Customer Reviews

The Remnant

5 star:		(80)
4 star:		(41)
3 star:		(44)
2 star:		(25)
1 star:		(52)

 

 

If you read my review on book 9, it will pretty much cover also this book in the series. It is sad to see such a wonderful series slipping downhill as it is. However, I feel the authors are at a point that they really can't go much further. After all, we re speaking of THE end and the characters of this book are no different than we too shall be. Over and done. At this point, it is death as we know it here on earth, and it is time for these characters to admit they have no where else to go. As much as this had been great series (up to a point) it is now over and should be put to rest before it is ruined by being strung out to totally loss of all enjoyment. Instead of everyone saying, "I can't wait for the next book" or "Oh, great, the new one is out" we will be hearing, "What! Another one!" or "Oh no, not another one!". Chalk up your credits and kudos to the writers for the work they did, but say bye bye now. And, again, in the future, please do not insult he readers and make them feel as if you are attempting to pass off a 'book' to them by making 3 inch margins and type large enough to read from across the room, as you have done in the past few books of the series...... I highly recommend anyone who did enjoy these to turn now to the "Christ Clone" Trilogy. Although it is in a bit of a different league than the "Left Behind" series, it is very interesting, stimulating and again leaving the reader with desire to know more, learn more and study the Word of our Lord more. Having done this, and having anyone turn to the Word, is a blessing and I admire the authors for having done something as wonderful as that. Christians always need to learn more, and non-Christians will now be exposed to the most wonderful knowledge of all.

This series began as a unique, fast paced story, and the characters became people you cared about. However, things have gone awry. In earlier books, the reader allowed unbelievable story lines for the sake of the story (every inch of the Anti-Christ's world is listened in on by a teen-age hack), but the author is now taxing these liberties. (An American with a thick country accent passes for a Greek highway repairman?) The first half of the book is slow, although the action picks up towards the end. If you have read books 1-9, The Remnant covers the same ground again (and again). The same character profile and story line are recycled - unlikely heroes hop on a plane to squeak out of trouble. (Apparently, there are lots of pilots left after the rapture.) The authors have just introduced too many characters (they do provide a small bio for major characters), not allowing the reader to develop any feeling towards these thin personalities. Also, Carpathia, is a complete idiot and more of a jerk boss than frightful and evil. (Why does a lower demon know all details of some believers who have slipped into an evil trap set for others, but the anti-Christ cannot find a 19-year-old working in his office?) This series could have been handled in four books, but the merchandise has to keep coming. (How long until we see a "Tribulation Force Praise Album" or Tsion Ben-Judah Study Bible?) I found myself skimming pages in search of action, but I was left reading about too many insignificant details. If you want a quicker paced series, look at the Christ Clone Trilogy.

For those who think I'm one of the millions of die-hard Left Behind freakazoids who believe that Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins simply can do no wrong, I beg to differ. I was sorely disappointed with book 9's abandonment of everything I had liked about the series' preceding volumes. All of a sudden, every single character sounded the same; they made the same kind of wisecracks even in the most stressful apocalyptic situations -- archangel appearances, oceans turned to blood. Everything went too fast. Nothing was described -- just dialogue, action narrative in a somewhat-stilted style. What the heck did Petra look like anyway? Most readers have never actually been there, after all. ...

(In retrospect, I think what threw me most about book 9 was its sudden expansion from four to five principle viewpoint characters -- Rayford, Buck, David, Leah, Tsion -- to well over a dozen. But that may be just because I'm a picky reader and I want everything to be perfectly consistent. ...)

But I have to give a full five stars to The Remnant. Somebody, perhaps the archangel Michael, must have gotten to the author(s) and voiced all of my same concerns about the series' declining literary quality. ...

In The Remnant, the cast of viewpoint characters grows even more, and half of the thing is devoted to the (attempted) rescue of one believer hostage. But still, everything is much better.

Of course, the book does begin somewhat predictably. After all, if all these millions of people are trapped in the canyon-walled ancient city with no hope at all, no way out except by a miracle, what do you think is going to happen? Probably a miracle. Noteworthy, though, to "secular" readers: don't think the authors "cheat" with miracles. This book has more of the miraculous than any of the previous -- and yet it seems to stay plausible!

