Riders in the Sky (Millennium Quartet) [Hardcover]

Charles Grant (Author)

Book Description

Series: Millennium Quartet | Publication Date: December 13, 1999

It is the time of the Millennium, of great battles between good and evil. The hoofbeats of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse herald the last days of Mankind. Riders in the Sky The Conclusion of the Millennium Quartet "War" The four novels of the Millennium Quartet reveal the cataclysms that await mankind at the turn of the century and vividly tell of the effects of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as they wreak havoc on the world. Death spread a wide swath of violence over the planet. Famine devastated crops, fish, and domesticated animals. Plague returned as a mutated version of smallpox and decimated the remaining human population. Still, mankind has struggled on, most people completely unaware that they have experienced the effects of the Horsemen and not merely a combination of bad weather and freak genetics. Most people, but not all. These are the survivors, no longer completely human and the only people who can stand against the Horsemen: A preacher given the power to stop Death. Two teenagers who can see the truth in anyone's heart. A mother and her two daughters, who saw the man they all loved sacrifice himself to save them from Plague. A waitress who has decided she can't wait any longer. A would-be writer whose young son has become Famine. The young widow of a British nobleman--the only person who knows the earthly identities of all four Horsemen--has brought them all together. Now they prepare to do battle. With War as their leader, the Horsemen are preparing to lay waste to the world. They have gathered for a final strategy session on an isolated island in the Atlantic. But their coming is no longer secret, and they are no longer unopposed. The defenders of mankind are coming. They may well fail to defeat the Apocalypse. But if so, they will die trying.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This tepid conclusion to Grant's Millennium Quarter shows the problems of a subtle approach to horrors with earthshaking potential. In the series's previous novels--Symphony, In the Mood and Chariot--Grant, a master of implied terror, used ominous portents and dread-thickened atmosphere to give vigorous momentum to his unfolding epic of impending armageddon. That drive dissipates in a finale whose vaguely defined menace, kept out of sight for most of the story, hardly does justice to its buildup. War is breaking out around the world at century's end. On Camoret Island, a tourist spot off the Georgia coast, it manifests anemically as a fight by islanders to prevent acquisition of land by unscrupulous real estate developer Norville Cutler. Plot twists and turns reveal that Cutler is the puppet of a gang of evildoers, human incarnations of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who are trying to draw out Casey Chisholm, a righteous ex-minister with a miraculous healing touch who awaits his destiny working as a handyman on the island. Grant has a knack for finding profound spiritual meaning in the struggles of ordinary people, but he never makes it clear why Casey and the survivors from earlier novels who flock to his side are of such concern to the biblical bogeys, or how their stand will ensure the world's salvation. The tale climaxes in a fierce symbolic storm that proves in more ways than one to be only so much hot air. So an ambitious dark fantasy saga ends not with a bang, but a whimper. (Feb.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A spine-tingling storyteller with a riveting style." -David Morrell

"One of a small circle of quality authors whose elite numbers include Stephen King, Peter Straub, David Morrell, and a few others." -Rocky Mountain News

"The end of the world is coming-in four parts. Page after page, Grant delivers maximum chills with minimum prose." -The Charleston Post and Courier

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books; 1st edition (December 13, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312862792
• ISBN-13: 978-0312862794
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,956,011 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic finale, March 21, 2000

By 

mellion108 (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Riders in the Sky (Millennium Quartet) (Hardcover)

Casey Chisholm is back! This 4th in a series novel eloquently pulls together the characters and the armageddon story line started in SYMPHONY. If you haven't read any of the other novels in this series (SYMPHONY, IN THE MOOD, CHARIOT), you are missing out. However, any of the novels is a winner on its own.

Grant has an incredible way of weaving word pictures. He does not let any of these novels play out just on the end-of-the-world theme. He allows us to witness the inner struggles of each character as he grapples with his own fears and doubts in this cosmic event. The heroes are not infallible, and the bad guys are not merely evil; each character has several levels.

I devoured each novel in this series. Grant's writing is superb, and these novels are treasures.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I can hear the horses....., January 5, 2003

By 

Jamie (Rockford, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Riders in the Sky (Mass Market Paperback)

This book was the best [money]I ever spent!! I love Stephen King also but his books are usually very confusing and I have to skip pages to keep being inetersted in it. But not with this book!! I couldn't wait to keep reading! Even though it only costed me [little money] at the [local] store I would have spent waaaay more!! As I read this book I could feel myself immersed in the middle of the apocalypse and since it was close to New Year's it kinda freaked me out (although its not the millenium anymore). I felt as if I knew each one of the characters personally and I was right there along with them. It would make and EXCELLENT movie!! Thank you Charles Grant for being such a great writer, I am going out today to find more of your books!! YOU ROCK!!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A very dissapointing conclusion to an outstanding series, July 26, 2000

By 

James M. (Cali, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Riders in the Sky (Millennium Quartet) (Hardcover)

I have read both: In the Mood, and Chariot, and have heard about Symphony. In the mood and Chariot were very pondering novels that got my interest and I enjoyed reading. They were both genuine page-turners. I anxiously awaited for the final book and when Riders in the sky finally came out I began reading it and felt that it was very lagging in pace and boring. Not like Grant's usual writing prose. The entire novel builds up for the armageddon at the end where Casey and his friends fight the four horsemen of the apocolypse. When near the end the battle begins, it ends as quickly as it had begun in a sum of a few pages. Grant desrcibes the coming and arriving of a storm to more detail than the battle of armageddon itself. I was left feeling that this novel was a shocking disbelief of utter bore, and that it left a hurting mark to end the series on. I expected more out of this novel. Read it and see for yourself.