OK, what I know about these “books” is mainly from SDMB and the back covers of the videos, so maybe someone can explain this to me. How do they get around the fundamental problem that the “heroes” of the series must by definition not be good/Christian enough to get Raptured, but must be good/Christian enough to root for as heroes?
gonzoron, the idea is that these people were “left behind” at the rapture because they weren’t “saved” when it happened, but saw the light after the fact. So they became Christians because of what happened.
On another note, the copy of Armeggedon I reserved at the library was available today so I picked it up. I’m more than willing to provide a review if people want it, once I read it (if it’s along the lines of the last one, I don’t expect it to take more than a day - even with classwork, cooking and cleaning also involved in my day).
Capt. Amazing, IIRC at first the Anti-Christ is just your basic evil guy who secretly serves Satan. At some point, he gets killed, and his body is possessed and reanimated by Satan himself. (Or else one of the major demons, I guess.) So now he’s EVIL ITSELF.
Lsura, please do a review so I don’t have to read it! I’ve doggedly stuck with them (for largely your reasons), but the pain was just too great on the last one and I gave up. It was incredibly slow, badly written, and all-around terrible.
OK, so I’m not really up on the New Testament, but now what? Will there be a second-chance Rapture or is that it? Did they get eternally screwed for bad timing?
**Thea ** 1st, you really should post your review of this travesy on Amazon. You know that us dopers would give you high rankings, you could be more popular than that Harriet Clausner chick::::;gasp::::: dare you reach for such greatness?
2ndly, I read your whoring story (
) and while I have only seen a few episodes of Buffy I know, WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? I can see that you a) have an excellent talent for writing ( I am still reading it…look, I have to surf the boards for late breaking mundania too. There is only so much a gal can do at once. b) have an unholy obsession for Buffy
3rdly, [begin subliminal messaging now]You need to write a book that parodies the Left Behind series. I am in all seriousness here. There is a market out there for it, a market of jaded, cynical types that want to see this lampooned and treated as it really is. Utter and complete offal. [/subliminal messaging]
So you might as well start masterbating now.
Well, Piper Grace is a bad little cat…and she’s all black. Hmmm…it all makes sense.
Reviews on Amazon…these I have to see…
Shirley Ujest
Um, no. I have an unholy obsession for Spike, an obsession that at times rivals even pepperlandgirl’s. Thanks for the kudos, tho.
I like the idea of writing an LB parody, though. Don’t really know how I’d go about it. I may have to see if I can find some battered, and therefore cheap, used copies to use as reference for plot points.
gonzoron, nope, no second-chance rapture. The believers are just riding out the seven year Tribulation, hoping to live long enough to see the Glorious Appearing, when Christ returns to the earth to set up his millenial utopian reign. Those belivers who die during the Tribulation go directly to Heaven, and those left behind (cough) take comfort that they will be seeing them again soon.
One of the characters, George Sebastian, who had been a very minor character, is starting to take on a larger role, which included calling Michael “Roger”. Seems the archangel appeared in the cockpit of a plane he and some other Trib Force members were trying to escape Greece in, blinded some GC guys with a bright light to help with the rescue. George looked at him and said, “Michael, I assume”, and Michael said “Roger”.
Oh, heavens, actual intelligent humor. I need to go lie down.
One person at the Amazon review site describes the authors as “Catholic scholars”.
WTF???
Just to clarify here, those not saved prior to the Rapture do indeed have a “second chance”, the whole purpose of the tribulation period. Those who become Christian during this time and subsequently die, go to heaven. Those who survive to the return of Jesus continue to live on earth for the Millenium, the thousand year period of Jesus’ reign.
Ok, here it goes. Armegeddon (no, it didn’t take long to read it.
This one seems better than the last one, in that there’s definitely not the constant rehashing of how the main characters got saved. There’s a couple of people who tell their stories, but not many. The writing’s still not great, but it’s definitely better than the last several books have been, at least IMHO (and it’s been a long time since I read any of the others…so I could be very wrong on that point).
The rest, I don’t think I can do without spoilers, so this will be my first time using the spoiler tags.
[spoiler]
There is a repeat of an earlier scene, sort of. Well, actually it’s typical Chloe. She heads out of the safe house they’re staying in - in San Diego (I don’t remember them getting to SD in the last book). She gets captured and is held by the GC. They eventually take her to Joliet, IL, where she is beheaded. Before she is killed, though, she makes a speech that is broadcast (thanks to the techno-savvy Chang), and she manages to convert a number of people who haven’t taken the mark and who are due to be beheaded. Didn’t something like this happen in an earlier book?
Albie dies, shot by a former associate who contines to traffic in black market goods. Between Chloe’s arrest and execution, the GC accuse her of comprimising him, as well as any other number of things.
This one takes place over a longer period of time than the last several have. It starts with about a year to go, and ends during the battle of Armegeddon.
