Winding up the tour on Evan Angler's Storm!
Several other folks on the tour posted the book trailer, which has some interesting visuals.
I found the talk about "hope" particularly interesting because the "hope" here seems to be hope that the world can be redeemed, hope they'll survive, when per Revelation, things are going to get a whole lot worse before they get better. And none of the characters seemed to me to be actively awaiting a Savior. (Though, as Rebecca LuElla Miller pointed out, characters are also busy just trying to survive.)
Given it's a Christian publisher, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the series plays out, fair enough.
Joan Neinhuis did a very good job outlining something I hadn't thought to mention in the review--the technology. Some of it was almost certainly more fantasy than anything else (such as inter-continental transportation) but it was still fun to read. (And nothing less plausible than the TV show Revolution, as far as I can tell.)
Chawna Schroeder does a great job of articulating why I'm not sure that I'll like the characters more if I read books 1 and 2....I'm interested to see for myself, though.
Thanks for the tour, all!
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Review - Storm by Evan Angler - CSFF Blog Tour
Julie here for the CSFF Blog Tour!
Book: Storm by Evan Angler
Ridiculously simplified summary: Book 3 in a series. The end times are upon us, with all citizens of the American Union needing to be Marked in order to buy or sell anything. All Marked Americans serve the charismatic European leader Cylis and the American leader General Langston.
After being betrayed by his sister, who is now a top soldier working for the Marked, the Unmarked Logan Langly and his friends seek to save the life of their Marked friend Erin Arbitror, who has fallen ill with a mysterious virus. Meanwhile, the weather mill that brings rain nationwide has been malfunctioning, causing a nationwide drought. Can Logan save the world as he knows it?
Content: This started out surprisingly optimistic, for a book about the end of the world and all. The Christian aspect was rather subtle--I'm not sure how much there was in Books 1-2, or how much there will be in later books, but I think this particular one would be suitable for anyone who's not outright hostile to Christianity. The ending was fairly dark but not entirely without hope. On the one hand, the fact that it wasn't entirely hopeless is surprising for a dystopian book. But on the other hand, there was so little preaching throughout the book, that I felt like the hope in the book is more about the hope of love in general, rather than being directly linked to Christ.
Rating:
Compelling: 8 out of 10. I found the first few chapters fascinating, learning about this world and how it ticks, how the Marks work, and so forth. Later in the book gets more about politics and numerous double crosses, but somehow those didn't interest me quite as much because I didn't feel like the characters were all that differentiated. (Meagan tells me that problem comes from not reading books 1 and 2, which in fairness, were not part of the tour. But I've come in at the middle of other stories, even for the blog tour, and liked/understood the characters, but didn't feel that way here for the most part.)
No matter; I think this is more about the big picture than the individuals. And I'm considering going back and checking out the first two from my library, so that's something in and of itself. When it comes down to it, though, I'm not sure I want to read the fourth book, though that depends on how I end up liking 1 and 2.
Characters: 5 out of 10. Like I said, many of the characters blurred together for me. For instance, there's a climactic scene that includes Logan and Hailey, but I don't recognize any big differences between the two characters there, aside from the people they care about the most--it was more about the story and the betrayals than the characters. For the most part, I found the adults more interesting than the child-protagonists (who I felt more or less acted like adults anyway, though that very well could be a symptom of an adult literally and figuratively writing the series--more on that later). To me, Tyler, a complete prankster by nature, is the only one who really seemed like a child to me. Of course, I read this soon after just getting off teaching Vacation Bible School to a class of ALL 5th and 6th grade boys, so my expectations of children may be skewed to the low side.
One very interesting thing about the characters is that the Marked are not universally evil and the Markless are not universally good. In fact, overall I'd say the Marked characters were the more likable ones. I'm not sure if that's accurate or not for the end times (or if things will change in book 4), but I definitely thought it made the story more interesting and relatable.
Writing/editing: 8 out of 10. I only saw one typo for sure (apostrophe error). There were some stylistic choices I wouldn't have made (at one point, there are three scene breaks in as many sentences!). I think if there would have been more effort to stay in fewer characters' points of view, maybe the characterization would have seemed a bit stronger. But I thought it still read pretty well. The first meeting with Cylis was delightfully creepy.
Plausibility/believability: 3 out of 5. I "bought" most of the world from the getgo, and the twists nearer to the end were interesting. I'm not sure I believed/agreed with Mr. Angler actually being the author of these books that are written presumably a hundred or more years in the future, but we're somehow reading now. I thought that idea worked charmingly on Angler's website, but when characters in the book itself are reading a published book about their own exploits that presumably happened not long ago...given how long it takes to get a book published nowadays...I thought it was a bit forced. It might have a great payoff eventually, granted, but seeing it in isolation in the book, I thought it was a bit gimicky.
That said, this apocalyptic tale is targeted to a middle grade audience (!), and I get the feeling that the "author being a character" conceit appeals to the target audience, who may not have seen a third-person narrator address the audience in any way before.
Positive: 3 out of 5. Like I said earlier, despite the promises that it's a big deal to be Unmarked, in this book, life is going relatively well for the Unmarked, considering it's the end of the world and all. I get the feeling that the next book is going to be darker. This does end with escalating things going wrong, so not really a happy ending, but not nearly as hopeless as some books I've read, which is surprising.
Gut reaction: 3 out of 5. I really enjoyed the beginning several chapters but I found myself somehow less interested as the story progressed...I guess I expected to care more about the characters themselves, but I felt pretty much the same about all of them at the end as I did just a few pages in. Again, that could be a symptom of starting at book 3.
Bonus points: 5 out of 5.
Recommended for: Fans of dystopian young adult novels...I think. I'd definitely recommend reading the first couple books first, though.
Total Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Here are the other tour participants!
Julie Bihn
Beckie Burnham
Keanan Brand
Pauline Creeden
Emma or Audrey Engel
Sarah Faulkner
Victor Gentile
Ryan Heart
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Joan Nienhuis
Writer Rani
Chawna Schroeder
Jacque Stengl
Jojo Sutis
Jessica Thomas
Steve Trower
Phyllis Wheeler
Rachel Wyant
*In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book.
