Angelos

Angelos
Robina Williams
Twilight Times Books
ISBN: 1933353600
Fiction, Young Adult, Fantasy
Reviewed by Rachel Olivier

While everyone expects a friary that runs a parish church to be busy, there is more going on in this friary than meets the eye. From mundane problems like personality conflicts and small fibs, to more supernatural happenings like wandering ghosts, a minotaur, and magical cats, this little friary has much to deal with. Leo, or Quantum (Quant for short) is just the cat to help set things straight.
In Angelos by Robina Williams, a young adult fantasy, Williams uses a variety of background material from philosophy, mythology, Church History, and contemporary life to build her world and tell her story. As I read this book I kept thinking of several other authors who have written stories along this same vein, such as C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, and Dante. I’ve reviewed other stories that had discussions of philosophy and religion, but they seemed heavy-handed and the discussions seemed out of place or inappropriate. Because of the setting (a friary) and the people involved (brothers, priests, and the friary cat), however, these discussions are appropriate and rarely approach heavy-handed.
It is also obvious that Williams has not only done her homework in regards to the details of the setting and material, but she has also pieced together a well-told tale. The author seems to understand that there are people who have not been exposed to this background. She provides a glossary at the end of the book of Church History and mythological terms and characters to aid anyone who would like more information.
While I think appreciation of the book is deeper if the reader has a solid humanities education or background, I also believe this is a book (and Quant is an excellent guide) that can open up that world for further exploration to someone who has not been exposed to it before. Williams wrote a book before this one based in this same reality that I’m thinking I might try to find (Jerome and the Seraph). She’s working on a third that continues the adventures of the friars and their friary ginger tom, which I’m looking forward to reading as well.