Lilith: Eden's Planetary Princess (The Michael Archives Book 1) by C E Robinson
| Lilith: Eden's Planetary Princess (The Michael Archives Book 1) by C E Robinson | |
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| Category: Fantasy | |
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Reviewer: Ani Johnson
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| Summary: An interesting fantasy first in series set 35,000 years ago about a war in heaven that spills over to Earth. The first book is packed with info and perhaps a little slow as a result, but the wealth of back story on the website and the way it warms up promises much for the future instalments. C E Robinson popped into Bookbag Towers to chat to us. | |
| Buy? Maybe | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 548 | Date: February 2016 |
| Publisher: Ninveth Publications | |
| ISBN: 978-0996706902 | |
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35,000 years ago a war in heaven bleeds onto the planet Eden. King Joshua's angels are being harvested, their essence drained off and their remaining bodies no good for anything apart from a euthanasia; a fate from which they can't be reincarnated. From this good essence is created evil Nephilim, creatures at the bidding of Satan's Overlords. Out of this battle between good and evil a planetary princess arises and this first book in the Michael Archives records her journey: the journey of Lilith from ordinary to extraordinary.
None can accuse American/British writer CE (Charles) Robinson of having had a boring life. He's a research scientist, a nuclear power engineer and had a 25 year long involvement with a meditation cult which ended badly. Feeling let down and adrift from what he thought he believed Charles revaluated his philosophy and theology. He thought about an Earth where all the modern day problems we face could be traced back to a celestial war and The Michael Archives series is the result.
Charles goes into amazing depth about the structure of his worlds and characters on his website so I'll just provide a thumbnail version. It's a battle between 'the Takers' (the evil side) and 'the Givers' (our good guys). However there's a twist in that neither side's foot soldiers seem angelic or (on the whole) detestable. They're both a mixture of good and bad; a sort of celestial humanity, despite having wings and the ability to reincarnate.
The fact these guys can go off to a rest and recreation planet after death while awaiting their next life provides one of the clues that this story isn't totally Judeo-Christian based. It's a mixture of many faiths and philosophies: Biblically recognisable Joshua and Satan rub shoulders with personal gods like the Hindu Indra and Lakshmi. The angels' force is called Valkyrie and there are even shadows of ancient Greece and Rome lurking in names. Heck the Lord of the Rings even gets a mention in the person of Overlord Smigyl. (It's all in the pronunciation!)
In the very gradual build up to the promotion of Lilith we meet people… er… creatures… on both sides that are bound up in relationships that tend to pre-occupy them and therefore us. Misunderstood love, muddled love, unrequited love; it's all here earning it an American 'R' rating for the adult themes and language. In fact for most of the book, once we're through first couple of almost detective noir chapters, this is the only war we see.
For instance Valkyrie commander Josephine has issues with her subordinate Collin as he bedded both her and her twin sister (separately!) without realising Josephine's rank. (Awkward!) Meanwhile, on the other side we watch Kuko Kiena pilot, General and Indra's body guard as she's put through her paces. Kuko's bedroom scene is a little more fleeting so the emphasis is more on her work as an emissary with a vital living cargo.
These are just a few of the huge cast. It may seem hard to assimilate them to begin with but that moment does come and then we learn to like them or (in the case of Smigyl – Kuko's boss) become more wary.
We can tell from the website the comprehensive complexity of Charles' world building and his feeds into the book. In fact it suffers a little from set-up-first-in-series syndrome – our author has so much to tell us that the pace is sometimes interrupted to get it all in. However when we hit the last quarter things start to speed up, giving us an idea of Charles' talent. The excitement of the first few chapters is replicated in the final quarter and we realise that the series to come should be quite a ride.
(Thank you to the author for providing us with a copy for review.)
Further Reading: If you like an angel-orientated fantasy, although angels of a different sort, we recommend The Midnight Mayor: A Matthew Swift Novel by Kate Griffin. If Lilith appeals because of its depth, then we also heartily recommend the detailed, action-packed and fascinating Black Wolves (Black Wolves Trilogy) by Kate Elliott.
You can read more about C E Robinson here
C E Robinson was kind enough to be interviewed by Bookbag.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Lilith: Eden's Planetary Princess (The Michael Archives Book 1) by C E Robinson at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Lilith: Eden's Planetary Princess (The Michael Archives Book 1) by C E Robinson at Amazon.com.
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