Ferren and the Angel

By: Richard Harland

Narrated by: Richard Aspel

Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

In the year 2010 after the Invasion of Heaven, human psychonauts trample the sacred fields of Heaven, and the angels retreat to higher altitudes to avoid the contamination of the physical. In the year 2050 the Millennial Wars have reduced the Earth to a devastated battleground. In the year 3000 the evil Humen are determined to destroy the power of Heaven, while the Residuals, a primitive race of people, live fearfully in the ruins of civilisation.

In the midst of this hatred and fear is born a unique friendship that could change the course of history. The Residual Ferren befriends Miriael, a warrior angel stranded on Earth. Together they must survive hostile forces that defy the imagination, and uncover the horrific truth behind the Humen.

©2000 Richard Harland (P)2002 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Next Time, I'll Read the Book

I picked this up because I saw an interview with the author and the book sounded great. The book/story is pretty awesome. Unfortunately, even though the audiobook narrator seemed to give it his all, it just didn't work. More about that in a minute...

The storyline here is quite intricate and profound. Based on the principles of angelology (it's a real word- google it), this tale offers adventure, drama, mystery, horror, heartbreak, and hope. Set a millennium from now, mankind is no longer the predominant force on earth. We had our chance and blew it. Now there are all kinds of crazy hybrid machines controlled by "The Doctors," and they reign supreme over the defeated humans. The Humen army battles with the beings from heaven nightly, terrifying the earthbound humans who have been reduced to their lowest common denominator. They're not bright, creative, inventive, or capable of independent thought: the Humen have seen to that while constantly emphasizing that they are allies of the fairly dull residual humans.

The main character Ferren is inquisitive and smart. Or as the rest of his tribe call him- different. He's the type of person who gets tagged by the Humen for military service. When he sees an angel fall from the heavens one night while doing battle with the Humen, Ferren is intrigued and seeks the angel out the next morning. To his surprise, she's alive, but just barely. What results from this encounter is the beginning of a great friendship that has the power to change the world.

The author has done his research, as he always does. His "Worldshaker" series is highly regarded, and rightly so. The novel falls into the same genre-bending style as Harland's previous works. It's a great blend of sci-fi, fantasy, adventure, paranormal, and spec fiction wrapped up in a YA package. I am not fond of the fact that Harland has no problem with his characters using coarse language in a YA novel. I know I'm probably the only one who cares since it's the "norm" now. It's generally appropriate to the scene and not gratuitous, but take note if you're one to get offended about such language as the kids hear in the halls at school every day.

As for that narration issue: at times the narration was so over the top I was just ready to give up on the entire book. The worst part for me was the onomatopoeia (words that mimic sound: i.e.- meow, quack, etc.) that had a heavy presence in the story. While I'm generally fine with onomatopoeia, the narrator went WAY outside the lines whenever these words came up. They were generally annoying. Some of the voicings were a little cringe-worthy as well, at least for me.

But the storyline? It's well worth your time if you're into the genres mentioned above. I appreciated the author's inclusion of basic angelology factoids following the story and his explanations on some items that varied intentionally. I will be back for the rest of the trilogy, but I'll be reading the books this time.