Customer Reviews

Reborn

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

 

 

When F. Paul Wilson began writing Reborn it was just intended to be a one book sequel to his successful thriller The Keep, but ideas and links to two other seemingly unrelated books (The Tomb and The Touch) arose and, thankfully, Wilson rolled with those ideas. The result is a breathtaking six book Cycle about something very evil trying to end the world.

A struggling horror novelist receives a surprising inheritance and some heartbreaking news about his parentage. But there are greater forces at play here than meet the eye and Wilson pulls numerous threads together, setting the stage for an epic battle that only begins after some devestating personal payback in the fifth book, Reprisal. Highly recommended.

Reborn is book Four in F. Paul Wilson's epic "Adversary" cycle, and it's also the book where the big picture starts to become clear.

Reborn tells the story of Jim Stevens, who, after years of searching for his birth parents, finds out that his natural Father is a recently-deceased Nobel-Prize winning millionaire. Not only that, but Jim has been left his entire estate. Rather than leave well enough alone, Jim continues to dig around for his birth Mother. That's where his troubles begin....

Wilson telegraphs the point of the book by making constant references to Ira Levin's classic "Rosemary's Baby", which covers the same theological ground. He does make a VERY unexpected detour about 2/3rd's of the way through the book that really threw me for a loop, though. There are some characters and themes that carry over from the previous books, especially "The Keep", so DO NOT read Reborn without reading The Keep (Excellent!), The Tomb (Excellent!!), and The Touch (Not bad....).

The Dark Harvest edition is gorgeous, and comes with illustrations by Stephen Garvais. His art is great, but he doesn't always pick the best scenes to represent. All in all, Reborn is a fun, if standard, read. It does what it sets out to do, though: Brings Molosar/Rasolom back with a vengeance....Bring on Reprisal!

This was a very good book. A millionare/genetic researcher had died in a plane crash, leaving his fortune and victorian mansion to a young writer named Jim Stevens. Jim, as an orphan, wonders if this guy was his father. Soon, however, all sorts of strange things begin to happen, including apocalyptic warnings from Jim's relatives and friends. I cannot believe how STUPID people are! This book is NOT a Rosemarie's Baby clone! It has similar aspects to it, I admit, and it even *mentions* Rosemarie's Baby a few times--BUT IT IS NOT A REMAKE OF THE IRA LEVIN CLASSIC! Read it CAREFULLY and you will see what I mean. This book is a SEQUEL, people, and it can ONLY be read AFTER "The Keep", "The Tomb", and "The Touch". As well, this is a very good book. Pretty scary at times, but nowhere near as scary as "The Keep". Read this book ("The Keep", I mean) and you will see what I mean. The looks at life that these books make are astounding. What's more, after reading this book, there are the horrors of "Reprisal" and "Nightworld" to face... heh-heh-hehh...

Wilson's writing and plotting may not be as top-notch here as they were in his previous books in the Adversary Cycle, but this book provides the link between the earlier ones and the final two novels.

The story isn't anything great, but the writing moves things along and there are some exciting scenes, though none are likely to make you lose any sleep.

Enjoy this, and move on to complete the cycle.

Because of the years that passed since I read The Keep, The Tomb and The Touch, I was fascinated by Reborn, so much so that I checked the book out from the library when I found it was out of print. I found it particularly eerie and horrific when the character Mr. Veilleur describes the powers of Dark and Light fighting over cosmic matters of which we are only an insignificant part; and the feeling of bleak despair in the knowledge that the Light only intervenes to help us not out of "love," but only because it wants to thwart its enemy. The story leads perfectly into Reprisal and on to Night World, the final two books of the Adversary Cycle, and by itself is an excellent read for the person who enjoys supernatural fantasy, who reads for the pure fun of it and who isn't a literary critic.

Mr. Wilson is my favorite thriller/suspense writer, although I prefer his medical thrillers more. I've only read one other book from his Adversary Cycle, THE TOMB, so I don't have the same comparisons to make as the other reviewer here. However, I really enjoyed this book even though it was in a different genre. I got the hardcover edition from the library -- the illustrations were unbelievable! Mr. Gervais portrayed the moments with such detail and precision. If you are a fan of Mr. Wilson's works, I would not give up on this one. It's still a good read, a la "Rosemary's Baby".

In its own way, Reborn feels like two separate stories that make up one larger tale. The first story is about an orphan, now grown, who suddenly recieves a major clue as to his real parentage. What he discovers...well, let's just say that nothing is as simple as it appears here. This first half of the story gives Wilson a chance to do what he does best, mixing science and thriller elements nicely together to create something that's both thoughtful and unsettling in the ideas it raises. Making it even better, of course, is the way Wilson likes to eschew the expected and go in a more complex direction, which brings us to the second half of the book, which becomes essentially an all-out horror novel, complete with a spectacularly creepy finale far beyond what you'd expect from the rest of the book. Reborn, of course, is the true kickoff for Wilson's epic Adversary Cycle, but the book itself is really solid all around. Wilson's a smart guy, and the ideas he plays with here are neat ones, but they never get in the way of some spectacular setpieces or truly horrific moments, all of which sets the stage for Wilson's Repairman Jack series as well as the rest of the Adversary Cycle. A great read, even if you don't read the rest of the series; if you like books that are hard to pin down, you owe it to yourself to check this one out.

I love F. Paul Wilson's stuff, so all I can say is another good read.

This book is one of many great ones that he has written! I can't wait to read the next one!

"Soon all will be in chaos. And then the real horror will begin . . . The rich will not be able to buy their way out, the pious will not be able to pray their way out, the crafty will not be able to sneak or lie their way out. Everyone will suffer . . . People will be born into misery; they will spend their days in despair; they will die in agony . . . And the worst of it all, there will be no more hope." This dire prophesy from The Keep, the first book in Wilson's Adversary series, describes the apocalyptic outcome for humankind should an ancient force of darkness win the cosmic game it plays with an opposing force of light.

My paperback lists 6 books in the Adversary series: The Keep, The Tomb (with an appearance by Repairman Jack), The Touch, Reborn, Reprisal, and Nightworld. In particular, The Tomb and The Touch can stand alone, but I strongly recommend that the others be read in sequence, as characters and themes carry over from one to another. Wilson's epic battle between light and dark forces from the First World, go beyond traditional conflicts between God and Satan; thus, these books are not simply re-hashings of Rosemary's Baby or Damion. In the words of a character in Reborn: "Satan? Forget Satan! Something evil is coming . . . When it gets here, you'll long for your Antichrist. Because prayers won't help you. Neither will guns or bombs."

Reborn, the 4th in the series, finds the power of evil growing stronger, but what is its source and how to combat it? Who and where is the standard-bearer for the light? As Wilson's characters race against time to find the answers, they must wrestle with moral and ethical issues surrounding abortion and cloning. It's interesting that scientific concepts which may have sounded like science fiction in 1990, when the book was printed, have become very much a part of real-world political and theological debate in the 21st century. Reborn poses the question: Can a cloned fetus, a child born without a genetic father and mother, possess a soul? Has such a child given an ancient evil the opportunity it's been waiting for to enter the world in human form?

Like many books that fall in the middle of a drawn-out story, Reborn is more of a bridge than a powerful read. The story and characters are okay, but not up to the level of The Keep or Reprisal. Nevertheless, the pace is brisk, and there are some very good scenes. Read it and enjoy it and then go on to the series exciting conclusion.