Apocalypse Array

LINK Angel #4

by Lyda Morehouse

Amariah, the daughter of the archangel Michael and a legendary force in the cybernetic and law enforcement communities, discovers she might be the next messiah, while the antichrist and the Prince of Darkness prepare to marry and unleash Armageddon on the world. Original.

Genres: Science Fiction, Cyberpunk, Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Fiction, Angels, Speculative Fiction

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 2004

About the author

Lyda Morehouse writes about what gets most people in trouble: religion and politics. Her first novel Archangel Protocol, a cyberpunk hard-boiled detective novel with a romantic twist, won the 2001 Shamus for best paperback original. Apocalypse Array was awarded the Special Citation of Excellence (aka 2nd place) for the Philip K. Dick award.

This author also writes paranormal under the name Tate Hallaway.

Reviews

[Christy Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is like if someone told you they could shit a rainbow. It sounds great and you're going to stick around to see it but you wont be standing too close because rainbow or not, you don't want to be shit on.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

The main thing that frustrated me about this book is the lack of Dee/Mouse. I felt that Morehouse really laid the foundations for Dee/Mouse, and made me really want it, and then yanked the rug out from under me (and Mouse) by having that guy Michael I never warmed up to swoop back in. Ah well. Authors being mean to characters that way just makes me take their side. ;)

[Eran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much in the same vein as the previous book. It does some things better, the chapters which are first person alternative characters don't feel as bad and cut-off, for example. The plot has some nice moments and storyline continues to thread urban fantasy with religion commentary. Unfortunately there's hardly any hint of the cyberpunk of the first book. The Mouse Diedre relationship conclusion was good (considering that mostly whenever relationships were involved in the plot it wasn't a great fit and felt a bit diluting the story into a more basic romance - especially in the earlier books where it was a bit of "romance with an angel" emphasis) but of course it never delves too deeply into that territory. I also liked the concept of several messiahs and of Emmaline considering herself the antichrist and having even Morningstar believing it only to end up seeing it differently.
So overall, as with the rest of the series, not great, but good.

[S. Sanders · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apocalypse Array felt like a departure from the previous three novels. I found myself less and less intrigued. The characters I’d grown to appreciate felt flat. I also felt like the climax/ending were also rushed and uninspired. Overall, I still enjoyed the romp through Morehouses’s AngeLINK world. I suppose I just had higher expectations having enjoyed the rest of the series so much.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good conclusion to the series, but may be a bit too hurried to stand on its own. I liked the idea of Amariah, the teenage messiah. I liked that she was just a girl with very specific powers, not some super-wise-beyond-her-years Mary Sue. I liked how the newspaper articles between the character POV chapters showed all the changes that were happening in the larger world, almost as a separate plot thread. And I really liked how the Dragon finally got to develop as a character and have her own storyline. It's great that an AI was a true main character, doing most of the character development and driving at least half of the plot. This was true of previous books as well, with Page's POV, but Page starts out as a "copy" of a human, whereas the Dragon is never humanoid to that extent. Between the POV of an AI and a fallen angel, most of the book ended up being told from a non-human perspective, which is refreshing. SF and Fantasy is supposed to be all about strange new worlds and creatures, but usually ends up focusing on some boring boy-next-door human. This book doesn't follow the crowd. Even if its characters are mostly human-like, they have unique non-human problems and concerns.

But that brings me to what I didn't like--the lack of consistency with Morningstar's character. If he's one of the narrators, then I don't think it's too unreasonable to expect him to disclose some of his motivations and his thought process. As it is, he does some things apparently at random, and we never really understand what's going through his head. Throughout the series, I got the sense that he's really not what anyone would call the ultimate evil--he never takes the opportunity to do acts of gratuitous evil. It simply never seems to occur to him. He's mostly a "live and let live" kinda guy. He even sometimes forgets to do the evil things that he himself threatened (like "forgetting" to cut off Mouse's connection to mouse.net even though the guy breaks a deal with him, and yet he remembers to very thoroughly remove Mouse's connection to the LINK). Yet in this book he is presented as someone trying to be good?? Why does he keep telling himself that he loves Emmaline and he should be patient with her, when it's so clear that he hates her guts? Isn't he supposed to be proud and trying to be a badass in contradiction to his angelic origins? Shouldn't he be telling himself that he's only using Em and will destroy her as soon as he can? And what about his thought process? Why doesn't he question anything when God dumps him naked in the middle of smalltown NY? And why the gloom and doom at the end? He hasn't done anything that's not in his power to wheedle out of. It's all a bit disappointing, such a missed opportunity with a wonderful character.

