The House of Shattered Wings

By: Aliette de Bodard

Narrated by: Peter Kenny

Length: 14 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's Summary

Multiaward-winning author Aliette de Bodard brings her story of the War in Heaven to Paris, igniting the City of Light in a fantasy of divine power and deep conspiracy.

In the late 20th century, the streets of Paris are lined with haunted ruins. The Great Magicians' War left a trail of devastation in its wake. The grands magasins have been reduced to piles of debris, Notre-Dame is a burnt-out shell, and the Seine has turned black with ashes and rubble and the remnants of the spells that tore the city apart. But those who survived still retain their irrepressible appetite for novelty and distraction, and the great houses still vie for dominion over France's once-grand capital.

Once the most powerful and formidable, House Silverspires now lies in disarray. Its magic is ailing; its founder, Morningstar, has been missing for decades; and now something from the shadows stalks its people inside their very own walls.

Within the house, three very different people must come together: a naïve but powerful fallen angel, an alchemist with a self-destructive addiction, and a resentful young man wielding spells of unknown origin. They may be Silverspires' salvation - or the architects of its last, irreversible fall. And if Silverspires falls, so may the city itself.

©2015 Orion Publishing Group (P)2015 Blackstone Audiobooks

There are No Miracles in This House

In a post-apocalyptic Paris ravaged by a spiritual war that's gone all flesh and blood, two members of a street gang find a newly materialized fallen angel, pull out knives, and start cutting off her fingers. Angel essence gives a magical high like nothing else, and is worth a lot on the street. It's a brutal opening -- one of the most arresting I've read this year. Unfortunately, it sets a bar the rest of the book just can't reach again.

This story has everything I could hope for -- fallen angels warring with rival houses in a post-apocalyptic Paris, drug addicted magicians, a mysterious curse leveled against one of the houses, and a Buddhist stuck in the middle of it all. For example: Morningstar used to lead one of the houses, but he disappeared 20 years ago, and many of the characters are still haunted by their experiences with him and his charisma. Initially, this seemed like a very interesting riff on an absentee God, but unfortunately it doesn't quite play out that way.

With all these cool and interesting things happening, I was surprised to find how hard it was for me to engage with the characters, which made it difficult for me to be invested in this story. The relationships between some of these characters is crucial in making the narrative work, but unfortunately there wasn't enough there for me to buy their relationships with each other, or invest in them myself. As a result, the motivations and relationships just feel too superficial, and the result is a very dull and slow-moving 14 hours. Additionally, there's a lot of politicking happening in this book, but the characters never felt as politically savvy as we're told they should be. (Politicians don't regularly respond with "You *know* what I mean," do they?)

Whatever faults I can find with the story and characters, I can find no issues with Peter Kenny's narration. Whether he was voicing a naive fallen angel, Lucifer Morningstar, or a homesick Buddhist who is forced to come to terms that home no longer exists, his narration was compelling, even when the story was not.

Despite a pretty brilliant opening, The House of Shattered Wings is unfortunately unable to live up to the promise of miracles. And with a setting and subject matter as fascinating as this, that's an unforgivable sin.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Great concept, good performance, weak story

Any additional comments?

This book has a fabulous setting -- a war-wrecked Paris ruled by rival clans of fallen angels and their mortal dependents -- and a potentially interesting plot, but the whole is lethally undermined by the weakness of the characters. We are presented with what we are supposed to believe are centuries-old beings with immense magical powers - but they have all the political sophistication and interpersonal skill of a pack of feral 12-year-olds. This could have been an interesting idea to develop -- magical superbeings who are also lethally shortsighted, self-involved and stupid (almost comically so at times) but the book doesn't appear to realise how dumb its characters are. If the intended audience is 12-year-olds they might enjoy it - for adults, it's a frustrating read.

Phenomenal

What a great story, with so many amazing characters. De Bodard is definitely an auto-buy author for me from now on!

This is an enchanting blend of fallen angels, Parisian history, and Vietnamese lore that any reader of fantasy should enjoy.

It won an award - BUT -

Would you listen to The House of Shattered Wings again? Why?

I wouldn't listen to it again, but it was certainly interesting the first time. An extravagant trip through another place, in another time with things and people beyond contemporary imagination.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I hated them all; didn't mind the book but I felt everyone was a naff just waiting to be killed.

Which scene was your favorite?

No real favourite b ut the whole book did create bizzarro visions and pictures. Maybe too much as I struggled keeping it all together.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

To Sip an Angels Blood

Any additional comments?

I wrote BUT -- great book, visually stunning, poetic and descriptive and expertly written by an author with a steady hand and a steady mind. Damn easy to get lost and forget what the hell is going on. Deserving of an award? If we are just talking literary offering, yes, indeed.

Wonderful Book. Weak Narration

Would you listen to The House of Shattered Wings again? Why?

No. The narrator was frustrating.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Philippe. He is the stranger in a strange land that represents the reader, and learning about things as we do. He's sympathetic, intelligent, and homesick beyond measure.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

During conversations, the narrator did a great job pacing and producing recognizably different voices. During the descriptive passages, his narration became fast, oddly paced and clipped, as if trying to rush through. I found myself tuning him out, then missing entire passages of important events.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Philippe's rescue after escaping from Asmodeus.

Any additional comments?

This same narrator is the reason I dropped The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. The House of Shattered Wings is a fascinating, wonderful book of mythology, patriotism, homesickness, and loss. I wish another narrator had been chosen who would have given it the attention it deserves. I'll be checking out more books by the author.

0 of 4 people found this review helpful