Angels of Istanbul Author: Alex Beecroft Title: Angels of Istanbul Series: Arising 2 Genre: Paranormal Fantasy Pairing: M/M Rating: Three Petals On the Author's Website: http://alexbeecroft.com/the-arising-series/ Summary: Wallachian nobleman Radu is recently arrived in Bucharest with his vampire parents. Welcomed as an eligible bachelor, he’s introduced to the enchantress Ecaterina, whose salon is Bucharest’s centre of magical expertise. But when Ecaterina’s brother dies of a mysterious new plague, it’s clear to Radu that his parents have not been idle. Soon Bucharest is in the grip of an undead epidemic—a less than ideal time for Ottoman Sultan Mahmud, Wallachia’s overlord, to call Bucharest’s nobility to assemble their armies in Istanbul for a holy war against Britain. The Wallachians have long resented their Ottoman overlords, so Radu seizes the chance to eliminate them while also ridding Bucharest of the undead: he leads an army of vampires to Istanbul and sets them to feed on the Turks. As Radu’s demons gut the city of Istanbul, their plans become horribly clear. This is only the start. With the Ottoman armies under their control, the undead are poised to suck the life out of the whole world. Radu, his lover Frank, and Ecaterina are appalled at what they’ve unleashed. But they may be too late to stop it. Maggie's Review:
I received this book as an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Radu and Frank are forced to travel to appease Radu's undead parents--and to keep the vampires from killing Frank. They know the evil they're bringing into the city, but neither Radu nor Frank understand just how deadly a poison the vampires really are until it's far too late. I know I said this in my review for the first book in this series, but it's worth saying again. The world building is amazing. Beecroft took true history and true historical myth and weaved it together with an extra touch of magic to create something truly wonderful. Every tidbit about the world that was revealed kept me hanging on the edge for more. That said, the world building was also this story's greatest weakness. The amount of detail that went into each and every page also slowed down the pace of the story. There were times when it dragged, when I was waiting page after page after page for any sort of plot to pick up. That made it difficult to read at times and it took me forever to get through this book. This book honestly reminded me of The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, which was a very well-written book based on similar vampire histories and myths, and which was also incredibly slow to read. Maggie's Recommendation: Despite the plot being incredibly slow to pick up, the world building of true history and myth coupled with magic kept my interest. The book was hard to read at times, but overall I did enjoy it so I will recommend it.
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Magnolia's Reviews
Maggie reviews paranormal and fantasy novels and novellas. She also interviews authors and hosts giveaways. Archives
April 2018
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