Glorious Appearing: The End of Days (Left Behind #12) [Hardcover]

Jerry B. Jenkins (Author), Tim LaHaye (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Jesus returns at last in this 12th novel in the phenomenally popular Left Behind series, vanquishing his foes and ushering in a new millennium of peace and righteousness. Ray Steele is the only member of the original Tribulation Force alive to see it, however, since Buck Williams endures a bloody death in the opening pages. The novel’s pacing suffers greatly from its own foregone conclusion. Antichrist Nicolae Carpathia, once a fearsome and suave foe, is reduced to shrill hysteria in this installment, and seems more of a cartoon character than a credible instrument of Satan. And the final wars (there are four of them in quick succession) add no drama to the plot, since believers are by that point impervious to harm; neither the bullets from the Unity army or the supernatural lightning raining down from the sky can touch the Christian holdouts. It must have been difficult to imagine the words that Jesus would speak on such an occasion, but the authors’ cautious solution-to draw almost solely on the statements spoken by or about Jesus in the New Testament-feels wooden. However, the book is not devoid of humor, and fans of the series will enjoy the gentle, affectionate camaraderie that exists among the excited members of the ragtag brigade of believers. For readers who have stuck with this soap opera through thick and thin, there is a real emotional payoff in seeing the characters’ reunions with their loved ones who died during the Tribulation.
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Product Description

Thousands of years of human history stained by strife, death, and sin come to an end when the King of Glory returns to earth. The satisfying conclusion of the seven years of Tribulation covered by the Left Behind series portrays the return of Jesus Christ to earth in both glory and judgment.

At the height of the battle between the forces of evil gathered at Armageddon and the remaining Christian believers at Petra and Jerusalem, nothing seems to be able to stop the Antichrist, Nicolae Carpathia. But God has another plan.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 335 pages
• Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.; 1st edition (March 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0842332359
• ISBN-13: 978-0842332354
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (297 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #52,037 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, July 28, 2004

By	David Benjamin (Oregon, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Glorious Appearing: The End of Days (Left Behind #12) (Hardcover)

Just as a preface, I found the previous books in the Left Behind series flawed but engaging enough to warrant reading. For a lengthy and relatively faithful rendition of how Revelation might play out in our world, I thought the books were suitable--though I would love to see this story retold more realistically and not in a preaching-to-the-choir sort of way.

All that said, Glorious Appearing was a large disappointment for a variety of reasons, most of which are problems in the writing rather than the content of the source material. The first major problem is that there is zero dramatic tension once Jesus shows up. You know the good guys won't get touched and you know all the bad guys will get what's coming to them. You also know exactly what's going to happen, because all the characters have been studying the Scriptures and talking about the prophecies which will be fulfilled. I know that the fulfillment of prophecy is very important for eschatological writing, but novels need dramatic tension to keep the reader's interest. I think it would have been much more interesting to have the focal point characters NOT always in the know, and have them struggle through these experiences without knowing all the answers before hand.

The second major problem is how Jesus and the angels speak: almost entirely in passages lifted straight from the Bible. I'd imagine Lahaye and Jenkins wanted to err on the side of caution here, not wanting to ascribe to Jesus anything that he might not say. That was a mistake for two reasons. From a dramatic standpoint, it made Jesus and the angels dull, their dialogue stale and tedious because we've heard it before (and in this very book series, too). From a theological standpoint, it's troubling because it feels like it's limiting Jesus. A better solution would be to have Jesus speak original, modern dialogue that fits with who he is (as presented in the Bible) and is tied closer to the context of the book.

The third problem is that individual perspective is all but obliterated. Very often there will be a six-page section during which the focal character's name is mentioned once... and then somehow he or she is able to witness things such as mountains splitting in two and entire cities raised hundreds of feet. This book is written like a summary rather than a personal experience. If I wanted the broad picture from a distant point of view I would read Revelation or one of the hundreds of commentaries written on that book. When I'm reading a book--particularly one labeled as FICTION--I want to know and feel what the characters are going through. To this extent, I would rather the characters and myself know less about what's going to happen, so I can experience a much richer and less predictable drama.

