Angelos: Publisher: Twilight Times Books [Paperback]

The new book from Robina Williams, Angelos, will keep you reading beyond your bedtime! I was unable to put it down. The author has an entertaining way of embracing complex topics such as time-traveling, life after death, Greek mythology, legends, and Catholic theology braided with philosophy and mysticism. She also uses two famous paintings to bring the book to its climax!

This Young Adult book is suitable for teens and adults. I do not, however, recommend it for children under 13 years of age, since they are not mature enough yet to understand some of the book's themes.

The book begins with the sudden departure of Father Fidelis and his close encounter with a ginger cat named Leo. However, the sudden departure of Father Fidelis came as a surprise to all the friars and it started a chain of speculations and some admiration among them. Some of them admired his sense of obedience while others wondered, why?

But the knowledge of their newly assigned guardian, Father Aidan, brought joy to the friars. They all knew him. He has been their guardian before. He was flexible and understanding. Upon his arrival, however, Father Aidan's behavior appears somehow changed towards the other friars. Now they are not so sure if it was indeed a good trade. Perhaps Father Aidan is just tired from his long journey, or is he? The day is still too young...time will tell!

Leo is not an ordinary cat. He is able to travel from "this time" to the afterlife easily. He also has a pair of "mystical eyes" that inspire awe and fear in those who see them. Leo's real name is Quantum, but he is known in the afterlife as Quant.

Between the departure of Father Fidelis and the arrival of Father Aidan, Leo and Father Peter have a closed encounter, too. Leo's eyes change to gold while looking at Father Peter, then return again to emerald green. This puzzles Father Peter. He wonders what type of cat this is! He feels unease and very nervous around Leo, so he keeps him at a safe distance.
The deceased Father Jerome, however, is fond of Leo. After all, Leo was his pet when he was alive! He, however, has not yet accepted his deceased state and the world of the dead. So he wanders often around the orchard at the friary. Some of the friars were not pleased with his presence there since it challenges their beliefs about death and life after death!

During one of Father Jerome's visits to the friary, he is violently catapulted from a hut near the orchard to another place, which appears to be a cellar or a Dungeon. He is confused and perplexed! Where is he? He looks around and explores the place. He finds some human bones and becomes frightened. There is something--or someone--living in this place that eats humans! He cries out for Quant's help, who doesn't immediately arrive, and grows tired. He takes a nap while waiting for Quant.

Meanwhile at the friary, the Minotaur is equally puzzled and annoyed. He also explores the small room and searches for something to eat. He finds some jars on top of a shelf and after several attempts, manages to open one of them. He tastes its content and concludes that whatever was inside was not edible. He goes to sleep, hoping it's all just a nightmare!

Quant finally appears, of course, to sort everything out and show Father Jerome around in this new world, known to the good priest as the world of Greek Mythology. They visit some of Quant's old friends, including the Deiphobe, the Sibyl of Cumae, St. Jerome and his lion, St. Anthony of Egypt, and St. Paul the Hermit, among others. Father Jerome is fascinated and intrigued and asks tons of questions to Quant. During their traveling in this world, the reader will be exposed to a combination of philosophy, mythology and mysticism from Quant's point of view. The combination of these topics is essential to the understanding of God's Creation beyond human comprehension.

The end of the book will leave the reader saying, WOW! It echoes Jesus' parable of the "Good Servant" and St. Paul's words of encouragement about finishing the race and fighting the good fight.

I truly admire the author for being bold enough to write a whole series (3 so far) of books that are fundamentally based on the Roman Catholic worldview and yet which, somehow, are not overtly religious. A contradiction in terms, you say? You'd be right! And that's the beauty of the books! Angelos shows the same group of friars and priests from the first book moving through their lives, dealing with the mundane occupations of the 21st century, and working to reconcile life with the tenets of their Order in a very casual, matter-of-fact, and thoroughly modern way. They are very human characters, and (for the most part) very likeable. They go through life dealing (or trying to deal) with their own inner or inter-personal conflicts as best as they can, same as everyone else.

The dead friar, Jerome, is still having his worldview expanded in the Afterlife, and trying to come to terms with how limited his experiences (while alive) were. Leo/Quant is still full of surprises and wisdom, though he's a bit more laconic in this book than in the first. Lessons about the world are taught and learned without an iota of preachiness and a good dash of humor. These books have a great deal of depth which is mostly masked by the light, chatty, style of writing.

Highly recommended. If you liked Jerome and the Seraph (Quantum Cat), you'll probably enjoy the sequel.

Note on Kindle formatting: Excellent. I did not notice any issues or errors.

Once again, Robina Williams does an excellent job weaving a wonderful fantasy with Christian themes. Her ideas regarding time and space travel, the Greco-Roman gods and mythical creatures as true history, and the afterlife are intriguing. Despite the rather complex ideas, the general story is not very complicated. Ms. Williams wisely chose to keep the cast of characters small, so as to not add any unnecessary complexities.

Once again, Jerome and company are a likable bunch. It is nice to see the friars with human foibles - not as spiritual powerhouses keeping impossibly high standards. They like good food, the company of their cat, time to take a stroll in the garden, or take a trip to town.

Again, the Afterword the author provided was very helpful to me, as I was not familiar with Saint Anthony and his journey to visit Saint Paul the Desert Hermit. I appreciated having a brief explanation in the Afterword, so I didn't have to go do research.

This is an easy, fun read that I found hard to put down. The story moves along without getting bogged down in overly long descriptions. There is a good balance between story that moves along, and enough description to help the reader form a mental picture of what's going on. Very fun reading.

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