Where Oblivion Lives

By: T. Frohock

Narrated by: Vikas Adam

Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

From acclaimed fantasy author T. Frohock comes a dark, lyrical historical thriller, set in 1930s Spain and Germany, that brings to life the world of angels and demons from the novellas collected in Los Nefilim: Spanish Nephilim battling daimons in a supernatural war to save humankind.

Born of daimon and angel, Diago Alvarez is a being unlike all others. The embodiment of dark and light, he has witnessed the good and the horror of this world and those beyond. In the supernatural war between angels and daimons that will determine humankind’s future, Diago has chosen Los Nefilim, the sons and daughters of angels who possess the power to harness music and light.

As the forces of evil gather, Diago must locate the Key, the special chord that will unite the nefilim’s voices, giving them the power to avert the coming civil war between the Republicans and Franco’s Nationalists. Finding the Key will save Spain from plunging into darkness. And for Diago, it will resurrect the anguish caused by a tragedy he experienced in a past life.

But someone - or something - is determined to stop Diago in his quest and will use his history to destroy him and the nefilim. Hearing his stolen Stradivarius played through the night, Diago is tormented by nightmares about his past life. Each incarnation strengthens the ties shared by the nefilim, whether those bonds are of love or hate...or even betrayal.

To retrieve the violin, Diago must journey into enemy territory...and face an old nemesis and a fallen angel bent on revenge.

©2019 T. Frohock (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers

well-written, moving historical fantasy

WHERE OBLIVION LIVES is a well-written, historically grounded, evocative dark urban fantasy. While designated Los Nefilim #4, there being 3 previous novellas, reading the novellas is unnecessary for the full appreciation of this book, though it is likely to spur you to obtain the novellas post-haste.

It is a tale WHERE FAMILY LIVES and thrives—family forged by blood, and family that is hand-picked and formed by voluntary bonds. The central family consists of Diago (half-angel, half-demon), Miquel (a Nefil), and Rafael, Diago's recently discovered son with a prior tryst with an angel. The central family is embraced by another family, that of Guillermo, leader of the Nefilim. Beyond that lies all the Nefilim who have collectively accepted the central family, though not without suspicion, particularly of Diago and his split origin.

This book is WHERE MAGIC LIVES. First, there is the magic employed in the story in the form of music powering special sigils—magic heard, seen and felt. Voice, instruments, anything that produces musical tones can lend strength and force to magical symbols. Second, there is the magic of T. Frohock's lyrical prose, painting a canvas of emotions. There is a palpable sense of underlying danger. The language, tone and turn of phrase Frohock adopts lend themselves to instinctively feeling fear for Diago, Miquel, Guillermo—in the manner one fears for loved ones. Almost from the outset—especially if you've read the novellas—the reader feels connected, relates to, and sympathizes with, the characters, fears for them, hopes against hope for their survival.

The backdrop is WHERE HISTORY LIVES. We revisit history in this tale grounded in 1932 Spain and Germany during the rise of nationalism, where the seeds of World War II were sown. To this increasing political turmoil, Frohock adds a supernatural battle between nefilim—marshals of angels, near immortal, with the power of reincarnation—and daimons. The historical aspect is obviously well-researched, the fantasy addition is highly imaginative, and they are seamlessly interwoven.

The quest for The Key that unlocks the secret to unifying and harmonizing the Nefilim's collective voice is WHERE THE FUTURE LIVES. The world is in jeopardy and powerful as a nefil may be, no single voice alone is powerful enough to avert disaster. Diago has caught snippets of The Key but must unravel his past to unlock it in its entirety.

T. Frohock reminds us WHERE HOPE LIVES--ensconced in the unwavering resolve to do the ought. Attempts may fail; attempts will fail. But re-orienting all attempts to this most righteous and noble of intents is the rudder without which only failure is guaranteed. Loved ones are the constant-- always celebratory in success, reassuring in failure, comforting in despair, and forgiving before offense is even committed. Failure remains a possibility but a risk worth taking.

Where mistakes and failure may be found is also WHERE REDEMPTION LIVES. With the power of reincarnation comes past lives and the regrets that attend them. Diago, Guillermo, and the others are haunted by ghosts of their pasts and the reverberating consequences of prior choices and decisions throughout time. Old enemies join forces with new ones to create greater peril. To maneuver through all this, Diago & Co. must work through the imperfections of memory, the disconnect between actual events and one's hazy, tenuous, incomplete recall of them. In order to prevail, they must come to terms with their past and exorcise old demons. The most dangerous enemy each of the characters must face may just be themselves.

A world where people of seemingly disparate origins and backgrounds are able to get past differences and overcome bias and suspicion is WHERE LOVE LIVES. Some may talk of purity of race, define family in the most narrow of ways, appoint themselves protector of virtue but, ultimately, the only pure thing is love that is persistent, gratuitous, unconditional, enduring.

WHERE T. FROHOCK WALKS, this reader shall follow.

Kinda creepy, kinda lovely - great book!

The only question I have for myself is WHY DIDN'T I READ THIS BOOK SOONER??? This book is amazing and this series does not get enough hype. I am BAFFLED that there's hardly any reviews for it on the different retail sites, and more people need to get their hands on this book! The book is SOLID, and there's mystery and it's romantic while staying creepy. I don’t read many historicals at all, but this paranormal historical fantasy that takes place in Spain during the 1930s with angels and demons has me in a chokehold. Okay, so the story doesn't contain JUST those - instead, they have the angels, the nephilim, AND the daimons (there's humans are around too, but we don't care about them as much here).