But my major beefs about the series' preceding novel are all but eradicated. The characters act differently, and seem to speak in different ways. They don't all sound like the author this time -- and now they aren't as handy with awesome comebacks during stressful apocalyptic situations, such as being at gunpoint.

The Global Community forces, especially Leon Fortunato, are not buffoons -- now they've received intelligence injections, they're big and scary, formidable foes.

When things happen, they're described! Finally, we "see" the oceans/blood from the air. When freshwater rivers turn to blood, we see them ... we know what people are wearing, what their hair and skin looks like ... we "feel" the heat from the scorching Fourth Vial Judgment. The author(s) actually use italics, capital letters -- the narrative gets excited about things. When people die, you feel the hurt this time.

So way to go, authors. And readers, get this book -- if you put down Desecration halfway through, don't continue to be disillusioned: just retrieve it and finish it quickly, then pick up The Remnant and prepare to be pleasantly amazed. As far as I'm concerned, the series has now redeemed itself -- and it deserves its popularity.

After reading Desecraton, I was so disappointed that I was ready to hang up the series. Books 1-6 had been enjoyable and what I would consider 'really good' books for all. By books 7&8 things were beginning to decline. However, when I read book 9 I was certain that the only reason it was published was because of the author's names and the attention they had drawn from the previous books in the series. What a total disappointment it was. I came close to not continuing with the series. However, I am very glad I was stuborn and proceeded to do so. The Remnant is truly worthy of putting them back into favor with me.

The Remnant is fast moving, and detailed. We are seeing events happening and unfolding as we would imagine they will be. You will see action that includes nearly all of the characters being involved, without staying on one character or series of events that lasts too long. The pace is set just right. It is not going too quickly that it is skipping details that are important, and yet it is not slowing down and describing every minor and boring detail that we surely are not interested in.

Chloe is annoying, and although her desire to 'be in the action' obviously shows us that she is better off working on the Coop project, she proves she is not good when it comes to common sense in a crisis. Sabastian's section of his capture and exciting escape is detailed and truly a worthy adventure in itself. The rather silly appearance of Michael as co-pilot was somewhat goofy, but humourous in a way. (While at the same time, we can only admit that God works in mysterious ways and He can do anything) And, the amazing events at Petra will only confirm how the Lord does protect His flocks.

Reading this can only bring comfort to those who fear death. That is..........if you know the truth. Although none of us want to leave our loved ones. And, I know that I am a sinner and it will be hard for me when I have to look Jesus in the eyes and answer for what I've done here. I surely have not used all that He has given me and done my best. It is still exciting, to us who know Christ. And, to those who do not, I pray it will make them want to. That it will make them search and find the Truth.

This book is fiction, we all know that. But, only God knows exactly when and where and how these events will take place. The stories from this series bring out our imagination to think and comprehend what is totally uncomprehensible. Many things are quoted from scripture and will occur. The hows,whens, wheres - we have yet to find out. But, if you are not a believer,you surely will find some parts that cause you to want to search further and learn more. I pray that you do. If for no other reason than to just learn more. If you are a believer, then you can enjoy these, knowing that although they are fictional writing, they are inspired by truth.

I definitly recommend this book. And, although you may have been dissappointed with 9, don't give up and stop there. Read on.

The "Left Behind" series seems to be running out of gas. Vol. 10, "The Remnant" is only marginally better than Vol. 9's "Desceration." At least the time-line pace has picked up. Where some books only covered a few days, this one has covered over a year of time.

Having read 10 volumes so far I will stoically see the series to its conclusion but I'm getting a bit weary of Jenkins' style of writing (Jenkins does all the real writing, LeHaye only gives him outlines about the Biblical prophesies). Page after page will be just dialogue between characters with no interruption to set a scene, to indicate any subtext. "The Remnant" spent probably over 100 pages on the rescue of Sebastian alone. C'mon!

The series has been at its best when it focuses on the plagues and miracles and on the evangelism. And the scenes involving Carpathia are always entertaining. But the story inevitably bogs down when it focuses on the other characters. It is evident in this book that Jenkins was trying to spread the action around. Buck Williams and Rayford Steele dominate most of the action of the earlier books and in "The Remnant" they are given very little to do. But the other characters aren't that particularly interesting to me. There are just too many characters in the story.

