Flaming Dove is a dark fantasy that pits angels against demons in the battle for supremacy on earth. However as the battle rages, the distinction between good and evil blurs, epitomised by the dual nature of Leila, a half angel, half demon. After twenty seven years, weary from the unforgiving conflict, both sides hope that Leila will deliver them victory.Banished from God's grace and abandoned by Hell, Leila searches for a place to call home among the wasteland that is Earth. Leila's bleak and lonely existence provokes a sympathetic response from the reader, even while she proves she is more than able to take care of herself. Leila's desires are seemingly simple, a wish for acceptance and belonging, but her very nature means that this will always be denied despite her admirable struggle to achieve this aim. Arenson portrays both Leila's internal and external conflict well, through both thought and behaviour. As a half breed, Leila emphasises the schizm that is present in all of Arenson's characters. Arenson has humanised the iconic symbols of good and evil to communicate his basic premise that neither people nor situations are inherently, nor completely, good or evil.The angels, including Michael and Gabriel are not only righteous avengers but are also flawed with an odd vulnerability. They may believe that they are fighting on the side of right but recognise their hypocrisy. Neither is Beezlebub a being of evil, but instead a creature motivated by revenge and bitterness for what he feels is an unjust punishment, who is also capable of a suprising charm, and affection for the women in his life. For me, Bat El is the character that I found the least credible, her change in personality and behaviour didn't track for me. Arenson's imagery for both character and place are detailed and evocative. I particularly enjoy his descriptions of the crumbling streets in the battle scarred towns. I do feel the narrative could be tighter in places, as at times it is melodramatic and repetitive. I also felt that Arenson's dialogue is often inconsistent with the character or situation. While Laila is prone to dramatic declarations, "I am Laila of the night, godlight and hellfire..", she also refers to Lucifer as Dad, and Bat El trades quips with Beezlebub who promises "no funny stuff", the disparaty in language is jarring for me.Despite the focus on the internal conflicts of the characters, there are action packed scenes as demon hordes and angel warriors face each other in battle which Arenson skillfully describes with lashings of godlight, trails of demonfire, dripping fangs and bloodied courage. These are well written and introduce tension and excitement into the story. I think this is a story that will appeal to both male and female fans of the genre. Arenson has written a creative and entertaining fantasy with an unexpected conclusion. While I had some issues with the writing, I enjoyed the story elements of Flaming Dove, with its complex characters, epic conflict and thought provoking examination of good versus evil. ( )

Angels vs. Demons Smackdown!

Armageddon has taken place--now the fight continues and the winner takes Earth. Enter Laila, half-demon and half-angel. She cannot live in either Heaven or Hell. In Heaven the godlight burns her demon half and in Hell the hellfire burns her angel half. She is exiled to Earth where she is alone except for her constant companion, a wolf named Volksfair. If Heaven wins then the Earth will be filled with godlight. If Hell wins then the Earth will be filled with Hellfire. Either way…Laila dies.

Both Heaven and Hell want to recruit her for their own agenda. But Laila has an agenda of her own. If she stays on Earth she will eventually perish in either the godlight or hellfire so she hatches a plan to take over Hell, rid it of hellfire, and make it her home. In order to do this she must kill Beelzebub, who is a fallen angel and the ruler of Hell. He is also the brother of Archangel Michael. Can she bring herself to kill her former lover who she almost married?

I wasn’t immediately invested in this story. It took about 1/3 of the book before I started to get interested. I found the world that the author created to be interesting, but not intriguing. The story takes place 27 years after Armageddon and few humans are left around the world. In fact, this story had only one significant human character that is minor to the story and introduced late in the book. The entire cast of characters consists of either angels or demons. That’s not a bad thing and I actually liked it. Another thing I liked is the way the story blurs the line between good and evil, Heaven and Hell, friends and enemies.

At times I felt the prose and dialogue were a little overdramatic and other times the story seemed to be to having an identity crisis. It didn’t know if it wanted to be a serious dark fantasy or something a little lighter. Occasionally, the dialogue and narrative would switch from a more serious and formal tone to something more modern and casual, such as Laila saying “Owie” after falling to Earth in a battle with a demon that almost kills her. Owie? Laila of the night. Laila of the shadows. Laila of tears and blood. Laila who has fallen and rises again, etc. This Laila says “owie”?

This is probably just a quirk of my own personal preference, but the one other thing that bothered me about the dialogue is the use of the word “dad” instead of “father” or maybe in the case of a demon, “sire”. Dad just seems too casual and human and it didn’t seem to go with the overall tone of the book. There was one scene where Bat El (Laila’s sister and an angel) uses the word dad to refer to Gabriel, her father. This is the only time it felt appropriate because it was a more personal moment.

The character of Laila was probably the most interesting to me, but I also found myself getting interested in Beelzebub as well. However, I couldn’t make out if he was a bad guy or good guy in bad guy’s clothing. Sometimes he was gentle and kind and at other times he would do something really twisted (yeah, I know…ruler of hell and all that). The only other character that I liked was a minor character, Nathaniel, an angel who lost his wings and an eye in battle with a demon and was relegated to patrol Earth. You first meet him at the beginning of the story. He is a jaded and gritty character and one of the few that came off as credible.

There is a light romantic element in this book. The love scenes are short and behind closed doors. This worked fine later in the book but I felt the first scene between the two characters was pivotal and would have benefited from a little more attention to the emotion and intimacy of the scene.

Overall, I liked the book but I’m not doing cartwheels over it. It wasn’t a pager turner for me and I wasn’t compelled to get back to it when I had to stop, but when I was reading it I enjoyed my time with the book once I got in to the meat of it. The ending seemed to be a cliffhanger leading to another book, but I can’t say for sure.

Rating: 3 – I Liked It

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