With a week/month to go (I had trouble figuring out just how long before the battle it was), Buck and Tsion head to Jerusalem, working to convince the Jews there. They’re there when the final battle starts. Tsion gets shot and dies.
The book ends with both Rayford and Buck gravely wounded. Rayford in Petra (actually just outside) and Buck in Jerusalem. One of them dies, though it’s not specified which one. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s another “cliffhanger” ending. But my opinion is that it’s Buck who died. [/spoiler]
There. Now I wasted three hours or so of my day. But I didn’t really want to be writing a paper anyway. 
Does anyone else find names like Buck Williams and Rayford Steele too much to believe?
I mean, why not name them Lance Hardslab and Slate Fistrock and have done with it?
OK, so the basic plot is
Everybody’s dead, Dave. Dave, everybody is dead, dead everybody Dave is, is everybody dead Dave, everybody Dave dead.
Well, at least it’s better written this time. Maybe I’ll pick it up.
Lsura, do we really need the spoiler boxes? I mean, really, I started the LB threads to save other people from having to read the books. I really don’t think anyone here would be really upset if we “spoiled” the series for them. It’s not like we’re giving away next weeks Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode.
Glad to hear that Chloe finally bites the big one. She’s such an annoying character. She’s supposedly this smart, capable woman who runs an international co-op, but she’s constantly whining about not getting sent on important missions, and constantly putting the Trib Force in danger by sneaking off places and getting caught.
Too bad about Albie, though. I really liked that guy.
I can’t believe they killed Tsion, though. I thought he was going to make it to the Glorious Appearing. Maybe the authors just felt the need to kill of a coupla major characters so they could make room for Chang to become more of a big player, and add a coupla more minor characters. We’ve all gotten bored with the original Trib Force, so maybe Tim and Jerry are killing some of them off to create drama and add some fresh blood to the cast of characters.
Yeah, I mean, my mind plays word association games and comes up with Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon and Emperor Ming and…
Straight out of comicbook land, aren’t they?
shhh…I just really wanted to use them since I never had before. 
The ending of this one can’t be more than 5 minutes or so from the Glorious Appearing, at least from what it sounds like - dunno how much fresh blood they can bring in at this point, but who knows?
I don’t list my Location, but it is in the Bible Belt. Worked in a bookstore for a year, we could not keep the damn things in stock. People who bought them never bought any other books, walked right past the humungous display --Left Behind Headquarters – in the middle aisle & asked me, “Where are them books about the Rapture?” (We also sold zillions of audio tapes to people who, I’m pretty sure, couldn’t read.)
When the Left Behind series for kids came out, a sensible preacher equated them with child abuse, was nearly lynched.
I never have, never will read this trash, but EVERYONE around here knows about it. Went to a concert where there were two empty seats in the front row, every other seat filled. The entertainer looked at those two seats and asked, "Did the Rapture come and the rest of you got left behind?
Thanks to all of you who read this stuff for your sacrifice of time & brain cells.
“Wondering about the Catholic bashing…”
I was thinking this too. And it may even be working. Now, I haven’t finished Armegeddon – I only had 1 1/2 at the bookstore, so I had to stop at page 209 – but I agree with Lsaura. This one is about as close to good as any of them have been and a whoole lot better than the last few! Armegeddon** actually kept my interest, possibly because I was eagerly awaiting the death of the incredibly annoying Chloe. Unfortunately, she was still alive by page 209. I probably won’t get to finish the book until next week (my husband and I spend Wednesday evenings at the bookstore – believe it or not, because we’re waiting for the kids to get out of church!), so I was pleased to read the spoilers – I was starting to worry that Chloe would actually be rescued. The author’s treatment of women has been, IMO, the series greatest weakness and, Chloe is the best illustration of that weakness. My god, the woman is a moron. Hattie (the Whore of the Antichrist) was pretty bad too, but at least she died early on.
The series and bookstores – yeah, summerbreeze, I hear you. I worked in a bookstore a few years ago and was endlessly fascinated by the Left Behind fans. Somebody (in this thread or the other one) compared these books to Harry Potter. I found that an unfair comparison. First of all, the Harry Potter books, while not brilliant, are not badly written. And, most strikingly, the Harry Potter books are truely gateway books – several times a week I would meet former non-readers who had read and loved Harry and were looking for more books “like that.” Even a grownup once – she had read the books at her daughter’s insistence and came in looking for something else. She liked the ridiculous and gory elements in the books and, by the time I left that job, we had made a reader out of this 35 year old lady. I don’t recall this ever happening with Left Behind. I never once had someone ask for “another book like Left Behind.” Not once. Of course, there were plenty of Left Behind fans who were also readers, but quite often the customers would tell me – proudly! – that they only read the Bible and Left Behind. These were the ones who would rave about how “well written and researched” the books are! Yeah, right! :rollingeyes:
So anyway – it looks like Jesus will be up in the next book, right? Finally. I wonder what he’ll look like…
Shit. Satan messed up my coding. Will some kind moderator fix it, please?