Reviews

Angelarium: Book of Emanations, by Eli Minaya, Peter Mohrbacher

dominerdy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Reading this is more like reading art opposed to a novel. It’s an artistic experience. In lovecraft’s works you have gods acting in seemingly malevolent ways that humans can’t understand. Here, what if angels behaved the same way? Acting in ways with reasons that human’s can’t hope to understand? 

On top of a unique take on angels and their presence, this book features gorgeous art of angels in biblically accurate and abstract ways on every page. Truly a treat to read. 

catsnflags's review

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mysterious reflective relaxing slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

xandraxian's review against another edition

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4.0

I'm mostly here for the artwork. Still, the information of the Emanations and Angels were an interesting plus. Also, following Enoch is a nice way to show examples of the ideas' and beings' presence and influence; though, I wouldn't suggest it for the story.

spryfrog's review

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4.0

As a fan and follower of Peter Mohrbacher’s Angelarium art series, I bought this book for the art. So let me say this: I love the art. I think it’s imaginative, gorgeous, has a great potential for interpretation, and will be something to revisit often.

Moving on. I knew there would be accompanying text, but I wasn’t really expecting it to generally follow one character, so that's a thing that's fine. The issue is that it's just kind of...okay. I can tell he's trying to write deeply and encompass the indescribable aspects of the emanations, but it's just not executed in the way it deserves. It’s because I bought the book for the art that the general mediocrity of the text doesn’t bother me too much. I really enjoyed the little snippets that accompanied the name of each emanation and angel, but I could’ve done without the longer pieces that were printed opposite the actual artwork.

Something that really bothered me in the Ein Soph text particularly, but also throughout, was the inconsistent and often incorrect punctuation, capitalization, and extra spaces in between words. As a proofreader, these apparently random mistakes jumped off the page and smacked me across the face every time I encountered them. I don’t mind rules being bent or broken for stylistic purposes, but this didn’t feel intentional and if it was, I can’t imagine what purpose it served. It just looks sloppy and distracts from the reading.

The shorter text accompanying the Angelarium section were much better. They were technically correct and more engaging.
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