Customer Reviews

Babylon Rising

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(42)

 

 

An OK read overall, but not up to par with Mr. LaHaye's other works. This series has potential, but it needs to fine tune some aspects of the writing. For example:

1) Michael Murphy, our hero, is a real Renaissance man. He's really, really, really smart; he relates well to the kids (in his Biblical archeology class); he's a wonderful husband; buff and tough enough to whup up on a big, nasty, slobbering lion; a dead-eye shot with a compound bow; and blessed with the talent of solving multiple inpenetrable mysteries buried in desert sands for 2,500 years in a single minute. Yes, this Action Hero does everything but sing like his musical namesake (we think).

Any weaknesses? Oh yeah, he's got a thing for risking his life, career and pride at the whim of the mysterious "Methuselah" to gather archeological treasures which could prove events in the Bible really happened. Fortunately, our hero's biggest challenge in the first half of the book is withstanding his Just As Smart And Independent wife's withering anti-machismo comments and first-aid treatment after besting Methuselah's challenges.

Oh yes, he doesn't shave for a few days after his wife's tragic death, and is a little ticked at God. But a quick confessional to his congregation, and he gets over it.
I like to engage my suspension of belief when I read fiction, but this was too much. Come on, the woman he intended to invest the next 50-60 years (and maybe planned a family with) is gone. It's not something you just get over -- you learn to live with it.

The elements are there -- just don't make him a superhero. Rayford Steele of the Left Behind books is a great example of a more balanced (and human) protagonist.

2) Methuselah. Mysterious dude (always in the shadows) gets his jollies by getting Murphy to fall into one of his elaborate traps. Soooo, what will he do for fun if Murphy bites the big one? Get a relative of Louis Leakey?

Well, Methuselah's Lion King bit (ha ha!) does establish Murphy as a Man Of Action, unlike that wimpy college dean. But please don't bring this character back.

3) Dean Fallworth, Unbelieving Head Weenie. I kept visualizing the college dean of the Nutty Professor movies when I read the book. Do college deans drop dimes on their professors like that on national TV?

4) Stacy, the Up And Coming News Reporter. Sells her soul (literally) to get her Big Break. Never read that cliche before...

5) Steve Barrington, the Soulless TV Mogul. Hey, just go ahead and name this guy Ted Turner already! OK, guess you can't since Jane Fonda isn't in the novel. Oh, wait, there is Stacy...

6) The lesson that teaches that Archeological Digs Really Don't Require Mountains Of Paperwork And Red Tape -- just call that pal from grad school, and you'll dig up that artifact and be on to the next pyramid in time for corn flakes! And don't forget the unlikely -- but stunning -- bookworm who speaks long-dead languages. Never know when you'll need her to rescue you from sinister zombie sacrificers.

OK, there are some very promising aspects to this book (and series).

Talon is a very scary adversary, unlike the straw man Global Community people in the Left Behind books. The falcons are an interesting touch (ouch!). A little more character development in the next book.

"Christian Terrorists" theme -- One reviewer didn't think it's plausible that the media would portray Christians in that manner. I don't believe all media would do that, but many would. I've lost count of people who claim religion -- and Christianity -- is the reason we have so much strife in the world. I could go on about how our media demonstrate how tolerant we should be of other religions but will interview anyone who tries to debunk Biblical "myths", such as the divinity of Jesus, the Flood, etc.

Archeological/historical aspects -- Very interesting and innovative premise. I remember reading about the Brazen Serpent and the Golden Head, but never thought of a possible connection between the two. Great lesson.

Other positive aspects included the pacing (a LaHaye and Dinallo trademark -- I also read Dinallo's "Final Answers"), unexpected twists and loose ends.

I look forward to the second book, but please give the central characters more dimension.

After working on eleven books in the phenomenal Left Behind series, you might think that Tim LaHaye would relax a bit. Instead he has found another writing partner, Greg Dinallo, and has begun a new series of thrillers starting with BABYLON RISING. Dr. LaHaye says that he is more excited about this than any of the other books he has ever written. That's quite a comment from the author of more than forty books, including the Left Behind series that has sold over 60 million copies! But within the first few pages of BABYLON RISING, the reader will begin to share his enthusiasm and become totally engrossed in this supernatural adventure.

Michael Murphy teaches Biblical Archaeology and Prophecy at Preston College --- not exactly an "A" list course. To enhance his classroom lectures and satisfy his desire to authenticate the Bible, he seeks and uncovers ancient artifacts that are directly tied to Biblical events. This scholar/adventurer image makes him somewhat of a campus hero and students flock to hear him bring the Bible to life.

