Rise of the Fallen is the sequel to Cloak of the Light.
Surprisingly though, it does not start off where Cloak of the Light ended nor
does it continue from Drew Carter’s (the Main Character in Cloak of the light)
perspective.
Instead,
this book introduces us to Validus, an angel that Drew met briefly. In this
book we get to know Validus on a more personal note. The book switches back and
forth between the current happenings with Validus and his past. We quickly see
that the events in the past have helped to form Validus into a great warrior.
But
when he is taken off his command over the post in America and assigned to
assisting a Guardian Angel in keeping a young unbeliever, Drew Carter, safe,
Validus is more than just a little confused and even offended to be given such
a small duty. He soon realizes, though, that keeping Carter safe is going to be
one of the biggest jobs since his creation. There is one question that remains
with Validus. Why? Why is Carter so important that he has been given a power to
see into the middle realm? As he guards Carter he also searches for answers.
I was a
little disappointed at first that the book wasn’t about Drew. But I quickly
began to appreciate the perspective Chuck Black was writing from. Through this
book we catch a glimpse of what it might have been like in heaven before the
earth was created. We see on a personal note how the fall of Lucifer totally
destroyed the earth after Adam sinned. Through an angel’s eyes we experience
the Flood, the Tower of Babel, the slaying of the children 2 years old and
under, the Holocaust and wars both on earth and in the middle realm. Though it
is fiction, and we cannot know the feelings of angels when they experienced
these things, I believe it is a good eye - opener to the reality of spiritual
warfare that is going on all around us.
I also
appreciated the layout of the book. At the beginning there is a list of
characters, and because there were so many angels with various names it was
nice to have whenever I got confused about who was who =D. There is also a few
lists of names of God used in the book, different names for angels and demons
and military terms. In the back there is a reader’s guide which has a few
paragraphs about each chapter which I would highly recommend reading when you
read the book for the 1st time. It explains some of the Biblical
references and reasons for different happenings. Also any Biblical references
made in the book are written in bold,
which I also found very helpful =D .
In
summary, I believe Chuck Black did an amazing job with a subject we really
don’t know much about. This book gives a lot of food for thought and I
thoroughly enjoyed it. I am excited to see what Mr. Black does next!
