Legend has it that the Alleluia Files contain the truth about the god of Samaria. Now, a child raised in captivity among the angels will journey th...
read full description
reviews
Feb 18, 2009
Sarah
rated it: 
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
May 03, 2011
Jennifer
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Apr 22, 2008
Sean
rated it:
Halfway through I expected to give this four out of five stars because the premise, characterization and plotting seemed tighter and more compelling than in the previous two volumes, but then Shinn pulled her usual tricks with dysynchronous POV and sexist male characters that just drive me nuts. And then the dénouement never seemed to freaking end. So it gets three out of five. Are you happy, Sharon Shinn?
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Apr 18, 2011
Jenn
rated it: 
And a god will fall... Legend says the Archangel Alleluia and the mortal Caleb left a record of the truth they discovered about the god Jovah, though no document has ever been found. In time, an underground cult arose, seeking to find again what Alleluia found. But the reigning Archangel called down the wrath of Jovah upon the cult, and hundreds died in a hail of thunderbolts. Yet some still survive...
Among them is the woman Tamar, child of cultists, raised by angels. She believes that the More...
Among them is the woman Tamar, child of cultists, raised by angels. She believes that the More...
May 23, 2010
Lin
rated it: 
Third book in the sci-fi/fantasy/religious/romance series.
100 years after Alleya found out the truth about God there are only a few who are considered heretics, the Jacobites, that suspect the truth. The Alleluia files could change all that, but nobody has been able to find them and the archangel doesn't want them found.
The narrative switches between 3 characters: Jared, Tamar and Lucinda.
Each of the 3 has their own narrative merits and an interesting story that leads the More...
100 years after Alleya found out the truth about God there are only a few who are considered heretics, the Jacobites, that suspect the truth. The Alleluia files could change all that, but nobody has been able to find them and the archangel doesn't want them found.
The narrative switches between 3 characters: Jared, Tamar and Lucinda.
Each of the 3 has their own narrative merits and an interesting story that leads the More...
Mar 07, 2010
Rachel
rated it:
I read the first two books in this series when they first came out. I really liked the first one, but the second book had some annoying plot holes. So I didn't buy the third book. Still, when I had a chance to get a free copy, I decided it was worth a try. I'm glad I did; Shinn is back on her A game.
Samaria is a world ruled by angels. Really; they're humans with wings, who sing prayers to Jovah that are answered promptly and precisely. It's very easy to believe in god on this world, More...
Samaria is a world ruled by angels. Really; they're humans with wings, who sing prayers to Jovah that are answered promptly and precisely. It's very easy to believe in god on this world, More...
Sep 23, 2010
Christine
rated it:
4.5 stars
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found myself so unwilling to put it down that I'm writing this a little bleary-eyed this morning. Like the previous book in this volume, I found the characters to be well drawn, complex, and likable. Also like the last two books, I enjoyed the imaginative world.
Tamar was my favorite of the 3 point of view characters, although I did find her a little overzealous. Her romance with Jared was the best of the series to date. I got a More...
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found myself so unwilling to put it down that I'm writing this a little bleary-eyed this morning. Like the previous book in this volume, I found the characters to be well drawn, complex, and likable. Also like the last two books, I enjoyed the imaginative world.
Tamar was my favorite of the 3 point of view characters, although I did find her a little overzealous. Her romance with Jared was the best of the series to date. I got a More...
Aug 05, 2011
Melissa
rated it:
I love Sharon Shinn she is one of my favorite Authors and I loved the first two books in this series. This one was good and I loved the characters! She is so good at developing characters through their actions. The story moved really well and I enjoyed going back to Samaria. There was one hitch for me and that was the love stories in this . The story is the focal point and the 2 love stories take a back seat. It is almost like a whole chapter got left out somewhere. I was a little disappointed,
More...
Feb 09, 2010
Mei-Lu
rated it:
So I wasn't going to write a review of this book but reading other people's reviews made me decide I must. I just can't NOT address some of the comments that have been made. First let me talk about my own experience with the Samaria trilogy. (And, really, you should not even consider reading this book unless you have read the first and the second - it will not be near as satisfying on its own.) Initially, I was disappointed to discover that the Samaria books didn't follow the same group of c
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jun 03, 2010
Chachic
rated it:
Originally posted here.
