Review: A Paean of the Disobedient
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 7, 2013
With the exception of a certain TV series and a mention or two in the X-Files and Supernatural, not much has been said about the Nephilim, those creatures born of human women and immortal angels.  Perhaps that's because angels are supposed to be beautiful but sexless divine creatures.  The Night Before Doomsday refutes that supposition.  Author Nightingale's angels are indeed beautiful and perhaps in the beginning they're nave but when the Grigori are sent to Earth to aid God's disobedient creations, they soon fall prey to those whom they've been sent to teach.Azaziel, leader of the Grigori, narrates the story. The angel delegated to teach women the art of beautification and allure, he's one of the last to fall.  Seemingly ignorant of the fact of his brothers' plunge into carnal behavior with their pupils, he also eventually gives in to the sensuality he's helped to create.What follows is  war and loss, despair and grief, attempts at redemption and exile.Azaziel doesn't deny his part. He considers himself guilty. He accepts his fate and eventually escapes his punishment but he also questions whether he can ever be forgiven since he's essentially now a fugitive, living among those who caused his downfall.It's a beautiful story, with lush description and vivid imagery, but in the end, it's essentially sad, as one having lost heaven wonders if he can ever regain even a sight of it.