Ridiculously simplified summary: Book 3 in a series. The end times are upon us, with all citizens of the American Union needing to be Marked in order to buy or sell anything. All Marked Americans serve the charismatic European leader Cylis and the American leader General Langston.
After being betrayed by his sister, who is now a top soldier working for the Marked, the Unmarked Logan Langly and his friends seek to save the life of their Marked friend Erin Arbitror, who has fallen ill with a mysterious virus. Meanwhile, the weather mill that brings rain nationwide has been malfunctioning, causing a nationwide drought. Can Logan save the world as he knows it?
Content: This started out surprisingly optimistic, for a book about the end of the world and all. The Christian aspect was rather subtle--I'm not sure how much there was in Books 1-2, or how much there will be in later books, but I think this particular one would be suitable for anyone who's not outright hostile to Christianity. The ending was fairly dark but not entirely without hope. On the one hand, the fact that it wasn't entirely hopeless is surprising for a dystopian book. But on the other hand, there was so little preaching throughout the book, that I felt like the hope in the book is more about the hope of love in general, rather than being directly linked to Christ.
Rating:
Compelling: 8 out of 10. I found the first few chapters fascinating, learning about this world and how it ticks, how the Marks work, and so forth. Later in the book gets more about politics and numerous double crosses, but somehow those didn't interest me quite as much because I didn't feel like the characters were all that differentiated. (Meagan tells me that problem comes from not reading books 1 and 2, which in fairness, were not part of the tour. But I've come in at the middle of other stories, even for the blog tour, and liked/understood the characters, but didn't feel that way here for the most part.)
No matter; I think this is more about the big picture than the individuals. And I'm considering going back and checking out the first two from my library, so that's something in and of itself. When it comes down to it, though, I'm not sure I want to read the fourth book, though that depends on how I end up liking 1 and 2.
Characters: 5 out of 10. Like I said, many of the characters blurred together for me. For instance, there's a climactic scene that includes Logan and Hailey, but I don't recognize any big differences between the two characters there, aside from the people they care about the most--it was more about the story and the betrayals than the characters. For the most part, I found the adults more interesting than the child-protagonists (who I felt more or less acted like adults anyway, though that very well could be a symptom of an adult literally and figuratively writing the series--more on that later). To me, Tyler, a complete prankster by nature, is the only one who really seemed like a child to me. Of course, I read this soon after just getting off teaching Vacation Bible School to a class of ALL 5th and 6th grade boys, so my expectations of children may be skewed to the low side.
One very interesting thing about the characters is that the Marked are not universally evil and the Markless are not universally good. In fact, overall I'd say the Marked characters were the more likable ones. I'm not sure if that's accurate or not for the end times (or if things will change in book 4), but I definitely thought it made the story more interesting and relatable.
Writing/editing: 8 out of 10. I only saw one typo for sure (apostrophe error). There were some stylistic choices I wouldn't have made (at one point, there are three scene breaks in as many sentences!). I think if there would have been more effort to stay in fewer characters' points of view, maybe the characterization would have seemed a bit stronger. But I thought it still read pretty well. The first meeting with Cylis was delightfully creepy.
Plausibility/believability: 3 out of 5. I "bought" most of the world from the getgo, and the twists nearer to the end were interesting. I'm not sure I believed/agreed with Mr. Angler actually being the author of these books that are written presumably a hundred or more years in the future, but we're somehow reading now. I thought that idea worked charmingly on Angler's website, but when characters in the book itself are reading a published book about their own exploits that presumably happened not long ago...given how long it takes to get a book published nowadays...I thought it was a bit forced. It might have a great payoff eventually, granted, but seeing it in isolation in the book, I thought it was a bit gimicky.
That said, this apocalyptic tale is targeted to a middle grade audience (!), and I get the feeling that the "author being a character" conceit appeals to the target audience, who may not have seen a third-person narrator address the audience in any way before.
Positive: 3 out of 5. Like I said earlier, despite the promises that it's a big deal to be Unmarked, in this book, life is going relatively well for the Unmarked, considering it's the end of the world and all. I get the feeling that the next book is going to be darker. This does end with escalating things going wrong, so not really a happy ending, but not nearly as hopeless as some books I've read, which is surprising.
Gut reaction: 3 out of 5. I really enjoyed the beginning several chapters but I found myself somehow less interested as the story progressed...I guess I expected to care more about the characters themselves, but I felt pretty much the same about all of them at the end as I did just a few pages in. Again, that could be a symptom of starting at book 3.
Bonus points: 5 out of 5.
Recommended for: Fans of dystopian young adult novels...I think. I'd definitely recommend reading the first couple books first, though.
Total Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Here are the other tour participants!
Julie Bihn
Beckie Burnham
Keanan Brand
Pauline Creeden
Emma or Audrey Engel
Sarah Faulkner
Victor Gentile
Ryan Heart
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Joan Nienhuis
Writer Rani
Chawna Schroeder
Jacque Stengl
Jojo Sutis
Jessica Thomas
Steve Trower
Phyllis Wheeler
Rachel Wyant
*In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book.
Monday, June 24, 2013
Storm - The Swipe Series by Evan Angler - CSFF Blog Tour
Julie here for the CSFF Blog Tour!
This month's book is Storm by Evan Angler, a dystopian Christian young-adult novel.
I'm not well-versed in the end times...and frankly, since Christians can't even agree on whether any Rapture will come before the biggest horrors are unleashed on Earth, I figure that any book written about the end times is going to be very much speculative. Angler doesn't disappoint in that regard, with genetically-engineered plagues and a numerous details of Marked society and technology, though seeing it from the Earthly point of view, there's little evidence of supernatural happenings. From this book, at least, it felt to me like the end of the world caused by humans, so in many regards it wasn't so different from secular dystopian novels. I'm not sure that's a bad thing, but it wasn't what I expected.
Unfortunately, the end times are confusing enough, and the blog tour received Book 3 in an ongoing series! So it was a challenge to keep track of the characters and the storyline.
Review is tomorrow, but here are the other tour participants!
Julie Bihn
Beckie Burnham
Keanan Brand
Pauline Creeden
Emma or Audrey Engel
Sarah Faulkner
Victor Gentile
Ryan Heart
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Joan Nienhuis
Writer Rani
Chawna Schroeder
Jacque Stengl
Jojo Sutis
Jessica Thomas
Steve Trower
Phyllis Wheeler
Rachel Wyant
*In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book.
