Glorious Appearing: The End of Days (Left Behind #12)

Rating:
Summary: Glorious Reading
Review: I absolutely loved this book! It is one that can be read and re-read. It is so comforting and heartwarming.

Rating:
Summary: To everyone who bashes these books....CALM...DOWN!!!
Review:
What is it with certain types of people who get fired up about

FICTIONAL STORIES!!!

I'm sure they are the same people who get fired up about the Da Vinci Code and Micheal Moore movies.

Relax folks. They are JUST FICTIONAL STORIES!!! Meant to entertain...not reality.

Please stop weaving fiction in to your perception of life!

I absolutely love the review on the 1st page from the "Christian Propoganda" guy. :) Take a look a all the books he has reviewed... He copied and pasted the same text to review EVERY Left Behind book. Funny. It makes me wonder if the words are his or if they were copied and pasted from a left wing nutjob website. :) I would hate to have to live my life with such hatred in my heart.

Rating:
Summary: Series limps to the finish line
Review: It's probably inevitable that the 12th of a 12-book series ties up a lot of loose ends, concerning both plot and character. Some interesting images and thoughts here, but not very compelling.

Rating:
Summary: A LOOK AT THE NOVELS OF REVELATION
Review: I am a very big fan of novels that deal with the Biblical Apocalypse and, with so many different types, thought it would be worthwhile to give an overview of the ones I have read.

Left Behind, by Tim Lehay- The series that started it all. These novels are, in truth, somewhat boring, but it covers the bases with a depth that none of the others do, probably owing to the fact that there are so many of them. They lack character development and deep theology, but are a fun, if shallow read

The Christ clone Trilogy by James Beauseigneur- Well written novels that focus on the scientific and political. Tom Clancy meets Left behind is not too far off the mark. I greatly enjoyed these books although I felt a little let down by the ending. Overall, a good political take on the End.

We All Fall Down by Brian Caldwell- Certainly the most controversial of these novels. The focus here is the individual and why someone would ever in their right mind reject salvation. Very brutal, although probably more realistic, in its depiction of the End. This is certainly not a book for the timid, but for the rest, I found it the most intelligent, well written, and, oddly enough, spiritual of the bunch. It's hard to walk away from this book with feeling to need to take a fresh look at one's own relationship to Christ.

Blood of Heaven, by Bill Myers- These are intelligent, character focused novels. I found the theology again to be a little weak, but really enjoyed following the distictive characters.

The Last Gentile Trilogy by Cary Bybee- Better written than Left Behind, but lacking the scope of that work. Like conquest of Paradise or Christ clone, it it based in science, but perhaps too much. Not enough religion for my taste.


Rating:
Summary: Had to read it 'cause I'd already read the other 11 books!
Review: I don't mean to slam LaHaye or Jenkins, because the series really was a good idea, however....
The series really dragged on towards the end - 8 books would have been plenty.
The theology is slavishly literal - even things that are obviously meant to be symbolic.
The characters are shallow and the writing is elementary.
The whole premise and execution becomes a caricature by the end. The writing is stilted and predictable.

I would recommend the Last Disciple by Brouwer as a much better written novel based on revelation prophecy - of course the theology is much different than LaHaye's

Rating:
Summary: Shouldn't have ended like this
Review: This is an overblown and long-winded description of the final days. Even when Jesus finally appears, it's an exciting chapter of the book, but you still have over a hundred pages to go before it's done. There's not much to read after that. You would think with the final book of the series, there would be more bang for your buck, but not here. Antichrist and the false prophet - Carpathia and Fortunato - who we've trudged along with for twelve books, are put away within a matter of paragraphs. I'm surprised the series went 12 books (12 tribes of Israel, I know, but still).

Jesus rarely speaks out of context, all He says are quotes from the Bible. I found myself skipping whole pages because that's all it was - quotes within quotes. It's not a good read when you're skipping pages. Don't look for anymore character exploration. The same old "biggest army ever" and "most converts ever" stuff is still in the book - old stuff if you've read all 12. The ending is very sparse without even a try of describing heaven. Clearly this book should have been written better, and it seems to me Jenkins wrote it to get the series over with. It's unfortunate that a book so hyped has to be so bad.

Rating:
Summary: Please, Oh PLEASE. . .
Review: . . .LET THERE BE A "No Star" OPTION!!!

These books have gotten worse and worse -- and "Glorious Appearing" is the worst of all.

The writing has deteriorated over the series -- and never was that good to begin with.

The characterizations have gotten worse and worse -- and never were convincing from the start. The characters are now little more than caricatures of themselves.

The "Dispensational Pre-millenialism" -- a 19th century EXTREME minority viewpoint -- has gotten thicker and thicker.

The anti-Catholicism has gotten more and more nauseating.

And finally -- it's all over. The series is DONE!

The picture we're left with at the end of the book is one which alternates between cloyingly "soap-opera" sweet and almost frighteningly vengeful. As a conservative Christian, I do believe that "He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead" but here, you get the idea that Christ ENJOYS zapping the bad guys. (You also get the impression that the authors -- and readers who buy into their quasi-theology -- will also enjoy watching everyone who doesn't believe exactly as they do get zapped.)

My only fear? The Epilogue! A new series dealing with the release of Satan after the 1000 year reign? Don't bet against it!

Lousy. Absolutely lousy.

Rating:
Summary: The series ends with a fizzle
Review: This was by far the poorest book in the entire series. The series started out as a strong and creative interpretation of what Bible prophecies could mean, but also it was just plain great story-telling. It had an appeal to Christians and non-Christians alike because it was a good read. Somewhere along the line the authors lost the edge. It really shows in this final book, it is nothing more than page after page of direct scripture quotes and sorry attempts to tie together loose ends with side stories that read like afterthoughts. I never imagined the end times and return of Jesus could be portrayed to be so B-O-R-I-N-G!! It sounds more exciting in the Bible than in this horribly dry read.

Rating:
Summary: Writing leaves much to be desired
Review: My problem with this book is the theology but rather its tone and literary style. I find the characters and dialogue shallow and trite. Maybe it's the desire to engage with pop culture immersed Americans- but frankly the emotional reaction to the second coming of Christ is described way too casually. This book seems to be aimed at people with an eighth grade education. There is excellent Christian fiction out there- unfortunately this is not it.
I think this series has been stretched into 12 (plus?) books for commercial reasons despite clear literary flaws. I do commend the authors for taking echatology into the mainstream but as an avid reader, I am once again disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Unfortunately most of these reviews are misleading you...
Review: ...Don't be alarmed that many of the reviews for this book are bashing Christianity questioning the validity of Jesus and history.

I submit two items for the educated of you to grasp when considering the previous reviews:

1) Book: Evidence That Demands a Verdict(Tell me if these non-believers ever really spent time reading a book such as below and then really could makes comments such as "No historical facts that Jesus ever existed" - hilarious - People choose to read kiddie Fiction such as the Left Behind series and make comments in vain - read some Adult stuff and pray for Salvation)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0785243631/103-3673777-6300623?v=glance

2) Jesus tells us to expect the world's denial and hatred

"When the world hates you, remember it hated me before it hated you. The world would love you if you belonged to it, but you don't. I chose you to come out of the world, and so it hates you. Do you remember what I told you? `A servant is not greater than the master.' Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you!" (NLT) John 15:18-20

Summary:

Ignore the callous souls who would discount this and the novels in this collection. They are well written and "Exciting" fiction for believers. That's just what they are - "Fiction". The Book of Revelation is very complex and interpretation is difficult. One thing is for certain, and should be noted - JESUS is coming again...