What do you think?
Ash Angels #2
Angel Born
Ash Angels Book 2 of 3. When you kick evil to the curb, it kicks you back. What peace Helo had hoped for by defeating King on the Tempest is short lived. Evil doesn’t go quietly and is always hungry for revenge. After his parents are murdered, Helo rejoins the Ash Angel Organization ready to hunt creatures of evil and obliterate the six remaining Dread Loremasters. But terrifying portents from Tela Mirren’s dreams and dire warnings from Aclima hint that crossing darkness incurs a terrible price, and Helo will be the one who pays.
376 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 14, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 17, 2020
This is the second series by Brian K Fuller that I have read recently and I have quickly come to learn that the author runs hot and cold. When he is writing well, I absolutely adore his writing and just want to throw five stars at his work. However, when he’s not writing so well, I absolutely hate it. There’s no in between, for this reader at least, and it can be quite an unsettling experience.
This book had the misfortune of showing off both sides of that equation. I will admit to coming close to putting this book down early a number of times. The first half of the book especially was really hard to get through. There are a number of reasons for this, but the primary two come in the form of Terissa and Jeopardy.
First of all there’s the fact that there was a love triangle building. I hate these storylines and always will as they never fail to get in the way of a good story and they always end up either hurting someone we care about as a reader, or turning us against the characters in it.
Jeopardy was annoying because even though she is a 6000 year old evil demon who has recently turned good, for some reason the author chose to write her with a strong sense of moral superiority and in a way that would always put Helo in his place. I think this is because he was feeling the loss of Cassandra in this novel, but the problem is that this character just didn’t work for Jeopardy.
Finally there is Teresa, or Scarlet as she is now known. I hated every moment that she was in this book. This is partly because I am biased in that I believe that betrayal is the one sin that can not be truly forgiven. Sure you can move past it as it is never good to hang onto negative things, but true forgiveness in my mind means coming to complete peace with someone’s actions and acting like they never did anything wrong. I personally don’t think that’s possible when it comes to betrayal because you can never truly trust that person again.
However, my bigger reason that she shouldn’t be in this book is because her purpose is done. The arc involving her and Helo was closed out with him making peace with her actions in book one, and her being in this book was just retreading old ground. It slowed the story down and just annoyed the hell out of me.
Maybe you could view her story here as a redemption arc, but not every character needs a redemption arc, and in the case of some characters, I don’t even want to see one attempted. This was one such character.
However, for all that I didn’t like this book in those elements, there were other good things going for it. i loved the progression of the world and this lore. The action is always exciting. And Helo’s progression is also something I really enjoyed.
So like I said, this book runs hot and cold. I hated parts and loved the rest, so this book ends up at 3 stars for me. I am bit nervous about starting the next book as it could go either way. Fingers crossed that it’s a good one.
This book had the misfortune of showing off both sides of that equation. I will admit to coming close to putting this book down early a number of times. The first half of the book especially was really hard to get through. There are a number of reasons for this, but the primary two come in the form of Terissa and Jeopardy.
First of all there’s the fact that there was a love triangle building. I hate these storylines and always will as they never fail to get in the way of a good story and they always end up either hurting someone we care about as a reader, or turning us against the characters in it.
Jeopardy was annoying because even though she is a 6000 year old evil demon who has recently turned good, for some reason the author chose to write her with a strong sense of moral superiority and in a way that would always put Helo in his place. I think this is because he was feeling the loss of Cassandra in this novel, but the problem is that this character just didn’t work for Jeopardy.
Finally there is Teresa, or Scarlet as she is now known. I hated every moment that she was in this book. This is partly because I am biased in that I believe that betrayal is the one sin that can not be truly forgiven. Sure you can move past it as it is never good to hang onto negative things, but true forgiveness in my mind means coming to complete peace with someone’s actions and acting like they never did anything wrong. I personally don’t think that’s possible when it comes to betrayal because you can never truly trust that person again.
However, my bigger reason that she shouldn’t be in this book is because her purpose is done. The arc involving her and Helo was closed out with him making peace with her actions in book one, and her being in this book was just retreading old ground. It slowed the story down and just annoyed the hell out of me.
Maybe you could view her story here as a redemption arc, but not every character needs a redemption arc, and in the case of some characters, I don’t even want to see one attempted. This was one such character.
However, for all that I didn’t like this book in those elements, there were other good things going for it. i loved the progression of the world and this lore. The action is always exciting. And Helo’s progression is also something I really enjoyed.
So like I said, this book runs hot and cold. I hated parts and loved the rest, so this book ends up at 3 stars for me. I am bit nervous about starting the next book as it could go either way. Fingers crossed that it’s a good one.
August 1, 2021
I didn't enjoy this as much as the first one. I also don't know if I will continue the series.
