
The only problems I had was keeping the characters straight and keeping the settings in mind.
I'm also glad this book isn't one I wanted to throw across the room. It doesn't like to use shock language like other books would. Though, the comparing human/thin = good and large/obese = bad did give a good record scratch while I was reading.
Disjointed and poorly edited. Lots of good ideas but the execution left a lot to desire.
It's a fun little occult-spy-thriller. Well written, with an interesting premise.
Fun novella with spies and nazi scientists, and weird, freaky angels. It's done in a very fast-paced, dump you in the middle and let you figure it out as you go style. But while that works, I think the material is good enough to support a full length novel if done at a slightly slower, more introspective pace, and I think I'd have enjoyed that more, so 4 stars from me.
May 19, 2013
Jenna
marked it as to-read
Jan 22, 2013
Jessica Nelson
marked it as to-read
Oct 24, 2012
Hakan
marked it as to-obtain
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Hakan by:
http://weightlessbooks.com/genre/fiction/an-occupation-of-angels/
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Lavie Tidhar grew up on a kibbutz in Israel, lived in Israel and South Africa, travelled widely in Africa and Asia, and has lived in London for a number of years. He is the winner of the 2003 Clarke-Bradbury Prize (awarded by the European Space Agency), was the editor of "Michael Marshall Smith: The Annotated Bibliography" (PS Publishing, 2004) and the anthology "A Dick & Jane Primer for Adult...more
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Sep 05, 2011 09:12pm