Cordy_Chase
Tact is just not saying true stuff. I'll pass.
Well, **** me. I finished reading 'Vengence' a little while ago and forgot to come here and review it.
In this season 2 installment, Angel and the gang must face one of the first evils of the earth; Lilith, depicted in the Jewish Genesis as the true first woman opposite Adam who refused to lie beneath him for sex and in this case is the mother of demonkind and the taint in human nature.
Under the guise of motivational speaker Lily Pierce, Lilith is out to collect 1000 perfect human souls to empower an object that is the very core of corruption itself known as The Serpent's Hand to rewrite existence to her ideal which excludes mankind.
A threat that even has Wolfram & Hart on Angel's side as Lilah Morgan gets the gang to reluctantly agree to a temporary alliance to stop Lilith from succeeding.
Angel is put to a test of temptation with the question: what if he had the power to wipe demonkind from existence? We see it turning him into an inverted Dark Willow and Lilith's opposite, which is so far, the most fascinating use of his character that I've read. It was such a unique struggle for him that both illustrated his need for redemption and brought out his monstrous enjoyment of violence.
One thing I appreciated most was how it is established that sex isn't the only way for him to achieve perfect happiness which we see the characters assuming on the show but there's never any contradiction.
Another most appreciated moment, I always get an internal delight when an author writing in the timeline after Doyle's death gives him a shoutout and this one did.
We have Cordelia facing a future without her greatest asset in life, her attractive appearance and getting a look in a mirror as she spends a couple of days with a young woman who is very much like she was in Sunnydale. Her reaction to the young woman's utter selfishness highlighted her evolution in an almost profound way but I felt a bit let down that she didn't actually make the comparison to her Sunnydale self, hence almost profound.
I also liked the bit of insight that was offered into Wes's character. There is a scene in which he's trapped by Lilith's demonic children in the pitch darkness of a closet and I found it intriguing that he felt quite at home as it's a familiar discomfort to him from his boyhood. If that had been in the canon, it would have made Wes's pulling a bullet into what he thought was his father in 'Lineage' so much more powerful.
Oh and Lilith's ultimate weakness, I'm just gonna say is pure genius.
It wasn't without its flaws. At the beginning when Angel and team carry out phase one of taking down Lilith, their tactic was kinda OOC, particularly on Angel's part. Let me just put it this way, Angel in a cowboy outfit, can you wrap your head around that? I couldn't. Fortunately, Lilith comments that she can't either so that was a bit of compensation.
He then later uses the phrase "I'm gonna catch 4o winks" which I didn't buy coming from him. Hell, I wouldn't have bought it coming from any of the cast but Angel least of all.
That was pretty much it as far as flaws go. Yup.
4/5 stars. An overall fantastic read.
Next up: 'Close to the Ground' my second Jeff Mariotte! It just arrived in the mail yesterday.
In this season 2 installment, Angel and the gang must face one of the first evils of the earth; Lilith, depicted in the Jewish Genesis as the true first woman opposite Adam who refused to lie beneath him for sex and in this case is the mother of demonkind and the taint in human nature.
Under the guise of motivational speaker Lily Pierce, Lilith is out to collect 1000 perfect human souls to empower an object that is the very core of corruption itself known as The Serpent's Hand to rewrite existence to her ideal which excludes mankind.
A threat that even has Wolfram & Hart on Angel's side as Lilah Morgan gets the gang to reluctantly agree to a temporary alliance to stop Lilith from succeeding.
Angel is put to a test of temptation with the question: what if he had the power to wipe demonkind from existence? We see it turning him into an inverted Dark Willow and Lilith's opposite, which is so far, the most fascinating use of his character that I've read. It was such a unique struggle for him that both illustrated his need for redemption and brought out his monstrous enjoyment of violence.
One thing I appreciated most was how it is established that sex isn't the only way for him to achieve perfect happiness which we see the characters assuming on the show but there's never any contradiction.
Another most appreciated moment, I always get an internal delight when an author writing in the timeline after Doyle's death gives him a shoutout and this one did.
We have Cordelia facing a future without her greatest asset in life, her attractive appearance and getting a look in a mirror as she spends a couple of days with a young woman who is very much like she was in Sunnydale. Her reaction to the young woman's utter selfishness highlighted her evolution in an almost profound way but I felt a bit let down that she didn't actually make the comparison to her Sunnydale self, hence almost profound.
I also liked the bit of insight that was offered into Wes's character. There is a scene in which he's trapped by Lilith's demonic children in the pitch darkness of a closet and I found it intriguing that he felt quite at home as it's a familiar discomfort to him from his boyhood. If that had been in the canon, it would have made Wes's pulling a bullet into what he thought was his father in 'Lineage' so much more powerful.
Oh and Lilith's ultimate weakness, I'm just gonna say is pure genius.
It wasn't without its flaws. At the beginning when Angel and team carry out phase one of taking down Lilith, their tactic was kinda OOC, particularly on Angel's part. Let me just put it this way, Angel in a cowboy outfit, can you wrap your head around that? I couldn't. Fortunately, Lilith comments that she can't either so that was a bit of compensation.
He then later uses the phrase "I'm gonna catch 4o winks" which I didn't buy coming from him. Hell, I wouldn't have bought it coming from any of the cast but Angel least of all.
That was pretty much it as far as flaws go. Yup.
4/5 stars. An overall fantastic read.
Next up: 'Close to the Ground' my second Jeff Mariotte! It just arrived in the mail yesterday.
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