I could see myself accepting this book as closure to the series (although many things are left unanswered).
3/5 Stars
I could see myself accepting this book as closure to the series (although many things are left unanswered).
3/5 Stars
July 30, 2022
I enjoyed this entry into the series, however, I definitely see some of the flaws with the logic and characters coming through.
This sequel suffers from the same issue that most sequel's suffer from. Without the backstory and world building to introduce the characters and plot, the story has to rely it's own events to do the heavy lifting. This leads to a less emotionally fulfilling experience. It completely relies on the connection to the characters, established in the first book, to carry the bond, rather than to establish a new one or even to renew the old. If it's been a while since book 1, you may want to go back and review it. Not for events, they are re-capped as needed, but for the emotional bond. Luckily, I went straight from book 1 to 2, so this wasn't an issue for me.
That being said, this was a fun book, for the most part. It moves from plot point to plot point quickly, without a lot of downtime in between. It is exciting and enjoyable and I had a good time.
The logic of the book, though, annoyed me. Was nagging at me while reading it, and started bugging me after I finished and I reflected on the story. I won't spoil them here, but look below for more.
The voice narration, by RC Bray was well done, again. There are a lot of female voices in this one, and his range of distinct female voices is smaller than the cast of this, but overall this was fine and well done.
All in all, this was a fun book that relies on book 1 emotional bonds to make you care about the characters of book 2. Some logical issues nagged at me, but overall I enjoyed the story.
Looking forward to the final book.
***spoilers***
One of the biggest issues I have with this book (and the first) is the lack of spare hearts. They say things like "we have to keep out hearts, or they'll get suspicious". But we've also seen there's no way to tell hearts apart. So in 6000 years, no one has figured out grab a human heart, from, the morgue or something, and hand it ever as an ash angle heart, then when dawn comes, poof, you're back home and the dead heart is still sitting with the dreads.
Also, the Dredds have figured out to attack just before sunset so they get 2 chances to win, but the Angles can't seem to copy this maneuver. They attack in the middle of the afternoon or during the night.
Then there's the fact that this guy is running through the afterlife, with cheat codes on, picking up level up and perks like he's hacked the game. It's unheard of for someone like him and everyone hates him. This is a reality where God is real, the events of the Bible are true and the angles are warriors blessed by heaven. This angle runs around doing good, but not by the book and is getting rewarded at every turn, and none of the leaders are like "oh, well, I guess if God is cool with it, maybe we should be more like this guy". All the leaders are basically "this guy is an asshole, I don't like him and I'm not going to trust him." this, I believe is to make Helo the underdog that has to fight for everything he has, but at some point it just seems mean.
I'm also disappointed by the authors choice not to take a stand on human rights. I'm not sure of the author's beliefs or who the target audience is. However, this could have been the chance to have some gay or trans characters, to show God loves all his children. Not to make it the central theme of the book or anything, but have a background character in a same sex relationship or something could have been a great opportunity to show compassion.
Again, I don't know if that fits the authors belief or would appeal to the target audience, but as the book shows there is good in everyone, this could have been a nice message.
This sequel suffers from the same issue that most sequel's suffer from. Without the backstory and world building to introduce the characters and plot, the story has to rely it's own events to do the heavy lifting. This leads to a less emotionally fulfilling experience. It completely relies on the connection to the characters, established in the first book, to carry the bond, rather than to establish a new one or even to renew the old. If it's been a while since book 1, you may want to go back and review it. Not for events, they are re-capped as needed, but for the emotional bond. Luckily, I went straight from book 1 to 2, so this wasn't an issue for me.
That being said, this was a fun book, for the most part. It moves from plot point to plot point quickly, without a lot of downtime in between. It is exciting and enjoyable and I had a good time.
The logic of the book, though, annoyed me. Was nagging at me while reading it, and started bugging me after I finished and I reflected on the story. I won't spoil them here, but look below for more.
The voice narration, by RC Bray was well done, again. There are a lot of female voices in this one, and his range of distinct female voices is smaller than the cast of this, but overall this was fine and well done.
All in all, this was a fun book that relies on book 1 emotional bonds to make you care about the characters of book 2. Some logical issues nagged at me, but overall I enjoyed the story.
Looking forward to the final book.
***spoilers***
One of the biggest issues I have with this book (and the first) is the lack of spare hearts. They say things like "we have to keep out hearts, or they'll get suspicious". But we've also seen there's no way to tell hearts apart. So in 6000 years, no one has figured out grab a human heart, from, the morgue or something, and hand it ever as an ash angle heart, then when dawn comes, poof, you're back home and the dead heart is still sitting with the dreads.
Also, the Dredds have figured out to attack just before sunset so they get 2 chances to win, but the Angles can't seem to copy this maneuver. They attack in the middle of the afternoon or during the night.