This month's book is Storm by Evan Angler, a dystopian Christian young-adult novel.
I'm not well-versed in the end times...and frankly, since Christians can't even agree on whether any Rapture will come before the biggest horrors are unleashed on Earth, I figure that any book written about the end times is going to be very much speculative. Angler doesn't disappoint in that regard, with genetically-engineered plagues and a numerous details of Marked society and technology, though seeing it from the Earthly point of view, there's little evidence of supernatural happenings. From this book, at least, it felt to me like the end of the world caused by humans, so in many regards it wasn't so different from secular dystopian novels. I'm not sure that's a bad thing, but it wasn't what I expected.
Unfortunately, the end times are confusing enough, and the blog tour received Book 3 in an ongoing series! So it was a challenge to keep track of the characters and the storyline.
Review is tomorrow, but here are the other tour participants!
Julie Bihn
Beckie Burnham
Keanan Brand
Pauline Creeden
Emma or Audrey Engel
Sarah Faulkner
Victor Gentile
Ryan Heart
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Joan Nienhuis
Writer Rani
Chawna Schroeder
Jacque Stengl
Jojo Sutis
Jessica Thomas
Steve Trower
Phyllis Wheeler
Rachel Wyant
*In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Review: Touching the Clouds by Bonnie Leon
Another review from Julie! Maggie read this one and gave it 3 stars on Goodreads.
Book: Touching the Clouds by Bonnie Leon
Ridiculously simplified summary: In the 1930s, a woman's place is usually thought to be in the home. Instead, adventurous Kate calls off her wedding and moves to Alaska to be a bush pilot. She meets Paul, a determined homesteader. Both take comfort in the harsh conditions and fierce beauty of Alaska, while trying to overcome guilt from their pasts.
Content: I felt like the religious elements came up out of nowhere--Kate is calling in Bible verses, carrying her grandmother's old Bible with her, and so forth, but I never felt like she was really living life as a Christian--she seems more interested in doing things her own way. There are a few deaths.
This review is for the Kindle version, which was a free download at the time.
Rating:
Compelling: 8 out of 10. I thought the historical storyline was pretty interesting, though I didn't believe it every moment. It was literally halfway through the book when the romance aspect started, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it isn't what I expected. I thought the last 25% of the book or so verged on melodrama, but I'll admit, I couldn't stop reading.
Characters: 4 out of 10. OK, first, this is a romance. If you don't know the conventions of who's going to end up together and are interested in reading this book, go ahead and stop reading right now, because this will spoil you.
You still there?
You know the conventions?
You sure?
Okay, so in romance novels, if there are two point of view characters (a man and a woman), in every example I've read anyway, they end up together, so we know what's going to happen.
Kate is interesting, fiercely independent, stubborn to the point of risking her life needlessly sometimes. I found it hard to like her, though, given how men adore her and she just throws them aside.
I didn't really care for Paul, the hero--I would have rather he spent less time feeling guilty, moping about Kate, and being unreasonable. I'm not that old-fashioned--I don't care if the man pursues the woman or the woman is hoping to get the man. But I didn't feel like either of them was seriously passionate about the other, so I didn't care for them together from a romance standpoint. Things might get more interesting in books 2 and 3 of the trilogy.
There were a lot of minor characters so they sort of blended together for me, though they weren't bad. The one who stood out for me was Mike, who was not deeply characterized, per se, but who was charming nonetheless--sweet, a good friend, always there when needed.
Writing/editing: 6 out of 10. It may have been the Kindle version I was reading, but quite a few paragraphs were rolled together when I thought they should have been split, and there was some problematic phrasing. The style was to skip from event to event, but the whole book takes place over at least two summers...I'm more used to an intimate, short timeline, instead of sometimes having months pass between events. That might be my problem.
Plausibility/believability: 3 out of 5. Some other reviewers disagreed as far as accuracy, but (not knowing anything about flying or Alaska) I really enjoyed the "feel" of historic Alaska and old-time piloting. As for criticisms about the Depression element, I don't know about the Depression in Alaska, but my general understanding is that if you actually had a job, things were pretty good for you during that period. My own grandfather went out west during the Depression to find work, so surely there were some areas that weren't suffering so much.
It did surprise me that Kate (who basically struck me as a modern woman) would be so accepted, but I guess it wasn't unreasonable. I didn't understand some of the survival techniques (or lack thereof) near the end, but I guess they were needed for tension.
Positive: 2 out of 5. There is some serious providence near the end (that's the reason Kate and Paul are evidently a good match). I felt like there was little emotional reaction to multiple deaths earlier in the book, though that may be in part because the book shows short scenes and then skips ahead quite a bit--so maybe there was more mourning, but we missed it because a month or more was skipped.
Gut reaction: 1 out of 5. I hate to say any more because it's a spoiler. It's about the romance element...
Bonus points: 5 out of 5.
Recommended for: Fans of historical Christian fiction who don't mind strong heroines, jilted heroes, and a romance that takes half the story to get off the ground.
Total Rating: 2.9 out of 5 stars
*I downloaded this book free for Kindle.
Ridiculously simplified summary: In the 1930s, a woman's place is usually thought to be in the home. Instead, adventurous Kate calls off her wedding and moves to Alaska to be a bush pilot. She meets Paul, a determined homesteader. Both take comfort in the harsh conditions and fierce beauty of Alaska, while trying to overcome guilt from their pasts.
Content: I felt like the religious elements came up out of nowhere--Kate is calling in Bible verses, carrying her grandmother's old Bible with her, and so forth, but I never felt like she was really living life as a Christian--she seems more interested in doing things her own way. There are a few deaths.
This review is for the Kindle version, which was a free download at the time.
Rating:
Compelling: 8 out of 10. I thought the historical storyline was pretty interesting, though I didn't believe it every moment. It was literally halfway through the book when the romance aspect started, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it isn't what I expected. I thought the last 25% of the book or so verged on melodrama, but I'll admit, I couldn't stop reading.