The nephilim are reincarnated into their next lives, and in the end, they can wind up finding one another again as their new selves. That's why this book is romantic to me? Our main characters, Diago and Miquel keep finding one another and following in love all over again, and I THINK THAT'S SO SWEET. Yes, the series features a queer couple in an established relationship and they have a son together, and I love them a lot! That said, this book is also very dark too and delves into some dark topics, so it's not all just fun and games. There's a dash of horror in this book as well.

Content notes include violence, murder, death, mentions of drugged food, drug use, mentions of rape, and mentions of abuse.

This book drops us in 1932 Spain where we meet Diago, who is half-nephilim, half-daimon. He works for the leader of Los Nefilim, Guillermo. While this book drops us in the middle of the story, I never really feel like I'm missing out or having to play catch-up too much. For me, it hits the right balance. Diago is trying to compose a Key, something that is supposed to unlock a path between realms. But he is haunted by the sounds of his lost Stradivarius (a violin) that seem to enter his dreams and keeps him awake. He doesn't get much sleep. He constantly wants to prove himself to Guillermo and the rest of Los Nefilim that he can be trusted, because his actions in his previous lives and even previously as a rogue (a nefil with no previous affiliation) has others look down on him and suspect him to betray them at any moment.

This story takes place between Spain and Germany, and we see the start of what ultimately becomes the Spanish Civil War and World War II. But I feel like this book isn't TOO heavy on the grim historical details or too foreboding about what's to come. Instead, it mostly focuses on Diago and for the readers to learn about Los Nefilim.

I know the author said that these novels can be read as standalone books, but I disagree. There's a very linear timeline between the books and the readers are learning more and more about the characters as the books progress. Even the ending of this book opens the door to the next book. So, this is definitely the book to start out with. I wouldn't necessarily say you'd have to read the prequel novellas first. I didn't, because none of them are available in audio and I was not in the mood to read anything with my eyeballs. I plan on reading them after I'm done with the audiobooks available in this series.

That said, the audiobook for this is fantastic. Which is no surprise because it's narrated by the amazing Vikas Adam. He is one of the few fantasy narrators who manages to keep me engaged with the book. Considering his narration helped me get through The Ruin of Kings, which is so much more confusing, I found it a joy to listen to him narrate this book and take me on another adventure! His voices for the characters are great, and he differentiates between male and female character voices very, very well without me cringing away. There's a lot of internal dialogue in this book where characters make comments in their heads to themselves, and it's easy to tell when that happens in this audiobook. Sometimes, some narrations make it hard to tell when a character is speaking aloud, or just thinking to themselves, but I had an easy time telling the two scenarios apart whenever they arise. I highly recommend listening to this book in audio, if you have the choice!

For a story that has an established couple at the core, I would only say that I wanted MORE Diago and Miquel. I think there was more screen time between Diago and Guillermo, than Diago with his own husband. Yes, they've been through five incarnations now and are happily married, but I WANTED MORE. I understand the prequel novellas dive more into their relationship, but it does feel like for a novel that should standalone or just the first full-length novel in a series, we should've gotten more of them together? There were times in this book where I felt like I was expecting Guillermo to hook up with Diago or announce that they've all been together in a romantic relationship in a previous life. Alas, Guillermo is married to an actual angel, Juanita. I have nothing against Juanita, their relationship just didn't come across as strongly as Guillermo and Diago's.

Diago and Miquel have a son called Rafael. I want to say he's about 10, but I don't remember his exact age, or if this book mentioned it. Diago and Juanita have a daughter called Ysabel, who is 8. Ysabel and Rafael are good friends and very much still kids in this book. They are in their first born lives, so even younger still compared to other nefilim. For children, I found them pretty cute in this book. They didn't annoy me whenever there were scenes with them in it. There's not much to them in this book since they're still just children and don't have larger parts to play yet.

A major character in this book is Jordi, Guillermo's brother. Jordi was the oldest in their first born lives, and still feels a deep and aching betrayal at their throne passing over him and going to Guillermo. What happens with nefilim in their first born lives tends to carry to their later incarnations, and this is the anger that fuels Jordi to want to take down his own brother even after so many years. Jordi wants Los Nefilim and will stop at nothing to get the title. I know Jordi is the big bad for the series, but I didn't get that automatic sense of evilness from this book. As a matter of fact, there's another character here that is so unpredictable and so destructive, it even has Jordi giving him the side eye once they meet. I thought that was funny, even though it probably isn't meant to be funny at all. That other character seems to overshadow Jordi in my opinion.

Did I mention this book was part horror as well? Personally, I would not recommend listening to this audiobook in an empty house in the middle of the night like I did. It was super creepy. But if you do, who am I to stop you? The suspense in this book is deliciously drawn out and I loved every minute of its creepiness. Yes, this book is a little scary at times, but it does end with a HFN for our main couple (Diago and Miquel), and the story ends on a good note.

I really enjoyed this book and it is SHOCKING to me that more people haven't read this! It's SO. GOOD. The storytelling is clean, and by that I mean the story is easy enough to understand. There's no meandering topics where readers are supposed to guess what's going on. It's very straightforward and I love that. The audiobook narration is stellar and only helps to boost an already solid book to new heights. The characters are lovely, and I can see this book as a re-read for years to come!