Rating: Summary: Half way through and regretting that I ever cracked the book Review: Run away now, while you still have the chance. At very least, check this one out at the library, don't buy it.While the premise is intriguing, the plot, dialog and character development are very poor. Definitely far below the quality of the 'Left Behind' series.
Rating: Summary: Insulting Review: The idea was interesting. That's the one star of this review. But as far as fiction goes, the rest is lacking in everything. Plot is ridiculous, characters are weak and unrealistic, dialogue is no stronger than a made-for-TV movie, and even more shocking.. there are countless grammatical mistakes littered throughout the novel.
If you are an intellegent person, your reading dollar belongs in better reading. Consider "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown, as this series seems to be a retaliatory effort gone horribly bad targeted at that eye-opener. I strongly urge you to pursue a more objective (and less ludicrous!) piece of fiction.
Rating: Summary: For a Christian reader, this is a must Review: The story itself, that of Babylon Rising by Tim LaHaye, is a modern day search for ancient secrets of the Bible. The story has the main characters searching for the serpent rod that Mose held up for the Israelites during the time in the wilderness. Driven by a mysterious benefactor, the main character Murphey must go through a spider web of intrigue and danger that costs him much, but as long as God is on his side, there is strength and peace to get through anything the World tries to throw at him (and us). For those of you who might not remember about the serpent headed pole, let me explain. While there is no scripture for the following explaination, any good literature (i.e. Babylon Rising in this instance) tends to take the truth of the Bible and then imagine "what ifs". This item ties into the time of Daniel when he and the other Jews were forced to become slaves of the Babylonian empire by punishment from God to the Jews for their turning their backs on God. Of course, if you know your Bible history and theology, just like everything God does, there was a reason and there was good that came out of this enslavement. First off, this is not a Left Behind book, in that while it goes through both Biblical history and Biblical prophecies, this doesn't work like the LB books in that there isn't a "prophecy" by "prophecy" score card. A lot of leway was placed into this series. From what I know, seeing the website, this series will lead up to the Rapture (Pre-Trib rapture). However, I do not know if you will be seeing some of the vilains from the LB series. Secondly, to understand where T LaHaye is going with this series, you do need some basic understanding of both the books of Moses and their histories, and with the book of Daniel. Now there wont be any quizes at the end of each chapter, but if you are like me, and you take the Bible literally, then you wont find the adventure of this book too off the deep end. In fact, if you are a literal-Bible believing Christian, you almost have to welcome the fascination of what TL is doing with his new series. With those two thoughts in mind, I'd like to give some of my thoughts about the book as a whole. I find it an excellent book, I realize that its no Indiana Jones in point blank action, nor is it literally fantastique like oh say the League of the Extraordinary Gentlemen. Still, the writing is clear cut, the flow from one chapter to the next is soothing and exciting both at the same time. Soothing in that there is a good transition from one chapter to the next, and exciting because it circulates the actions of the main characters and suporting characters to the point that you begin a pinwheel of anticipation to see how it all will go together (though this is the first book in a series so I am speculating you wont see a clear cut ending by the end of the book for yourself). On the down side, the main character and his wife, soon to be dead wife, in the first book of the series, are not discussed in great detail. There is a lot to be said, though, in letting the reader gain an understanding by actions instead of merely shooting out paragraph to paragraph in describing minute detail because, in the air of the book being an exciting romp, details tend to boggly down the flow. And as I stated earlier, there is a great flow. Also, there are for some of you who may roll your eyes at conspiracy buffs, the understanding that the Christians are the main good guys and the nonChristians, out-to-get-any-Christian secret society, are the bad guy. I myself have no problem with that, I may not believe that right now as I speak there is a clandestine group getting together behind PapaJones Pizza off of interstate 56, or in Scotland, or in NYC for that matter, I do however know that there is as the Bible clearly states a Spirit of the AntiChrist and Satan Himself that is in this world and has desciples that try to destroy what God Himself has to say through not just the Bible as Holy Scriptures, but through fine and Biblically literate Christians. But to get back to the point, the book is a fine book for those who enjoy Christian novels. There is action, there is proChristian actions, there is soul searching revelations, and there is firm Biblical ground to walk on. I would highly suggest anyone who has enjoyed the Left Behind series should now read the Babylon Rising Series.
