Angel Omega: Imprisonment

In Godbee’s debut supernatural fantasy novel, a husband and wife become pawns as heaven prepares for war.

Jason and Sarah Wyatt struggle unsuccessfully to conceive a baby, but unbeknownst to them, they’re fated not to have children, as the archangel Michael has different plans for them. In a contemporary annunciation scene, Michael and fellow archangel Gabriel appear at the Wyatts’ house after Jason and Sarah have gone to sleep. After the angels squabble over Angelic ethics, Michael impregnates Sarah with the soul of the angel Omega, whom Michael is punishing for saving Lucifer’s son Damien from hell in defiance of Angelic law. (There are ongoing skirmishes between Lucifer’s and God’s armies throughout the story.) Michael departs the sleeping Wyatts unaware that Gabriel has remained to place his own seal on the fetus, which will allow the child to be able to endure great pain. Meanwhile, tensions build in heaven that will lead inevitably to a fight between the forces of light and darkness; the story ends on a cliffhanger, as this is the first in a planned five-book series. Godbee delivers a well-paced plot that resonates with foundational Judeo-Christian myths. The book depicts its characters’ emotional lives in broad strokes, a somewhat common trait of the fantasy genre, but it’s not fatal to the story. Unusually, God himself appears as a mere supporting player, and his presence gives the novel a Manichaean air, but it’s unlikely to bother most readers. If Godbee hones the story’s theological background and makes his characters more emotionally complex in future installments, his series will be a rewarding read.

A fantasy of good versus evil by a writer with potential.