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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Design of the Apocalypse, November 4, 2002
Nothing makes a series more frustrating for a reader than extended delays between volumes. Unfortunately for me, not only was J. Gregory Keyes a long time in issuing this last volume in the 'Age of Unreason Series,' marketing for it was so poor that it was a year before I actually found it, and even longer until I finally started to read it. Given the scope of the series, this nearly caused me do decide not to read it.
The key of the problem is that the cast of characters is immense, and seems to include everyone of note in Europe and North America from Isaac Newton and Ben Franklin to Tsar Peter the Great. At the beginning of 'The Shadows of God' Keyes spends about 40 pages re-introducing his characters. Before I gave up counting he had mentioned thirty major characters and a host of lesser. Moreover, while diligent in the matter of name-dropping, Keyes makes no effort to provide continuity between this volume and its predecessor.
As such, it was a while before I remembered that Keyes had Newton discover the existence of the Malakim, angels who intersected with the human world and whose powers could be harnessed. As he and his student Ben Franklin move across Europe, great powers are set in motion, eventually leading to London's utter destruction by an aimed meteor, and a Russian attempt to conquer the world. With Europe in tatters, the action shifts to the new world, where men battle men and Malakim, and everyone who can tries to destroy their enemies and take the earth for their own.
In North America, invading armies of the Malakim inspired Sun Boy and James Stuart, pretender to the English Throne prepare to overwhelm the indigenous races and colonists from New England to New France. Ben Franklin is the ringleader in for those who oppose the Malakim as he tries to deal with overpowering magic, traitors on every side, and the rulers of New France, Sweden and Russia. With his family life in a shambles, and his imagination stretched to its limits Franklin must prepare to fight a battle that truly is the apocalypse.
This is primarily alternate history, based on the thesis that Newton's discoveries were of the laws of magic rather than those of science. Misled into thinking that the Malakim were harmless, Newton did not realize that these were the fallen angels, stranded on earth by God, and that many of them fiercely desire the end of man. The fascination of a new scientific system, and Keyes' great writing are what keep the series moving, and this volume is no exception, despite the slow start.
The book probes the possibility of a universe based on and entirely different meta-narrative and the effects of that world on those that people it. It also questions the significance of good and evil and God's place in the entirety of corruption. Keyes created a high action plot while taking the time to investigate philosophical and emotional considerations. In the end, I found the story very satisfying, but be warned that 'The Shadows of God' would be nearly unreadable for someone who has not read the first three volumes. It is unfortunate that Keyes will probably never get the recognition he deserves for this work of science fantasy. If you have the opportunity and the time, you will find the series well worth reading.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The fireworks are over - a consummation, July 17, 2001
The series as a whole deserves 5 stars, even if any individual book might weaker. In fact, I think Calculus of Angels is the best written of the four. But you have to read all four, starting with Newton's Cannon (otherwise said: no one would read just 'Return of the King', either). As the previous reviewer wrote, it is all tied up here, even if it is all not very clear. We are talking about a reorganization of the universe, after all, so I'm sure that's a difficult task for any novelist to describe. The forewarning and oracular dream sequences of the earlier novels are missing here, because we come to the end, I suppose. For which I'm kind of sad. It was fun while it lasted. This page-turner took me a day to read, pretty much as the others did. We *could* have a separate thread on what some of the characters actually mean, and what actually happenned to them, i.e. Euler is the same as the Woman under the Hill?, was the Sun Boy blinded by the Malakim (or by Swedenborg, himself nearly blind) in the beginning, his last sight perhaps that of the moon? Still a lot of post hoc interpretation possible here, even after the fireworks are over.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The battle for America, with the demons winning., June 19, 2005
The Shadows of God, the conclusion of J. Gregory Keyes' "Age of Unreason" series, is a thrilling ride through war, mysticism, and a little bit of love. The characters have been through a lot in the last 15 years or so, and this is the culmination of everything. While the ending is not quite as good as I would have hoped, Keyes still manages to keep the reader intrigued, racing to the end to see exactly how it turns out. While not completely unpredictable, there is enough uncertainty for the story to keep a hold of the reader.