Characters: 4 out of 10. OK, first, this is a romance. If you don't know the conventions of who's going to end up together and are interested in reading this book, go ahead and stop reading right now, because this will spoil you.
You still there?
You know the conventions?
You sure?
Okay, so in romance novels, if there are two point of view characters (a man and a woman), in every example I've read anyway, they end up together, so we know what's going to happen.
Kate is interesting, fiercely independent, stubborn to the point of risking her life needlessly sometimes. I found it hard to like her, though, given how men adore her and she just throws them aside.
I didn't really care for Paul, the hero--I would have rather he spent less time feeling guilty, moping about Kate, and being unreasonable. I'm not that old-fashioned--I don't care if the man pursues the woman or the woman is hoping to get the man. But I didn't feel like either of them was seriously passionate about the other, so I didn't care for them together from a romance standpoint. Things might get more interesting in books 2 and 3 of the trilogy.
There were a lot of minor characters so they sort of blended together for me, though they weren't bad. The one who stood out for me was Mike, who was not deeply characterized, per se, but who was charming nonetheless--sweet, a good friend, always there when needed.
Writing/editing: 6 out of 10. It may have been the Kindle version I was reading, but quite a few paragraphs were rolled together when I thought they should have been split, and there was some problematic phrasing. The style was to skip from event to event, but the whole book takes place over at least two summers...I'm more used to an intimate, short timeline, instead of sometimes having months pass between events. That might be my problem.
Plausibility/believability: 3 out of 5. Some other reviewers disagreed as far as accuracy, but (not knowing anything about flying or Alaska) I really enjoyed the "feel" of historic Alaska and old-time piloting. As for criticisms about the Depression element, I don't know about the Depression in Alaska, but my general understanding is that if you actually had a job, things were pretty good for you during that period. My own grandfather went out west during the Depression to find work, so surely there were some areas that weren't suffering so much.
It did surprise me that Kate (who basically struck me as a modern woman) would be so accepted, but I guess it wasn't unreasonable. I didn't understand some of the survival techniques (or lack thereof) near the end, but I guess they were needed for tension.
Positive: 2 out of 5. There is some serious providence near the end (that's the reason Kate and Paul are evidently a good match). I felt like there was little emotional reaction to multiple deaths earlier in the book, though that may be in part because the book shows short scenes and then skips ahead quite a bit--so maybe there was more mourning, but we missed it because a month or more was skipped.
Gut reaction: 1 out of 5. I hate to say any more because it's a spoiler. It's about the romance element...
Bonus points: 5 out of 5.
Recommended for: Fans of historical Christian fiction who don't mind strong heroines, jilted heroes, and a romance that takes half the story to get off the ground.
Total Rating: 2.9 out of 5 stars
*I downloaded this book free for Kindle.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
CSFF Blog Tour - Wrap-up - Broken Wings by Shannon Dittemore
Julie one more time for the CSFF Blog Tour on Broken Wings by Shannon Dittemore!
I'm just looking back at the entries (well, those I saw before about 9 PM Pacific time Tuesday night).
Several CSFFers posted about Biblical elements in particular in Broken Wings. Meagan @ Blooming with Books cited Biblical instances of prophetic dreams and also the possibility of seeing into heaven (or as Broken Wings would call it, the Celestial). Shannon McDermott makes a pretty compelling case for the Cherubim and Shields being consistent with the Bible (though I'm still not so sure about the Sabers :) ). As Meagan so brilliantly commented on my entry, "If Broken Wings has turned us to the Bible to search for answers then perhaps it is a good thing." I completely agree.
Others praised the writing in the book...as I'd mentioned, I didn't feel like there were the same witty touches here, so I was disappointed. But several CSFFers seemed to appreciate the descriptions in Broken Wings, including Kathleen Smith and Rebecca LuElla Miller.
Shannon McDermott (again) has some memorable lines about why she doesn't like Jake and Brielle so much this time around (and I agree with most of it!) She wraps up with: "Those who like books about angels will find this the sort of thing they like. Even those who don’t may make an exception."
That about sums it up better than I could write.
Thanks for the tour, everyone!
I'm just looking back at the entries (well, those I saw before about 9 PM Pacific time Tuesday night).
Several CSFFers posted about Biblical elements in particular in Broken Wings. Meagan @ Blooming with Books cited Biblical instances of prophetic dreams and also the possibility of seeing into heaven (or as Broken Wings would call it, the Celestial). Shannon McDermott makes a pretty compelling case for the Cherubim and Shields being consistent with the Bible (though I'm still not so sure about the Sabers :) ). As Meagan so brilliantly commented on my entry, "If Broken Wings has turned us to the Bible to search for answers then perhaps it is a good thing." I completely agree.
Others praised the writing in the book...as I'd mentioned, I didn't feel like there were the same witty touches here, so I was disappointed. But several CSFFers seemed to appreciate the descriptions in Broken Wings, including Kathleen Smith and Rebecca LuElla Miller.
Shannon McDermott (again) has some memorable lines about why she doesn't like Jake and Brielle so much this time around (and I agree with most of it!) She wraps up with: "Those who like books about angels will find this the sort of thing they like. Even those who don’t may make an exception."
That about sums it up better than I could write.
Thanks for the tour, everyone!
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
CSFF Blog Tour - Broken Wings by Shannon Dittemore
Julie here for the CSFF Blog Tour!
Book: Broken Wings by Shannon Dittemore
Ridiculously simplified summary: Book 2 in a series. Newly-graduated teen Brielle's world is falling apart, when her father takes up with a much younger woman and starts drinking again. Her sleep is plagued by nightmares, despite her protective halo. Her boyfriend Jake starts to doubt God's will, when it seems like He no longer plans for him to wed Brielle. And demon Damien, refreshed and restored after his stay in hell, has a plan for Jake and Brielle...
Content: Less violence than Angel Eyes (review here). The book did come at a good time to reinforce to me that yes, there are unseen battles. And I realize now that I didn't appreciate Angel Eyes quite as much as I should have for the new eyes it started to give me.
