Jennifer Armintrout’s Queene of Light is the first in the Lightworld/Darkworld trilogy. Combining Irish and Christian mythology, Armintrout brings together the magic of both in order to create a rich and unique story.
Set in an underground world home to angels, faeries, vampires, elves, and other immortal kind driven underground by humans during “The Great War,” the Underground “Lightworld” and “Darkworld” are at odds with each other even as they face threats from within. The mortals that live underground with the Fae and other immortals are mostly the ostracized humans from the “Above World” where the rest of humanity lives. The political and social negotiations that occur between these mortal and immortal are so complex and fueled by misunderstanding, disdain and fear that suspicion and violence are constant companions of those who live in these two underground worlds.
Ayla, a half feary, half human of the Lightworld, works as an assassin for Faery Queene Mabb’s Assassin’s Guild. Her mentor and would be lover, Garret, is Mabb’s brother and seeks to manipulate Ayla so that she becomes his mate. Yet Mabb’s obsessive desire to retain power and Ayla’s hesitancy to assume intimacy with Garret, thwart his plans for an easy courtship and the political machinists that he hopes to employ through Ayla. Ayla complicates the issue further when she causes the fall of Malachi, a Dark Angel, charged with the responsibility of collecting departed mortal souls for his One God. Their forbidden relationship spurs a series of violent encounters that alters the entire course of the Fae races’ future.
Armintrout does a lot of interesting things with this novel—the first of which is combining Irish/Gaelic and Christian myth. The way she brings together the immortal Death Angels and the immortal Faeries creates an very believable story of how a people can become wholly subservient to their God/gods or to themselves. The manipulative and conniving attitudes of the men and women around Ayla and Malachi gradually begin to infect them, until Ayla and Malachi too are using the same cunning in order to save themselves and the people who depend upon them.
Armintrout creates complex characters that are relatable and sympathetic. As half human and half faery, Ayla proves to be a memorable character. The hotheaded, impetus nature of human is tempered by the cool, calculated behavior of faery, and these traits aid her as she finds herself at the center of intense political scheming. Though she can be sometimes frustrating and her actions can sometimes be difficult to understand, Ayla is still likable. It's easy to root for her.
Malachi is much more complex, as he begins to shed the distant, unfeeling nature of the Dark Angel and tries to deal with the newness of humanity. The basics of walking and hygiene and the difficulties of creating friendships and a romance.
Armintrout also does a lot with the setting. The Underground almost becomes a character in and of itself. The dark, dankness and the threat of sinister creatures lurking in the dark make for a tense and unusual atmosphere. The creatures that Armintrout creates are familiar, but within this unusual setting, they become much more threatening.
While faeries, vampires and elves have engaged the modern readers fascination, Armintrout truly manages to create a much different world and character set than the reader is probably familiar with. She tinkers with the myth/legend to create an entirely new set of immortal creatures, that resemble the common interpretation of them only on the surface. This interesting read is so engaging that it is easily finished in one sitting.
