I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

An angel who fell in battle and a human with a natural curiosity for life must band together when the war between angels and Humen is at an all-time high and the fate of the cosmos hangs in the balance as the dark secret behind the Humen is revealed in author Richard Harland’s “Ferren and the Angel”, the first book in the Ferren Trilogy series!

The Synopsis

An angel falls from the sky and crashes to the ground! Miriael, the Fourteenth Angel of Observance, has been shot down in the thousand-year war between Heaven and Earth. Damaged and helpless, she prays for extinction.The young tribesman Ferren finds her lying in the grass. She ought to be an enemy, since his people are on the side of the Earth. But seeing her there, unable to fly, his curiosity outweighs every rule and every warning.Ferren knows almost nothing about the terrifying world he’s grown up in. Now he’s going to learn the truth about the war, the Humen army camp and what military service really means. His unique friendship with Miriael is about to change the course of history.Richard Harland, author of the Worldshaker books, creates a whole new world of angels and apocalypse!

The Review

This was a compelling and magnificent sci-fi and fantasy dystopian read. The visceral nature of the post-apocalypse and the grueling war between the humen forces and the angels serve as a great background for the core story. The imagery in the author’s writing really captures the gritty and gnarled images that the setting conjures up in the reader’s mind.

To me, the world-building and the character development were the true stars of the book. The mythos the author is able to develop both for the “celestials” and the “Humen” was both fascinating and engaging, and the journey to uncover what happened to start this war, to begin with, was remarkable to behold. The bond and experiences that Ferren and the angel Miriael are so engaging, as it showcases the fear and mistrust that has built between both sides of this war and the misconceptions each had for one another, and the book expertly showcases both the beauty and ugliness of human nature overall.

The Verdict

Thought-provoking, memorable, and entertaining, author Richard Harland’s “Ferren and the Angel” is a must-read sci-fi and fantasy dystopian post-apocalypse novel. The twists and turns in the narrative and the adrenaline-fueled, emotional, and moving world-building and character growth that the reader is treated to will have readers hanging onto the edges of their seats. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today!

Rating: 10/10

About the Author

I’m the author who nearly wasn’t – it took me 25 years to beat writer’s block. In those 25 years, I migrated from England to Australia, became a singer/songwriter, a poet and then a university lecturer. But all I truly wanted to do was write speculative fiction.

Finally I finished my first novel, the comic macabre, The Vicar of Morning Vyle. With its prequel, The Black Crusade, it grew into a cult. When mainstream Australian publisher Pan Macmillan contracted my next novel, I resigned my lectureship, and I’ve been a full-time author ever since.

I live south of Sydney between green escarpment and golden beaches, with partner Aileen and Yogi the labrador. Writing, writing, writing … I have 25 missing years to make up for!

My big international success has been with my YA steampunk novels, Worldshaker, Liberator and Song of the Slums. The French Le Worldshaker picked up the Prix Tam-tam du Livre Jeunesse. In the US, Worldshaker and Liberator were published by Simon & Schuster.

Next up: Ferren and the Angel!

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