Millennium Rising

Rating:
Summary: Has Millennium Rising mutated into Judgment Day?
Review: This seems to be a re-titled re-release of Jensen's terrific first novel, Millennium Rising. Preachers and prophets of many faiths gather in a tiny Mexican village where they are visited by visions of Armageddon. As each hurries back to his or her flock they set in motion events that will either save or doom them as cataclysmic events wreak havoc on the world. Is it the end of the world or is there a vast international conspiracy that has set in motion events that could get entirely out of control? Father Michele Deauchez was at Santa Pelagria but even though he had the visions (uniquely tailored for each participant) his cynicism leads him on a quest to visit as many of the world's spiritual leaders he can find. Starting out like an end of the world apocalyptic novel it wraps up in the finest of SF tradition.

Rating:
Summary: Good Judgment
Review: This was a quite enjoyable page-turner. I'm surprised that it didn't make more of a a stir when it was originally released as Millenium Rising (Judgment Day is a better and more appropriate title) a few years ago (by that I mean, How did I misss it?). It is an interesting and novel blend of religion/bible/prophecy based fiction (theo-fi?), medical thriller, Armageddon-Ragnarok-type end-of-the-world thiller and plain old SF. There are some interesting characters, some of which are a little more than every-so slightly stereotyped (still, you have to love the Tibetan monk) and the plot is interesting if you can overlook a couple of largish holes (which I was happy to do), with a couple of cute twists.

In places it sort of reminded me of scenes from a kind of G-rated Stephen King or Michael Crichton novel. So, with no sex and very little gore or violence, those of you with who don't like that sort of stuff can feel free to dive right in.

I think this is a new writer with a lot of talent and imagination and look forward to more of her work.

Rating:
Summary: Phenomenal!
Review: When I first started reading this book, I thought it was another typical end-of-times thriller. But after getting about 50 pages in I got hooked and read it through to the end. Very thought provoking! Scary!

Rating:
Summary: Engrossing
Review: When I picked up MILLENNIUM RISING I expected a cash-in-on-the-year-2000 disaster novel, but author Jane Jensen does a considerably better job than that in her account of a global apocalypse apparently triggered by the wrath of God. A Vatican skeptic is Jensen's unlikely protagonist--a Catholic priest who is dispatched by the Pope to debunk reports of miracles. But in this case he isn't sure whether he's looking at the world's biggest fraud, or the genuine apocalypse. This is quite an engrossing book, although like many disaster novels it surges and crashes on just a bit too long, and events eventually stretched my suspension of disbelief past the breaking point. (Please, would somebody write a global disaster novel that does NOT prominently feature the U.S. President! ) Still, not a bad read, and interesting for some of its observations about religious zealotry.