The novels follow Jael, a Fallen Angel who serves as a lieutenant in Satan's army while also working as a Guide — and as an informant for the Archangel Gabriel, with whom she carries the title of "colonel." When Satan declares yet another war against Heaven, Jael goes into deep cover to provide intel about Satan's movements to Gabriel. She finds the intrigue entertaining at first, but the deeper she goes, the harder it is for her to get out, and as her position becomes ever more dangerous she learns that the war is not what it seems.
The four announced Sovereign novels are:
- Sovereign
- Ascendant
- Catatonic
- Somnolent
More novels may be released following these four. More information on the series is available on the publisher's website
. As with Dixon's other works, including the Illuminated series, the Sovereign novels are published through Shalamar.
Sovereign contains examples of:
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The Series In General
- Ambiguous Gender: Angels are actually beings composed of light. They only choose to take on humanoid forms to walk amongst other creatures and occasionally to hide their light. They choose their genders and can shapeshift into anything.
- The Big Easy: Unsurprisingly, as they're Deboracracy works, the novels largely take place in New Orleans. Also unsurprisingly, the novels avert all the city's typical tropes. Shantael even points out that locals don't refer to the city as "the Big Easy," thus averting even this trope literally.
- Celestial Paragons and Archangels: Four archangels are presented as essentially running Heaven and leading the protection of Creation. In order of rank and power:
- Archangel Michael, the Demiurge; possessing vast quantities of Creation energy, he is the singular being holding Creation together and can use that energy to defend it, so he tends not to be messed with. Is cited as the most optimistic and least Jerkass of the archangels. Presides over autumn.
- Archangel Gabriel, the Messenger; considered Creation's foremost strategist, but also one of its most competent fighters, holding a candle only to Michael - and suggested to be able to outsmart even him. Generally cold and aloof, and Creation's primary Snark Knight. Presides over the winter.
- Archangel Raphael, the Healer; the most potent healing power in Creation, but can deal blows as quickly as he can mend them. Also tends to be a bit promiscuous. Extremely overprotective, serves as the realist of the quartet, and is also something of a jerkass. Presides over spring.
- Archangel Uriel, the Warden; in charge of the Trials and is placed in charge of Heaven's "prison" on the rare occasion that someone is placed there (which has happened before). Guarded Eden along with Gabriel before humans lost access to it. Replaced the former archangel Sataniel after the latter fell. Is a bit of a Pyromaniac and presides over summer.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Not all fallen are evil. Jael, particularly, is very caring and actually works to stop the war, but prefers to wear black all the time. Gabriel also wears black often and sometimes displays black wings; this is said to be because fallen, including Jael, are sensitive to the sight of pure white wings.
- Fantasy Metals: Angelwork. It's a lightweight and translucent solid that is most often used to make weapons, but also appears in other places (the ceiling of the Library Of All Knowledge, a figurine in Shantael's house). The use of angelwork is one of the very few ways to kill an angel, the others being far more difficult to accomplish: extinguishing its core (light) using dark magick or, if it is in humanoid form, tearing out its heart, which represents its core.
- The Namesake: Each of the novels' titles refer to the state of mind of one particular character.
Sovereign
- The Cameo: Ariel visits the Tulane University archives for information on certain relics. Guess who makes an uncredited appearance as his assistant.
- Demon Lords And Arch Devils: The Fallen Angel answer to the archangel quartet. Referred to as the "archfallen" in-story. However, they only rule over Hell, and are not a true team, as Satan holds power over the other three. In order of rank and power:
- Satan; formerly an archangel, and formerly the Lucifer, but was stripped of his positions and titles after rebelling against God and failing. Constantly plots to retake Heaven. Definitely a Man of Wealth and Taste, which is odd because he despises humans.
- Bael; second in Hell due mostly to his forbidding presence, and tends to oscillate between looking like a humanoid cat and a humanoid toad, or both at the same time. Is sent in whenever intimidation is needed, but never shows much prowess on the battlefield.
- Belial; one of the highest-ranking angels before the first War In Heaven, in which he sided with Satan, and fell with him as a result. Is charming, wily, and well-spoken, but also extremely ingenuine and empty. Far more observant than the other archfallen, he may be Obfuscating Stupidity.
- Mammon; the only general of the fallen angel army who actually deals with the army. Despite this, he shows even less proficiency in battle than Bael. Implied to be an archfallen simply for being a Yes-Man who can help outvote Belial, who is strongly opposed to further war with Heaven, when necessary.
- Fallen Angel: The stories center around them. They comprise one-third of the original Host of Heaven; they sided with Satan(iel) when he refused to kneel before humans and started a war instead. They lost. Fallen prominent in the story include Jael, Shantael, and Azarel (the last was on God's side in the War, but fell later for a reason that's left unspecified in the first book).
