Chronicles of the Host: Exile of Lucifer

Rating:
Summary: Expanding our perspective beyond the earthly realm
Review: I happened upon this book in a bookstore and was intrigued by the phrase, "Set in the heavenlies as a backdrop."

Less than four years into an intense Christian pursuit, reading Christian novels has been one of many disciplines to keep me pointed in His direction. D. Brian Shafer has done an excellent job of creating a setting in heaven many of us can't even imagine. He stays true to God's Word in the character traits of those who love God and praise His name vs. those who work against Him.

God's Word says Lucifer was the Anointed Cherub, the heavenly leader of worship. How could he have fallen? Pride! This novel speculates how Lucifer allowed his own pride to put him in direct opposition to the Most High God. It also shows how the archangels, Gabriel and Michael, were most likely troubled by the change in their friend, yet how committed they were to preserving God as the only true priority in heaven even when it meant opposing their former friend.

For me, this book gave me a broader perspective of what the big picture really is. Beyond the daily distractions of what seems important on this earth, the big picture really began before the creation of this world and is just being played out in part through happenings within this world. Speaking of Creation, I found God's revealing of the Creation plan to the angelic Host, and His day-to-amazing-day unfolding of Creation, both exciting and inspiring.

Obviously, I recommend this book. It hooks you and keeps you going until the last page. I just ordered the second of the trilogy from amazon.com to be sent to me upon its' December release. God bless you and yours.

Rating:
Summary: Sure to Be a Classic
Review: I have always wondered what it might have been like in heaven prior to Lucifer's fall. Lacking the imagination necessary, this book brought the whole scene alive for me. I found the book to be totally believable, not so outrageous that it could never have happened.

Dr. Shafer did not twist nor did he distort the Bible but used the Bible masterfully to bring his characters and his story to life. He is not writing the Bible - God already did that - but has expanded the possibilities and takes you right into the holy of holies with all the majesty of God's very presence. Even in this setting, the deceit, lies, and manipulations of Satan were present. What a concept.

Dr. Shafer has brought a fresh and new look to a two thousand-year-old story. I will be looking at Satan and sin in a whole new way. Now when I read the Old Testament it literally comes alive for me. Dr. Shafer has given me a "minds eye view" of how the Fall might have happened. I can't wait to read the whole series so I can see how Dr. Shafer skillfully weaves the story line to connect the four parts into a whole.

This is a must read series. I hope we see a lot more of Dr. Shafer in the years to come!

Rating:
Summary: A White Knuckle Adventure
Review: I have always wondered what it might have been like in heaven prior to Lucifer's fall. Lacking the imagination necessary, this book brought the whole scene alive for me. I found the book to be totally believable, not so outrageous that it could never have happened.

Dr. Shafer did not twist nor did he distort the Bible but used the Bible masterfully to bring his characters and his story to life. He is not writing the Bible - God already did that - but has expanded the possibilities and takes you right into the holy of holies with all the majesty of God's very presence. Even in this setting, the deceit, lies, and manipulations of Satan were present. What a concept.

Dr. Shafer has brought a fresh and new look to a two thousand-year-old story. I will be looking at Satan and sin in a whole new way. Now when I read the Old Testament it literally comes alive for me. Dr. Shafer has given me a "minds eye view" of how the Fall might have happened. I can't wait to read the whole series so I can see how Dr. Shafer skillfully weaves the story line to connect the four parts into a whole.

This is a must read series. I hope we see a lot more of Dr. Shafer in the years to come!

Rating:
Summary: good FICTIONAL account
Review: I rarely read Christian fiction. Partly because I think the authors take liberties with Scripture that are really disconcerting at times (this is especially true with end-times fiction) and partly because I've found that a lot of the Christian authors are just not very good writers. However, the topic of this particular book was just too intriguing for me to pass up. In the end, I was pleasantly surprised.

In this first part of his Chronicles Of The Host series, Schafer speculates as to what might have happened in heaven at the time of Satan's demise and subsequent exile from heaven. How exactly did Lucifer come to challenge God? How was he able to get a third of the hosts of heaven to join him? What is heaven like for angels? What exactly was Lucifer thinking? These are questions that Schafer tries to discuss in this splendid narrative.