Then there's the fact that this guy is running through the afterlife, with cheat codes on, picking up level up and perks like he's hacked the game. It's unheard of for someone like him and everyone hates him. This is a reality where God is real, the events of the Bible are true and the angles are warriors blessed by heaven. This angle runs around doing good, but not by the book and is getting rewarded at every turn, and none of the leaders are like "oh, well, I guess if God is cool with it, maybe we should be more like this guy". All the leaders are basically "this guy is an asshole, I don't like him and I'm not going to trust him." this, I believe is to make Helo the underdog that has to fight for everything he has, but at some point it just seems mean.
I'm also disappointed by the authors choice not to take a stand on human rights. I'm not sure of the author's beliefs or who the target audience is. However, this could have been the chance to have some gay or trans characters, to show God loves all his children. Not to make it the central theme of the book or anything, but have a background character in a same sex relationship or something could have been a great opportunity to show compassion.
Again, I don't know if that fits the authors belief or would appeal to the target audience, but as the book shows there is good in everyone, this could have been a nice message.
September 12, 2023
I’m torn, on one hand I enjoyed the story and the drama but it did start feeling a little repetitive towards the end. It felt like the story got to a good end point but instead of finishing it there is another instalment… I can’t help but feel like I almost can’t be bothered reading it, not sure how the story will change up beyond what it has already been feels like 3rd book for 3rd books sake
April 9, 2021
too much unnecessary violance
September 13, 2022
Good continuation of the story. I am really liking this series.
December 30, 2024
A little harder to get into than the first book. I feel like less happened in this one. Still love the series! So frustrating that Hilo still isn’t in a relationship!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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January 22, 2026Great read!
June 15, 2019
"Sacrificing your life can mean two things: dying for something you love or finding something you love enough to live for. One requires only the body, the other the soul, but both are holy."
Brian Fuller's sequel to Dread Uprising, Angel Born, picks up the adventure after the first ends. Without spoiling the first one too much we continue the story with Helo as our protagonist. The sequel is as good as the first book and further develops our characters that we already loved while introducing a number of new faces that are just as well written. So with that said the good guys still have the problems that they had in the first book with the bad guys not giving up quite yet.
The story I thought was better than the first book but in all reality they were both good. As I said in my first review its isn't groundbreaking stuff but boy does he know how to keep me captivated. This book was the definition of page turner and I had the good luck to have the time to finish it all in one day. I could not put it down for the life of me. The pacing was spot on and the action did not seem forced or rushed. If you had to FORCE me to give a critique, I would say the ending was a little too reminiscent to how the first one ended (kind of like structure and story wise). But to be honest that is nitpicking at its finest.
Again I can not say enough about it to do it justice. I love the characters, and I have a feeling when I review the 3rd book it will be very much the same broken record. I feel like this review is at its core very much unnecessary because if you liked the first book I would hope you would jump on board with this one, it is that same amazing character driven story.
“Find me if you can,” he said. “Bring the cards.”
Brian Fuller's sequel to Dread Uprising, Angel Born, picks up the adventure after the first ends. Without spoiling the first one too much we continue the story with Helo as our protagonist. The sequel is as good as the first book and further develops our characters that we already loved while introducing a number of new faces that are just as well written. So with that said the good guys still have the problems that they had in the first book with the bad guys not giving up quite yet.
The story I thought was better than the first book but in all reality they were both good. As I said in my first review its isn't groundbreaking stuff but boy does he know how to keep me captivated. This book was the definition of page turner and I had the good luck to have the time to finish it all in one day. I could not put it down for the life of me. The pacing was spot on and the action did not seem forced or rushed. If you had to FORCE me to give a critique, I would say the ending was a little too reminiscent to how the first one ended (kind of like structure and story wise). But to be honest that is nitpicking at its finest.
Again I can not say enough about it to do it justice. I love the characters, and I have a feeling when I review the 3rd book it will be very much the same broken record. I feel like this review is at its core very much unnecessary because if you liked the first book I would hope you would jump on board with this one, it is that same amazing character driven story.
“Find me if you can,” he said. “Bring the cards.”
June 24, 2019
Wow!
Loved the second book. It draws you in and doesn’t let you go. I was put out at the end of the first book as one of my favorite characters died but I am glad I kept going. Can’t wait to see what twists and turns happen in the third. I have read all of Fuller’s past books and these books are the same high quality writing I have come to expect from this writer - great character development, depth and creative story telling that you can’t predict.
Loved the second book. It draws you in and doesn’t let you go. I was put out at the end of the first book as one of my favorite characters died but I am glad I kept going. Can’t wait to see what twists and turns happen in the third. I have read all of Fuller’s past books and these books are the same high quality writing I have come to expect from this writer - great character development, depth and creative story telling that you can’t predict.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews