2012: The War for Souls (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: other human world, General Samson, Doctor Winters, Cheyenne Mountain (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Strieber's epic sequel to 2006's The Grays blends equal parts science fiction thriller, supernatural horror and provocative spiritual speculation. As struggling author Wylie Dale works on his latest novel, which revolves around an upcoming date when the earth crosses both the galactic equator and the solar ecliptic—a time that the Maya predicted would mark the cataclysmic end of this age—he begins to uncover evidence that what he's writing about is actually happening on a parallel earth. If nothing is done, on December 21, 2012, gateways will open into this world and reptilian invaders will not only enslave humanity but feast on their succulent souls as well. While Strieber's exploration into the existence and import of the soul isn't exactly profound, it is wildly entertaining. Fans of apocalyptic page-turners like King's The Stand and Niven and Pournelle's Lucifer's Hammer will enjoy this ambitious—and audacious—tale as it invokes everything from rectal probes and Ann Coulter to the destruction of the Great Pyramid of Giza. (Sept.)
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From Booklist

Archaeologist Martin Winters gets out of the collapsing Great Pyramid of Khufu just in time to see a gigantic lens arise from the rubble. Simultaneously at equally ancient monument sites all over the world, other lenses emerge. What's happening is a kind of alien invasion, but the aliens, whose advance agents have been subverting human society for some time, aren't really another species. They're their world's degenerates, whose earlier incursions into human history inspired the way the evil beings of religious mythology have been represented. In short, they're demons, fortunately killable but possessed of awesome power by the standards of Martin's world, which is one of three parallel Earths. The others are the invaders' and ours, in which buff sf writer Wiley Dale is compulsively and automatically writing Martin's story, which is more transmission than story. Eventually the demonic aliens pop up in Wiley's as well as Martin's Kansas homeland. Each Earth has advantages over the others; one of those, in both Martin's and the aliens' worlds, is that the physical existence of the soul has been discovered. The implications of that discovery drive the action of Strieber's hyperactive cosmological thriller. Despite Wiley and his cop buddy's excruciating hardy-har-he-man palaver and the exposition turning to cardboard whenever love is mentioned, it's immensely entertaining, and it's optioned for a big, splashy, FX-laden movie. Oh boy! Olson, Ray

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (September 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765318962
• ISBN-13: 978-0765318961
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (109 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #471,103 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The War for Souls delivers on its promise., October 3, 2007

By	W. J. Smith (Silver Spring, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Mayan calendar places the end of the current age, and perhaps of the world, on 21 December 2012, the Winter Solstice, when we supposedly align with the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Whitley Strieber's novel 2012 The War for Souls portrays this date as a sort of cosmic Samhain, when the veils that normally separate parallel universes and parallel worlds become thin and permeable, and the people and circumstances of one world can enter another.

2012 posits three parallel earths (although there may be others): one that is our own, one that is very much like it but somewhat fairer, and one that is very foul indeed. As 21 December approaches, the gentler earth is rocked by catastrophic events that had their origin thousands of years before, the last time the worlds came together. One man in this world has the key to unlocking the secret that may save it from the ravening hunger of the dark earth, and his fate is tied to his counterpart in our world. The prize sought is nothing less than the soul of every person on earth--and that of the world itself.

The novel draws from the deep wells of mythology that surround the ancient Maya, Atlantis, Egypt, and the sacred sites that have existed since the end of the last Ice Age, as well as the fields of quantum physics, psychology, and theology. Can souls be eaten like junk food? Is there a science of the soul? And if so, does anyone--or did anyone--know it?

Strieber takes the reader through fascination, through terror, to despair, and finally dangles hope. It seems that that Devil is real, and he is us; that every wicked and anti-human twist that has shaped our history is the work of a reptilian humanity that is us but is not us, yet penetrates our culture at every level.

Yet nothing is quite as it seems. Not even Ann Coulter, and she shows up too.

This book is worth a read and a re-read. It is disturbing, and provoking, and fun.

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A chilling ride into human potential, October 3, 2007

By	david rockwell (daytona beach, fl United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Picking up this book for a forthcoming vacation, I was expecting a fun, light read. What I received inside the covers was insightful glimpse into the potential that everyone holds within. I typically take weeks to finish a book. With 2012 I literally could not put this down and completed it in two and half days. The manner in which Mr. Strieber weaves the entangled characters with their increasing realization of each person's importance, takes hold and does not let go. I read late into the night as sleep could not compete with my desire to learn more about the characters. Above all the book was a thought provoking rush of a experience. Highly recommended.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Whitley doesn't disappoint!, October 3, 2007

By	Eileen Campbell - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

2012 is riveting. Such a coincidence the release of the book coincided with a mathematician saying parallel universes really do exist!
Another hit, Whitley!