Customer Reviews

Angelwalk-Cassette

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I enjoyed the book. From the very beginning I loved the idea of writing a story in an almost-fallen angel's point of view, and his struggle with doubts, insecurities and his love for his creator.

However, I found many of the ideas presented one-sided and basic. Often the characters the author set to oppose his view of right, were young and inexperienced, unable to defend their position as thoroughly as his. He did not do a good job at presenting a case against his beliefs.

I found the description of "the Devil" and the Creator incomplete and elementary. The two most powerful forces in the story were left unfinished. Some might say that such entities could not be described, but I have seen some very good and admirable attempts. An attempt is all I ask for.

Heaven was dull and described far less than it should have been. He focused so much on the pain and iniquity of humans and not enough on the redemption.

All in all it was a good book. I enjoyed reading it, and I connected with the character of Darien as he quested through the world to find answers to his lack of faith.

with all due respect,roger elwood! first of all, glad christian fiction exists, period. i hope the following is edifying. while an interesting premise, found it to be not doctrinally sound (since the fall angels haven't free will nor choice: ref.-there is a chasm fixed, they long to look into such things, etc.etc.) maybe i totally missed the point, but i felt it hard to read through the heavy handedness. what i mean is this: revealing the sin in a gay bathhouse is no revelation at all, even most gay men would agree that such behavior is reprehensible. to reveal the sin in a relatively stable, normal homosexual relationship..now that would have been subtle-and far more useful. in every instance, i found that subtleties were passed over, underscoring the argument that many use to downplay sin (well, i may be doing so-and-so, but at least i'm not doing *that* !)i felt the book was a vehicle to shout political opinion, and i prefer ideas, especially evangelical ones, to be the kind that enter my mind, then explode into broader meaning the longer i think about them. i felt like you did all the thinking for me. happy to see christian fiction, like i said, i hope this is edifying.

I wrote a paper on this book for my English class in a secular college about 8 years ago and my professor immediately asked to borrow it. I still don't have it back. That is okay though, as I am sure she is sharing it with others. I could not put it down once I started reading it. I rank Elwood with Perretti, Bunn, Morris, and Lucado. A different style of writing, perhaps, but none the less spellbinding.

i'm 47 now, i first read this book years ago, since then i've read it several times, i've gave away numerous copies to friends, i put it in the top 5 books i've read in my life on Earth

This is the forst book of the series. This book surprised me alot. Very good read. I got one for all my family members

Any favourable comparisons to C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters are wildly ignorant. Lewis used the fantastic (in both senses) idea of dialogue between devils to make profound observations challenging his readers' double standards and assumptions with great wit. Elwood, in contrast, with clumsy schoolboy writing technique, tries to confirm every ignorant self-satisfied middle-American nominal in their bigotry - particularly nasty in someone claiming to endorse Jesus' teaching.

Much of the profundity of the Letters is the way that they strikingly show that in the 'small' moral decisions we constantly make grave and eternal implications follow. Lewis' senior Devil constantly upbraids his rash understudy for his attempts to be melodramatic and overblown. Subtlety is the key - deceit: you don't need to damn a soul by terrifying them with atrocities, you're probably better off distracting them at a crucial point with a nice lunch or a transient newspaper headline.

Elwood does the opposite. He, at best immaturely, at worst, deceptively, presents spiritual conflicts as relating only to a sensational fraction of the population. Where Lewis made one pause and uncomfortably realise, "This could be me," Elwood has ignorant people going, "Yes, that sounds like them." Lewis was keenly aware of the audience who would be reading his work and sought to challenge and move them, at times with humour, at others with great courage - and usually with a combination of the two: the characters he gently (and at times sharply, but always lovingly) exposes are the same middle-class, nice, educated people like himself who'd be reading such a book. Elwood, however, writes (with consummate ignorance) about, for example, how bad and criminally insane all junkies are, condemning those already judged by his glib readers: he is the Pharisee calling out to other Pharisees, 'Thank God I'm not like this tax collector and sinner.'

To stay with the junkie example, Elwood manages a breathtakingly offensive line to someone who cares about Jesus' teaching. When in laughable melodramatic fashion the user is stereotypically driven to armed robbery and shot by his own stereotypically 'good cop' father (the book ingenuously tries to sell this sort of utterly transparent device as hard-edged realism) what is seen as the tragedy of this death has nothing to do with eternity (something Jesus seemed to feel quite important). Why is it tragic?

"...He wasn't just any computer programmer; He could have been another Bill Gates, a Steve Jobs."

Isn't it tragic that he wasn't hugely successful in the world's eyes and values, but, instead, failed in the world's terms by not making millions and having proud parents. How can a 'Christian' author be promoting:
1) an unsaved policeman with no concept of his own sinfulness as righteous?
2) Bill Gates and Steve Jobs as laudable models of success?

Blimey, the death wouldn't have even mattered so much if he had've just been an ordinary programmer.

At least Elwood is clear on not having two masters: when it comes to choosing between God and mammon, the former doesn't stand a chance.

Elwood couldn't even take the risk of challenging his rich American readers' sinful love of money (What? Is that a problem?). Lewis, publishing during the war dared to question nationalism!

Once I picked this book up I couldn't put it down. I immediately borrowed it from a friend, and went home and read it. I am not a reader of Christian fiction, but this is an exception - it gets you thinking.

I read this book many years ago and the one thing I can say for it is that this is a timeless read. No matter how things have changed, the truths that I read in this book are no different. It grabbed my attention, kept it and I am now looking for another copy for my youngest daughter to read.

This book is a captivating read for those who believe that angels are called to protect God's people. It gives the reader a fresh perspective on the feelings and duties of these heavenly beings.

I first read this book in high school, when a friend of mine let me borrow it. As I began to read this book, it immediately caught and held my attention. Because I was in school and had my studies to attend to I had to tear myself away from reading it numerous times. When I finally finished the book, I was hesitant about returning it to the friend who let me borrow it, but I did. I have been looking for this book every since then--that was nearly 10yrs ago. I am in a Christian Fraternity called Gamma Phi Delta. My Chapter (Eta Judges) is the 7th Chapter of the Fraternity established at Grambling State Univerity in Grambling, Louisiana on November 12th 1997 and I am the 8th and last Charter member of the Chapter (#8 of 8). My orientation name/"line name" is Solomon (after King Solomon in the OT).It was through one of my Frat. Brothers that I was led to this site and by the grace of Almighty God that I thought to look up this book and to find this book here. Though I have not yet bought it, I will and will reread it. I still remember what the book is like, the positive impact it has made in my life and what happened in the book. I encourage anyone and everyone to read it for personal enjoyment and Biblical and spiritual education and growth. I intend to share this book with my Frat. as soon as I finish reading it for the second, but not last time. God bless you all...=-).