Rating: 
Summary: Milking It...
Review: Seems to me the authors of the Left Behind series are milking it for everything it's worth. I've been a loyal fan of the series but The Remnant was very disappointing. It left me wondering how I'd get through another year (and two more books) of the Tribulation.
Rating: 
Summary: Possibly the best in the series
Review: The Remnant, Left Behind Book 10, could possibly be the best book in the series. The story line continues right off from the last book and we are left breathless as Carpathia drops the bombs on Petra. What is to happen to the inhabbitants of the city of stone?The book carries you through the rescue attempts for the captured George Sebastian. Carpathia is in full force now deploying hundreds of false prophets across the world. The co-op is finally up and going, with a few bumps along the way. Sadly, the safe house is now compromised and several of our favorite Trib Force members are now on the run. Slowly but surely, the planet hurtles into Armageddon with the Bowl Judgments coming faster (Oceans of Blood and worse) and more severely than ever, leaving the planet in total disarray. Will the Trib Force be able to last until the Glorious Appearing? Find out as you take the most thrilling ride of the century in The Remnant: On the Brink of Armageddon. May our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Bless you all!
Rating:
Summary: Better than 9, but .........try the "Christ Clone" Trilogy
Review: If you read my review on book 9, it will pretty much cover also this book in the series. It is sad to see such a wonderful series slipping downhill as it is. However, I feel the authors are at a point that they really can't go much further. After all, we re speaking of THE end and the characters of this book are no different than we too shall be. Over and done. At this point, it is death as we know it here on earth, and it is time for these characters to admit they have no where else to go. As much as this had been great series (up to a point) it is now over and should be put to rest before it is ruined by being strung out to totally loss of all enjoyment. Instead of everyone saying, "I can't wait for the next book" or "Oh, great, the new one is out" we will be hearing, "What! Another one!" or "Oh no, not another one!". Chalk up your credits and kudos to the writers for the work they did, but say bye bye now. And, again, in the future, please do not insult he readers and make them feel as if you are attempting to pass off a 'book' to them by making 3 inch margins and type large enough to read from across the room, as you have done in the past few books of the series...... I highly recommend anyone who did enjoy these to turn now to the "Christ Clone" Trilogy. Although it is in a bit of a different league than the "Left Behind" series, it is very interesting, stimulating and again leaving the reader with desire to know more, learn more and study the Word of our Lord more. Having done this, and having anyone turn to the Word, is a blessing and I admire the authors for having done something as wonderful as that. Christians always need to learn more, and non-Christians will now be exposed to the most wonderful knowledge of all.
Rating:
Summary: Very Well Balanced
Review: This book is one of the best in the series. I bought it on the day it was released and have read through it in less than 48 hours. This book was definitely very well balanced between action and character building. It also moved over a much greater time span (over a year) than the last two. While the character building does slow things down, it is not nearly as tedious as it was in THE ASSASINS and THE INDWELLING. It also adds more action and more of the end time's plagues which makes the book more appealing. All in all, I say that Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye have finally gone back to what made the series so popular to begin with. Strong deep characters with a lot of action and suspense. If you had trouble getting through the last few books in the series, skip them and get the one.
Rating:
Summary: A Definite Must Read
Review: I just finished the 10th book in the Left Behind series, The Remnant. Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins will not let you down in this installment. It spans alot more time than the other books in this series which usually only cover a month at a time, but this one covers quite a few months if not a year. Once I picked this book up I wasn't able to put it down until I was finished. The story line will definitely keep you on your toes and turning those pages to find out what happens next. Carpathia has become something of a madman, as if he wasn't one already, but even he goes over the top in this book. You'll get follow the adventures of the majority of the Tribulation Force as they try to prepare for the Glorious appearing that is about 3 years away and swiftly approaching. Again, time flies by swiftly in this book, and yet, it doesn't. You can spend two chapters just covering 2 days, and then skip several months while every one lays low. I highly recommened anyone who loves the Left Behind series to go buy this book ASAP!!
Rating: 
Summary: Story Drags
Review: The man who reads this book is not a great reader, he makes an exciting story drag.
Rating:
Summary: The Remnant -- some great material yet remains!
Review: For those who think I'm one of the millions of die-hard Left Behind freakazoids who believe that Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins simply can do no wrong, I beg to differ. I was sorely disappointed with book 9's abandonment of everything I had liked about the series' preceding volumes. All of a sudden, every single character sounded the same; they made the same kind of wisecracks even in the most stressful apocalyptic situations -- archangel appearances, oceans turned to blood. Everything went too fast. Nothing was described -- just dialogue, action narrative in a somewhat-stilted style. What the heck did Petra look like anyway? Most readers have never actually been there, after all. ... (In retrospect, I think what threw me most about book 9 was its sudden expansion from four to five principle viewpoint characters -- Rayford, Buck, David, Leah, Tsion -- to well over a dozen. But that may be just because I'm a picky reader and I want everything to be perfectly consistent. ...) But I have to give a full five stars to The Remnant. Somebody, perhaps the archangel Michael, must have gotten to the author(s) and voiced all of my same concerns about the series' declining literary quality. ... In The Remnant, the cast of viewpoint characters grows even more, and half of the thing is devoted to the (attempted) rescue of one believer hostage. But still, everything is much better. Of course, the book does begin somewhat predictably. After all, if all these millions of people are trapped in the canyon-walled ancient city with no hope at all, no way out except by a miracle, what do you think is going to happen? Probably a miracle. Noteworthy, though, to "secular" readers: don't think the authors "cheat" with miracles. This book has more of the miraculous than any of the previous -- and yet it seems to stay plausible! But my major beefs about the series' preceding novel are all but eradicated. The characters act differently, and seem to speak in different ways. They don't all sound like the author this time -- and now they aren't as handy with awesome comebacks during stressful apocalyptic situations, such as being at gunpoint. The Global Community forces, especially Leon Fortunato, are not buffoons -- now they've received intelligence injections, they're big and scary, formidable foes. When things happen, they're described! Finally, we "see" the oceans/blood from the air. When freshwater rivers turn to blood, we see them ... we know what people are wearing, what their hair and skin looks like ... we "feel" the heat from the scorching Fourth Vial Judgment. The author(s) actually use italics, capital letters -- the narrative gets excited about things. When people die, you feel the hurt this time. So way to go, authors. And readers, get this book -- if you put down Desecration halfway through, don't continue to be disillusioned: just retrieve it and finish it quickly, then pick up The Remnant and prepare to be pleasantly amazed. As far as I'm concerned, the series has now redeemed itself -- and it deserves its popularity.
