Armageddon: The Cosmic Battle of the Ages (Left Behind, 11)

Rating:
Summary: This One Speeds Up the Pace!
Review: This 11th book in the series moved much faster than the previous ones. I really enjoyed the fast-paced events in this book and I anxiously await the next book, which I am starting to read tonight.

Since the first few books in the series, the story has not been fast-moving, gripping, or eyes-glued-to-the-page action, which I can't put down. It took me a week to read the first book, 3 days to read the 2nd, a week to read the 3rd, and each one after that was between 1-2 weeks for me. This book, #11, took about 4 days. I could not put it down.

There are some pivotal events in this first few chapters of this book and some martyrdom scenes that moved me. I enjoyed the story, even after losing some major characters.

My favorite thing in the world is to see prophecy fullfilled, which is why I have enjoyed these books so much. Yes, they are fiction, but to see the words of Revelation put into modern, hypothetical circumstances, really gets my blood pumping. I have greatly enjoyed this series and I thank the authors for their hard work!

Rating:
Summary: I have read eleven books; do I want to read the last one?
Review: .
If you have not read this book, please do not spoil your enjoyment by reading my review. My opinions may reveal details and events that await your own journey through this book.
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The slow start of this novel picked up about mid-way through. From there it was a page-turner filled with surprises that equal those of powerhouse writers: Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum, Clive Cussler, Stephen King, et al.

One of the aspects that I enjoyed was the build up for the war at Armageddon. I often wondered how so many people would gather on the planes for this battle, and who they would be. These novels provided insight for me that made a lot of sense.

As prophesied in the Book of Revelations, many will die during the End Times, and the ones they love will mourn them. However, in a novel, particularly a series, it is imprudent to destroy all of the protagonists before the series ends. Imagine Lord of the Rings without Frodo Baggins, or Star Wars (4-6) without Luke Skywalker and Han Solo? Where would the entire series be without Darth Vader? Removing the main characters, in my opinion, is very poor writing that can bring about the loss of readers.

Even though these are Christian novels about the end of the world, they character driven. Through eleven books, I have grown to know and care about these characters as people not simply protagonists, etc., on pages in books, what is the hook to keep me reading now?

Although from Book One (Left Behind) forward, we knew that the death of the Tribulation Forces could happen, I did not think the main characters would cease to exist before the series concluded. These deaths ended the chronicles for me. I thought I would wait in avid anticipation for book twelve, but that is not the case. This book should have been it.

Another problem is viewing the deaths of the four through a narrator's eyes. A basic principle of good writing is to show not tell. I would rather experience at least one of the main characters making it through to the Glorious Appearing and be able to show his emotions at each death, and the mighty coming of God's Armies. This would make me want to read the next book.

Many characters dominated the latter books of this series, but the strength of their continuity required their connections to the main characters. However, there were too many individuals to whom to build any emotional connections. Right now, I can tell you who died, but not who lived to see the end. I do not care.

Book Twelve must drift more into the author's own speculations than scriptures. John the Revelator and other Biblical prophets told us that the Armies of God descend from the clouds in heaven and save Jerusalem. Satan will be bound for 1000 years, and then given freedom for a short time among men. This is, I assume, the ultimate plot of book twelve.

Since I am a believer, this series does not stretch credibility for me. Many coincidences fill the books, but many philosophers do not believe in coincidence, and I agree with them, thus I can easily accept the connections between all of these individuals and events. Therefore, even though I found this book to be of a lesser quality than the previous books, it is still worth three stars to me.

Victoria Tarrani


Rating:
Summary: Best book since the first one.
Review: I flew through the first 250 pages in I think about 3 days. LOVE the Left Behind series, this book has me excited about being a Christian again! This book was very hard for me to put down.

Non-Stop action like and good Clancy book, plenty of Biblical references for those that doubt God's love for them. Grateful I don't have to wait a year like other readers for the Glorious Appearing to come out, I picked up the series at the right time.

Do I sound like a Bible thumper yet, apologize if I do, but don't mind being called a Jesus Freak either...

Odd how this series grew on me, even from the beginning of the series I said to myself "Great I get to red Christian related stuff -like reading the bible without having to read the Bible." Enjoying the Word of God w/o having to REALLY read His Words... Now that I'm almost through with the series I almost look forward to reading the Bible...


Rating:
Summary: Better than people give it credit for
Review: A lot of the reviews I have read of these books tend to put it down by comparing it to other end of the world books. And while I will admit that these are not as smart or engaging as some of the the better books that cover the same topic like Fire of Heaven or We All Fall Down, I still really enjoyed them. A friend introduced me to the first book and I cut through all 12 books over the past two months. In a way, it's not really fair to compare them to some of the other books because they are trying to do different things. Left Behind seems to me to try to simply tell a great story about the end of the world. It's light, but what's wrong with that? I really felt like I NEEDED to know what was going to happen next when I finished a book and the very next day would order the next one. I call that a success. A book like We All Fall Down is obviously much more intense and thoughtful, the characters seem much more like real people, and it gives you more to think about, but why does that make Left Behind bad? Can't The Ten Commandments and The Passion both be good movies?