Tread of Angels

By: Rebecca Roanhorse

Narrated by: Dion Graham

Celeste, a card sharp with a need for justice, takes on the role of advocatus diaboli, to defend her sister Mariel, accused of murdering a Virtue, a member of the ruling class of this mining town, in an “intricate…engrossing” (The Washington Post) new world of dark fantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of Black Sun, Rebecca Roanhorse.

The year is 1883 and the mining town of Goetia is booming as prospectors from near and far come to mine the powerful new element Divinity from the high mountains of Colorado with the help of the pariahs of society known as the Fallen. The Fallen are the descendants of demonkind living amongst the Virtues, the winners in an ancient war, with the descendants of both sides choosing to live alongside Abaddon’s mountain in this tale of the mythological West from the bestselling mastermind Rebecca Roanhorse.

Critic reviews

"Narrator Dion Graham's superb performance helps to create a weird and wonderful fantasy world based around Goetia, a town full of demon- and angel-type characters with a Western feel. When Goetian slum resident Mariel is accused of murder, her sister, Celeste, sets out to prove her innocence, using every method open to her. Graham's narration is the perfect match to this tale. As he skillfully brings alive the broad cast of characters, his voicing of Celeste is particularly notable. His pitch-perfect timing keeps the listener engaged, and his authentic-sounding pronunciation of the evocative names gives a sense of reality to this otherwise alternative world."

Unique and compelling

Very unique take on the relationship of heaven and hell, right and wrong, guilt and innocence, and we humans who have to navigate the consequences.

Wrap it all up in steampunk-ish world set in the 19th Century American West, and you just can’t walk away.

I found this book the type that kept me in an idling car to finish just one more chapter before going in the house.

LOVED it. Hope you will too.

Pretty good book

I agree with the reviews that mentioned the ending as depressing and disappointing and I too wish there had maybe been more development of the angels/demons and heaven/hell story than there was. And it was a little slow getting going.

I loved the performance!!

Compelling

I was not sure who the bad guys and who the good guys were. It was interesting seeing how the story played out

Surprise

I love the universe created in this story. It’s unique to anything that I have seen so far.

Crossing lines

Dion Graham has a beautiful deep, soft voice that was relaxing to listen to, even as he was able to express the emotions of the characters. Celeste is the main character and I didn’t like her from the beginning of the book and even less as the story evolved. In a world with two classes of people, she and her sister were half breeds, she looked like her father who was the higher class while her sister looked like their mother, a Fallen. This was a murder mystery; when Celeste’s sister is accused of murder she will do anything to free her sister, no matter the consequences. I found it odd how I liked the demon more than Celeste.