Rating: Summary: Not well written or researched Review: There are several things about this book which lead me to recommend that you don't waste your time or money. I agree with many of the previous reviewers in that the characters lack any sort of development with the possible exception of Dr. McDonald. The dialog is flat and stilted. The plot is unbelievable in too many places. I counted up at least 10 places where the authors used implausible "cartoon science" more appropriate of Roadrunner cartoons than of the real world (e.g. tumbling irregular object "floating" in a blast of air in an open space requires some rather implausible fluid dynamics beyond the limitations of the passive ventilation systems documented for the pyramids of Egypt; incorrect destruction dynamics and damage from the explosion; the net as described would have collasped when Murphy fell into it from the roof; Laura's physiological survival and decline do not match up with the nature of her injury; the second falcon's dive at PFF takes less time than the 5 seconds it should have taken; bronze is cast and braised, not forged nor welded, and the bronze serpent would not break by merely being struck with a hammer, etc.). Some of the situations described in the book are equally as implausible (e.g., Murphy essentially trashes two archaeological sites with his early 19th century "dig and destroy" archaeological techniques - something no real archaeologist would do; sonar is for use in water, seismic and GPR are for use on land; any archer who has flown with their bow can tell you that no airline permits bow cases as carry-ons - bows must be checked; the serpent's head can't be lost for all time at the bottom of an "abyss" when it's clear that it will land in the bottom of the chamber; etc.). While the Left Behind series certainly suffered from cartoon science and implausible happenings, none of those books are anywhere near as sloppy as Babyon Rising in this regard. If you want a good Christian-oriented read, skip this book and pick up the Christ Clone trilogy.
Rating: Summary: horror and gore Review: This book begins where the Left Behind Series ended....going downhill! A real disappointment. Much like our modern day television this book accents violence and murder. I think the authors wrote from the "wrong side" of the meaning of Christianity. This book leaves me with a bad taste and I would not recommend it to anyone. In the beginning the characters are so unrelated that it is a puzzle to even read and until your almost through the book, do you begin to connect them. Switching back and forth from one character to the other and into different eras is totaly distracting and disconnecting. Hopefully in the future the authors will use their knowledge to promote the Love of Christ and not focus on using evil as a tool to "make money and sell books"!
Rating: Summary: Bad, bad, bad Review: This book is a Christianity-influenced attempt to recreate an Indiana Jones style adventure. The book is written in an infantile fashion. The protagonist succeeds at everything in a very cheezy manner. The book finished with a sort of "stay tuned" message that forces you to dish out more money to finish the story. Over all this book is very bad.
Rating: Summary: Babylon Rising Review: This book was a great read just like the rest of his books. Michael is a wonderful character. It had the same affect on me as the Left Behind series. Babylon Rising will keep you up reading for hours and hours. I dont know what else to say excpet that if you haven't read it yet. Get a copy of it and read it. It's has all the action like "Lara Croft's Tomb Raider" and has the Christian aspect to it. Enjoy!
Rating: Summary: Babylon Risible Review: This is possibly the worst book I've ever bought. How did La Haye's editor ever allow this mess? The characters and action are low-grade comic book. Behaviours range from sanctimonious to psycho-hysterical, with none of it remotely credible. Even the lion doesn't act believably. I found myself wondering whether it was a self parody, like "True Lies" -- but without any wit. Multiplying the florid, overblown and hackneyed events is La Haye's mind numbing repetitiveness, as if by belaboring his pseudo-facts he can somehow make them sound true. When he compounded these abuses by adding pompous proselytizing, I brought out the gong.
Rating: Summary: Definitely Christian Fiction Review: This is the first novel of a new series written by the co-author of "Left Behind." The time is the present (before the events of Left Behind) and the characters are different. The main character, Michael Murphy, is a biblical archaeologist whose main goal in life is to find historical evidence supporting the biblical record. His latest goal is to locate the brazen serpent that Moses crafted in the wilderness in order to heal the people from their snake bites. The antagonists want that same serpent for more nefarious purposes. This results in, among other things, the murder of Murphy's wife.
This book needs about another 100 pages to flush it out. The pace of the action is breathtaking but a lot is left behind as a result. My suspension of disbelief meter was off the chart and because of that I would rate the book poorly in accomplishing its goal. Obviously LaHaye believes in the Bible and believes that it recounts true events but in writing such a poorly construed novel he undermines its credibility. Do Christians need to dream up such fanciful events to support their faith? Overall LaHaye fails in his goal which he states in a note to the reader: "fiction is a powerful way for me to share with readers some of what I find so completely fascinating about end times prophecies." He could learn something from Marshal McLuhan who said "the medium is the message."
Rating: Summary: A mockery Review: This is what happens when non-Christians try to cash in on a successful series (Left Behind) by teaming Lahaye, whom everyone knows never wrote a word of fiction (it was all Jerry Jenkins) with a writer who's never writen for the intended market -- namely Christians. They missed the sensibilites of the market by a mile. Not suprising -- it's like trying to write a novel in German without first learning how to speak German. Lahaye can't write and Dinallo can't write Christian. The story is about as unbelievable as they get. The charaters are paper thin and the plot doesn't challange us. There's nothing here for a Christian to sink thier teeth into, other than a sermon in a classroom by the hero. In fact, the plot undermines prophecy by reducing it to a series of pop, bang, smack, 'take-that' punches you'd expect in a comic book. Believe it or not, Christians what authenticity in thier fiction, not something that is reminiscent of the Scorpian King. Please. Two Stars for hoping they can salvage something out of this mess.
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