Score: (94/100) 9.4 out of 10
Fifty-Three Tuesdays by GK Nakata explores a fascinating what-if scenario: what would happen if a respected lawyer & politician were to have an affair with someone whom the rest of the world might be ashamed of? The book follows Glenn, the aforementioned lawyer & politician, who finds himself enamored with a bargirl named Maya. While Glenn isn't the archetypal bar clients, neither is Maya. Maya is naive, shy, and actually very human. What's amazing about this this book is that it portrays red-light district & adult workers as very human. Why wouldn't they be? They are human like the rest of us, full of doubts, fears, hopes, dreams, ambitions, inhibitions, apprehensions, and motivations as well as having friends, family, and even pets of their own. They aren't “bad people” or subhuman because of the work they do. They're trying to make a living like the rest of us. They want a better life like the rest of us. In this sense, this book is comparable to Silver Lights by Michelle Lynn which focused on the opposite (hostess) perspective and humanized them. The more we've gotten to know people who've done adult films, the more we've come to realize that they're usually good people who just happen to do work that society deems dark or questionable. Some even raise money for charities and champion things like conservation and compassion. Who would've thought? This is in perfect contrast to Glenn, a damaged human being who has long tried to hold up an upstanding public image (for the sake of his career) and marriage (to his estranged wife, Katie). Glenn retreats to a bar run by Mama Linh, a fascinating character in her own right. Mama Linh is dynamic as both a cutthroat businesswoman and as a motherly figure who actually cares about the well-being of Glenn and her girls, above just exploiting them for financial gain. So, on one hand, she's a bit of a pimp, on the other hand, she's the closest thing to a mom that many of her girls have. In fact, it is even implied that she becomes the de facto godmother to many of the girls' children and grandchildren after they move on with their lives. Imagine that: these girls have lives. The poetic irony of all of this is that much of what the bargirls do is a front—a facade—not all that different from what Glenn did as a public defendant (sometimes for some unscrupulous people) and eventually as a public official and politician. A lot of it is an act. What the public doesn't see is often times the real, genuine person, and it's nothing like the idealized version that shows up on an Instagram feed, another aspect of this story which is played up. Glenn, who holds positions you'd normally associate with an alpha-male archetype, is actually the exact opposite of that. Deep down inside, he is damaged, vulnerable, weak, and unsure of himself. He is a mama's boy with trust issues and a profound fear of abandonment that stems from his very harsh upbringing, seeing his mother beaten by his father and resorting to eating grass due to the situation his father put them in. So, his thoughts, feelings, and actions are very understandable, although Glenn does prove to be a very frustrating protagonist despite this. Maya seems to be a very kindred soul to Glenn, although younger. Her life story was very similar to his, suffering abuse and poverty as well. Maya has a lot of things that make her very relatable. For one, she seems to be motivated to do what she does in order to help her sick mother and impoverished family overseas as well as to take care of herself and her “four-legged son,” Rusty. She also suffers from a sinus condition caused by plastic surgery and seems apprehensive to take any money from Glenn, who she genuinely seems to view as a good and likely confused man. However, how much of this is manipulation and an act—a fantasy? How much of this is genuine and real? Those questions seem to dominate this book from beginning to end. Interestingly, while we mostly get Glenn's perspective and thoughts, we also occasionally get glimpses into Maya's thoughts as well. The problem is: Glenn can't read Maya's thoughts and vice-versa, so misunderstandings are prevalent. That's one of the keys to a good romance. The only problem with that is, it seems to happens over and over again. There's only so many times you can go back to the same well before it runs dry. In other words, it kinda gets old. Glenn and Maya have so many falling out moments, it almost because comedic after a while. Because of these misunderstandings, both characters venture out and try their hands with other partners, some good, some ok, and some downright nasty. One of the most interesting of these is apparently a conscientious hooker who actually ends up counseling Glenn a bit. It's actually both interesting and hilarious to think that this hooker starts giving him romantic advice. The other thing that keeps happening over and over again is that the characters keep eating. The characters are constantly sitting at a table and eating. Yes, we understand that some of these dishes are culturally significant and show that the cook actually cares about the person trying the dish, but... how many more times do we have to read about it? The writing is usually quite good, although it has its share of problems. For example, “most important” is used instead of “most importantly.” In another instance, there's the typo “Oh well, good chance to get know