For the reader's enlightenment, chapters are interspersed with the story of King Nebuchadnezzer, the world's most powerful ruler, and Daniel, the young Israeli slave who fearlessly interprets the King's dreams. This writing technique serves to underscore the role that faith plays in the lives of people throughout history. Faith that allows a young slave to stand fearlessly before the most powerful man on earth and tell him the hard truth, knowing that his God will protect him regardless of the King's reaction. Faith that allows a small-town college professor to stand up to evil forces in order to unearth ancient Biblical artifacts that glorify God, the enemy of evil.

While Michael Murphy is busy with his latest find, there are those who want to discredit him, his faith and his God. The evil ones are powerful and have the ability to captivate, intimidate and seduce the weak and the greedy into service for the Enemy. With the help of a reporter and a ruthless mogul they begin a campaign to destroy the credibility of Christians everywhere. These supernatural beings take on different forms, moving swiftly to accomplish their evil deeds, and soon the headlines are full of stories about Christians threatening to blow up the United Nations, building bomb factories in church basements, and killing those who get in their way.

The story moves at a rapid clip, with short chapters that carry the reader from one set of protagonists to another and back in time to the court of Nebuchadnezzer. There is enough action to satisfy the most avid adventure fans, humor and romance, likable characters to cheer for and evil villains to hate. But even more exciting, we have a new series to look forward to that unapologetically offers moral and philosophical anchors --- a series that elevates both man and God and is not afraid to depict the chilling aspects of evil.

--- Reviewed by Maggie Harding

This was so far below an adult reading level that it killed the book. I agree with the other reviewers. The characters were not very developed or particularly believable. It seemed a little like a far-fetched super-hero movie. The timing was always perfect, they always guessed exactly where to find each item. Like I said to my husband....Tim LaHaye needs to stick to what he's good at....the research. The Left Behind Series is so good.....and this just isn't.

I bought this book after hearing all the great things about the Left Behind series (which I have not read). I am fascinated by Biblical archaeology, and thought this would be a great read.

My mistake. Lahaye is trying much, much too hard write Indiana Jones. The characters are flat, and I didn't care about Murphy right from the start. He was just not engaging. The plotlines are implausible yes, but I don't view that as a fault in and of itself - that kind of implausibility, in a plucky, believable, FUN character is a joy to read. In Murphy's case, I couldn't have cared less whether LaHaye killed him off and gave his long-suffering wife a break.

The enjoyable part about characters like Indiana Jones is that the reader understands that it's all in good fun. This book contains the same type of events and situations, but without any of the tongue-in-cheek insanity. Instead, LaHaye tries deperately to force us to believe that things like that actually happen.

For example - in one scene, Murphy's wife is startled by something in a small cave, stumbles backward, and manages to fall directly into a narrow, vertical crevice that neither of them had noticed before. Sound familiar?! It's Dr. Jones all over again.

My main mistake was buying this book along with the sequel assuming that I would love it.

Aside from poor writing and shallow character development this series is at best and outline for possible developments. We are introduced to Will Bingman who goes with Murphy to find the handwriting on the wall and miraculously escapes an earthquake. It shook him up so much his name is changed to Bingham as he pops up out of the rubble!(page 311) On page 320 he needs to go home to his wife and kids and again on 322 we rejoice in his survival! Sadly though he is again Will Bingman and apparently dead only four pages later... come come Mr LaHaye, we Christians have enough ridicule without simpleton material like this.. I remain however your loving sister in Christ.

Pretentiously reminiscent of "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Babylon Rising" by Tim LeHaye centers on a danger-seeking, treasure-hunting archeologist. It aims to be a sinister tale foreshadowing the returning of dark days (in Biblical fashion) but it's hewn together in such a sloppy and copycat way that the reader finds himself mired in a hodgepodge of ridiculousness. Opaque characters, wooden dialogue and gaping holes in story logic round up this second rate yarn. If that works for you, disregard the rest of my review. I read it from cover to cover desperately hoping it would redeem itself, at least hoping there would be some kind of satisfying conclusion. Alas, it whimpers out to its last tired page. I am not a Christian so you might say, "aha!" Except what I liked best about this book were Michael Murphy's Biblical Prophecy lectures and the flashbacks to Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar, the truly Christian scenes. A last thought here: one of the arguments in "Babylon Rising" hinges on a supposed fact, according to LeHaye, that the world has only seen 4 world empires: Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Roman-and that there has never been a fifth empire despite the efforts of Genghis Kahn, Napoleon, Hitler, and Stalin. Really? I seem to remember learning that the British Empire (not even mentioned in the book) was the world's first global power and the largest empire in history. Oh well, those damn Brits have had enough glory. Positives: the scenes in Biblical times. Negatives: too many of them to list. Reviewed by David Marsh, Sea Chest Books.