- Double Meaning: Gabriel's Bluff.
- Four-Philosophy Ensemble / Four-Temperament Ensemble: The archangels.
- The Cynic / Melancholic: Gabriel.
- The Optimist / Sanguine: Michael.
- The Realist / Phlegmatic: Raphael.
- The Conflicted / Choleric: Uriel.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Delivered word-for-word, minus the "freaking," by Zoe after Gabriel's Exposition session.
- Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: Jael is described as wearing a sheer, form-fitting black dress when in her role as a Guide. This changes to either a catsuit, corset and pants, or something else with leggings when she fights, but it is always all black.
- Mr. Exposition: Usually Gabriel or Azarel, which Gabriel lampshades during his own exposition to the mortals. Shantael also tends to give any necessary facts about New Orleans.
- Old Shame: In-universe, and the angel equivalent. Gabriel uses these exact words to explain why Azarel's wings are grey and not black like those of most other fallen.
- Our Angels Are Different: Angels, especially archangels, are described as being unusually cruel and cold. One angel defends this by stating that "if you spent your entire existence defending Creation, you'd be an asshole too." Aversions exist; Shantael and Chantiel are more your typical angel, and somehow Michael retains his optimism.
- Our Demons Are Different: Demons vary widely in power and threat, from shadow demons and shapeshifter demons to half-breeds like Cambions and "vampire spawn."
- Precision F-Strike: Usually Ariel can be counted on for these, but Jael wins points for screaming one in the middle of the night... at a convent.
- Belial also delivers a nice one in response to a passive-aggressive insult from Satan regarding portals.
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Gabriel pulls off one of these at Azarel during August's DWI. Normally, he wouldn't have cared, but Jael was in the car.
- Satan: Played with. The character referred to as "Satan" was one of the four original archangels - he was the Lucifer, alongside Michael (the Demiurge), Gabriel (the Messenger), and Raphael (the Healer). Additionally, he was named Sataniel. He fulfilled the role of the Accuser as well, testing and interrogating others on behalf of God. After he fell, however, he lost his title, his position, and the essential part of his name. The position of "Accuser" was given to the angel Averel; and the powers that went with the "Lucifer" title were bestowed by God onto several other beings over time.
- Seasonal Baggage: In an effort to not make just one of them a supreme ruler over Creation - aka a second God - the archangels were each given a season to rule over. Each archangel's already formidable strength grows when Earth enters his season.
- Stuff Blowing Up: In order to eliminate one of Satan's options for entering the city, and possibly because he's pissed off over a murder, Raphael uses angelwork wire to blow a major New Orleans bridge to pieces. Because the explosion follows the length of the wire, Raphael is able to perform an Unflinching Walk as the bridge falls apart behind him. He could have simply have flown or teleported away, but he explicitly chose to walk because it amused him.
Ascendant
- The Atoner: Played straight by Belial. Averted by Gabriel.
- The Cameo: A common occurrence in Deboracracy works. In this book, it's the other half who appears, lending a hand as a Treacherous Advisor.
- Decadent Court: The inner circle of the Nephilim, which moves among ancient European cities like they're on a bus tour.
- Fetch Quest: The Nephilim have a list of things they need to perform the ritual that will give power back to them. At first it seems unreadable, but Mercy proves her worth in showing that the list is actually referring to different elements of one thing: a person, used as a sacrifice. Subverted when Derek decides that since it doesn't have to be a specific person, he'd use Mercy. Double subverted by Gabriel, who wrote the list himself, making it useless.
- Gambit Pileup: Gabriel allows three different attacks to come at him at nearly the same time, mostly to see whether he can take it, which would be a sign of his recovery. The others don't approve.
- Meaningful Name: Mercy.
- Nephilim: Part of the plot involves foiling a group of Nephilim who want to take the world back.
- Race Against the Clock: Gabriel has to defeat two different enemies who have independently set their plans for the same time: midnight at Christmas. Instead of warning the others, he gives himself until five 'til midnight to deal with one enemy, then focus on the other. He misses by two minutes.
- Redemption Quest: Gabriel and Jael must stop the Nephilim in order to win their way back into Heaven. Gabriel also wants to win back Jael's affection.
- The So-Called Coward: Belial - whose name literally means "worthless" - plays a significant role in helping Gabriel survive the Hellhole and in the subsequent Revenge plot. He gets his due when he is restored to the position he held in Heaven - as Anathael, "the Answer," one of the most dreaded and feared angels in history.
Catatonic
- Emotion Suppression: Gabriel starts the novel this way, against his will.
- Nephilim: Another Naphil surfaces in this book and becomes central to the story. To readers familiar with other Deboracracy works, the character is a familiar one.
Somnolent