her friend” [SIC] with the word “to” clearly missing. The author does do some impressive things. Case in point: the text messages. The author actually took the time to craft the text messages like actual text messages. They even appear in boxes/bubbles the way they'd appear on your phone. We'll give him half a point for that alone. That demonstrates care and style. Similarly the broken English is handled so well. We know people—mostly immigrants—who talk like this. This is what some of them talk like. We'd like to mention that Gary Nakata brings some invaluable experience as an actual public official into this book to make it seem and feel all the more real. He is also very good at detailed descriptions, particularly of the female form. He really fleshes tings out and brings them to life. Our biggest complaint about this book by far is that it's JUST. TOO. LONG. Why is this ROMANCE novel nearly 700 pages, 120+ chapters, and probably 20+ hours long?! That seems far too long for this genre in the modern age. There are times when reading this book is absolutely exhausting. Yes, it's extremely interesting and the characters are great at times, but it's just too much. We get it. The author probably wrote it chapter by chapter over the course of several years and was probably inspired by multiple different experiences. We also get that it's not meant to be read in one sitting and that it provides a great value to the reader since they get to read what's essentially 3-5 books for the price of one book. However, the fact remains... could this not have been cut down to like 400 pages with a clear beginning, middle, and end? Did there need to be like a dozen misunderstandings, side-quests, and sub-plots? Yes, we also get that each of the other partners is a foil for the main characters. That's literature. But, could the author have decided on maybe one, two, or maybe three side partners? Eddie, Katie, and Caleb were enough. They taught the characters what they needed to know about what they wanted and didn't want in a partner. Everyone else seems to be superfluous. Ok, the conscientious hooker who wouldn't kiss anyone “with tongue” was funny, but the point remains. Overall, this is a solid book with some very commendable things, mostly interesting lead characters and an exotic style. Check this out on Amazon!
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Score: 93/100 (9.3 out of 10)
There are books that are practical and there are books that are entertaining, then there are books like The Irrelevant Old Brand that manage to be both. The Irrelevant Old Brand by Jim Huebner is a fictionalized account of a tired, old business that seems to be in the twilight of its lifespan, failing to keep up with trends and growing competition. This is, ironically, a very relevant book as we've seen many businesses bow out during the course of the pandemic. Even former powerhouses like K Mart, Sears, Toys R Us, and Blockbuster saw a steep decline after the turn of the century, largely due to the growing popularity of online shopping and streaming services. The fact of the matter is, you either stay relevant and adapt or you go the way of the dodo (extinct). That's one of the major points of the book and the meaning behind its title. However, the book is about more than that. It's about learning good business, maximizing strengths and limiting weaknesses in a work environment. This book is most like The Goal by the great Eliyahu Goldratt, both in that it's a lesson about business taught via a fictitious story and in its overall story. The book follows a disgruntled, old business owner named Bob as he seeks the aid of a business consultant named Peter, the book's protagonist. Through a series of interviews with the workers in the business, Peter is able to not only figure out what's going wrong with it, but also learns a few things himself (along with the audience). The audience will learn about the three P's of marketing: placement (distribution), product (in relation to quality), and price (in relation to value). You also learn about the pillars of a relevant brand, seen in the acronym GIVE: grateful and generous, inspired difference, value exceeds price, and endless quest. The one that stood out to us the most was the first one: G- grateful and generous. Customers and clients remember the businesses that took care of them and were good to them, even if it means paying a little more. This book is incredibly concerned with one key thing: value and the consumer satisfaction it brings. Peter continually emphasizes that people will pay more for a product that is well-built, safe, ships fast, and fresh as opposed to one that lacks heart and soul yet is cheaper. And that's not to say that this book is simply one big business lecture. It actually has human elements as well. For example, Bob's good reputation in the small town is very evident in the way he is looked at and is treated. His name is even listed as a sponsor for the local baseball team and he's a beloved patron of the local restaurant. There are some grittier, human moments as well like when Mary laughs about something exploding in the microwave or when there's a sudden, unexpected tragedy that shakes the workers to their core. There are also subtle things like descriptions of the way the BBQ smell sticks to you that make this story seem real. There are some small things that hold it back. Perhaps the most annoying thing about the book is that it lack indentations for new paragraphs and pieces of dialogue. It can be an eyesore at times, but it's not too bad. All in all, if you enjoyed The Goal by Elijah Goldratt, you will definitely enjoy and learn a lot from this book. Check it out on Amazon! Score: 94+/100 (9.4+ out of 10)