But on the other hand, Dittemore adds quite a bit of speculation to the angel world she's set up, which I spoke about at some length yesterday. In addition to those issues, there are also some new groups of angels and demons that aren't in the Bible (Sabres--angels with bladed wings--for the good guys, and the Palatine for the demons). Cherubs look like eight-year-olds, evidently, and female angels are now typical instead of just an option, with 2 of the 4 main angels portrayed--and the two we get closest to, I think--being females. I don't think any of those are necessarily anti-Biblical, but added to the speculation in Angel Eyes, I feel like we're getting to the edge of a fine line.
That said, I don't normally read angel books, but this book is FAR more accurate than the few I have read.
I'm not sure how easy it would be to follow this if you haven't read the first book, but my gut says it would be extremely difficult. Frankly, I'd expected at least the "epilogue" of sorts in Angel Eyes to be recapped here, but there was nothing. This reviewer (non-CSFF) did not read the first book and was very confused throughout the second.
Rating:
Compelling: 5 out of 10. I thought this one started out even slower than Angel Eyes, which at least had a mystery to carry it along. It was midway through before things picked up for me. Even then, I didn't understand the characters' reactions to certain elements, such as when Brielle finds out the big secret her father's been keeping. The last 75 pages or so start to fly--things get a bit muddled to me (a big battle ends when the players vanish). I was wondering how the story could start to be resolved before the end (spoiler alert! it's not, really).
Characters: 4 out of 10. I felt like Brielle lost quite a bit of personality. Her number obsession has become rather minor, her photography unmentioned, and yet she still strikes me as distanced from the situations she sees. Jake starts out the book in public in an orange tutu, which I personally found kind of creepy, and he hasn't used his gift in 7 months...he just felt kind of flat and strange to me. Canaan is a very minor character, with two female characters taking the forefront as far as angels go. Damien got more interesting. I even found dear Kaylee obnoxious in the beginning, with her "copious" use of "air quotes". But by the end of the book I thought she was easily the best character this time around.
Writing/editing: 7 out of 10. The distance in Brielle's style bothered me less this time, but Jake's third-person bits felt odd to me and occasional parts in his point of view felt to me like Brielle was talking...not like how I remembered his bit at the end of Angel Eyes. The writing wasn't bad (though I did get a touch lost in some of the happenings at the end, probably because I was hoping against hope for a resolution that didn't come). There were some interesting speculative spiritual thoughts, like this one from an angel's point of view (though CSFF blogger Shane Werlinger already posted it):
Plausibility/believability: 3 out of 5 and Positive: 2 out of 5. I know, it's weird to combine these, but I think it's fair here.
Regarding the new classes of angels...I guess they were plausible in that I actually looked up Sabres to make sure I hadn't just missed them in the Bible. (I know "Shield" from Angel Eyes is not a class of angel either, but I do believe angels guard over human affairs--if not on a one-on-one basis--so it seemed a reasonable class to me....naming a class of angel that is that that physically close to God, seemed odd to me.)
The theme is that God's plans do all work to good, no matter if they make sense to us or not. My problem is that one main character ends the book resolved that God's plans work to good, but as a reader, I have no idea why things would have happened the way they did for Brielle's mother. If someone I loved and trusted told me, dead serious, that's what happened in their real life, I'd have faith. But fiction has to be more plausible than reality, and I didn't personally buy it here.
Oh, and I was also astounded that a small town still had a photo shop that had numerous employees and could process film, but maybe I'm wrong there.
Gut reaction: 2 out of 5. Actually, the same basic complaints I had with Angel Eyes here. The book ends completely unresolved (though in fairness, I know that's the norm for book 2 in a trilogy, and unlike Angel Eyes, there was no easy way the author could have wrapped it up by ending the book a few pages earlier--or later).
And like Angel Eyes, the bad guys (demons in this case) evidently have dark skin. The cherub has "(b)lack skin, black hair knotted at her neck, bright brown eyes." The next page, she notes that she can slip in among the demons undetected, as "I'm created for such purposes. Darkness was given to me as a gift, and the Fallen often mistake me for one of their own."
Don't get me wrong. Pearla the cherub was likeable. But am I crazy to get just a little queasy at the fact that, aside from her eyes, the one angel with dark skin looks just like a demon?
Bonus points: 5 out of 5.
Recommended for: People who loved Angel Eyes and who can discern reality from fiction.
Total Rating: 2.8 out of 5 stars
Here are the other tour participants!
Gillian Adams
Julie Bihn
Jennifer Bogart
Beckie Burnham
Laure Covert
Pauline Creeden
Janey DeMeo
Theresa Dunlap
Emma or Audrey Engel
Victor Gentile
Nikole Hahn
Becky Jesse
Jason Joyner
Karielle @ Books à la Mode
Carol Keen
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Megan @ Hardcover Feedback
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Joan Nienhuis
Nathan Reimer
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Kathleen Smith
Jojo Sutis
Steve Trower
Phyllis Wheeler
Shane Werlinger
*In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book.
Ridiculously simplified summary: Book 2 in a series. Newly-graduated teen Brielle's world is falling apart, when her father takes up with a much younger woman and starts drinking again. Her sleep is plagued by nightmares, despite her protective halo. Her boyfriend Jake starts to doubt God's will, when it seems like He no longer plans for him to wed Brielle. And demon Damien, refreshed and restored after his stay in hell, has a plan for Jake and Brielle...
Content: Less violence than Angel Eyes (review here). The book did come at a good time to reinforce to me that yes, there are unseen battles. And I realize now that I didn't appreciate Angel Eyes quite as much as I should have for the new eyes it started to give me.
But on the other hand, Dittemore adds quite a bit of speculation to the angel world she's set up, which I spoke about at some length yesterday. In addition to those issues, there are also some new groups of angels and demons that aren't in the Bible (Sabres--angels with bladed wings--for the good guys, and the Palatine for the demons). Cherubs look like eight-year-olds, evidently, and female angels are now typical instead of just an option, with 2 of the 4 main angels portrayed--and the two we get closest to, I think--being females. I don't think any of those are necessarily anti-Biblical, but added to the speculation in Angel Eyes, I feel like we're getting to the edge of a fine line.
That said, I don't normally read angel books, but this book is FAR more accurate than the few I have read.