The story is well written and the characters are well developed. Not only do you get a glimpse into Lucifer's "thinking," but you also understand more of the angels' relationships to God and each other.

The story begins around the time that Lucifer may have started getting the idea of overthrowing heaven and the subsequent political turmoil that ensues. It ends with the fall of man and the promise of a new hope from God.

All in all, this was a very entertaining and a thought-provoking read. I look forward to reading the rest of the novels in this series. I just hope that people who read them take into account that this is fiction and speculation. It should not be taken too literally. I think that people sometimes get Christian fiction confused with the realities of Scripture.

Rating:
Summary: A Really Great Read!
Review: I think Shafer did a tremendous job of writting a very believable story about the rebellion of Lucifier and his followers that came across as being credible. Shafer did a super job of melding the main theories that scholars believe motivated Lucifer and a third of the host of heaven to rebel against God.

I only gave it 4 stars because I was disappointed that Shafer used the "dumb blonde" theory to explain why Eve succumbed to the devil while portraying Adam as the innocent victim of Eve's nasty disposition. There are far superior interpretations of the book of Genesis and the fall of mankind then that one. So that was disappointing.

Other then that it was a good read.

Rating:
Summary: It's all about perspective....
Review: Not since C.S. Lewis' THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS has the veil been lifted to expose us to the spiritual realm. Typically, when I ask my students what happened before the creation of the world, most stare back with blank faces and say, 'Nothing.' Not any more.

This book clearly describes the spiritual world before the creation of the physical. The spiritual laws and the principles of dominion transfer are absolutely foundational for understanding God's universal plan and purpose.

Thanks Brian Schafer for this macro view of the spiritual/physical realm interface which is very timely. I have to confess, my first thought was that this story would make a great movie......who needs the movie after realizing that we are participants in the greater story, because the battle rages on.

Rating:
Summary: Understanding Satan
Review: The angels could have been written a bit more alien to my liking (in their behavior and actions), but he isn't a sci-fi writer. They are a bit too human. It is written very respectfully of all characters and I don't know if it was intention or lack of skill or inspiration, but even the fallen Lucifer lacks the impact of evil one would expect. It really does try to understand him and is communicated well that even he doesn't understand why he is the way he is. Part of him does want to be like he knows he should, but he just can't. I think the author may have either read Milton or subconsiously is attracted by our dear fellow himself. He wrote God really well, very transcendent and out-there somewhere while the angels do his business. It even seems a struggle for the angels to know & fellowship with him and might be discouraged except for that which is built into them to be drawn to him and worship him. The stations of the angels are rather interesting. Stations: WOrship, War, teaching, some more too. It struck me right away why God would have to train angels for War unless he was planning to stage one (which we know he did), for nothing is hinted that they ever had to use this knowledge of warring nor did any other creation exist upon which one might have the possibility to war. Lucifer was the head angel over Worship. I liked the artist's license where Lucifer writes secret prophecies about himself (Biblically sound tho), which are actually not really that, even though they do come to pass, because his drive and will are tremendous and he makes them come to pass. The story takes you thru the fall of Adam and Eve. I saw a lot of potential here, but I think he fell a bit short on the passion of these too and again, Satan is center stage and you CAN'T WAIT to see how he will do what you know he is going to do. I did like the way he wrote of the angel's love and dedication to God (indeed, they are magnificent, as well as sad in their blind following - also realists, as they know there is no other choice, so why not just accept one's lot.) Their love and sadness for Lucifer is expressed quite well, but also their disappointment and puzzlement of why he must be who he is. I wonder what denomination this pastor is, because the Abyss is there, but no Hell mentioned. Anyway, I can't wait to get the rest of the books and am looking 4ward to Lucifer's progression toward more evil and the management of his new Kingdom.
Xtians as well as Traditional Satanists will gladly devour these books. Ave! Satanas ps for something completely different try : The Devils Apocrypha by De Vito.