Hide and Seek Alphabet: With Australian Animals is a phenomenal children's book by author Anna Finch. Finch is a previous Outstanding Creator Awards winner and the author of one of the top 25 novels of 2022, Voiceless. With that said, our expectations were quite high, and Finch definitely delivered. This book features beautiful hand-drawn, hand-painted illustration as well as a really fun and engaging hide-and-seek gimmick for children. It also features some of the incredible animals of Australia (one of our favorite countries by far) and, thus, serves both an educational and an entertainment function. The animals in this book are all well-illustrated, colorful, unique, and eye-catching. The backgrounds also serve a special function in that they partly work to disguise the animals like an edition of Where's Waldo? Readers are expected to find and point out the animal and/or their associates (sometimes their friends and family). It's never really that difficult. At times, it's pretty obvious where animals are, and that's ok. With a children's book of this length, you don't want to linger on one page too long. If you do, you'll never finish in time for supper or bed! Kids will love pointing out where the animals are and the different things they notice and see on each page. Anna Finch definitely understands children's lit. Of the animals, the grand majority of them seem to be birds. Are you surprised? With a name like Finch... However, in all honesty, it was a relief and extra fun to see different animals from time to time like crocodiles, Tasmanian devils, dingos, honey possums, geckos, wombats, and weasel-like creatures called numbats. The author definitely loves her birds, though, and the birds might serve as a great example for kids (and adults alike) on how to differentiate between different types of animals in terms of taxonomy. As an aside, it was so cool to see magpies in here (all the way in Australia) as we often see them here in America as well. Another fun gimmick about this book is that it features the different sounds that animals make (phonetically). Kids will really enjoy trying to make these sounds, though you may have to take liberties as an adult on pronunciations on things like “chet, chet” and “warble, warble.” As mentioned before, this is quite long for a children's book at nearly 60 pages. However, that's not necessarily a bad thing. You're getting A LOT of good content. A lot of time and effort clearly went into every single one of these pages, and we appreciate it. You should definitely give this book a chance if you have kids or students who love animals! Check it out on Amazon! 94+/100 (9.4+ out of 10)
Sword of the Gray Champion is an adventure-filled historical fiction novel by Domenic Melillo. It is the sequel to Season of the Swords, one of our top three fiction books of 2022 and one of only five to score a 9.6/10. Domenic Melillo tied for "2022 Author of the Year." He also wrote the book that we considered the best romance of the year, A Major League Love. So, we were very stoked and excited for this book, and it succeeded in being fun, interesting, and entertaining. Many of us even read it twice! The book follows the Guardians of the Swords of Valor, fictionalized versions of Melillo's actual family members. The family work as a unit against the forces of evil led by Azazel, the “Watcher” demon inspired by the Book of Enoch who largely corrupted mankind. In the last novel, the Guardians gained possession of the powerful Swords of Valor, keeping them out of the grasp of the villainous Apostles of Azazel. They then used them to defeat the daunting Swords of Terror, thwarting Azazel's plans, for a while... However, barring the Second Coming, evil doesn't vanish, it transforms from one form to another. That's the lesser-known fifth law of evildynamics. In this book, the Apostles of Azazel take the form of an Illuminati-like secret society known as the Leviathan Alliance. Now, from our understanding, in The Bible and Judeo-Christian mysticism, Leviathan is viewed both as a monstrous, coiled, serpentine creature and as a demon of pride—one who coils itself around the hearts of men. Likewise, the Leviathan Alliance consists of some of the richest and most influential families in human history including the Plantagenets, the Julio-Claudian dynasty, the Medici family, and the Rothschilds. You also meet surprising and non-so-surprising members of the Leviathan Alliance throughout the course of the book while also meeting their natural opponents, the champions of freedom and liberty. You quickly realize that this incarnation of evil is the result of the cousins' tampering with history in the previous book, specifically keeping King Leonidas from dying at Thermopylae. This set in motion a chain of events that put the Leviathan Alliance into positions of power despite the defeat of the Swords of Terror. Along the way, the cousins meet the champions and voices of freedom and liberty throughout history including Cicero, Benjamin Franklin, and Samuel Adams. Cicero is a name we've read about several times, usually seen as one of the