[CrowCaller · Rating 5 out of 5]

(see status updates)

YAAAAAAAAAAA

I just love these characters. Enough I can easily look through various narrative/writing flaws. I love em. I want more of them.

This book felt very fast, with a not super satisfying conclusion. It came out over 10 years ago, so I guess there isn't much hope for a sequel, but I want one. I have pitched it in my status updates (#ANGELQUEST2016)

this book was actually easily to follow than any other, only one big confusing scene for me. plus, no boring viewpoint!

again, ending isn't amazing tie up, there are problems, but I was so happy and smiling while reading- I really love these characters and their weird family.

I felt like Amariah was underused, and wished the book was longer for a lot of reasons. But really, she needed to be explored more. Her plot feels very minimal (everyone's kinda does, time flows weird). She had a very interesting backstory and sense of identity that I think would be really cool to see more of! But she kinda does nothing. Except get a cool boyfriend.

(again, please Lyda, write angelquest: the angeling, where Amariah helps counsel fallen angels, meets Page (who is whole again), and has to deal with her weird uncle, literally satan (who is torn up over a certain death, and unsure if he wants to be redeemed to heaven)

REALLY. OR ELSE I WILL WRITE IT MYSELF.

one big problematic thing... Ariel..... is Ariel trans or a crossdresser? It says Ariel IDs as trans, but later refers to (themself?) as a man? And is dating a gay man who calls them male pronouns. but Amariah once uses female pronouns. Most people just say crossdresser and Ariel doesn't seem to have a problem with this? So I guess I'm going with that, but I wish it had been clearer.

Similar, I felt like Luis obvs had a real personality for a minor character, but esp in his first scene, was a little too stereotypically gay for me. I was like, the author is gay/bi, some people ARE like this, he has other traits.... but it still did bother me

Oh well! I loved this book. I love my husband, mouse, my son, page, and the rest of my sweet beautiful family. justice for Adram 2016, he deserved better and more

[Jane Palmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Apocalypse Array is in many ways a delicious satire based on the irony of a world given over to religion as a substitute for science. Although unfamiliar with her previous books, I found it easy to be drawn into this semi glass world of gorgons, gender confused angels and wire wizards - in fact, hardly anyone showing signs of normality as we know it. If only life could be this interesting.
Religious fundamentalism has been taken to its illogical extreme and inflicted on the Judaeo-Christian population according to one-liners from the Bible. What better place for the Antichrist to insinuate her way into hearts and minds after binding Satan to a vow of obedience and sending him out for cappuccinos. While archangels and demons prove to be more complex and ambiguous than popular myth would have it, humans are now ruled by a new look Inquisition that works by compelling people to have their brains wired to receive electronic data. Without the LINK, they do not have access to the necessities of life.
The daughter of Archangel Michael helps her private investigator mother, Deirdre, to track down one of the many young people with brains hijacked by Soul Seeker, an electronic game that also demands to be played in the real world. Dragon, downsized to accommodate the game's voracious capacity, determines to defy her creator.
Apocalypse Array is many layered and fluid, only demanding that the reader believes the Hosts of Heaven and Hell come to Earth to be incarnated into emotionally fraught domesticity. The idea is bizarre but well worth pursuing to the end.

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a solid, fascinating conclusion to Morehouse's series. My only problem with it, is that I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to take from the ending. It was twisty, unexpected and worked - but I find myself left with a slightly confused feeling. I suspect this is because she set the readers up to expect a particular kind of ending; one that at least one of the main characters was also expecting, and just as the resolution left him confused - and defeated - which I suspect may have been the point. I need to let it all mull around in my subconscious a bit more I think, and see what conculsions I end up with.

For all that, a very good book and very good conclusion, so don't let me meanderings put you off.

[Copied across from Library Thing; 5 November 2012]

[Xdyj · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like it better than the second book, maybe because it has more humor & social commentary like the first one.

[Stephanie]

The fourth and final book in the archangel series. This is an awesome conclusion where the entirety of reality is turned on its ear.