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: Christian Propaganda
Review: This series of novels is inspired by "The Revelation to John", the last book in the New Testament, the third section of the Bible, the Christian holy book. "The Revelation to John" (which is often misnamed "The Book of Revelations") tells the Christian myth of what will happen at the end of the world. Basically, the authors took this story, which is barely 20 pages long, and turned it into a series of 12 novels plus a spin-off series that deals with kids. The Christian view is that only the people that believe that Jesus lived 2,000 years ago and died for their sins will be saved and receive an eternal reward in Heaven. What makes this worse is that individual merit based on good or evil deeds is not taken into consideration, because Christians believe that human beings cannot be put right with God except through Jesus. Christians believe that they are saved through faith alone; no amount of good works can win God's approval. So, all of the people that don't believe in Jesus will receive an eternal punishment in Hell, regardless of how many good deeds they do and how caring they are to other people. Meanwhile, the Christians will be saved no matter how evil they behave, because they've got Jesus on their side. "The Revelation to John" tells of an event known as the Rapture: all of the Christians are taken up to Heaven, and everyone else is left behind on Earth. After an event known as the Tribulation and world rule by someone known as the Anti-Christ, Jesus finally returns to Earth and defeats his enemies. Then the old Heaven and the old Earth go away, and a new Heaven and a new Earth are established - with God as King, of course. This took 20 pages in the Bible. Imagine reading the same story stretched over thousands of pages. As a non-Christian, I'm alarmed at what I consider to be an evil religion perpetuated by zealous idiots. Christians base their beliefs on documents that are close to 2,000 years old but don't quite date back to the time period that the events within allegedly occured. There is no physical evidence of the existence of Jesus. There are no non-Christian records of Jesus (not even in Roman execution records). There are no records by astrologists of the time period that describe such an event as that which supposedly occured during Jesus' crucifixion. I belief that the reason that Christianity has endured and grown as much as it has is because it's the only religion in the world that threatens the non-believer with an eternal punishment. Christianity is, at its core, a religion that rewards the "yes" people and punishes the nonconformists. The Bible itself orders Christians to spread the religion throughout the world. Christians feels that it's their duty to convert all non-Christians to Christianity. They pity non-Christians and "pray for their souls". They place themselves into a group of the elite - the saved. They start missions to convert the "heathen" non-Christians and "bring them over to Jesus". The Roman Catholic Church even has a division, called Propaganda, that specifically tries to establish churches in non-Christian nations. An example of a Christian mission is this book series. The authors are trying to bring readers to Jesus through these novels, which have, sadly, become best-sellers. I think that Christians should abort their missions and just leave people of other religions in peace. I'm so glad that there are billions of non-Christians in the world. It would be horrible if the Christians converted everyone. The world needs a balance of beliefs. Otherwise, it would lose its diversity. If you want to read a good book of a battle between good and evil, then read "The Stand: The Complete & Uncut Edition" by Stephen King. It tells a similar story, only better and in only 1,000 pages. The premise is that a superflu kills millions of people (we don't see what's going on in the whole world, just the United States), and those that are left band into two opposing camps of good and evil. The thing that makes King's book a lot better than this series is that no explanation is ever given for why these people are immune to the superflu. All types of people are left behind, both Christians and non-Christians. The authors of the "Left Behind" series make it seem like the world would fall into chaos if all of the Christians disappear, which is ludicrous. King wisely avoids this in his book. Buy it and enjoy it. Skip the "Left Behind" series. If you want to know what happens, take an hour to read "The Revelation to John".
Rating:
Summary: The Big Let Down in the Series Begins....
Review: I guess it had to happen. Books Six, Seven, Eight and Nine were absolutely excellent. Halfway through this book, I was getting excited about what was promising to be a strong end to the series. But as I noted, halfway through this book, everything hit the brick wall with a loud, resounding splat. The first half of this book continues an excellent storyline, and continues working phenomenal character growth. But for some odd reason, this book quickly degenerates into a Bible tract. Much like Books Four and Five, the second half of this book destroys the excellent promise and progress of Six through Nine. I have hopes that things will turn around in the last two books of the series, but somehow I see the preachy Bible tract aspect continue through to the end. What a shame if it does...this series had so much potential to be more than just a scare tactic towards witnessing.
|