greatest orators of the ancient world. It is also fun to see Samuel Adams portrayed as a character after reading a biography about his family, Wild Colts Make the Best Horses by Mary Rae Mauch, our 2022 Non-Fiction Book of the Year. This book is filled to the brim with information. Melillo obviously loves history as much as we do, perhaps even more. It is incredibly interesting to read about all of these historical figures, events, and time periods. However, it does get cloying and overwhelming at times. This book is filled with exposition. There is so much exposition—so much explaining and teaching. Seemingly the entire first-third of the novel is one huge chunk of exposition. At least it's presented as dialogue, for the most part, and we receive it at the same time as the lead characters. It also gets a bit preachy and didactic. This can be a very heavy-handed book, and the teaching moments do slow down the pacing of the story quite a bit. Similar to the last book, it seems like after every mission, the characters have to reflect on the mission and what they learned. That sounds decent, but it can get on your nerves a bit, making you feel like you're in a classroom being lectured rather than reading a story. At least it somewhat invites you to engage with the text and its themes. You can also freely skip those parts if you want. At least this book has a point rather than being pointless, mindless entertainment. Something else we noticed is that this book is very formulaic when taking the last one into account. It's almost the same story, told in the same way and with similar beats (and the same restroom breaks and mentor-like characters). You do get to meet new and interesting historical figures, and what goes on with JFK really is a worthy climax of the story. Our expectations were subverted a bit by the evolution of those events. The John F. Kennedy arc really elevates this book. It is far and away the most interesting and action-packed thing that happens. Yes, there's a random gladiatorial battle and discussions of events like Bunker Hill, but the JFK arc has something over the other arcs: suspense. You really feel like this is a plan that could go wrong in more ways than one. That's a good thing. It supplies tension. One last thing we found challenging is that the family dynamics and identities of characters are sometimes confusing. It was difficult enough tracking all of the cousins, The Prophet, The Meglio, the holograph or “image” of the grandfather, and the grandfather himself, but now you have a great grandfather in here who commands much of the attention in the book. You also have a holograph or “image” of Catherine, the grandmother, and then Catherine herself. This might not sound confusing to the author who understands who all these family members are because they're based on his actual family, but it can be a labyrinthine maze for readers. It gets to the point where you might just start thinking along the lines of “so-and-so is explaining such-and-such to so-and-so after so-and-so got injured en route to meeting Julius Caesar.” This is partly the reason why we had to read the book more than once. It's sometimes hard to know who is who and what is what. Ultimately, this is the type of book that you'd want your kids to read rather than what's being shoved down their throats these days. American & Christian virtues and values—even basic rights and freedom—are deteriorating day by day. Books like these that champion the way things ought to be. Check it out on Amazon! Score: 93+/100 (9.3+ out of 10)
Heartspoken by Elizabeth Cottrel is a delightfully touching and spirited book about the art of crafting notes, cards, and letters. The key word there is art. The author approaches and presents the practice of writing to other people as an art form. It's a somewhat dying art with the prevalence of e-mail, smartphones, and social media. However, it still presents so many magnificent opportunities. We haven't felt this encouraged and this inspired to do something we didn't feel like doing since Dr. Judson Brandeis kept reminding us to get a check up from a doctor in his book. This essence of this book can be summarized in several of its beautiful quotes. For example, it follows the golden rule that “good begets good and gratitude begets gratitude.” However, our favorite quote in this entire book is that “getting a handwritten note is like getting a hug by mail.” That quote right there pretty much summarizes the heart and soul of this book. This is a book about opening up your heart and handwriting things for other people. It's a practice that goes back at least 2500 years to an Ancient Persian queen and possibly before that as papyrus and writing material became more available in places like China and Egypt. Many world leaders and business people to this day still write and dictate letter as well as common folk. Think about some of the great works of literature by the Brontes, for example, who exemplified this. Chess (correspondence chess) used to be played across continents this way over the course of months or years. Imagine that! In fact, our 2022 Non-Fiction Book of the Year, Wild Colts Make the Best Horses by Mary Rae Mauch was based on the letters of Abigail Adams, one of the founding mothers of the USA, who is mentioned in this book. That really punches home that letters and notes become our history—a record of human experiences and what happened