{"id":4467,"date":"2014-03-09T13:36:17","date_gmt":"2014-03-09T17:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=4467"},"modified":"2025-10-01T19:01:01","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T23:01:01","slug":"what-angels-fear-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/4467","title":{"rendered":"What Angels Fear"},"content":{"rendered":"

What Angels Fear<\/a><\/em> (2005) C.S. Harris<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Sebastian St. Cyr is a young nobleman who returned from the wars with France wanting only to forget, but unable to do so, and thus unable to fit back into society. His refusal to wed and produce and heir only makes his already poor relationship with his father even worse.<\/p>\n

And his relationship with his sister Amanda is even worse.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy God. Where is he? Why hasn\u2019t he sought help from any of his friends or family?\u201d <\/p>\n

Amanda folded the paper and set it to one side. \u201cPresumably because he knows his family.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When a young woman is brutally murdered, and evidence points to St. Cyr, many are willing to believe the worst of him, and he soon realizes it will be up to him to discover the true murderer.<\/p>\n

Re-reading this series now, having read all the following books, I was astonished to see the foreshadowing of events in later books: Kat, Jarvis, Hero, Sebastian’s mother. Many things are set in place in this story, for events that come much later.<\/p>\n

All of which made re-reading the book quite delightful, as the hints of things to come appeared seemingly out of the blue.<\/p>\n

Just goes to show how much I miss when I gulp down stories.<\/p>\n

And of course there was the first meeting of characters I’d come to love:<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me get this straight. You don\u2019t see a problem in lifting a stranger\u2019s purse, but you refuse to be given wages you don\u2019t feel you\u2019ve earned?\u201d
\n\u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d said Tom, obviously glad to be understood. \u201cI gots me pride.\u201d
\n\u201cAnd a highly original set of principles,\u201d said Sebastian.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There were several quips that I quite appreciated upon this second read. For example:<\/p>\n

\u201cLife is full of scary things,\u201d he used to tell (her). \u201cThe trick is not to let your fears get in the way of your living. Whatever else you do… don\u2019t settle for a life half-lived.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s lots o\u2019 bad things \u2019appen in this world. Lots o\u2019 bad things what \u2019appen, and lots o\u2019 folks what do bad things. But there\u2019s good, too. Lots o\u2019 good. Me mum, before they put her on that ship for Botany Bay, she told me never to forget that. She said that things like \u2019onor, and justice, and love are the most important things in the world and that it\u2019s up to each and every one of us to always try to be the best person we can possibly be.\u201d Tom looked up, his nearly lashless eyes wide and earnest. \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s many what really believes in that. But you do.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It was as if, between them, the darkness and the snow hid all that was ugly, all that was horrible and dangerous about the city, so that he was aware suddenly of the beauty of the row of ancient stone arches fronting a nearby shop, and the intricate fretwork of the old timber-framed Tudor house beside it. And he wondered , which was more real, the ugliness or the beauty?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Lots of fun terms here:<\/p>\n

shot the cat<\/em>: vomit
\nblue ruin<\/em>: gin<\/p>\n

Note: I adore the original cover–it’s what initially drew me to the book. But I really dislike the reissue cover. I presume that is supposed to be Sebastian, but he just looks… creepy.<\/p>\n

It was a lovely re-read, and now I’m going through the rest of the series (or at least most of it) before I re-read the latest in the series, which came out this week.
\nRating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Published by Obsidian
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