As with the other Samaria books, this one revolves around certain characters, namely Tamar, Jared and Lucinda, and their interactions with each other. Tamar is a feisty and fiercely determined woman, brought up by Jacobites. She has been on the run her entire life and has a hard time trusting people. On the other hand, Jared is a happy-go-lucky type of angel. Even though he's technically the leader at Monteverde, he's never been passionate about anything. Tamar More...
As with the other Samaria books, this one revolves around certain characters, namely Tamar, Jared and Lucinda, and their interactions with each other. Tamar is a feisty and fiercely determined woman, brought up by Jacobites. She has been on the run her entire life and has a hard time trusting people. On the other hand, Jared is a happy-go-lucky type of angel. Even though he's technically the leader at Monteverde, he's never been passionate about anything. Tamar More...
Jun 04, 2010
Jen
rated it:
I like the series. Fun romances. Interesting sci-fi. I like that the author doesn't give up on religion completely. They're well-written and engaging books.
I just wish the characters were not so casual in their liaisons or the consequences thereof. Yes, the predestined lovers seem to be faithful to each other, but the society in general condones an awful lot of sleeping around. At least the lights dim and we don't have to read the details.
I also wish the female leads More...
I just wish the characters were not so casual in their liaisons or the consequences thereof. Yes, the predestined lovers seem to be faithful to each other, but the society in general condones an awful lot of sleeping around. At least the lights dim and we don't have to read the details.
I also wish the female leads More...
Apr 24, 2010
Tressa
rated it:
This is the third in the series. The Jacobites who believe their god is actually a machine are being exterminated (kept secredt from the other angels) by an evil and manupulative archangel. One angel, Jared, who leads one of the angel strongholds finds out about the Jacobites murders and searches for reasons. Jared's search leads to a run-in with one Jacobite, Tamar, who he begins protecting and eventually falls in love with. There is also a simultaneious story being told of another angel, who w
More...
Jun 04, 2009
Anne
rated it:
Oh dear, they need a more exact rating scale. This book was fun, silly, and entertaining, but by no means great literature. A good brainless read about angels and such. And yes, I would like to point out that I am just diligently working my way through my list of books that I've read in the past while. I'm resisting the urge to edit. The urge to try to make it look like I only read smart books. But NO, I will proudly display my less than high-brow reading habits. Yes, there is a half-nake
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jan 30, 2012
Alyssa
rated it:
Sharon Shinn wrote the Samaria books before angels were even a popular subject. I'm a big fan of Shinn, and after reading the first book in this series, Archangel, I fell in love with the world she has created. This is very much a science fiction series, with the inhabitants of Samaria being descendants of people from Earth who left to escape the destruction of the planet by technology. In The Alleluia Files, the people of Samaria have become much more technologically advanced -- some think this
More...
Oct 13, 2010
Rachel
rated it: 
This is a continuation of the Samaria series. Now there is a small sect that teaches that Jovah is a ship, not a deity, and they are being persecuted by the current archangel. The female romantic interest is part of the sect; the male is an angel.
Shinns' portrays the "atheistic" cult as bitter, angry, distrustful and arrogant. They do have some of the technical facts regarding Jovah's identity right, of course, but we find that those who believe in Jovah as deity tend to b More...
Shinns' portrays the "atheistic" cult as bitter, angry, distrustful and arrogant. They do have some of the technical facts regarding Jovah's identity right, of course, but we find that those who believe in Jovah as deity tend to b More...
Mar 18, 2008
Myridian
rated it:
This is third novel in the series about Samaria and the socioreligious struggles of the world. This story takes place 100 years after Jovah's angel and the main characters are women who are twins separated at birth. One is an angel and the other is mortal. The angel becomes the religious leader of the society, and the mortal belongs to a group of atheists that the angels are trying to exterminate. I continue to have reservations about the way that women are portrayed in these stories. While they
More...
Mar 10, 2011
Madeline
rated it:
Very interesting, and I was impressed that the author could write such an interesting plot when there wasn't much wiggle room in the setting. Slightly predictable. THis book's plot was a lot more intricate than the other two. I would suggest reading the series in order, even though each could work as a stand-alone book. One annoying thing about these books is that the covers have absolutely nothing to do with the book and they are so WEIRD that you feel embarrassed reading them.