before. If we were missing a lot of the letters of Napoleon and Josephine, we might understand a lot less about them and their relationship. Letters and notes reveal so much more—so many more intimate details—than a scribal record might. Something else that's great about this book is that it really does have practical uses. This is a self-help book, in a sense. It helps the reader to be mindful and empathetic about the feelings and experiences of other people who could use an uplifting, encouraging, loving, or even funny note, card, or letter from time to time. There are so many opportunities to write to people: when they graduate, when they get married, when they get promoted, when they lose, when they fail, when they're feeling down, when they get divorced, when a loved one passes away, etc. These are all opportunities to write to people and opportunities to make intimate and meaningful CONNECTIONS with people. And, in the end, we as human beings are social creatures who hinge on making CONNECTIONS with people. It's important in business, politics, family, and everyday life. Check out this book on Amazon! Score: 90/100 (9.0 out of 10)
The Jediran Quest is a sci-fi adventure novel by Cal Davis for young adults and teenagers. The book follows preteen students Braven, Khara, Dirk, Whisper, and Jaurice as they find themselves stranded over 200 kilometers from the nearest colony following a fierce, freak storm. What's worse: they're separated from their teacher and all other adults! A book like this is inevitably going to have a lot of similarities to other kid team-up stories like The Goonies, Super 8, Rugrats, Recess, or even The Last Crystal by former OCA winner Frances Schoonmaker. You'll always get some stock, archetypal characters like the cool leader, the comforting female voice of reason, the smart one, the annoying one who imperils everyone else, and the dysfunctional family members who are usually siblings. If we were going to compare The Jediran Quest to any one work of fiction, it would be The Magic School Bus, particularly the episode in which Ms. Frizzle and her class take a field trip to outer space only for the class to be separated from her and put in peril. The cast of The Jediran Quest is likewise forced to rely on their own intuition, will to survive, teamwork, and plain luck. What's interesting about this book is that despite being written for younger people, it gets quite dark sometimes. It features hints of mature content near the end and some grotesque descriptions of things like bacterial infection and injury near the middle. So, be warned. Put this into perspective: about 80% of this book is Magic School Bus-in-space, then you suddenly get blindsided with small-pox-in-space and attempted... assault. It's a bit of tonally inconsistent in that sense. However, it doesn't quite get so descriptive that it becomes R or M-rated. A lot is implied. And, to the author's credit, you need to put your characters in peril. That's where tension, suspense, and drama come from. We were worried that this book was going to be one of those in which the stakes were high-in-name-only. That wasn't the case. The characters actually face a lot of danger. One source of danger that is constantly present is the mysterious creature known as the “creeping mire,” which is basically “The Grass” from Ultima III. It follows the characters like Smeagol in Fellowship of the Rings or the spider that you let get away and is now lurking in your home somewhere, probably ready to ambush you in the shower or crawl in your mouth while you're sleeping. Braven is a solid lead character. He is brave, as his name suggests, and doesn't insist on his own way. He is actually rather democratic in considering the opinions and needs of the other students. At the same time, he still commands confidence in others. Khara was definitely our favorite character, acting as the calming voice of reason who picks up many of the other characters when they're down and losing hope. The book is a good length for the age group and doesn't overstay its welcome. It's actually shorter than you'd think with large line breaks and margins. This makes it a much easier read that flies by. It has its share of errors like the line “Someone will probably be here by in the morning,” however, this review probably has its share as well. You just expect a shorter work to be much tighter. However, we can definitely recommend this book as a fun read full of adventure! Check it out on Amazon! Score: 9.1+ out of 10
It's the end-times—the last years of human history as prophesied in the book of Revelations. A charismatic leader from France named Elyon has captivated the world, bringing a temporary peace to the Middle East. A renegade cardinal, Francis, joins Elyon in influencing the world, bringing about a one-world religion. Believers, particularly traditionalists called “Full Gospel Christians” and Jews, are coming under increasing persecution. This persecution is subliminal at first as their ideas are suppressed and twisted to fit the prevailing world view akin to globalism. The seven seals and the four horsemen of Revelations are in full effect as the world spirals toward the apocalypse. If there was any group of judges equipped for a book like Left Alive it's us. We are quite familiar with eschatology and end-time prophecy. We've read many books on the subject including, of course, The Bible as well as the