Title: Rise of the Fallen
Author: Chuck Black
Series: Wars of the Realm, book 2
Major Themes: Allegories, Science Fiction
Synopsis: When Validus, a commander of many angels, is seemingly demoted to focus on protecting one man, he struggles with his assignment and wonders why God cares about someone who doesn’t even believe in Him.
Years ago, I listened to the audiobook of Cloak of the Light, and although I enjoyed the story, I also found it more than a little disturbing. I wasn’t prepared for the subject matter of the book—I’m not sure I’d read any books that focused so much on the spiritual realm before that—and it took me a long time to feel like I was “okay” after reading that story. And though I knew that that story had some sequels, I wasn’t feeling ready to read them until recently, when I finally picked up Rise of the Fallen. I was more than a little apprehensive about this story, but I’m glad to say that this has given me some closure from the first book, and I’m now tentatively looking forward to finishing the series one day!
Publisher’s description:
A six thousand year war rages and now the demonic Fallen are coming for him—the one man shrouded in mystery. Only Validus stands in their way.
Validus is the last and least of God’s angels, but he’s seen much across the millennia since his creation. Empires have risen and fallen as angelic and demonic forces battle in a raging war that will determine humanity’s fate—and the fate of his defeated brothers.
Eventually called to be an earth-bound warrior, Validus rises to a position of power and respect, commanding legions of angels through impossible battles and overwhelming odds. But when orders arrive from the Creator’s most elite Messenger, he finds himself suddenly demoted to a task of apparent insignificance considering the fierce war they are waging against the demonic Fallen—the covert protection of one unbelieving man.
Validus soon finds himself on a mission that will push him beyond his abilities as he battles to protect Drew Carter, for the Fallen are coming for him. Legions of them.
As Validus races against time to discover why Drew is so important to humanity’s survival, can he stand between Drew and all who would destroy him?
My thoughts:
This book is quite a bit different in tone than Cloak of the Light. Not only is this story a rehashing of the events of the first book, but from the angel’s perspective instead of Drew’s perspective, it’s also an overview of world history from the point of view of the spiritual realm. I found that fascinating to consider: What did events like Noah’s flood or Jesus’ crucifixion look like to the angels? I found the perspective that was given interesting, especially the parts about relationships between the angels and what spiritual warfare on earth looked like to them.
I did struggle with this story to some extent, though. The amount of backstory, in my opinion, dragged the rest of the book down. And while I found the backstory interesting, it wasn’t interesting enough to make it necessary, in my opinion. There was also one random scene where the book switched to a human perspective—that never happened anywhere else, so I found that confusing.
I’ll be interested to see what I think of the last book in the series, because while I enjoyed Rise of the Fallen, this didn’t have a lot of new information compared to book one, except it gave perspective on how this story-world works. From that point of view, this book feels almost unnecessary to the series. Still, there are things in here that you couldn’t get from any other perspective—yet are necessary to hold the whole series up. Personally, I would have liked to see less action for action’s sake and a little more advancement in the overarching theme of the series, but I could also just be overly critical.
In the end, this wasn’t my favorite book ever, and even though I didn’t fully enjoy Cloak of the Light, that is my favorite book in the series so far. Do keep in mind that you have to read this series in order. If you enjoy books with high action and a strong emphasis on God’s overarching redemption plan for the world, I’d recommend you check this series out. I have found it engaging reading, and I came away from this book, in particular, with a greater desire to pray and see God at work in my life and the lives of those around me. I’m also looking forward to reading book three at some stage!
WARNING: There is a lot of fighting in this book, and angels frequently kill or are killed. Sometimes, there is physical fighting with people getting hurt; other times, it’s just in the spiritual world. Many scenes are fairly tense and/or violent (there is quite a bit of self-defense in the story). Demons possessing people comes up occasionally. Chapter 11: A man falls on his knife and dies, I swear. Chapter 14: A man threatens a woman. Chapter 21: A school shooting. Chapter 23: An animal killed. Chapter 25: Someone trying to give someone else drugs. Chapter 26: Baby killed. Chapter 34: Mention of a man who committed suicide, a scene inside a gas chamber as people were killed.
Age levels:
Reading Independently—Ages 15 and Above, Adults
Links to buy this book:
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle | Audible Audiobook (unabridged) | Audio CD (unabridged)
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
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