“Weapons of War” by Stephen Mackey

“Rent-An-Angel” by Jane Lebak

“Syllen” by Nadia Williams

“Galaxy Gems” by George L. Duncan

“Alone at the Edge of the Day” by J. Albert Bell

“Weapons of War” by Stephen Mackey follows the conversation between two warrior angels preparing for the "big one." Steelrest is of the "old-school" of warfare; he has long been with Him and is ready to defend the old ways. Sparker is of the newer generation and favors the humans’ advances.  The younger angel recommends to the older that maybe he should change his ways, perhaps try something new. The idea is intriguing to Steelrest, and his inner conflict over what Sparker shows him is more human than angelic, paralleling the notion that while men can try to build bigger, better, more terrifying weapons, they cannot outdo the most terrible weapon the world has ever known.  I particularly liked the banter between the two and the classic old versus new conflict. The ending provides an expected yet unexpected answer to the question that Steelrest asks of Sparker. It convinced Sparker, but did it convince Steelrest completely?

“Rent-An-Angel” by Jane Lebak has an almost comical style with its two well-intentioned angels, Zadkiel and Tanniel, doling out good deeds in exchange for good deeds. They forget one major detail about helping humans, which Gabriel is happy to show them. A refreshing thread of realism runs through the story until the end which left me hanging, not really fitting with the rest. Overall, a traditional lesson of "give an inch and they will want a mile."

“Syllen” by Nadia Williams starts with a strong dose of action, and it just keeps coming. Young Syllen has done the unthinkable and now is running for his life. His only hope lies in a faraway town to the east. Syllen thinks he cannot take it anymore; he has finally given up, when he meets a stranger. This nobleman takes him on a journey like no other.  Ms. Williams crafts suprisingly fresh descriptions and word usages. I could empathize with poor Syllen as he experiences life on the run.  The picture she paints of the forest trees was nothing short of magical. By brushing the edges of expectations, she kept me guessing to the end.  

“Galaxy Gems” by George L. Duncan starts slowly with a lot of dialogue. The use of an omniscient point of view paired with a tendancy to stop the action to impart long paragraphs of information further slows the pacing.  And when, at last, a battle rages halfway through, Mr. Duncan draws a parallel with the space crew and Jesus discharging demons which is overly description-laden and detracts from the action.  Also, the characters’ "Oh well, might as well get on with life" handling of tragedy was appalling. Finally, the story drags at the end as it did in the beginning with the author’s heavy-handed explanation of the parallel he was drawing between the story’s events and Jesus’s life and death. An author should not have to explain his story; the story itself should be sufficient.

In “Alone at the Edge of the Day,” J. Albert Bell gives us an angel named Jibraeel whose job has lost its luster. He displays some humanity in his doubts regarding his reason and purpose for being. He runs across and has a conversation with a most unexpected person that changes his existence,  an awakening experience that shows him the true path he should be on. Mr. Bell uses classic themes with a twist at the end to convey that God is indeed mysterious in His ways.