Customer Reviews

The Fourth Reich

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I saw this title in an airport newsstand, and picked it up thinking it would be along the lines of a Tom Clancy or Dean Koontz novel. Unfortunately, the action and plot were not as well developed as I thought they could have been. The novel is more a summary of the authors belief/interpretation of biblical events, and comes across as far fetch.

Robert Van Kampen's novel, The Fourth Reich, fictionalizes his interpretation of biblical prophecy, especially the Revelation to John. Both in the novel and the afterword, he shows no awareness that there are other legitimate interpretations.

The best part of the novel is the characters. I came to care about Anatoly and Sony, and Yuri Kagan, too. In fact, Yuri, the apostate Jewish reporter for CNN, is maybe the most appealing character in the book.

The plot is most interesting in the first half or so, then it's all scripted from Van Kampen's woodenly literal interpretation of the Bible. The last 75-100 pages are mechanical, boring, and written in a lame poetic prose.

Otherwise, the style of the novel is appropriate, except for the author's tendency to explain too much. An example is his tendency to use tags like "ironically" or "warmly" to tell us how characters speak. But if what the characters say isn't ironic or warm, his telling us so won't convince us.

Guess What? Adolf Hitler (nee Schicklegruber) is the antichrist, thanks to cloning and the parole of his soul from Hell. Hitler makes a lousy villain.

Another weakness is the slick, easy conversion of the main characters "Yeshua."

Tell you what: You want a convincing presentation of supernatural good and evil, within a Christian context, read C. S. Lewis's That Hideous Strength. Lewis can write. Lewis presents the conversions of Mark and Jane Studdock very convincingly. He makes both good and evil awesome. Van Kampen makes good and evil trite.

After all this negativity, I must say I did read the whole book. I did find much of interest in it. But read Lewis first, please.

Van Kampen has woven a compelling, believable story which clearly lays out the Biblical prophecies regarding the end of the world. Even a reader with a limited familiarity with or understanding of the Bible will find "The Fourth Reich" an interesting and credible novel. The characters are people the reader can care about, most situations are plausible. A few loose threads are left hanging (Will Sonya and her brother Yacov reunite?, Is there no chance for Bulgakov's followers who doubt him--Anna, for example--to renounce him and be saved?, etc.) and some things are just a bit pat towards the end of the novel, but, in all, this is a book that you'll stay with until you've reached the end. As busy as I am, I read it in two days! Regardless of your personal religious convictions, it's worth your while to compare Van Kampen's predictions with your own understanding of Biblical prophecy. So much of the Book of Revelation is difficult to understand for the average person; Van Kampen spells things out quite clearly. "The Fourth Reich" helps sort things out. You'll want to read and learn more!

This book layed the groundwork well and I was sincerely impressed to see an End Times novel with the Pre-Wrath view. Unfortunatly around the eighteenth chapter the author has the Whole world bowing to a cloned Adolf Hitler (with the Same Name no less) and worshipping Him. It is a scriptural fact that the world will bow to a leader who will be the "Man of sin" or the "Beast" but the thought of the world bowing to Adolf Hitler as "lord of the world" with Swasticas and All is a little far fetched. The two witness of Revelation prophesied to be Moses and Elijah were reduced to a tongue in cheek "groucho and Harpo Dialogue" that left my jaw on the pillow. If only Mr. Van Kampen had finished what he had started so well.

This book really surprized me. I was not expecting something so deeply rooted in religion.

If you can stand to sit and read through the very slow start of the book, than you will be taken on a ride of your life. Now I don't claim that it will be like any other book where you feel the action. At times I did feel like I was in the story but generally I still felt like I was just reading it.

Where the ride of your life comes into play, depends on your own mind. I always wanted to find out what The Bible said about the end of the world, but I just could not understand it. This book helped me understand the basic concepts behind everything and it took my mind on a ride questioning everything. Could this really happen? What do I really believe? Would I be one of the followers of the false messiah or would I be saved? These questions all came into my mind and started some very interesting debates with my friends. I still do not know what to believe but I must give credit to the author on how he combined fiction and The Bible into one.

It is worth a read if you like to be challenged, especially in your own beliefs. Just remember it is slow but you will love or hate the people in it.

An interesting and original view of Armageddon and the book of Revelations. Kind of a slow start, but once it gets going, it's a one-sitter, for sure! Would reccomend this to everyone, no religious affiliations necessary, quite the mainstream book. Excellent!

I bought this book expecting adventure based in biblical roots. I found a creaking story-line built on too much research - the author seemed determined to use every biblical reference he could: If there was a piece of the bible the author thought relevant to the end times, then it was going in the book! Old Hitler emerged again - but this time hidden behind a beard where no-one could recognise him; Germany and Russia were able to dominate all the rest of the world; And two old prophets wandered in and out of the story in night shirts more suited to 19th century Sunday school pictures. None of this was at all believable. If the reader accepts the literal word of the bible then this story could be acceptable but anyone reading it with any more sophisticated point of view would find it simplistic and rather silly at times. And if we are told at the start that the devil can't win then where is the dramatic suspense? A tedious read - one of the few books I almost gave up on, I wish I had done.

A good read on the subject of the end times. Fiction, but well founded on the Christian Bible. Could not put it down, finished it in less than 4 days.

This book would be too far-fetched to even be good science fiction if it weren't for the fact that it WILL happen. And the fact that it will happen would be absolutely terrifying if we didn't already know the ending. Van Kampen is to be applauded for his close adherence to Scriptural predictions.

The literary merit of the book is average, but it IS a good depiction of end-times events as outlined in the non-fictional, theological studies entitled "The Sign" by Rober Van Kampen, and "The Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Church" by Marvin Rosenthal. If you are at all interested in Biblical Prophecies concerning the end of the age, this book is worth your time.