I have read all the books in the series up to now and the last few have very much disappointed me. The first few were so breathtaking that I counted the days until the next one was released. Now I feel most of the story is just filler to stretch the story line out as far as it will go.
With this tenth edition I'm finally calling it quits and will not read another until the series is completed. This is the only way I feel I can state my opinion that enough is enough already.

I have enjoyed this series from the beginning, but the authors are getting ridiculous. It's like Jenkins and LaHaye want to milk their cash cow for all it's worth and don't want it to end. The book should have been titled "The Rescue of Sebastian" because it seems that's all they covered. I'm done waiting for these books, and done reading this series.

I got hooked into this series grudgingly, but found myself enjoying the early books in the series, especially the first 5. Since then, the quality of writing has gone steadily downhill, and the authors tend to simply rehash most of the conversations and actions we've already seen. After reading this book, I felt all the authors did was take money out of my pocket and put it in theirs. This series could have been easily written in 4 books without compromising the characters or their actions. Those of us raised on authors like Clancy, Grisham, and Ludlum will feel very cheated by the way this series has been stretched like old Silly Putty.

Not much in the way of new plot developments. The heroes still are pretty much doing what they want, while Carpathia and his minions are fodder for each new tribulation. The bad guys show greater ineptness as time goes on, and it's amazing that Carpathia got this far with henchmen that make Moe & Curly look like Albert Einstein and Steven Hawking.

Do yourself a favor and don't bother with this edition, unless you feel compelled to complete your set (heck, you've made it this far in the series, what's one more, right?)

I must admit The Remnant is a huge improvement over book 9 (Desecration) but I find myself wishing the authors and publishers had stuck to the original plan of 7 books in 7 years... that had a certain amount of symbolism to it also :)

The Remnant moves faster and covers a larger time period ... I would have liked to see more of Leah, I also think the rescue of Sebastian could have taken place in half as many pages just as effectively. Unfortunately, as with the last 3 books, the writing style and dialogue has become ever more simplistic and the margins and typeface larger which I find insulting. I can read at a greater-than 6th grade level ... as can 99.9% of the other readers of this series I'm sure. I felt like I purchased the "Large Print" edition by mistake!

This series has been stretched out and merchandised enough already... I pray it has been so for purposes of reaching as many believers and non-believers as possible instead of just to make a buck or two...

Of course, I'll be reading the next book... *sigh*... I miss the anticipation I used to have... now it's almost like drudgery and obligation... gotta buy and read each one in the series because I'm committed to the end of it, gotta find out what happens next... even though at this point it's become somewhat predictable. I will pray that they return to the style, action, pace, excitement, and unpredicibility of plot that was in the first books during the last few books.

I've read all the Left Behind Books and am nearly finished with The Remnant. Overall, I'm disappointed in this installment. The first three books are great reads, then the series began to lag (for purposes of stretching out the story, putting more books on the market, and more cash for the authors). I thought the pace picked up in the last two books, but The Remnant is more stretching. Nothing here advances the narrative. I can't believe that George's rescue takes up such a large portion of this book. There's a misguided attempt to develop Chloe's character by turning her from a mother figure into an action figure. I wish Chang was more than just the late David with a different name. There are so many plot threads throughout this series that simply and conveniently end with the death of the character - Steve Plank is an example in this book. The "other" group of believers discovered in Chicago are nearly ignored in this book. What the series lacks at this point is a compelling character to care about. Chaim is converted. Hattie is dead. There's no one left that makes you turn the page to see what happens to them. We all know that Buck, Rayford, Chloe, and few others will live through to the end. What a shocker if one them was killed! Think about it, Tim and Jerry. I vote to kill off Chloe next!

But I'm hooked! I want to see how this ends. Yes, we know how it ENDS but how will the authors bring this to an end? ....

I also need to add that this series has at times enriched my relationship with the Lord. There are moments in the books when I feel so thankful for the Lord and what he does for me, and the love he shows for me. I have been enriched by the Left Behind series and that's reason enough to keep reading.

(EDIT - Wow! Reading these old reviews reveals just how far I have come. I do NOT agree with the eschatology of the Left Behind books and Tim LaHaye. Read N.T. Wright's Surprised by Hope instead.)