| As noted here, I’m commenting daily on the WMG Holiday Spectacular—which is a great project that releases a story every day. These might be reviews. Or not. They might be interesting. Or … um … not. They will be fun, though. For me, at least. Here’s the next story. |
“Thunder Angel”
Kate Pavelle
I am not generally a big fan of paranormal Angel/Devil stories, and in some ways “Thunder Angel” is one of those. On the other hand, I guess it really isn’t. What it is, is a contemporary mix of present-day Christmas spirit with old spirits of yesteryear (I’m tempted to call them gods but this is a story set in Czechoslovakia, and I’m thinking more sprites or wood fairies than gods. Perhaps I am wrong). Our protagonist is one of those spirits who seems to be out of her chronological comfort zone, but still manages to give off but touch of the superhero vibe as she deals with the modern world.
That’s interesting.
Kate Pavelle introduces us to Christmas, or more appropriately St. Nicholas Day, in Malá Úpa—what feels like a smallish city in Czechoslovakia. I admit I need to look it up.
Isabella is the granddaughter of Krakonoš (A powerful spirit with control of thunder). She is walking the earth for the first time in well…a very long time and she feels uncomfortable but doesn’t seem to fully comprehend why. She’s a compelling main character and her goals of following in her grandfather’s footsteps drives an interesting story. For my money, though, the charm of the piece comes from the hearts of a brother and sister who are straddling the age whereupon the world of reality infringes upon the world of magic. The city itself seems to work on multiple tiers of reality, also. There are those who understand and there are those who do not, Maybe it’s when these two worlds are in balance that everything is at its finest.
The city has problems, though. There’s been an accident and it’s going to need some help this St. Nicholas Day, in more ways than one. Lives will be at stake. Celebrations will be in peril.
We will see if Isabella is up to the task.
“Thunder Angel” is an example of why I am enjoying the entire Holiday Spectacular. It is not the kind of story I would have picked up on my own, but I enjoy coming across new worlds in different ways of seeing things. Even though I have met Kate Pavelle, and have a tendency to like her work, without the Spectacular, I would likely never have picked up “Thunder Angel.” That means I would have missed out on a fun little read set in a place I’d like to know more about. the story leaves me hoping that Pavelle has explored a whole pantheon uphold spirits. If not, well, there’s always next year’s Spectacular.