I'm not sure how easy it would be to follow this if you haven't read the first book, but my gut says it would be extremely difficult. Frankly, I'd expected at least the "epilogue" of sorts in Angel Eyes to be recapped here, but there was nothing. This reviewer (non-CSFF) did not read the first book and was very confused throughout the second.
Rating:
Compelling: 5 out of 10. I thought this one started out even slower than Angel Eyes, which at least had a mystery to carry it along. It was midway through before things picked up for me. Even then, I didn't understand the characters' reactions to certain elements, such as when Brielle finds out the big secret her father's been keeping. The last 75 pages or so start to fly--things get a bit muddled to me (a big battle ends when the players vanish). I was wondering how the story could start to be resolved before the end (spoiler alert! it's not, really).
Characters: 4 out of 10. I felt like Brielle lost quite a bit of personality. Her number obsession has become rather minor, her photography unmentioned, and yet she still strikes me as distanced from the situations she sees. Jake starts out the book in public in an orange tutu, which I personally found kind of creepy, and he hasn't used his gift in 7 months...he just felt kind of flat and strange to me. Canaan is a very minor character, with two female characters taking the forefront as far as angels go. Damien got more interesting. I even found dear Kaylee obnoxious in the beginning, with her "copious" use of "air quotes". But by the end of the book I thought she was easily the best character this time around.
Writing/editing: 7 out of 10. The distance in Brielle's style bothered me less this time, but Jake's third-person bits felt odd to me and occasional parts in his point of view felt to me like Brielle was talking...not like how I remembered his bit at the end of Angel Eyes. The writing wasn't bad (though I did get a touch lost in some of the happenings at the end, probably because I was hoping against hope for a resolution that didn't come). There were some interesting speculative spiritual thoughts, like this one from an angel's point of view (though CSFF blogger Shane Werlinger already posted it):
Pearla nods and dives after the Shield, her mind sorting through this new assignment. It's the greatest expression of love, she knows, to lay one's life down. But she wonders if humans know just how unique the ability is to do that.Death is not something an angel has to offer her loved ones. How glorious it must be to have one's days numbered by the Father.But I felt like it had very few of the sparkling witty asides that added so much to Angel Eyes.
How precious it makes each and every one.
Plausibility/believability: 3 out of 5 and Positive: 2 out of 5. I know, it's weird to combine these, but I think it's fair here.
Regarding the new classes of angels...I guess they were plausible in that I actually looked up Sabres to make sure I hadn't just missed them in the Bible. (I know "Shield" from Angel Eyes is not a class of angel either, but I do believe angels guard over human affairs--if not on a one-on-one basis--so it seemed a reasonable class to me....naming a class of angel that is that that physically close to God, seemed odd to me.)
The theme is that God's plans do all work to good, no matter if they make sense to us or not. My problem is that one main character ends the book resolved that God's plans work to good, but as a reader, I have no idea why things would have happened the way they did for Brielle's mother. If someone I loved and trusted told me, dead serious, that's what happened in their real life, I'd have faith. But fiction has to be more plausible than reality, and I didn't personally buy it here.
Oh, and I was also astounded that a small town still had a photo shop that had numerous employees and could process film, but maybe I'm wrong there.
Gut reaction: 2 out of 5. Actually, the same basic complaints I had with Angel Eyes here. The book ends completely unresolved (though in fairness, I know that's the norm for book 2 in a trilogy, and unlike Angel Eyes, there was no easy way the author could have wrapped it up by ending the book a few pages earlier--or later).
And like Angel Eyes, the bad guys (demons in this case) evidently have dark skin. The cherub has "(b)lack skin, black hair knotted at her neck, bright brown eyes." The next page, she notes that she can slip in among the demons undetected, as "I'm created for such purposes. Darkness was given to me as a gift, and the Fallen often mistake me for one of their own."
Don't get me wrong. Pearla the cherub was likeable. But am I crazy to get just a little queasy at the fact that, aside from her eyes, the one angel with dark skin looks just like a demon?
Bonus points: 5 out of 5.
Recommended for: People who loved Angel Eyes and who can discern reality from fiction.
Total Rating: 2.8 out of 5 stars
Here are the other tour participants!
Gillian Adams
Julie Bihn
Jennifer Bogart
Beckie Burnham
Laure Covert
Pauline Creeden
Janey DeMeo
Theresa Dunlap
Emma or Audrey Engel
Victor Gentile
Nikole Hahn
Becky Jesse
Jason Joyner
Karielle @ Books à la Mode
Carol Keen
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Megan @ Hardcover Feedback
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Joan Nienhuis
Nathan Reimer
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Kathleen Smith
Jojo Sutis
Steve Trower
Phyllis Wheeler
Shane Werlinger
*In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book.
Monday, April 22, 2013
CSFF Blog Tour - Satan in the Bible and Broken Wings
Julie here for the CSFF Blog Tour!
This month we're reviewing Broken Wings by Shannon Dittemore. Unlike the previous book in the trilogy, Angel Eyes, this book portrays an actual angel and demon from the Bible, and one is Lucifer himself.
In Broken Wings, Satan is portrayed as the literal ruler inside hell (and the fires of hell are God's glory reflected). Honestly, the idea that Satan actually rules over hell had never crossed my mind.
I believe that Satan fell, and probably due to pride (hinted at in 1 Timothy 3:6). Is there a place where the Bible says Satan rules hell? I didn't find one, and I'm not sure why he'd rule a place that was to be his punishment. I know that cartoons always show the devil (and often demons) gleefully tormenting people in a pit of fire...but those same cartoons show cats and mice literally turning to harp-strumming angels after they're killed, so they probably aren't the best place to learn theology.
So I thought I'd look through the mentions of Satan in the Bible and make sure I hadn't missed anything obvious, at least. Per Bible Gateway, there are just 47 references to "Satan" proper in the NIV.
First off, the physical description in Broken Wings is extra-Biblical--that is, something we don't see in the Bible. I don't think extra-Biblical portrayals are wrong. If they were, I'd have to stop writing fiction. But I'm wary of extra-Biblical portrayals of Biblical creatures that don't make me see reality more clearly. Angel Eyes had a lot of extra-Biblical ideas, but also opened my eyes more clearly to the reality of angels and demons being around us, so in that sense it was a helpful book on a spiritual level.
