Customer Reviews

Rumors of War (Children of the Promise)

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My only warning for this book is that you won't be able to do anything else - you'll just want to keep reading. This book is especially great for anyone who likes WWII history. I liked it!

Once I finished the Work and the Glory series, I was anxious to find some more LDS literature, and I always loved World War II stories, so I figured I'd give it a try. Well, once I got started I read the first 3 books in the space of one month! I'm now so involved in the plot of these stories and with these characters, I could swear I was one of them! Reading about the Bataan death march gave me goosebumps, I had heard little of this ghastly march, but these horrific stories really make me grateful for all that I have, I really wonder weather I could have lived through such horrors and I now greatly respect those that did. One thing that improved the book even more was the touches of romance Dean Hughes threw into the plot, I found myself in a hurry to get to another section about Bobbi and her struggles with her fiance and pofessor, this plot kept me all wound up, there was not a moment to lose interest, if one character was not in an exciting situation, you could be sure the others were! I really recommend this book, the only thing that may make you sorry for reading it is you will be amazed how time passes by so quickly as you read, and how much of the day you seem to miss, but don't worry, it definitely is worth giving up a few hours of the day!

I had never read or even heard of Dean Hughes before this series. I inherited this series from my grandfather when he passed away earlier this year. I began reading it a few months ago, and have not been able to put it down. I am currently finishing up the 4th of 5 books. WOW! I feel like a part of the story- like I am actually there- in World War II. It helps you to see all of the perspectives- even from behind the enemy lines (accounts of Germans and Japanese and the trials they endured). This series is the best I have ever read. I actually cry when I read it, I am elated and moved by every part of it. I am sad that I only have one book left. You will thoroughly enjoy this series- the first book is wonderful- but somewhat slow- but stick with it- Books 2-4 (and I am sure 5 as well) are riveting and full of action-triumphs and tears. I am really grateful to have been given this amazing gift- these books have touched my inner soul and I feel more human just by reading them.

Awsome! True life in a great story form. You have got to read them all! I couldnt put them down. I can't believe what I have learned about our not so long ago past. This has helped me understand so much about our many war vetrans. I have much more appreciation for what the vetrans have done for us. This is truly a must read!

Book Review on Rumors of War, by Dean Hughes

Rumors of War by Dean Hughes is a very good book. This book is the first of the series called Children of The Promise. It has five hundred pages and every chapter keeps you reading. It is so interesting you do not want to put the book down.
The book takes place around the time of World War II. The writer carefully looked at dates and put them in the book. This book is fiction but uses real dates and events. The author spent hundreds of hours in the libraries trying to get information to start the books.
This book is about the Thomas family during the war and the struggles they face. They are members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint or LDS. Their oldest son Alex is serving a mission in Germany when the war starts to break out. There daughter Bobbi is going to school and dating this guy. They are close to becoming engaged, but she does not know if she is really in love with him. They have two more daughters and two more sons. The parents are trying to raise them good and in the church. The dad is the stake president and the family tries to support him in that calling.
The author described the events so you could see in your own mind what was going on. You could feel what the German people felt like and how they reacted with the war. You can see Germans betrayed their country because they did not agree with Hitler and what happened to them.
I really enjoyed Rumors of War; it was very interesting and entertaining. I enjoyed how the author described the events that really happened in the war. When you are reading you feel like you are there and what the people felt. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves books on World War II. I enjoyed this book and hope that if you read it you will too.

In the past four years since I finished high school, I have only read one book voluntarily, it's hard to read a book you don't have to read unless it's really interesting...my mom was reading some series of books called 'the children of the promise' and kept telling me to start book one. I kept putting it off because who does what their mom says? Well in the process of putting it off, two of my sister's started the series, so I thought fine, I'll crack the first book open. Oh my gosh, could there be a better book? I read book one in three weeks(I'm not a fast reader so thats really good for me) and I've started book two. I love all of the characters, if alex were real, I'd would be totally in love with him, and bobbi would be my best friend, and if you're mormon, there are so many things that others would bypass, but are so familiar to you, it's almost funny. My grandpa was in the navy in the 20's and 30's and my grandad was an army doctor during WWII, so it makes it seem even more real. I just love history so much, I'll be so bummed when I finish this series.

Mr. Hughes has managed to write a fantastic, accurate book of LDS life and culture. I have been fasinated by the accuracy of 'Rumors of War' having spotted only one minor falicy of fact, a matter of uniform colors, which not in the slightest would effect the enjoyment level from the novel. I would not be at all suprised to find out that Mr. Hughes himself had served as a missionary in Germany at one point or another: I served in the Germany-Leipzig Mission and did in fact return after service to marry a lovely young LDS woman, and Mr. Hughes' understanding of the "German mind" is wonderful. A truly remarkable work of LDS fiction!

I love this book and I am avidly awaiting the rest of the series. The writing is so wonderful that I didn't even realize I was learning history as I followed the characters. Dean Hughes also gets inside the heads of mormon females very well. If this helps any- my mother is more addicted to this series than she is to The Work and the Glory.

I absolutely loved these books, all of them. The story is engaging, so much so that my husband just about flipped out. He wanted to ban me from reading, as if he could. Truthfully, I just about got nothing else done while I was reading them. The historical insight is interesting, but never detracts from the storyline, which is propelled by the history rather than hampered by it. There were so many scenarios, so much that I had not considered, so much everything... I seriously fell in love with this era. And, to add to my reading delight, the characters are not without flaws. It's so much more interesting to read about someone who is a little off, rather than a bunch of perfect people.

Recently, I finished writing my first book, "Class Collision," and in all honestly, I think somewhere deep inside the psychological twists of my brain, CHILDREN OF THE PROMISE left such an impression that my debut novel is set during the Great Depression, and the sequel is set during World War II.

I would definitely recommend this series, but keep in mind, you won't be able to get anything done while you're reading them. If you're married, you may need to ask yourself, "Is our relationship up to this?" Kidding aside, these books are good.

If you think you know a great deal about World War II, you might be surprised what this book can teach you. Highly recommend Volume I of the series for all World War II buffs, especially those having an interest in the Pacific theater. Although the stories center around LDS families, the insight into how families survived the war both at home and abroad is universal. I supported our troops before, but Dean Hughes has managed to give me an appreciation of the troops and their families on a much, much deeper level. (Be prepared, you may not enjoy the first two thirds of the book as much as the last third, but the last third makes the read more than worthwhile. And you will be anxious to go on to the second volume of the series.)