'A Gathering of Gargoyles' by Meredith Ann Pierce

ISBN: 0316067253
Format: Paperback, 304pp
Publisher: Little Brown Bks Young Readers
Pub. Date: October 2007
Price: $7.99

A Gathering of Gargoyles was first published in 1984 and is the second book in Meredith Anne Pierce’s Darkangel Trilogy. This series just gets better as it goes along and I have to admit that I enjoyed the second book more than the first.

A Gathering of Gargoyles picks up where The Darkangel left off. Aeriel has broken the spell that Irrylath was under and he is no longer a Darkangel. However the White Witch isn’t giving up on Irrylath that easily and she haunts his dreams, helping to create the distance that separates the two. Though they were married and Aeriel loves him dearly, Irrylath wants nothing to do with her.

When Aeriel learns that her part of the battle against the White Witch has not ended, and realizing that Irrylath does not share her feelings, she leaves the haven of Isternes and travels out into the wide world. Traveling across a sea made of dust she sees many strange wonders; dust whales and shrimp, veins of clear blue colored sand, and eventually islands inhabited by people the likes of which she has never before seen.

Aeriel has learned from the Darkangel’s brides, who have passed on and become stars, that the White Witch is still searching for a way to gain control of the world. Her sons, the vampires known as the Darkangels, still roam the world spreading sickness and death. Aeriel must find the guardians of the world, awaken them and gather them to fight the White Witch before it is too late.

The guardians now are few and far between thanks to the Darkangels; they have been chased off or killed, with only their memories left in the minds of the people. But Aeriel is determined to find them. When the White Witch learns that Aeriel is once again moving out in the world she sends her minions after the girl.

In her adventures Aeriel crosses paths with all kinds of creatures and people. A light house keeper that is more than what he seems, thieves and highwaymen, a nameless man, and the gargoyles that she had come to love and eventually released from the Darkangel’s tower fortress. They will all help or hinder Aeriel in her journey, lighten her load or throw burdens on her back as she does everything she can so save the world she knows.

A Gathering of Gargoyles will not disappoint readers and will only leave you waiting breathlessly for the third and final book, The Pearl of the Soul of the World which will be out in February of 2008. Of course like I’ve said before if you can’t wait for the new covers there is always your local used bookstore. But good luck finding a copy, these are the kinds of books that once bought you never give up.