Aug 13, 2011
Salina
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Oct 25, 2009
Jen
rated it:
I was trying to explain this book to my boyfriend and after I got through: world colonized way into the future by earthlings, the satellite aka "god/jovah" in the sky, and angels with wings grafted onto their backs to control the weather... he was like, "Will you listen to yourself?! This sounds crazy!" And, it is reactions like this, my friends, that makes me love sci fi/fantasy EVEN MORE.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Apr 16, 2009
Christy
rated it:
In this book, Shinn features her best leading male ever, Jared. He is a man with great power and responsibility...and he evades it at any cost to do...nothing at all. Even as news that will shake the very world down to it's core falls into his lap. He waits years to act on it, and even then he just tries pushing it off on the leading lady, Tamar, who is charmingly schizophrenic.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Apr 02, 2009
kaoyler
rated it:
This book follows new characters in the world of Samaria. It is about a rebel group, the Jacobites, who believe Jovah is a machine. Tamar is one of them and very distrustful of angels. She meets the angel Jared, who helps her in a time of difficulty, but she still doesn't trust him. Although you know how it will end, how it gets there is the intriguing part.
May 17, 2011
Emilie
rated it:
I liked Archangel better, both for the characterization and the religiousy bits. I guess when authors stick gods in their books I'd rather they be either really, really real, like some sort of pantheon, or to be extremely mysterious and vague. In Archangel, the series's god WAS quite vague, but here it's just a spaceship. Boring. :/
Feb 09, 2012
Heather
rated it:
3.5 stars.
Less to it than the other books, in half again as many pages. Go figure.
More romance than the other books, which might be a plus for some but I am neutral about it. (At least it didn't annoy me like romance usually does.) Plot pretty unexciting--no mystery at all to anyone who read the previous book.
Less to it than the other books, in half again as many pages. Go figure.
More romance than the other books, which might be a plus for some but I am neutral about it. (At least it didn't annoy me like romance usually does.) Plot pretty unexciting--no mystery at all to anyone who read the previous book.
Feb 05, 2012
I loved all of these books in the series and devoured them so quickly I can't remember which story is which anymore. They each have elements of science fiction and fantasy. They each have an intense mystery to figure out. They each have a romance or two that tickles the toes. Ms. Shinn weaves a perfect storm, with angels.
Jun 22, 2010
Alleluialu
rated it:
The society this book puts forth is an interesting one - angels as the upper, ruling class and humans as the common folk. Even though our image of an angel is good and helpful, some of the angels portrayed in this book are downright evil. Anyway, the big controversy is whether god exists or whether it's a big spaceship in the sky programmed to grant angel requests for rain, sunshine, medicine, etc. The people that believe it's the spaceship are called Jacobites and are pursued by the Archangel a
More...
May 05, 2008
Claire
rated it:
This volume in the series (chronologically the last, at least for now) was somehwat more ideological and less character-driven than previous installments, but the ideas were so well-realized that I didn't mind too much, despite this being my escapist fare du jour. It's fascinating to watch this fantasy/scifi society go through hundreds of years of social and technological development roughly comparable to real history (with, of course, a few important differences), and the religious conflict tha
More...
Aug 05, 2011
Kerith
rated it:
I enjoy all of Sharon Shinn's Samaria novels. She addresses the issue of technology again in this one, but not really enough. The people seem to say "what if --" but go on ahead. I suppose that's more than most would do. I'd like to see how the people's faith changes, now that everyone knows who Jovah is.
These books are just fun and thoughtful and I wish there were more.
These books are just fun and thoughtful and I wish there were more.
Jun 10, 2009
Carolyn
rated it:
Occasionally, I think authors have to drift from their initial timelines in order for things to feel new again. This takes place a couple of hundred years away from the first one, there's a great deal of cultural drift and a schism between conservatism and rationalism. Good stuff.
Sep 23, 2010
Phoebe
rated it:
My absolute favorite in the series with many, many charming, clever details and situations. The female protagonist is one you desperately want to protect but also cheer for as she makes her own way in a hostile world, relying only on her strength and luck.
Aug 18, 2009
Lydia
rated it:
By far, the best book of the series. Tamar and Lucinda were both great characters, and I honestly did not put two and two together (no pun intended) until I was nearing the end of the book.
Looking forward to the next book!
Looking forward to the next book!