Ben Franklin has finally made it to the French court in the New Orleans area, where the former Duke of Orleans is now the only remaining French king. He's trying desperately to set up an alliance among all of the former colonies. Meanwhile, Russian forces continue to hem the colonies in on the west while English troops come from the east. The demon-like Malekim, are making their final play for dominion on the Earth, and if humans manage to even come close to stopping them, they will unleash a horror that has never been seen before. The key to everything could end up being Adrienne de Montchevreuil, a French sorceress who may know more science than Franklin and more magic than Red Shoes, the Choctaw shaman who may or may not be on the side of good. Will they all be able to stop the Malekim while there is still enough left of the colonies to celebrate the victory?
This entire series has been a fascinating alternate history with sorcery and alchemy playing a major part and historical figures we're all familiar with mixing with characters that Keyes has made up. The Shadows of God continues this, though the story has gone so much more beyond alternate history that it is almost unrecognizable. Instead, it's a fantasy with historical trappings, with Franklin, Tsar Peter, and Voltaire being the only recognizable historical figures left. This is not a bad thing, as Keyes once again does a wonderful job of characterization. I said in my review of Empire of Unreason that Red Shoes had become thoroughly uninteresting. This time, however, Keyes succeeds in grabbing the reader's attention with him again. He's fighting an evil that he has absorbed within him, that has caused him to do terrible things. How he deals with this, with the help of Grief, his lover, made me want to read his sections of the book again (unlike the earlier book).
Once again, Franklin and Adrienne are also extremely well-done. Also well done is Oglethorpe, the general of the colonial armies who are fighting the invading English and Russian troops. He shows a lot of intelligence in his battle tactics, using the resources that he has been given (a couple of airships, some magical guns) to their utmost. He's also learned to deal with his prejudices and command a mixed group of men (escaped and freed slaves, Native Americans, and some colonists). Before leading the army, he had been a slaveowner, but the escaped slaves become some of his best scouts, and it's interesting to see the change in his perception as he sheds his English sensibilities and becomes an "American."
I really like how Keyes has created a number of interesting characters, but he resists the urge to get inside all of their heads. For most of the first three books, the only viewpoint characters have been Franklin, Adrienne, and Red Shoes (Red Shoes being introduced in A Calculus of Angels). Oglethorpe is introduced in Empire of Unreason and also becomes a viewpoint character, but that is it. Instead, Keyes manages to show us what's inside the characters by their actions and words, rather than thoughts. The king of New France is a great example of this. We can tell that he is horrified about what has happened to his old country, and he certainly doesn't want the responsibility of bringing New France up by its bootstraps, but he is a patriot and willing to do whatever is necessary for the good of his people. He loves science but can be blinded by his subordinates when it comes to politics. All of the characters are three-dimensional despite us not being able to hear what they think.
The only exception to this, and it leads into the other fault with the book, are Tsar Peter and Charles, King of Sweden. Peter gets a little more characterization when he's rescued, but once the final battle begins and Charles shows up (his sworn enemy), they become nothing but bluster and ultimately the interest plummets. The results of their final battle are completely predictable (only the magnitude of what happens is in question). Their characterization is a symptom of the fact that the ending just becomes one huge battle with flashes of characterization from a few sources. There's nothing wrong with having a big battle at the end of a book, and Keyes does a decent job describing the action, but it seemed like a sidebar to the mystical element of the story, giving the characters something to drive them to the conclusion rather than something to care about itself. We're already told that the Malekim will do something drastic if their human pawns' plans are defeated, so dramatically the battle doesn't really serve a lot of purpose.
That being said, The Shadows of God is still riveting for the most part, and a fitting conclusion to the entire story. The ending, while slightly predictable, leaves things in an interesting way. It doesn't call for a sequel at all. Instead, it's more of a "these characters have a lot of work ahead of them" feeling. It's satisfying to see the old friends you've been reading about for four books finally getting a rest. At least those who survive, at any rate.
David Roy
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