The Angel at the Gates

Summary

Hoping to make sense of his grandfather’s unspoken trauma, Malachi journeys to return a family heirloom to the land of its origin. He finds himself in a seaside town in the United Kingdom surrounded by rumors of war. He visits the priory, a place of welcome that quickly draws him in—and also a place of duty that refuses to let him go.

The priory, its people, and its resident Angel have their own purpose in a far larger history of trauma and conflict. Malachi learns of ancient and modern atrocities and his grandfather’s helplessness in the face of both. Past echoes become present concerns as a new battle approaches. Malachi repeatedly tries and fails to leave the escalating danger.

This is not his land, nor is it his war. He did not inherit his grandfather’s vocation, nor take his grandfather’s vows. None of this is his fault, nor even his responsibility. And yet the Angel will not let him go until Their last judgment is complete.

“An intricate and harrowing tale of a future that might have been—of duty, religion, war, and the weight of sins and history. I read it in one gulp.”—Aliette de Bodard, author of the Dominion of the Fallen series