I have this fascination with good versus evil. Like, cosmic, epic, biblical good versus evil, God versus Satan. Angels versus demons. Battles that don’t just affect a person, family, or town, but ones that affect the planet. Battles that no one knows is going on, but they all have a vested interest in the outcome. That is why when I picked up Angelology by Danielle Trussonni, I was hoping for that type of story. I think I got it, to some extent.

Angelology is about a group of Angelologist who are attempting to prevent the Nephilim, a product of fallen angels and humans, from controlling the lyre of Orpheous. Because of my fascination, I knew this was a book that I wanted to read, I’m just disappointed I came away with mixed feelings.

The most disappointing aspect of the novel was the predictability. It’s easy to figure out the big secrets within the first 50 or so pages. When that happened I felt like I was reading to see if what I conjured up in my head was what was actually taking place. To my credit, it did. While there was a sense of satisfaction knowing that with every question or mystery presented to me I was able to work out the solution, I would have like to have been surprised. That just didn’t happen.

I also would have liked to see Danielle Trussoni wrap her story around biblical facts rather than taking liberty with scripture to fit her story. The most glaring problem I saw was in regards to the story of Noah’s Ark. I would hardly classify this as sacrilege, but there is nothing in scripture that indicates that Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth had children before the construction of the ark. Why Ms. Trussoni even bothered to mention it is not quite clear since it had no bearing on the story.

Additionally, the Noah’s Ark story is pivotal to the plot. Ms. Trussoni had to acknowledge the flood since all living creatures, other than the ones in the ark, were destroyed. If that were the case, the Nephilim would also have been destroyed, essentially putting an end to her story. Her attempt to address this problem was terribly unimaginative and bordering on ridiculous.

I realize that I am, when it comes to the Bible, a bit of a purist. I understand there are a lot of different interpretations of the Bible and depending on the translation there may be some inconsistencies. However, fictionalizing biblical stories for the sake of explaining an already weak plot is, in my opinion, not well conceived storytelling.

Regardless of these problems I have with the novel, there was still much that I enjoyed. The writing was serviceable and communicated the story well. I liked the characters and their relationships with one another. But the strength of the story lied with the time in Paris and Bulgaria where much of the backstory to place. It was during this middle portion of the book that the heart of the Niphilim versus human battle was brought to light. I lost myself in it and found it to be the most interesting section. I wished the entire novel was as interesting as that middle portion.

Overall, it was worth reading. There was more that I like about the story than I didn’t, and I’m looking forward to reading the second book when it finally gets released. I hope with that book she addresses some of the problems I had with this one. Like she is even going to care what I have to say about Angelology or take my notes for Angelopolis.