Rating:
Summary: Understanding Satan
Review: The angels could have been written a bit more alien to my liking (in their behavior and actions), but he isn't a sci-fi writer. They are a bit too human. It is written very respectfully of all characters and I don't know if it was intention or lack of skill or inspiration, but even the fallen Lucifer lacks the impact of evil one would expect. It really does try to understand him and is communicated well that even he doesn't understand why he is the way he is. Part of him does want to be like he knows he should, but he just can't. I think the author may have either read Milton or subconsiously is attracted by our dear fellow himself. He wrote God really well, very transcendent and out-there somewhere while the angels do his business. It even seems a struggle for the angels to know & fellowship with him and might be discouraged except for that which is built into them to be drawn to him and worship him. The stations of the angels are rather interesting. Stations: WOrship, War, teaching, some more too. It struck me right away why God would have to train angels for War unless he was planning to stage one (which we know he did), for nothing is hinted that they ever had to use this knowledge of warring nor did any other creation exist upon which one might have the possibility to war. Lucifer was the head angel over Worship. I liked the artist's license where Lucifer writes secret prophecies about himself (Biblically sound tho), which are actually not really that, even though they do come to pass, because his drive and will are tremendous and he makes them come to pass. The story takes you thru the fall of Adam and Eve. I saw a lot of potential here, but I think he fell a bit short on the passion of these too and again, Satan is center stage and you CAN'T WAIT to see how he will do what you know he is going to do. I did like the way he wrote of the angel's love and dedication to God (indeed, they are magnificent, as well as sad in their blind following - also realists, as they know there is no other choice, so why not just accept one's lot.) Their love and sadness for Lucifer is expressed quite well, but also their disappointment and puzzlement of why he must be who he is. I wonder what denomination this pastor is, because the Abyss is there, but no Hell mentioned. Anyway, I can't wait to get the rest of the books and am looking 4ward to Lucifer's progression toward more evil and the management of his new Kingdom.
Xtians as well as Traditional Satanists will gladly devour these books. Ave! Satanas ps for something completely different try : The Devils Apocrypha by De Vito.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book
Review: This novel is poorly written, poorly edited, and poorly conceived. It has a respectable - and obvious - agenda, but does that agenda a great disservice.

First, the book is full of grammatical errors and misused words. For example, Shafer consistently uses the word "parameter" incorrectly in place of "perimeter" and he has real problems with subjective, objective, and reflexive pronouns (his editor should be ashamed).

Second, Shafer's Bible scholarship is questionable: characters refer to Eve by name long before she and Adam are cast out of Eden (in the Bible, she isn't named until after God discovers that they've eaten the forbidden fruit); characters refer to animals in Eden by name before Adam is created (Adam is the one who actually names the animals); Adam & Eve are forbidden to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil AND the fruit of the tree of life (in the Bible, God only forbids them to eat of the former, but evicts them from Eden so they won't eat the fruit of the latter). I understand that Shafer is writing about events that might have happened, but he could have worked much harder to reconcile his additions to the story with what is told in the Bible.

Third, Shafer includes debates and logical discussions throughout the book, but the logic he uses is replete with fallacies and holes. After Lucifer asks several non-rhetorical questions, another character remarks that Lucifer speaks the truth (questions can be neither true nor false, only valid or invalid - it's the answers to those questions that are true or false). The debate that takes place near the end of the book is little more than a barrage of ad hominem fallacies, name-calling, and red herrings. All of this is pointless, though, since faith is not dependent on logic.

All in all, this book was very disappointing, and I would encourage anyone seeking good Christian literature to look elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: great book, interesting point of view
Review: This was an excellent book and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It really puts an interesting twist on the way your perceive angels and the heavenly realm, etc. I really like the way the characters were written and developed. If you've read the Left Behind books, Lucifer will be a spitting image of Nicolae Carpathia (antichrist), and you know what? They are one in the same.

The only reason I give this book 4 stars instead of five is because, it didn't have me reading it to the point where I couldn't put it down. It was very interesting and fun to read and I really enjoyed it, but as I say, it wasn't a one sitting read.

This book was based on a lot of good knowledge and not stuff that was just thrown out there. Something I really liked about this book was that it was so applicable to our own lives. I like the message that says we are supposed to be like Gabriel and Micheal and just keep our trust in the lord no matter what the situation (at least that's one of the messages I got out of it). Also, you can't even begin to question God's plan, which is what Lucifer did, and he got in a whole heap of trouble, to understate the situation.

So anyway, if you want a very good book about heaven, the angels, Lucifer, the creation, Pick up this book and give it a read. I haven't had the chance to finish this series so I'm looking forward to reading the next books.