Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for Angel Time:
1. Describe Toby O'Dare. He is obviously flawed—is he evil? Talk about the way the events of his upbringing shaped him. Is there anything in his character you identify with? How does he change during the course of the novel? What does he learn?
2. Rice has said that presenting a character like Malchiah, who is "perfect and sinless," is a real challenge, especially trying to make him an appealing character. Do you think Rice pulled it off—is Malchiah appealing? If so, in what way? Does he have emotional depth...or is he more one-dimensional?
3. What is Malchiah's purpose? Does he function as a judge, a guide, a messenger, a recruiter...all or none of the above?
4. Why do people believe in angels? Do you? Does Anne Rice's conception of angels jibe with your own? Do you think differently about angels after reading this book?
5. Can you explain the concept of Angel Time?
6. What have you learned about the history of the Jews in medieval Europe? Do those background sections enhance the story...or do they drag down the narrative flow?
7. How difficult is it in your life to reconcile matters of the heart—your desires and all-too-human impulses—with your personal sense of faith?
8. Talk about Anne Rice, herself. She embraced Catholicism...only to renounce it years later. How do you view this book—where does it fit into her overall body of work? How does Angel Time jive with her vampire and witch books...or her soft-porn Sleeping Beauty series? How do you explain the variety of genres Rice writes in? (See our guide's author bio.)
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)