mainline Left Behind series and its spin-off series for children. Some of us have also read the Christ Clone Trilogy. Our founder incorporated many of these same ideas in his works including The Destroyer of Worlds. So, we generally understand and applaud the message of this book. It's impossible not to compare Left Alive to the Left Behind series, for better or for worse. Left Behind by Jerry Jenkins and Tim Lahaye had a lot of problems both in terms of basic storytelling terms and in theological terms. For one, the Left Behind books are notoriously drawn-out with huge spaces between lines and wooden dialogue seemingly designed to eat up even more page space. The Parkers seem to address this problem by combining about one-third of the tribulation period into a single book. This is a valiant effort, but it has a problem of its own: it feels very rushed and jumps around a lot. In this telling, the obvious Antichrist/Beast, Elyon, dies, resurrects, and desecrates the Temple of Solomon VERY early on in the story. In fact, it pretty much kicks off the Tribulation period. This all happens very abruptly with little to no build. Yes, you get mentions here and there that the Temple of Solomon was being rebuilt and that there was peace in the Middle East (somehow), but it doesn't seem all that convincing or realistic. First of all: what about the Dome of the Rock? You know, the giant golden-domed Muslim structure that's consuming much of the old temple grounds? Well, we get a little bit of an explanation that the Dome of the Rock was turned into some kind of globalist religious center, but... it's still there. So, did they build around it or something? If you thought Nicolae Carpathia was a bit of an underdeveloped villain, then Elyon definitely gives him a run for his money. Elyon, amazingly, seems like someone who doesn't fully grasp or understand who he is or what he's doing. He just does things because he feels like it. His motivations are actually quite shallow: he's a megalomaniac who loves the attention and adoration, so he says and does what makes him popular. Elyon just seems like a very arrogant and delusional person who apparently became fascinated with mysticism, Tarot cards, and Ouija boards from a young age. So... he's a Satanist who doesn't quite understand that he's a Satanist, which is a bit strange. He doesn't seem to have as close or intimate a relationship with Satan or the demon hierarchy as he probably should. He needed to pray to them and ask for assistance just to have them slam some doors and scare some politicians (including the American president). Elyon is definitely inspired by Emmanuel Macron, the real-life French president whom many end-time watchdogs thought might be the actual Antichrist due to the fact that he declared himself to be the son of Jupiter, had some pretty questionable policies, and had a rather meteoric rise in popularity. There are definitely aspects of this book that reflect real-life and current/recent events. This book is also loaded with social commentary, much of it quite thinly veiled. However, again, we applaud the efforts and overall message of the authors in trying to tell an interesting story while also warning a lost world about the trials and tribulations to come. Going back to the social commentary, there are clearly some parts of this book that are critical of the Woke movement in which children are encouraged to call out and reject their parents for thinking and believing differently from what is accepted and pushed by the media and mainstream culture. Speaking of the media, there is also scathing criticism of the way that the news and information are presented to the general population. These are real and pressing concerns as we now find ourselves in a culture war in America that seems to be getting more heated by the day. Look at what we learned about Twitter's suppression of various types of information. This also, very obviously, happens on other platforms. There are also some things about this book, like the Dome of the Rock scenario, that seem somewhat difficult to believe. For one, America BANS the eating of meat and effectively makes everyone a vegetarian. Do you believe for a second that would actually happen in yippy-kayay US-of-A? Well, you could make an argument that there are a lot of things that seemed implausible decades ago that are second-nature today. The authors treat the Mark of the Beast as a microchip/barcode in this scenario in which people get them implanted on their hand or forehead, then use them to buy and sell goods. This seems rather plausible. You do get the sense that there's some social commentary about the way that 2020/2021 went buried in there somewhere, and we really can't blame them for feeling that way considering how that all went down. Another problem with the Left Behind series that this book is being compared to is that the characters were not very good or very deep. That, unfortunately, is a bit of a problem with this book as well. Part of that is that there are just too many characters and not enough room to explore them all. Yes, you do care about them and empathize with them to an extent, but they seem to fly in and out of the pages and in and out of the story, moving around like pieces on a chess board rather than actual living people. This, again, is a problem with both Jenkins/Lahaye's telling and the Parkers' telling of these events. The most we can say