Broken Wings is portraying actual Biblical figures like Satan and Michael, and I don't think it can lean on the "Wow, angels are really around us" idea like Angel Eyes could, since it's taken for granted at the start of the novel. So I think I held it to a higher standard.
That said, I thought the physical description of Satan was plausible enough. 2 Corinthians 11:14 notes that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Here's an angel's-eye-view of when Satan visits his demons in Broken Wings.
So here are most of the Biblical references I could find, mostly "Satan" and "the devil". (I would say "Evil one" was largely the same as below. Links and quotes are NIV.)
In the Old Testament, Satan incites David into taking a census of Israel (1 Chronicles 21:1). He accuses Job in front of God, then torments Job with utter destruction of almost everything he has, and finally gives him painful sores everywhere (Job 1:6-2:7). And later, the high priest Joshua is standing beside the angel of the Lord, with Satan standing at his (other translations say Joshua's) right side to accuse him, and God rebukes Satan (Zechariah 3:1-2).
The New Testament uses the name Satan a lot more. Of course, Satan tempts Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13). Pharisees accuse Jesus of calling on Satan but as Jesus says, "If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?" (see Matthew 12:22-28, Mark 3:22-26, Luke 11:14-20). Satan steals the Word from people (Matthew 13:19, Mark 4:15), causes God's people to be unfruitful (Matthew 13:38-39) and binds a crippled woman (Luke 13:10-17). When Peter objects to Jesus suffering and dying, Jesus says to Peter "Get behind me, Satan!" (Matthew 16:21-23, Mark 8:31-33). Satan enters Judas (Luke 22:3, John 13:27) and "asked to sift" the disciples "as wheat" (Luke 22:31-32).
After the Gospels, Satan prompts Ananias to lie about the price he received for the land he "donated" to the church (Acts 5:3). Paul recounted his vision on the road to Damascus in Acts 26:15-18, where God sends him to the Gentiles "to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'" The closing to Romans (Romans 16:20) promises a triumph over Satan.
I would class the remaining references to Satan I saw prior to Revelation--and even some inside it--as being about Satan tempting, (1 Corinthians 7:5, 1 Timothy 5:11-15, Revelation 2:9-10) tormenting (2 Corinthians 12:7), teaching?! (1 Corinthians 5:5, 1 Timothy 1:20), scheming (2 Corinthians 2:11), obstructing (1 Thessalonians 2:18), or deceiving (2 Thessalonians 2:8-12).
And of course, there are some references we take to mean Satan that won't come up simple word/phrase searches, such as when Jesus says in John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
I'd say "Steal, kill, destroy, tempt, and torment" pretty much sum up what I've seen of Satan in the Bible."Tempt" might is shown the most. And I can definitely imagine some great temptation scenes coming up in Book 3 in this trilogy.
But back to my initial question. Hell was prepared for Satan and his angels (Matthew 25:41-43). But I didn't notice any indication that it was a place for them to hang out when they're not being punished by God. So I still see Satan ruling hell (and holding demon meetings there) as extra-Biblical. Per 1 John 5:19, "the whole world is under the control of the evil one." Maybe I missed why the demons chose hell as their meeting place in Broken Wings, when they have the whole world to play with.
I didn't list the Biblical references to Satan's fall...I think the fact that he fell is widely accepted among most Christians, but it's not easy to find just reading without substantial context. Most of the references don't even mention Satan. There were some interesting thoughts by William D. Webber at Beliefnet.
I believe two mentions in Luke 10:17-20 and Revelation 12:7-9 aren't exactly about the original fall. As Webber's article indicates, there is actually some debate as to if references like Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:13-17 are talking about Satan at all--at most they are double references also alluding to historical figures.
As to the fall, Broken Wings also portrays Satan as God's worship leader, who got too vain. I'm not saying that's not possible, and I've heard some people say it before. But as far as I know, that belief is also extra-Biblical. I don't mind speculation, but I don't like when people start preaching speculation as fact...and the angel-knowing humans in Broken Wings acknowledge the worship leader position as an accepted fact. It might make interesting fiction, but I worry that some people might take it as (ahem) gospel.
Now, let me admit, I haven't studied Satan extensively; reading for this blog entry is by far the longest I've investigated him specifically.
But on the other hand, I'm not sure we really need to know the enemy's backstory in detail? Or is it enough to just know that he seeks to tempt, to torment, to kill, to destroy, and try to fight that?
Regardless of Satan's past, we do know his ending (Revelation 20:7-10). That's something I think all Christians can agree on, no matter how they might view the finer details of what comes before.
I'll review the book itself tomorrow. For now, here are the other tour participants!
Gillian Adams
Julie Bihn
Jennifer Bogart
Beckie Burnham
Laure Covert
Pauline Creeden
Janey DeMeo
Theresa Dunlap
Emma or Audrey Engel
Victor Gentile
Nikole Hahn
Becky Jesse
Jason Joyner
Karielle @ Books à la Mode
Carol Keen
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Megan @ Hardcover Feedback
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Joan Nienhuis
Nathan Reimer
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Kathleen Smith
Jojo Sutis
Steve Trower
Phyllis Wheeler
Shane Werlinger
*In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book.
This month we're reviewing Broken Wings by Shannon Dittemore. Unlike the previous book in the trilogy, Angel Eyes, this book portrays an actual angel and demon from the Bible, and one is Lucifer himself.
In Broken Wings, Satan is portrayed as the literal ruler inside hell (and the fires of hell are God's glory reflected). Honestly, the idea that Satan actually rules over hell had never crossed my mind.
I believe that Satan fell, and probably due to pride (hinted at in 1 Timothy 3:6). Is there a place where the Bible says Satan rules hell? I didn't find one, and I'm not sure why he'd rule a place that was to be his punishment. I know that cartoons always show the devil (and often demons) gleefully tormenting people in a pit of fire...but those same cartoons show cats and mice literally turning to harp-strumming angels after they're killed, so they probably aren't the best place to learn theology.
So I thought I'd look through the mentions of Satan in the Bible and make sure I hadn't missed anything obvious, at least. Per Bible Gateway, there are just 47 references to "Satan" proper in the NIV.
