Rating: Summary: Entertaining yet compelling Review: Despite the criticisms I have read of this book and this series, I find it interesting and very powerful. It is chilling to recognize prophecies from the Bible and see them, or foreshadowings of them, in the world around us. I imagine there are many who would like a clearer idea of what the end times will entail. These authors seem to have done their homework, and to be sticking with Biblical prophecy faithfully. Even having known of many of these foretold events before reading this book, I still found myself tense with horror as they unfolded in the story. The story seemed so real to me that, at times, I had to remind myself that it portrayed a time that has not yet come.I would readily recommend this book, and others of this series.
Rating: Summary: Not as good as the first, but still worth reading! Review: I consider myself a fan of the left behind series, but #2 is just not my favorite. The reader is left to wonder about large chunks of time that disappear, I believe it was 18 months. When we are talking about a time period of only 7 years, 18 months is a substancial amount of time! However, overall the Left Behind series is excellent. I encourage my non-Christian friends and Christian friends alike to borrow these books, and if nothing else it definately forces one to think about where they would stand if the Rapture were to occur tomorrow. Many people argue the superiority of the Christ Clone Trilogy over this series, but for what they are, the amount of recognition the Left Behind books have received is amazing. I am definately looking forward to the continuation of this series!
Rating: Summary: Sorely disappointing . . . Review: The only readers who will come away satisfied with this series (I quit halfway through "Soul Harvest") are fundamentalist who can't get enough of the same ol' fire and brimstone. These books are the shallowest of shallow, with about as much intellectual stimulation as a bowl of cold oatmeal. There are vastly more exciting and fearsome novels on the subject of The Last Day--not the least of which is the novel by the same name--"The Last Day." If you have the mental wherewithal for a really scary spiritual ride, "The Last Day" delivers a story of unsurpassed suspense and controversy. If you just like to sit back and veg out, stick with this juvenile "Left Behind" stuff!
Rating: Summary: Great Books Review: I have read all of them up to The Mark which comes out this month. I couldnt put them down and now I have read them a second time. Very good interpretation of what will happen in the end times. No one should miss this set of books!
Rating: Summary: left behind books Review: I highly recommend these books.. The writers puts it into a form that is easy to understand.Thanks for writing them. I can't wait till the next one comes out..Keep writing them..
Rating: Summary: Fiction-lite Review: If you're in need of Sunday-school remedial lessons you may find something of value in these incredibly light-weight novelettes. Stretched out to garner as many sales as is feasably possible, each of these commercial exploitations is a very superficial and unsophisticated read. In contrast, read Glen Kleier's complex and spiritually satisfying supsense thriller THE LAST DAY and you will see how much gold can be mined from this rich topic of the End of Time. For my money, there has to be more to a novel than simply a validation of fundamentalist Bible interpretations. I'm also looking for a story, characterization, and theological insight. These books are very disappointing in that regard. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rating: Summary: Truth be known Review: This book is so true. It goes hand and hand with bible prophesy.It really made me question my life as a christian and how God might view my life as worthy to be called His. I can only hope and pray it does the same for whoever may read this book. In closing, I would like to say I believe the rapture will be soon and I pray that those who are left behind will not be a victom of the antichrist. Accept Jesus now as your savior and when it happens you will be in heaven with Him, DO NOT DELAY!!!
Rating: Summary: Great concept, horrible execution Review: I must give credit to LaHaye and Jenkins--they've come up with an intriguing concept (what if the Rapture and the Tribulation really do happen in the near future?) and an ambitious project (perhaps too ambitious; I think the entire story could be told in only a handful of books, instead of a monstrous 12--or is that 14?--volume series.) However, while I like the idea behind the books and I do applaud some of the inventive concepts they create to show just how the Antichrist comes to power and conquers the world.....this book is just lacking on every level. I've only read the first 2 books in the series, and am debating whether or not to tackle the third. I won't criticize the book for it's philosophy. I won't debate whether or not it's anti-semitic, or anti-catholic, or anti-anything other than Christian. There may be ideological reasons why someone would not buy this book, but the best advice I could give would be to not pick up this novel because the writing is just horrible. I believe that Jenkins is the man who handles most of the writing chores, right? I'm sorry, but his writing is just deplorable. It's incredibly simplistic, without the hint of maturity. This book reads like a novel for children, or at best young adults. The characters are flat, and uninteresting. The reader should be sympathizing with them, hoping that these characters make it through the Tribulation safe and sound, but I found myself completely disinterested in their welfare. They were that undeveloped. It brings me discomfort to say so, but Nicolae the Antichrist was more interesting and charismatic than any of the main characters in the book. Sure, he's evil, but at least he has some personality. The plot has the tendency to drag on and on during the book. Huge chunks of it could have been excised with no real loss. The most ridiculous sub-plot dealt with the budding relationship between Chloe Steele and Buck Williams. A large portion of the middle of the book is devoted to these two, an effort to give them some dimension I suppose. It comes across as rather silly, though. As one other reviewer put it, the world is ending, and these two are debating whether to hold hands. I almost threw the book down in disgust over the cookie incident. The Antichrist is paving the way for the eventual destruction of the world and all these two "crazy kids in love" can think about is eating their cookies at the same time.... The plot only picks up speed in the last few chapters, but then it moves too fast. For instance, in the last 2 chapters we meed a woman named Amanda White, who's barely in the book before she marries Raeford Steele. The ending seemed incredibly rushed. I would personally have liked to see Amanda more developed before she suddenly became a main character, and I also would like to see more of the conflict between the Peacekeeper forces of the Global Community and the militia movement. If you're a diehard Christian, perhaps you can look past the book's faults and simply appreciate the message. I consider myself a Christian, but even so, I couldn't get past how poorly written this book was. I wish the authors had actually sat down and taken the time to truly give the public a quality work of fiction about the end times, instead of the inferior final product we now have.
Rating: Summary: Not bad Review: This succeeds in at least one thing the writers intended. I want to read the next book! Yes, the story plods along and focuses too much on relationships. Yes, the writing is not Pullitzer Prize material. However, the intrigue is here, as is the heart. Buy this at least to get to Nicolae, which is supposed to be one of the best of the series.
Rating: Summary: The weakest link (WARNING: SPOILERS) Review: TRIBULATION FORCE is the weakest link in the Left Behind series. Second in the series, this book plods along at a slow pace, and subjects us to interminable pages of the "Should I call, or should I not call?" that begins to characterize the relationship between Buck and Chloe. For some reason, the authors decided that the story of the Tribulation Force -- a group of four ultra-saints -- would be an interesting one. Granted, "Tribulation Force" is a great title for a book, and it seems like it will be a really exciting concept. When I found out that the Tribulation Force was just an exclusive Bible study that didn't really have any defined goals, I was disappointed. The last two chapters of this book are crammed with interesting news told in summary. I wish the authors would have allowed all this interesting stuff to permeate the rest of the book, instead of simply summarizing at the end. Perhaps if the authors had chosen to use more of this in the story, and less of the back-and-forth of relationships and some agonizingly long internalizations, this book would have been stronger. Another major faux pas was the appearance of Amanda, Rayford Steele's fiancee in the last two chapters. She randomly appeared and married Rayford abruptly without even allowing the readers to meet her before this happened. This bitterly disappointed me, and I consider it a poor storytelling technique. Perhaps this book was written to further define the characters for the rest of the lengthy series, but unfortunately, that isn't enough to make this book stand. The good news is, the series gets more interesting. I recommend this book, if only as a vehicle to the rest of the series, which gets decidedly more interesting with the third book, NICOLAE.
|