A biblical archeologist searches for artifacts that are found in the bible to prove that the events written about actually took place. He is no Indiana Jones but Professor Michael Murphy has had enough hair-raising adventures to rival that of the movie icon. Right now he is searching for the Brazen Serpent ordered destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar because people worshipped the false idol and not the true God.

Also interested in retrieving the Brazian Serpent is a mysterious, powerful and wealthy cabal known as the Seven. They control a multi-billionaire, who specializes in communications and electronics. They have entrusted their henchman Talon to retrieve the artifact once Murphy finds the three pieces but the Seven's lackey discovers that his opponent is formidable and the unspoken war they are engaged in will become very personal on both sides quite soon.

Readers will find BABYLON RISING an exciting and fascinating thriller based on events and objects mentioned in the Bible. Tim LaHaye tantalizes his audience with The Seven, an evil group who wants to convert the planet into a one world religion that they can control. To do so, the Seven are trying to turn mankind against evangelical Christians who they paint as dangerous fanatics. The protagonist of this story is a loveable, sincere and honest person who will hopefully star in future adventures as this novel is a winner that deserves sequels.

Harriet Klausner

Babylon Rising is Tim LaHaye's first post-Left Behind fiction venture. Itself the start of a new series also called Babylon Rising, this book is the beginning of what Dr. LaHaye hopes will be another Left Behind-like phenomenon. In the introductory author's note, he writes, "I am more excited about Babylon Rising than any of my previous books. My prayer is that it will have the same effect on the lives of readers as have the Left Behind books." Unfortunately, he's not off to a very good start.

Babylon Rising is an adventure book featuring Michael Murphy, an Indiana Jones-like hero who is part archaeologist, part Bible scholar, part professor, and all man's man. The author is enamored enough of his character to write that he is "one of the real appeals of this series for me. I like Murphy so much, I named him after my son-in-law." Like an Indiana Jones movie, the story begins with Murphy engaged in an impossibly unlikely scenario involving a life-and-death struggle to obtain an archaeological artifact. Unlike an Indiana Jones movie, Murphy is not struggling against the elements or ancient tribes in a distant jungle or international terrorists; he is risking life and limb in a challenge issed by a mysterious and unlikely figure who is evidently intent on killing Murphy using the archaeologist's own desire to unearth prizes that help prove the truth of the Bible. As the story unfolds, Murphy, first accompanied by his amazingly gorgeous (of course) wife and later by an amazingly gorgeous female colleague, travels to Israel, Egypt, Iraq, and back again in his quest to discover an item of incredible power.

As an adventure story, Babylon Rising is reasonably acceptable, even though the writing by "co-author" Greg Dinallo (Tim LaHaye doesn't do any of the actual writing) is less than first rate. The story, though less than credible in the real world, is not beyond the bounds of what could fit within the world LaHaye has created for his characters. The real problems arise when one remembers that this is not just an adventure tale but an end-times prophecy story. The authors are not just writing down a plot created in their imaginations but presenting a scenario they feel could realistically become reality in the near future. Where the book nominally succeeds as an adventure fantasy, it fails miserably as a story of prophetic intrigue.

Probably the main reason the book doesn't work as a prophecy story is the lack of clear biblical foundation. In the Left Behind books, even if one disagrees with Dr. LaHaye's interpretation of the scriptural accounts, no question is left as to the specific passages from which the authors derived their timeline. In Babylon Rising, on the other hand, hardly any mention of specific Scripture passages can be found, except as they relate to the artifacts Murphy is searching for.

Another weakness of the book as a prophecy story has to do with the object of Murphy's quest. This particular artifact is mentioned only twice in the Bible and once in an apocryphal book, and it is never referred to as having any apocalyptic significance. Again, the lack of sound biblical foundation severely undermines the story's prophetic intent.

Yet another problem is LaHaye's evident subsciption to what I think of as alarmist, reactionary Evangelicalism. His premise that world events and the media are controlled by a shadowy, all-powerful group of throwbacks to ancient Babylon called "The Seven" is not an unfamiliar theme in stories like this. I was reminded of last year's movie Lara Croft, Tomb Raider, in which an archaeologist hero thwarts the evil plans for world domination of the mysterious Illuminati. But this book supposedly takes place in present-day reality, not a video-game world like Tomb Raider.

It is inevitable that many people will compare Babylon Rising to Left Behind co-author Jerry Jenkins's latest release, Soon. Both are apocalyptic; both are set prior to the Rapture; both involve a Christian hero fighting against evil forces in the world. One important difference is that Babylon Rising is supposed to take place today, while Soon is set in the near but decidedly different future. To me this gives LaHaye's book a degree of extra excitement and plausibility lacking in Soon. The irony is that while the present-day setting of the book works for the excitement level, the LaHaye's overactive conspiracy-theory imagination and underactive biblical storyline detract from that effectiveness.

