4.39

4

Aug 08, 2019

I think that I liked these four books considerably more than the first four. There was generally more action, more spiritual craziness, more sinister stuff that the Antichrist and his minions are doing. It overall makes for a more enjoyable experience. My individual reviews are below.


Book 5: Apollyon:
I would say that this is the weakest of these four. I read this one a while ago now, but sitting here, I can't really remember something that I could say was definitely from Appollyon. There is a I think that I liked these four books considerably more than the first four. There was generally more action, more spiritual craziness, more sinister stuff that the Antichrist and his minions are doing. It overall makes for a more enjoyable experience. My individual reviews are below.


Book 5: Apollyon:
I would say that this is the weakest of these four. I read this one a while ago now, but sitting here, I can't really remember something that I could say was definitely from Appollyon. There is a plague-type thing at the end of this one I think, but it wasn't too memorable.


Book 6: Assassins:
I think that this is the one where stuff gets real. Aside from them stealing their first line straight from the Iliad, it was pretty enjoyable. Rayford has had several friends killed by the AC and he is pissed off. We get to see a fairly realistic portrayal of how a person in a leadership position who is Christian deals with anger, grief, and desperation. For the first time in a while in the series, I felt like the authors weren't just giving me a "good Christian" character. There was also some good character development moments with Tsion and some of the others. I think that the AC was really interesting in this one. This was the first time where you really feel like "oh crap, this guy is Satan" and he means business. However, they also present him as a mirror of ourselves. It was good.


Book 7: The Indwelling:
Not gonna lie, I was going to say that this one was fairly skippable, until I read the last couple of chapters. Reading this, you will think that nothing that is going on has any real direction, but IT PAYS OFF in a huge way in the last fifth of the book. There is some really interesting esoteric stuff that goes on with Tsion, probably one of the most interesting sequences in the entire series. Then, seeing the sheer control that the AC has over everybody is really really fascinating... and scary. This was the first time in the entire series where I was actually scared. I'm telling you, the last couple of chapters are unnerving.

Book 8: The Mark:
In my opinion, this is the best book since the first one. It might even be better than the first one. Nicolae Carpathia is resurrected, but he isn't good ol' Nick anymore. He is Satan incarnate. He is playing for all the marbles, and you feel it. The really interesting thing for me is how the writers wrote the AC. He loses all of his couth, grace, and eloquence. He ceases trying to look like the benevolent dictator and instead demands worship of himself.

However, the heart and soul of this book is in the final couple of chapters when Buck Williams witnesses the beginnings of the administration of the Mark of the Beast. You see people lining up to take the Devil's Mark. You see people who don't really care but choose to take it anyways to save their own skins. You see people who would rather face the guillotine than take the Mark. It is powerful, and it is heartbreaking. Also, it gives Buck his first character building moment in several books, which is nice. Sure there are plot conveniences in this one, but this series is full of them. If you have kept reading up to this point, you don't care. ...more