Customer Reviews

Merciless (Dominion Trilogy #3)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What a great book! And there was no disappointment to the finality of a super trilogy (pun intended).

For starters Robin's writing has greatly improved. The use of the English language and the smoothness of the story are much better and therefore more enjoyable to read. He must have been working extra hard on this book. How he kept all the many characters and plot lines straight I'll never know and he wrote them so that it was easy to follow. Well done!

As for the story, it starts at the exact same place where we left off at the end of "Fearless". And from the first page the story explodes. No more of the Secretum being just the bad guy, now they are pure evil. Soon the earth as we know it will no longer exist and the heroes we came to know and love... forget it, read it for yourself if you want to know. At first I thought this may turn into another end-times Revelation novel but that didn't happen (which is a good thing in this case). All the confusing elements in the first two books are made clear in this third book and the story not only makes sense it's much more in-depth then originally thought. When you think you know how it's all going to end the story turns, over and over, keeping you guessing until the very end.

The book is impossible to put down. The action and drama are intense and they never let up. Plan to lose a lot of sleep.

As for the Biblical aspect of the trilogy there's a lot lessons to be learned without being "preachy" (although I happen to love preaching). Since this is not an End-Times story and it's not based in reality, Jesus does not come to save the day. He does however play a part but not by name. Since the after-life is a large part of the storyline I would have liked to have seen a Biblical understanding of salvation but that did not happen. It came across as the good go to heaven and the bad don't. Of course this is exactly what Satan would want us to believe. The trilogy is a bit much for kids and it's mainly due to the violence. If it was a movie I wouldn't be able to watch it.

If you haven't read the other two books, you must. Order all three today and you won't be sorry you did.

Question: What's with the four door Camaro? I owned a 1967 and am fairly well-versed on Camaros but I don't recall ever seeing or hearing of a four door version. Is this a future car and if it is what are they thinking?

1 Star = I've been robbed!
2 Stars = Why'd I finish it?
3 Stars = Good
4 Stars = Excellent
5 Stars = Life changing

From beneath the Taurus Mountains in Turkey, he climbs upward taking the DarkWorld with him. He is aware of his bloody future and the human sacrifices by the Secretum of Six, but is indifferent. His container awaits him on the surface; Grant Borrows will serve fittingly as his vehicle just like the naive Dominion Ring wearer's late sister was once used. Oblivion will soon surface and the end of days, not that fake propaganda found in Christian literature misinterpreting Armageddon, will begin when time stops.

Oblivion reaches the acme of the Hollow to the euphoric rejoicing of his Bringer, the Secretum of Six, who insured the Millenia aged prophesy of the end occurs. His body denotes instant death when excited Angela upon seeing her God reaches out to touch him. Oblivion begins his MERCILESS final trek to fulfill his destiny. However for the first time Secretum leader Devlin has doubts as Oblivion did not even notice his touch killed Angela and his comment of unworthy frightens the human. Still they follow their prophet, who says the DarkWorld has surfaced with him. Only the Ring of Dominion Bearers might be able to prevent the end of the world, but they feel like doubting David without a slingshot as each realizes the earth has changed for the worse as he is coming causing chaos and death in his wake.

Though there is a one page recap and this final tale can stand alone, to fully appreciate this excellent different Christian end of the world thriller, it behooves the reader to first peruse RELENTLESS and FEARLESS. The story is action-packed from the opening climb until the final confrontation between good and evil; but this is no Jesus arriving to save the day from Lucifer climax. Few if any villains are as amoral as Oblivion the MERCILESS is as humans are not even roach level to him. Robin Parrish, with this superb exciting trilogy, has brought freshness to a genre which suffered from a smug sameness to the biblical end of days' saga.

Harriet Klausner

Ancient buildings are pulverized into dust. Fire and blood rain down from the sky. Oblivion has come to Earth with power that would make Superman cry and no one can stop him.
In this blockbuster finale to what has been one of the most interesting twists on the superhero, Parrish takes the reader back to a time when comic books weren't one rehash after another.
Parrish delivers one blow after another. This book is simply fun storytelling.Watch out Greg Rucka.

The foretold prophecy was coming Relentless; the Bringer stood against the prophecy Fearless; but now it appears he has fallen to the Merciless. Grant Borrows is not himself anymore. Not who he once was, or thought he was, nor the superhero he'd become. For all practical purposes, Grant Borrows is dead and Oblivion lives inside his mortal flesh.

If you haven't read the two previous installments of Robin Parrish's Dominion Trilogy, stop here. Everything that goes on in Merciless leads from those two novels, so go back and begin at the beginning. Trust me, it's worth it.

With Oblivion unleashed in mortal form and bestowed the powers of the Bringer, the world is slowly dying. He is death and he cannot be stopped. DarkWorld is upon us. But even in the direst of circumstances, a ray of hope shines through and catapults itself into an emotionally intense and action-packed finale.

What Parrish began with Relentless was a simple sci-fi story that discussed the nature of identity, or so I thought. Fearless expanded on that, raising more tough and pertinent questions and framing the Dominion Trilogy in a theological context. But while Relentless was good, and Fearless was great, they merely set the stage for the outstanding conclusion in Merciless.

