Angelfall

“At some point, the most desperate will start to take advantage of the cover of night despite the risks. I’m hoping we’ll be the first so that we’ll be the only ones out there, if for no other reason than that I won’t have to drag Paige away from helping someone in trouble.”

This quote succinctly characterizes Paige’s almost foolish selflessness and Penryn’s constant vigilance because of it. Paige’s compassion contrasts with nearly everything else in the book—the apocalyptic setting, the brutal violence, and even Penryn’s own actions, which typically orient around protecting herself or those she cares about, even at the expense of others.

“When four of them finally manage to pin him down on the ground, practically sitting on him, Night Giant walks up to him. He stalks like the Angel of Death, which I suppose he could be. I get the distinct impression that this is the culmination of several battles between them. I sense history between them in the way they look at each other, in the way Night yanks at Snow’s wing, spreading it out.”

“Night” in this passage is eventually revealed to be Beliel, not the Angel of Death (who is typically referred to in Judaic, Islamic, and/or Christian mythology as Azrael or Samael). Beliel and Raphael have history in the novel, but in most angel mythologies, Beliel is a far more general figure of Hell, and Raphael is a healing angel of devotion who sometimes is responsible for blowing the trumpets to herald the apocalypse. Their tension could be attributed mythologically to Beliel’s place as one cursed by God and Raphael’s place of honor.

“He is surprisingly light for his size, and it’s far less of a struggle than I’d anticipated to get him into the chair. I suppose it makes sense when you think about it. It’s easier to fly when you weigh fifty pounds rather than five hundred.”

This passage emphasizes some of the realism in how the angels are depicted since a person of human weight could not fly—human wings would have to be over twenty feet wide, and even then, human musculature does not function biologically for flight. Thus, while it is still unrealistic that the angels otherwise resemble humans, hollow bones are one of the most important biological components of effective flight.