Another way that Babylon Rising reminds me of Left Behind are some of the practical difficulties in the plot. For example, Murphy and his wife have no trouble getting to Israel and then into the Palestinian-controlled West Bank for an archeological dig. Later, Murphy is able to get into Iraq without trouble, even recruiting a group of U.S. soldiers to assist them with their work. Murphy also travels throughout the Middle East with another scholar named Isis McDonald, an apparent future love interest, who also is unsurprisingly beautiful. There is no concern that a Christian man traveling with a beautiful non-Christian woman might pose any potential problems. Media tycoon Shane Barrington is tough enough to build a corporate empire but somehow submits without a fight to the devilish will of The Seven when they threaten to expose his underhanded financial dealings. Murphy never asks anyone to sign a confidentiality agreement regarding his incredible discoveries and even sends a priceless treasure to a colleague in the mail. These and other lapses in plausibility give the writing a feeling of carelessness that is devastating to a prophetic fiction book.

In spite of its weaknesses, this book does have several strong areas. I really enjoyed the author's back-story device of retelling parts of the biblical story of Daniel. These sections are effective without being overdone, and I only wish they could have been expanded and better connected with the present-day action. I was also very surprised by the skill with which co-author Greg Dinallo treats human tragedy. The emotion is real and does not seem concocted. One particuarly horrific scene actually brought tears to my eyes.

Overall, the book is weak with moments of strength. It is a formulaic adventure tale forced into an apocalyptic mold. The characters are mainly uninspiring; Murphy is likeable mainly because he is so unreal. The desperation of the publisher to sell enough copies of this book to justify their reportedly apocalyptic advance is evident in the rather unprofessional but commercially effective packaging; the dust jacket is designed like a soft-cover, complete with an author message from Dr. LaHaye on the back cover. If I had to guess, I'd say this book might do better in the long run than Jerry Jenkins's Soon, partly because Tim LaHaye is a more recognizable name and partly because the archaeological intrigue is more exciting than Jenkins's futuristic police state. Babylon Rising is enough of a departure from Left Behind that readers may put up with the problems of this book and future books in the series.

The author writes in his introduction, "I have tried to make this a gripping, page-turning novel, a great big adventure filled with important revelations." As an adventure story, this book is less than great but probably still better than average, and certainly interesting and even fun to read. But as a prophecy story, Babylon Rising lacks the revelations the author intended to include and falls far short of the standard that readers of this genre have come to expect.

I was not familiar with any of Tim Lahaye's books prior to reading Babylon Rising. The concept had potential -- an archeologist and professor who is a scholar of Biblical prophecy who searches out artifacts to prove that Biblical events actually happened, thereby verifying the Bible's prophecies are correct. I opened the book and began reading it. The best descriptors of this book are boring, cumbersome, preachy, and 2-dimensional.

Michael Murphy was just not believable as the professor and archeologist. His character needed more fleshing out and less pontification. In trying to make Murphy the fearless defender of Biblical prophecy and all that's good, he ended up creating a character that is a blend of Indiana Jones without a personality and Rev. Jerry Falwell without a ministry.

There were too many supporting characters in this book that weren't fully developed. Why was the dusty bookworm philologist Dr. McDonald not developed in 3 dimensions instead of 1.5 dimensions? For as much of a role as Chuck played in the book, why bother bringing him in? And really, how worn out is the concept of bad younger brother / good older sister anyway? Most of the storyline was just too formulaic and predictable.

With all due respect to the evangelical Christian community, this story could have been a wonderful way to cross the lines to those who are seeking something more in their lives. Unfortunately, it may not accomplish that purpose. A subtly worded message would have given the reader pause for thought and reflection about the Biblical messages and correlations in the story. Instead, the message was so heavy handed and preachy that it hit the reader over the head like a sledge hammer. The trick to effective communication is that you put the message in words your audience will understand and accept -- and think about afterwards. For me personally, I prefer pause and reflection to sledge hammers.

About half way through the book, I was beginning to lose interest in the story, the message, and the writing style. However, I did finish it so I could honestly say I gave it a fair try, and that perhaps it might improve later on. Sadly, it didn't -- it only got more muddled and uninspired.

Based on this first introduction to Tim Lahaye, I can honestly say that I will not buy any of his other books in the future. If you like heavy-handed, moralistic messages, this book may be right up your street. But if you are someone who looks beyond the obvious and seeks to find answers in a more subtle or enlightened way, don't bother with Babylon Rising.

I enjoyed all the Left Behind Books, so thought this should be interesting...was I disappointed.
Not only bad writing, uninteresting characters, and a story that just drags out, I ended up skipping pages to see if the story would get any better, but it didn't.
Overall, I couldn't have cared less about anything in this book and would not buy the sequel.
Just don't bother.