This third installment of a supernatural YA series focuses on otherworldly beings.

Schaller follows up The Revelation of the Three (2021) with supernatural figures clashing once again. In this volume, a dark force has been unleashed who is more potent than Satan. The sinister entity is a blood mage named Lilith who has big, troubling plans. It will take some powerful beings working together to stop her. Meanwhile, a Nephilim (half human, half angel) named Sophia is locked up in a large research facility. Another individual being held at the facility is Dane, the son of Lilith and Satan. He has an immense energy that flows through his veins called Hellfire, albeit he is not yet able to control it. Elsewhere, Satan has his own problems. After he is killed, he comes back to life. The problem is that he is not in hell. Satan emerges from the River of Hate, which flows through Purgatory. It is a river whose “waters tempt beings into their depths for eternal punishment.” Of course, Satan is no quitter. He hatches a plan with an angel named Ariel as they, and seemingly everyone else, find a common enemy in Lilith. Different characters trade off first-person narration duties throughout the intricate book. Even Lilith has her own chapters. She says of a fallen comrade: “He couldn’t be taken away from me just as our journey to dominance commenced.” With so many players involved, it is not always easy to keep track of who’s who and where the conflict is headed next. Some characters tend to say only obvious things like “I was brought to this world to destroy it.” Yet the action keeps things lively. Blood magic, throat slitting, and teleportation are all part of the story. So are mythological figures, like Cerberus, and the different cities of hell. Such a combination of details makes for an absorbing and wondrous world of supernatural battles.

An engrossing, complex tale about a modern war involving angels, demons, and entities in between.

In this YA paranormal sequel, teenage friends and archangels rush to collect prophecy-fulfilling celestial items before fiendish creatures can grab them.

Satan walks on Earth searching for 13 spheres; whoever unites them, according to a prophecy, will wield great power. But hell’s ruler also hunts for the mysterious 14th sphere that not everyone knows about, tracking it to New York City. There, 19-year-old Sophia, who’s part of the Sacrarium, a secret society that protects the holy bloodline, may know where it is. She barely evades Satan’s clutches and his vicious hellhound, later reuniting with friends and fellow orphans Jordan and Dane. Luckily, Jordan, with familial ties to the Sacrarium, has seven archangel pals. Together, they gather gemstone keys from around the world—necessities for the Union of the Spheres. All the while, the orphans and their comrades battle fallen angels and numerous other sinister beings that covet that 14th sphere. Satan, meanwhile, struggles to maintain control of his infernal kingdom; many try seizing his throne, namely his second-in-command, Lucifer. As Jordan, Sophia, and Dane find themselves in constant peril, they soon pick up startling details of their murky histories. Schaller’s robust cast bursts with familiar biblical beings, like Beelzebub and the archangel Michael. The energetic narrative includes a nefarious plan to revive “pure-blooded” half-angel, half-human Nephilim, with powerful Lilith (from Eden) possibly returning. While tension rarely lets up, the story’s latter half moves a bit too fast; scenes in such picturesque locales as Nepal and Northern Ireland are disappointingly brief. Nevertheless, strong characters drive the engaging tale. Satan, despite having little potency or control, is the most intriguing player—oddly charming, he even steers a few romantic interludes. Schaller drops enough clues that readers will likely guess the final-act plot turns, but that makes them no less exhilarating, as they aptly prime the series for the third installment.

A lively, diverting tale of the seemingly endless fight between heaven and hell.

A YA fantasy series starter in which a young man works with archangels to achieve his destiny.

Jordan Conway is heading into the New York City subway to run a quick errand when he bumps into a menacing figure in a black, hooded jacket. Then a second hooded man bumps into him on his trip back home, and although Jordan can tell it’s a different person, they both have similar skull tattoos on their hands. When Jordan returns to the orphanage that’s been his home since he was a baby, Sister Helen frantically hands him a packed bag and a slip of paper with an address, telling him he needs to run away and ask “Michael” for help. Jordan is pursued by more hooded figures, but he makes it to his destination. But when he arrives, it’s not Michael he meets but the archangel Gabriel, who seems surprised that a human even knows of his presence in New York, but he believes that Jordan might have been raised by members of a society called the Sacrarium, which believes it’s been entrusted to protect Jesus Christ’s bloodline. Maybe Jordan’s finding Gabriel is the sign he’s been waiting for to gather his archangel brothers for a divine quest. Debut author Schaller offers the first book in a new fantasy series that features an engaging battle of good versus evil. The writer includes a fair amount of backstory, showing the lead-up to the ancient war in heaven, the battle itself, Satan’s fall, and then his subsequent rise to power in hell. But although the book does take its time in getting started, readers will find themselves riveted by the trials Jordan and Gabriel go through in order to find the other archangels, who reside all around the world—and to keep their own friends and family members safe.

A slow-paced tale of heavenly forces that’s ultimately worth the wait.