The Age of Apollyon (The Age of Apollyon Trilogy, #1) in MEGA-DARK

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The Age of Apollyon (The Age of Apollyon Trilogy, #1)

Mark Carver

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Aug 17, 2012 J.T. Lewis rated it it was amazing

I wasn't even sure what speculative Christian fiction was when I started this book, but now I know...and it's scary!

This book that I thought would be more of an end of days scenario, was really the story of a great change in the world as we know it scenario. The devil returns, and the world is turned on its head. What's right is now wrong, and what was heretofore wrong is suddenly encouraged.

The Christian resistance, though small in number, are dedicated to their cause, and add to the suspense ...more

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Oct 07, 2012 D.M. Dutcher rated it really liked it

Shelves: christian, spiritual-warfare

Better than I expected. It's strength isn't in the action and and adventure parts, but in an edgy and subversive take on standard end times novels.

It's the near future. A spiritual manifestation of Satan in Israel has changed the world, making Satanism the dominant religion in Europe, and the lives of two brothers are changed dramatically. Patric is a typical person existing in this new world; a nominal believer in Satanism, he is dealing with juggling hedonism and his fiancee at the same time. Better than I expected. It's strength isn't in the action and and adventure parts, but in an edgy and subversive take on standard end times novels.

It's the near future. A spiritual manifestation of Satan in Israel has changed the world, making Satanism the dominant religion in Europe, and the lives of two brothers are changed dramatically. Patric is a typical person existing in this new world; a nominal believer in Satanism, he is dealing with juggling hedonism and his fiancee at the same time. His brother Tourec however, is a pious young man who believes that Christians need to resist the rise of Satanism with force. One day a demon demands of Patric to find his brother or lose Natasha forever, and it's a race against time as Tourec has a holy mission of his own.

The action is good on its own, and Mark's book moves a long at a brisk clip. But what really sticks out is how Mark adds a twist to a genre- ends times novels- that too easily falls into cliche. When the Manifestation happens, people react realistically: a religious panic turns into a massive bloodbath where many Christians fight to protect the holy places, and everyone fights everyone. This creates fallout in Tourec's life, as well as others. While Satanism is as bad as you'd expect, people also deal with it realistically. Patric is a Satanist as much as many nominal Christians are Christian, and the Christians themselves war with the proper response against them. Some embrace violence, other turn the other cheek. It's an interesting take on it, because in a way it reverses the old "Christians versus Satanist terrorists" trope, and it also feels like how people would react to a new spiritual manifestation. It suffers a little from being underexplored, but it adds a lot to the novel.

The only issue I had is that the ending is a bit off theologically. It's actually different than you'd expect, in a good way, but the idea I don't think can work. I don't want to put it in spoilers, though. Also, while it sets up the next book very nicely, it's a bit abrupt, and a certain character remaining alive might have been better instead.

So definitely give this a chance if you don't mind different novels that take risks with standard genres. I was pleasantly surprised with how good the ideas were, and look forwards to the next book. ...more

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Oct 15, 2012 William Tasch rated it it was amazing

Mark Carvers debut novels is a riveting tale of Satan's manifestation on earth. Two brothers who have chosen very different paths in life, one is a devout Christian while the other is a self absorbed, pleasure seeking Satanist find their paths crossed in this dark thrill ride. Looking forward to Mr. Carver's next book. ...more

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