Charlotte Kersten

Year published:  2019

Category: Historical fantasy

Representation: m/m, protagonist and his partner, side characters

Summary: 

A lyrical historical fantasy adventure, set in 1932 Spain and Germany, that brings to life the world of the novellas collected in Los Nefilim: Spanish Nephilim battling daimons in a supernatural war to save humankind.

Born of daimon and angel, Diago Alvarez is a being unlike all others. The embodiment of dark and light, he has witnessed the good and the horror of this world and those beyond. In the supernatural war between angels and daimons that will determine humankind’s future, Diago has chosen Los Nefilim, the sons and daughters of angels who possess the power to harness music and light.

As the forces of evil gather, Diago must locate the Key, the special chord that will unite the nefilim’s voices, giving them the power to avert the coming civil war between the Republicans and Franco’s Nationalists. Finding the Key will save Spain from plunging into darkness.

And for Diago, it will resurrect the anguish caused by a tragedy he experienced in a past life.

But someone—or something—is determined to stop Diago in his quest and will use his history to destroy him and the nefilim. Hearing his stolen Stradivarius played through the night, Diago is tormented by nightmares about his past life. Each incarnation strengthens the ties shared by the nefilim, whether those bonds are of love or hate . . . or even betrayal.

To retrieve the violin, Diago must journey into enemy territory . . . and face an old nemesis and a fallen angel bent on revenge.

My thoughts: 

I’m definitely glad I returned to this series. I can’t say that I have incredibly strong feelings about it, but I think Frohock is doing something really cool and unique here and doing it well. The result is an engaging mix of history, intrigue, and her own interesting religious lore.

While I was reading the first 15% or so, I found myself extremely confused by all the past life identities and connections…but then I reread the start and CREATED A CHART (in case you were wondering whether or not I was taking my reading experience seriously!). Once I managed to piece together who was who in the past and how they were related as lovers/friends/family, things went much more smoothly. What I find most interesting is how the nephilim don’t actually remember everything about their past lives and start to get flashbacks and piece things together based on triggers. As this book shows, they are therefore quite susceptible to manipulation because vague impressions can be tipped into false interpretations.

That being said, I feel like there are still some things I am missing. Why are so many nephilim reincarnated as queer men in Europe? Of course we are following the protagonist and his friends, but almost every nephilim in the book can be described this way and almost all of the world-changing events involving nephilim seem to revolve around this very small group. Are they always technically the same person with the same soul? This would explain why they seem to share the same characteristics generation after generation and why Diago is always a rogue…but then why wouldn’t they be different in at least some ways if they’re born into totally different circumstances each time and don’t remember their past lives? There is room for a really interesting conversation about nature vs. nurture, but it just never seems to be considered at all.

One of my favorite things about these books is how well-researched they are, especially with regards to classical music and history. Some of the most interesting historical aspects this time are the exploration of what it is like for Rudi to be a young gay man who is forced to be closeted and the representation of brewing Nazi occultism (and how the angels/nephilim are able to manipulate it). That being said, there was one paragraph where Frohock made a very clear comparison between Hitler and Trump that veered just a bit into the heavy-handed.

Overall, these books are easy to read, engaging, and very well-written. For one reason or another, I’m not quite as enthusiastic about them as I am about some other books, but I really appreciate their quality and what they have to offer.