about most of these characters is that they fall under the “somewhat interesting” category. One of the interesting yet strange things about this book is that Elyon is arguably the main character of the book (though John is listed as the lead) and we actually get Elyon's perspective of events. However, despite that, it's a surprisingly shallow and naive perspective. Again, Elyon does not seem to grasp or understand what he's doing, what he's saying, or even what he's thinking. You'd think that being in the mind of the Antichrist for a little while would be this really fascinating, intriguing, spine-tingling thing, but it's actually not. The perspective we get from Elyon is very matter-of-fact. He seems to think and believe that if it has to be, it's up to me. And, yes, we know that Elyon is another title for the first sephira in the tree of life in Kabbalah (Keter) and that it means “the crown.” It's a fitting name because it has three ominous-sounding syllables (a MUST for any Antichrist character) and a deeper, occult meaning in Jewish mysticism. It also almost sounds like a combination of “Emmanuel” and “Macron”--further punching home that comparison. What's a little strange though is, well... does this guy even have a first and/or last name? Is he like Kanye West and he just goes by Ye now? It's another thing that just makes him seem not quite real or believable. And, yes, we know that Francis, the crooked cardinal with the twisted beliefs about religions, is the False Prophet. That's no secret. That and Elyon's role as Antichrist are immediately clear. For all its faults, at least in Left Behind tried to keep Nicolae's role a little veiled for 3/4ths of the first book. There was some shock and surprise when Nicolae had his dun dun duuuun moment. But, yes, Leon Fortunato was not much better as a False Prophet. We likewise thought: who the heck would listen to and follow this loser? He's a twerp! Then again, people followed Goebbels and many other idiots throughout history. People follow idiots nowadays. So, there's that. Michael is a decent character, a police officer with prophetic dreams like Daniel or Joseph had, but he really gets drowned out by the other voices and perspectives over the course of the book. He just doesn't get the screen time he seems to deserve. It's interesting that he seems to be one of those tweener-like characters: a character working for one side while understanding the other side. He knows that there are bad things and corruption going on around him, yet he's torn between ethics and duty. There's also a Jewish couple and their children in here and we steadily see the erosion of their rights to practice and believe. Likewise, there's a Christian couple in here whose son openly rebels against the Christian faith and embraces the belief in Elyon and globalism instead. This book entirely covers the seven seals of Revelations, and it's surprising how the plagues of the seals themselves don't come across as awe-inspiring as they should. For example, the world war just happens. A billion or so people die in it, yet it just happens in the background. It seems to happen in passing like an afterthought. Likewise, the global earthquake just happens. When Americans and Christians are persecuted, it's almost like the authors are wanting to maintain a PG or PG-13 rating and angling the camera in such a way that we don't quite experience the savagery and barbarity in its fullness. This is primarily the result of the authors rushing the telling of this story. While this isn't a story that should be drawn-out like Lahaye and Jenkins did in the 2000s, it's also not something you should just skim over in a paragraph or page or two. When cataclysmic things happen, you need to zero-in on them and focus on them. That gives these things gravity and weight. Another area of comparison is how the Rapture is treated in Left Behind and Left Alive. Now, we can definitely commend the Parkers for going with this angle. One of the issues with Left Behind is that the authors seemed dead-set on a particular timeline of events, especially the Rapture. They insisted that the Rapture would have to happen before the Tribulation period. The problem is, the Bible doesn't provide that much evidence for this happening at such a specific time or in a specific way. It could happen before the Tribulation, during the Tribulation, or even after the Tribulation. It doesn't necessarily have to be a “mass disappearance” as is so often portrayed. People very often take Bible verses out of context to support things like a pre-Tribulation Rapture, when these verses could simply be referring to the Second Coming of Jesus or death in general. It could be damaging to the faith of those who aren't raptured to believe that it has to happen in a very specific way and at a very specific time. It really doesn't. The fact of the matter is that God works in mysterious ways. What have we learned about prophecies both in biblical and literary terms? Prophecies always come true, just not always in the way you think they will. The life of Jesus is the perfect example of that. Many would not accept Jesus as Messiah because they stubbornly thought he had to be a military or political leader, not a humble preacher. All in all, you have to commend the authors for giving us so much fuel and things to talk about! Check this out on Amazon! |
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