First off, the physical description in Broken Wings is extra-Biblical--that is, something we don't see in the Bible. I don't think extra-Biblical portrayals are wrong. If they were, I'd have to stop writing fiction. But I'm wary of extra-Biblical portrayals of Biblical creatures that don't make me see reality more clearly. Angel Eyes had a lot of extra-Biblical ideas, but also opened my eyes more clearly to the reality of angels and demons being around us, so in that sense it was a helpful book on a spiritual level.
Broken Wings is portraying actual Biblical figures like Satan and Michael, and I don't think it can lean on the "Wow, angels are really around us" idea like Angel Eyes could, since it's taken for granted at the start of the novel. So I think I held it to a higher standard.
That said, I thought the physical description of Satan was plausible enough. 2 Corinthians 11:14 notes that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Here's an angel's-eye-view of when Satan visits his demons in Broken Wings.
Silence consumes the assembly now, imposed on them by the sight of an icy white figure dropping into the hall from above. His wings, spread wide, are white, save the tips, which retain a char he's never rid of.
Black-tipped wings for the Prince of Darkness. Healthy wings. Strong wings. His skin shines like polished marble. His hair lies in curls of midnight around his face--still fresh, still bright, still retaining the beauty that seduced a third of the angels. Human eyes would have a hard time distinguishing the Prince from a Warrior like Michael. But the absence of light behind those pale blue eyes hints at the creature's true nature. And they are pale, so pale the blue seems buried far below, glinting like coins at the bottom of a well.
He's exquisite. Majestic.
And he's afraid.
So here are most of the Biblical references I could find, mostly "Satan" and "the devil". (I would say "Evil one" was largely the same as below. Links and quotes are NIV.)
In the Old Testament, Satan incites David into taking a census of Israel (1 Chronicles 21:1). He accuses Job in front of God, then torments Job with utter destruction of almost everything he has, and finally gives him painful sores everywhere (Job 1:6-2:7). And later, the high priest Joshua is standing beside the angel of the Lord, with Satan standing at his (other translations say Joshua's) right side to accuse him, and God rebukes Satan (Zechariah 3:1-2).
The New Testament uses the name Satan a lot more. Of course, Satan tempts Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13). Pharisees accuse Jesus of calling on Satan but as Jesus says, "If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?" (see Matthew 12:22-28, Mark 3:22-26, Luke 11:14-20). Satan steals the Word from people (Matthew 13:19, Mark 4:15), causes God's people to be unfruitful (Matthew 13:38-39) and binds a crippled woman (Luke 13:10-17). When Peter objects to Jesus suffering and dying, Jesus says to Peter "Get behind me, Satan!" (Matthew 16:21-23, Mark 8:31-33). Satan enters Judas (Luke 22:3, John 13:27) and "asked to sift" the disciples "as wheat" (Luke 22:31-32).
After the Gospels, Satan prompts Ananias to lie about the price he received for the land he "donated" to the church (Acts 5:3). Paul recounted his vision on the road to Damascus in Acts 26:15-18, where God sends him to the Gentiles "to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'" The closing to Romans (Romans 16:20) promises a triumph over Satan.
I would class the remaining references to Satan I saw prior to Revelation--and even some inside it--as being about Satan tempting, (1 Corinthians 7:5, 1 Timothy 5:11-15, Revelation 2:9-10) tormenting (2 Corinthians 12:7), teaching?! (1 Corinthians 5:5, 1 Timothy 1:20), scheming (2 Corinthians 2:11), obstructing (1 Thessalonians 2:18), or deceiving (2 Thessalonians 2:8-12).
And of course, there are some references we take to mean Satan that won't come up simple word/phrase searches, such as when Jesus says in John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
I'd say "Steal, kill, destroy, tempt, and torment" pretty much sum up what I've seen of Satan in the Bible."Tempt" might is shown the most. And I can definitely imagine some great temptation scenes coming up in Book 3 in this trilogy.
But back to my initial question. Hell was prepared for Satan and his angels (Matthew 25:41-43). But I didn't notice any indication that it was a place for them to hang out when they're not being punished by God. So I still see Satan ruling hell (and holding demon meetings there) as extra-Biblical. Per 1 John 5:19, "the whole world is under the control of the evil one." Maybe I missed why the demons chose hell as their meeting place in Broken Wings, when they have the whole world to play with.
I didn't list the Biblical references to Satan's fall...I think the fact that he fell is widely accepted among most Christians, but it's not easy to find just reading without substantial context. Most of the references don't even mention Satan. There were some interesting thoughts by William D. Webber at Beliefnet.
I believe two mentions in Luke 10:17-20 and Revelation 12:7-9 aren't exactly about the original fall. As Webber's article indicates, there is actually some debate as to if references like Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:13-17 are talking about Satan at all--at most they are double references also alluding to historical figures.
As to the fall, Broken Wings also portrays Satan as God's worship leader, who got too vain. I'm not saying that's not possible, and I've heard some people say it before. But as far as I know, that belief is also extra-Biblical. I don't mind speculation, but I don't like when people start preaching speculation as fact...and the angel-knowing humans in Broken Wings acknowledge the worship leader position as an accepted fact. It might make interesting fiction, but I worry that some people might take it as (ahem) gospel.
Now, let me admit, I haven't studied Satan extensively; reading for this blog entry is by far the longest I've investigated him specifically.
But on the other hand, I'm not sure we really need to know the enemy's backstory in detail? Or is it enough to just know that he seeks to tempt, to torment, to kill, to destroy, and try to fight that?
Regardless of Satan's past, we do know his ending (Revelation 20:7-10). That's something I think all Christians can agree on, no matter how they might view the finer details of what comes before.
I'll review the book itself tomorrow. For now, here are the other tour participants!
Gillian Adams
Julie Bihn
Jennifer Bogart
Beckie Burnham
Laure Covert
Pauline Creeden
Janey DeMeo
Theresa Dunlap
Emma or Audrey Engel
Victor Gentile
Nikole Hahn
Becky Jesse
Jason Joyner
Karielle @ Books à la Mode
Carol Keen
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Megan @ Hardcover Feedback
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Joan Nienhuis
Nathan Reimer
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Kathleen Smith
Jojo Sutis
Steve Trower
Phyllis Wheeler
Shane Werlinger
*In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)