Review: Lighthearted, Quirky Fantasy
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 12, 2013
"The Seraph Contingency" is an unabashedly fun, humorous fantasy, and I enjoyed it immensely. Though it's a lighthearted read, its characters are well-drawn and interesting, and I came to care about them fairly quickly in the novel. Anael, a beautiful seraph, leaves heaven and visits a dive bar in purgatory; she's kidnapped and dragged down to hell, where the cruel Duchess Deumos has Anael's wings sawn off to create a ball gown for a fete Lucifer is throwing.A tough-talking, tattooed Transporter demon named Gaap takes Anael under his wing (please pardon the pun) and is soon smitten with her, even though he believes she's been driven a bit insane by her traumatic experience. Soon, they and a cast of other unique characters (including Teivel, who spends his days inhabiting the bodies of terminally ill children to increase their lifespans) are working against Lucifer, who wants to re-start the war between heaven and hell.As I said above, I really loved this book. Anael is endearing, Gaap is a strong love interest, and the humor sprinkled throughout the book really makes every page enjoyable. I also liked how well-developed the characters are--none of them were one-dimensional, and they didn't always act how I thought they would (which is great--I enjoy surprise in a novel). I would recommend this book to fans of light-hearted fantasy and of authors like Piers Anthony.