The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard

The House of Shattered Wings

Aliette de Bodard

A Paris in the fallout of war between rival magicians' Houses, angels regularly falling out of heaven, a dragon realm under the Seine, addiction to angel essence clearly replacing narcotics and their associated gangland crime. There are so many elements here to grapple with as the author invites you to join her in welding together this gripping fantasy, crime, thriller mash up. An epic read.

Extract
Madeleine whispered the words of a spell, willing the magic to show her how they had died. Nothing happened. For a moment she feared she'd cast the wrong thing; and then the corpse lit up like a bonfire, washing the entire room in radiance. Claire cried out, and then there was darkness again, shot through with painful afterimages.
'Magic killed him,' she said, slowly, hoarsely, forcing the words through what felt like a mouthful of burning sand. 'Like being burned. A blast of Fallen power so strong it stripped him bare.' And blasted the tracker disk, too, rendering it unusable. The human body wasn't meant to hold Fallen magic; in the long run, people who absorbed too much angel- or too much angel essence, or both- died.
Parallels
  • This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti
  • Looking for Jake and Other Stories by China Mieville
  • The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern