Customer Reviews

Eclipse of the Sun (Children of the Last Days/Michael D. O'Brien)

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Eclipse of the Sun", Michael O'Brien's third novel in the trilogy which began with "Strangers and Sojourners" and continued with "Plague Journal" is an outstanding conclusion to this excellent series. It picks up from where "Plague Journal" leaves off, but from a different perspective. Fortunately there are enough characters which appear in all three novels, allowing for a more or less seamless transition of perspective.

O'Brien continues his tale of the Delaney family and their friends and acquaintences and their trials and tribulations at the turning of the 21st century in British Colombia. There are two main themes: One theme concerns the eschatological prophecies in the book of Revelation, and their relevance to the dawning of the 21st century. The other theme concerns the quiet evaporation of personal and civil liberties which have been gradually occuring in the Western "democracies". These themes are knit so closely together, one is not always sure whether Revelation is a vehicle for O'Brien's political concerns or whether O'Brien's political concerns are a vehicle for his eschatological theories.

Regardless of which it is, the reader will have a difficult time putting this book down.

O'Brien's deeply held Catholicism shines forth brightly in this book -- and frankly, it is refreshing. It is unusual in this day and age for a Catholic to write "End-Times" novels -- such is usually the provence of fundamentalists (who usually hate the Church). His Catholicism is traditional, conservative and uncompromising, yet very human and full of compassion. The religious one meets in his books (including this one) are the very sort that one wishes there were more of! (In my experience, as someone raised in a traditional Anglican background, one of the major reasons that Catholicism has not made the inroads into my former denomination that it could make is due to the progressive hogwash that all too frequently passes for Catholicism in North America. A few more priests like Father Andrei, and a few more bishops like the Archbishop of Vancouver in "Eclipse" would go a long way in attracting converts from a slowing dying Anglicanism. But I digress)

For me, this book rates 4.25 stars. 5 for story content, and 3.5 for character development. One flaw in the book (or perhaps it's merely a flaw in my personal taste) is O'Brien's tendency to develop a character, then suddenly drop them, never to be seen again. He also does not, to my way of thinking, always sufficiently explain how a character develops from when he/she is first presented to how he/she ends up. One is left wondering why such and such a character changed so radically.

Finally, this book shows an interesting respect for conservative, yet non-Catholic clergy. O'Brien is not nearly as hard on his "seperated brethren" as many conservative Catholics tend to be. And he is equally hard on liberal Catholics as he is on liberal Protestants.

I would very much like to meet Mr. O'Brien some day. I have enjoyed his novels; I have enjoyed his non-fiction; I appreciate and respect his faith; (and I have an enormous respect for his understanding of JRR Tolkien). I know a wonderful Irish pub where we could light up the pipes, raise a pint or two, and discuss literature and theology for hours on end.

Excellent, excellent, excellent! Don't let the page count daunt you--this is an amazingly fast read. While this is an end-times book with a decidedly Catholic flavor, all Christians and even secular civil libertarians will find it to be an edifying (and sobering) read.

Basically, it is the story of a "creeping totalitarianism" that is engulfing North America and the few heroic (mostly Catholic and Evangelical) souls who recognize it and attempt to resist, especially when they discover that it is NOT happening by accident.... Although O'Brien says (I'm paraphrasing) that the novel has a "near future" setting, it has a disturbing "today's headlines" feel. This is well-done Catholic Christian literature, and as such it is not afraid to name names and identify the evils of our time: rampant consumerism, globalism, the New Age infection of orthodox Christianity (and its globalist ties), television, degenerate "art" calculated to destroy the sense of the sacred, the deliberate harassment of the devoutly religious, the annihilation of due process--the list goes on and on. In short, EOTS grippingly depicts the fall of night on Western civilization. The struggle against the darkness of sometimes uneasy coalitions of believers in Christ (and other people of good will) sustained by the grace of God makes for an inspiring cautionary tale.

Michael O'Brien's "Eclipse of the Sun" is a roller coaster of books! It's the Indiana Jones of epics. Open the book, and you are hooked. This will keep your heart racing and your fingers turning pages.

But don't mistake it for a fluff novel--this is the meat and potatoes of our times. Read the book. Recognize today's headlines? This book will challenge you to reflect on your own life, your community, nation and world.

I have read three of the Children of the Last Days series, and I would recommend this as the first to be read. It is gripping. It will introduce you to the characters in O'Brien's other books; you will want to read the other books!

You know a movie's a hit when the audience remains sitting while the credits roll. A great novel affects me the same way. I'm silently awed by the gift of a powerful story.

Michael O'Brien wowed me with Father Elijah (now available in paperback) and now stuns me with Eclipse of the Sun. In an earlier tale, Strangers and Sojourners, the Delaney family acquired a newspaper in Swiftcreek, British Columbia. The current editor views the growing misuse of Canada's "hate crime" laws with alarm. Since you can't speak ill of anyone, you can't call abortion "murder," you can't expose corruption, and you can't criticize the government.

Phony charges send the Delaneys fleeing to the mountains, except for estranged wife Maya and her youngest child Arrow. They live in a commune involved in drug dealing and possibly Satanism. When a secret government militia attacks the camp, Arrow flees, assisted by Father Andrei. This priest survived the Holocaust and recognizes the signs of fascism in the Canadian government. His task is to reunite Arrow with his family. He launches the young boy on an epic journey, both physically and spiritually.

The two discover that God is bringing a blessing out of the current oppression. People who never took religion seriously are now wondering why the government seems so threatened by it, especially Catholicism and evangelical Protestantism. They're forced to realize their choices have moral and possibly fatal consequences. Surprising characters choose to die for God rather than capitulate to government intimidation.

This novel is rich in characters. In addition to Arrow, one of the most believable young boys I've met in books, and Father Andrei, there are the Wannamakers, suspicious of the media's silence on events they know occured. Their daughter Julie and her family have decided to take a long cruise away from Canada, while the parents opt for a trailer tour of America. Potempko, another old European priest, has lost his parish to "progressive" elements but finds more and more Indians seeking his spiritual advice. Alice, Queen of Junque, claims to be amoral, but she rescues a hydrocephalic child from a government dumpster, and she willingly shelters Arrow. The Potters, Alice's evangelical neighbors, have spent years of love trying to convert Alice only to find themselves in trouble with the law for their charity. A formerly moderate archbishop begins to question the direction of Church "reforms."

The villains are mostly faceless, except for Maurice L'Oraison, who loved the first Mrs. Delaney but has sold his soul to escape the poverty and provincialism of Swiftcreek. Father Andrei's struggle to rescue L'Oraison's soul resembles the Grand Inquisitor section in The Brothers Karamazov, a section of philosophy that forces you to think. Like most epics, this is a long book, but I wouldn't cut one page.

Kathleen T. Choi, HAWAII CATHOLIC HERALD

Michael O'Brien continues his excellent Children of the Last Days series that began explosively with Father Elijah in this third part of the Delaney family trilogy (the first two books are Strangers and Sojouners and Plague Journal).

O'Brien is obviously an excellent writer, but he tends to be overly didactic in his novels. A better editor could have helped with that. O'Brien, as most talented writers do, also overwrote his novel. And, again, a better editor could have helped him pull out the extraneous material which could have been included in a collection of short stories in an additional book.

Having said that, O'Brien continues to show keen insight into issues that haunt Western society and the Western church. A committed Christian with traditional Catholic faith, he decries the secularization of the church, including the domination of our lives by television. He presents a bleak view of Western governments, filled with nefarious conspiracy theories that are both audacious and plausible at the same time.

As huge as this book is, O'Brien keeps his readers turning their pages because of his wonderfully human characters and intriguing plot.

Eclipse of the Sun is complex, meaningful, and beautifully interwoven with the other books in the series. It's as gripping and exciting as a top-notch thriller, but there's so much more "meat" than an ordinary thriller. O'Brien has a frighteningly accurate grasp of the ills of today's society, yet he doesn't abandon hope; these are books of deep faith. Awesome!

After I finished reading this book, I immediately started reading it again. It is filled with unforgettable characters: Arrow, Father Andrei, Alice Douglas (Queen of Junque), Niccolo Piccolo, even Maurice, the "bad" guy who turns out to have a change of heart and suffers for it. The pace of the narrative is swift, and there is a sense of doom - the hellcops, for instance, are truly scary. Seldom has the true influence of religion been portrayed so vividly. The Plague Journal should be read before this book, and Strangers and Sojourners (another outstanding work) even before that. I'll be rereading this book again.

Eclipse Of The Sun, starting with the perspective of a child escaping danger at the hand of a run-away priest; set me absolutely riveted from the start. I read the book not long after reading Father Elijah. I have to say I've never been so duelly satisfied. Eclipse Of The Sun even tops Father Elijah on a certain level: that of structure. Like Father Elijah, this book also culminates something unseen, happening under, or outside the surface of things. But Eclipse Of The Sun does so with an even greater intensity as it goes along. I was reminded of something Chesterton wrote in The Everlasting Man about the boy at the hand of a priest always makes for the greatest adventure or journey. This book starts off with the boy Arrow, at the hand of a priest and then ends with him at the hand of another priest; in both instances escaping danger, and also being set in the very dark and wild terrain of the B.C. mountains.

The wild shapes in this book would make it too easy for one to toss aside as being a structured mess. It follows a definite thread while at the same time making huge accomodation for things along the way. Yet, these things along the way cannot be called subplots, for someone please tell me, which one is the main plot? With this said, the book is neither some kind of scattological telling of various stories. The book contains many levels coming to many different points, leaving the points as points in themselves and never becoming self-contained in its own fictional world.

Another thing I have to add is the factor of dreams in Eclipse Of The Sun. The dreams in this book(and other O'Brien books)are more vivid and relevant then I've read in any other book or seen in any movie. Michael O'Brien dreams are always so strong and awake, involving huge archangels touching peoples brows with grapefruit, or a sudden viscious growl in a garden in the daylight, or a priest staring at you from a desk: totally cold and uncharitable towards you, etc.

Eclipse of the Sun is an amazing story set in, of all places, British Colombia. With an excelletn plot, engrossing characters, and events that seem all-too lifelike, this is the tytpe of book that had me losing sleep. An excellent read.

I absolutely love all of Michael O'Brien's books. The Eclipse of the Sun is, however, probably my favorite of the series (followed closely by Father Elijah). I absolutely couldn't put it down the first time, and can scarcely put it down on my frequent re-readings. The social commentary is frightening, particularly if you keep up at all with what's going on with the UNN, Mikael Gorbachev, Ted Turner and the rest who want to create the very sort of governmental structures which Maurice and his cronies are creating in the book. The liberal religious are so close to some I have known that it is downright spooky. Consequently, the book can be quite frightening. However, the overall message of the book where love and faith overcome the culture of death is inspiring.

One of the things I really love about this book is that it actually gives positive pictures of ordinary homeschooling families (not huge ones, but clearly positive ones). They are shown in their ordinariness, even if one family is about to sail around the world. Michael O'Brien's references to Arthur Ransome books will hopefully get people reading them again.

I also love the way that O'Brien puts orthodox Catholics and Protestants together in the common fight against the bureaucrats. As a convert to Catholicism I found his portrayal of faithful Protestants to be a very accurate one. I absolutely love his portrayal of Father Ron. I hope that we have lots of Father Ron's out there who are hearing the call that he heard.

This book does such a wonderful job of showing how ordinary people with just a bit of courage can fight against a system that is threatening to destroy the common man. There are casualties, but there are also triumphs. If even part of the things O'Brien is talking about come true, I hope that there will be lots of us ordinary people fighting against the controllers.

I wait with great anticipation for the last two books in the series to come out.