Parrish ties all his threads together nicely, including some twists that I didn't even see coming. Theology and story intermesh fluidly as Merciless plays out on a grand scale the battle that every human goes through within their soul. The ending will have you on your feet cheering, then prostrate weeping, then back to cheering again. This is truly a grand and climactic finale to cap an excellent thought-provoking and heart-churning trilogy.

Merciless hits on deep themes, such as the battle between good and evil within the soul--which becomes the core of the Trilogy--the nature of free choice, and the problem of evil. Merciless--and the Dominion Trilogy as a whole--places Parrish a rank above author to that of Storyteller. For while an author can entertain, it takes a Storyteller to infuse meaning and purpose within entertainment--something Parrish does flawlessly. Sci-fi fan or not, apocalyptic fiction fan or not, suspense fan or not, you need to read this series. You need to read this book.

Merciless is the final novel in the "Dominion Trilogy." Comic book-type heroes, doomsday ruination of the world, death, sorrow and pain fill this book with dark moments. Robin Parrish not only handles these moments with page-turning intensity but also sensitivity.

This story is a loose allegory of the fall and redemption of man. Parrish handles the lean spiritual aspects with an interesting historical focus which made the storyline appealing. A Christian label on a book that doesn't have the plan of salvation spelled out but is much told in a world view of the awareness of man's fallen state and his need for redemption.

There are difficult passages dealing with heavy violence or loss of life. Super sensitive readers need to be aware of this. Merciless isn't an easy read. With prose that seemed more fluid than Fearless, Parrish also relaxed his vocabulary which will help readers who may not want to read with a dictionary. This also tightened his prose and made the story more natural and compelling.

The Dominion Trilogy is a solid adventure series with heroes that are truly bigger than life told in a voice that commands attention late into the night. Adventure lovers should look further into these novels.

Grant Borrows has fallen into the depths of the earth. Out of the darkness climbs the unstoppable evil known as Oblivion to take his place. Oblivion has one goal: to destroy the Earth and bring torment and death to all humanity. However, a small remnant remains that refuses to give up. Armed with nothing more than hope they set off on one final mission to stop Oblivion and save the world from his destruction.

When I come to the end of a trilogy or a series it is always with some trepidation. Too often even the greatest writers don't know how to end the incredible sagas they have begun. Storylines are left dangling, we get no sense of closure, or alas they have to leave it wide open just in case they want to revisit the story later. All of these writers should pick up a copy of Merciless to see how it's done.

With the Dominion Trilogy, Parrish has proven not only to be a top notch writer, but a writer who knows how to tell a story. Each installment of this trilogy is simply incredible, and Merciless is everything you want in a finale. I was quite surprised that Parrish manages to answer all of our questions (and there are a lot of questions), and every storyline is tied up giving us the perfect amount of closure. The action and intensity never let up from the beginning and there are delightful surprises around every corner.

Strong spiritual themes abound in this installment and I was completely awed by the messages of hope, sacrifice, and redemption that are so beautifully displayed within these pages. Days after reading the last lines I still get chills from the final scenes with the characters that have become so dear to me.

I can't recommend this trilogy enough to anyone who loves quality storytelling at the highest level. I would encourage everyone to start at the beginning to really get the full experience of this amazing story. Robin Parrish has stormed his way to the top of my Must-Read List and he deserves to be at the top of yours as well.

The first book was great, the second book was awsome, and this the third book was simply explosive! Here we finally understad the why's behind all our questins. This third book shows how the 'Dominion Stones and Rings' goes back to the begining of creation. Yes it's a work of fiction but in the end Robin Parrish has found a wonderful way to weave the love and sacrifice of Christ into this redemptive book. We see in this book that Grant Borrows has died, or so they think, and Oblivion (The Angel of Death) takes his place in his body. Brought forth by the evil plans of the Secretum of Six, Oblivion is brought into the world to destroy it so that the Creator can start anew with a perfect creation that leaves no room for the freedom of choice. The Secretum of Six view humanity's power to choose as evil and only leading to more evil and thinks they are doing the Creator a favor by brining forth Oblivion to destroy all of creation... However the Ringwearers find a way to overcome this evil, and to escape the hold of Oblivion. Together they unite to save the world, wheather the world deserves it or not. As the first two books this one was also action packed, with moments where questions are answered in memorable dialogue. I loved it!!

I enjoyed reading this one so much I wound up getting the rest of the series. Kept me involved. I recommend it.

I 'purchased' the first e-book version because it was priced at $0. The book was good enough that I purchased both the second and third books in the trilogy. I really liked the second book and very much looked forward to the third book. I was disappointed in the third book because of the Jehovah Witness witnessing that takes place in the book. The Fantasy genre is a good place for this to occur. For me, that really diminished the quality of the book and the story that was being told. So, books 1 and 2 get a thumbs up and book 3 ruins the series for me.

I have greatly enjoyed the series. There were times when I couldn't put down my Kindle. I read quickly and finished all 3 books in less than a month. Other's have reviewed the storyline so I'm not going to duplicate them.

The only thing preventing a 5 star rating for the Kindle version is the formatting. In the previous 2 books, there would be a larger space between lines when a scene change happened in the middle of a chapter. This story, however, does not have that. Due to my reading speed, I would be a few sentences into the next scene before realizing it changed. Then I would have to go back and start again.

I have over 50 different books on my Kindle and this is the first one with the formatting issue.

It's a great story and I highly recommend it. Just be prepared for sudden scene changes.