There are other problems with this book but those are the primary ones. If you've read most of the previous books in the Left Behind series, then you should definitely read through this one just to complete the story. If you haven't read any of the series or you've only read a book or two, you might want to reconsider before you invest your time in 12 books with a disappointing payoff.

The books are based on worthwhile material (Revelation--which I'd recommend over these books any day) and the authors seem to have good intentions (though I question why they had to stretch this out over so many books if not for money-making reasons), but the execution really falls short in the end. Hopefully the financial success of this series will pave the way for another, better fictional rendering of Revelation.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fair to middling, until the last 100 pages, April 2, 2004

By	Ethan D Van Vorst (Salisbury, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Glorious Appearing: The End of Days (Left Behind #12) (Hardcover)

I have to admit I have read this series since about the time "Soul Harvest" came out, although back then it felt like they were pushing 2 books a year out the door. I believe it's been a year since the release of the last book, Armageddon, the conclusion of which left you thinking that the return of Christ was only moments away.

And so, in this reader's humble opinion, you have the first half of the book as basically a continuation of a buildup that has spanned 11 books already, and one that I read dutifully through just to get to the actual Glorious Appearing. The single biggest praise and detraction I can give to this book and those prior are the sheer number of participants involved; on the one hand you have close to (it seems like) 40 characters to keep track of, and while this number slowly dwindles down by the time of this release it gets troublesome trying to keep track of the thoughts of all those people as they watch events unfold, although it gives a solid accounting of several different viewpoints as the story progresses. In addition there are obviously characters that I have connected with and feel more about than others, and so it gets a bit superflous at times. You'll note however that this small complaint didn't slow me down from snapping this book the second it became available. The only other major complaint that I ever had was with the portrayal of Carpathia and the False Prophet, Fortunato. My envisionings of them through reading of the Bible make me believe that they will be far more sinister and dangerous than they are portrayed in the books, which all too often has them behaving like buffoons. Yeah, it's fun to laugh at the bad guys' mishaps, but it starts to turn into the 3 Stooges sometimes.

It's about halfway through the book though that the reader will hit the paydirt they've been really yearning for for so long, the return of Christ. I actually held my breath, I mean this is the moment that Christians have awaited for 2000 years and outside the Bible it's never been written about in a way that reads like solid prose narrative (unless you count CS Lewis' "The Last Battle", which yeah, I guess I do count :) ) and I was not let down, especially with the last 100 pages. If for no other reason one should get this book. It was worth the wait and had me yearning for more.

It's one thing to be a believer and know that Christ is always with you. It is entirely a new and amazing experience to imagine (as Jenkins has here) what an unbelievable, "is this really happening to me?" thing it would be to see Christ physically standing before you and conversing with you by name. It was wonderful and will be wonderful to experience, and for a taste of it read the last few chapters.

I agree with some of the other posters here, this was left wide open at the end for a sequel, which I don't think many of us would mind seeing, especially with the foreboding closing passage of Scripture, "But after these things [Satan] must be released for a little while. - Rev 20:3" And yes, I have to say that if #13 does come out the title "Millenium" has a great ring to it! You will definitely not be able to put this one down. I sure wasn't able to!

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very Different Things to Many Different People, May 9, 2004

By	Old Set (Wadley, AL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Glorious Appearing: The End of Days (Left Behind #12) (Hardcover)

First, I won't use my review to editorialize, as many others have done. Second, it's difficult to relay to an anonymous person how they will enjoy this book. If you are a fundamentalist Christian who believes in a literal Rapture, you'll either love it for it's religious plot or hate it because you find something wrong with the authors' interpretation of biblical prophecy. If your something else, you'll probably find the violence and self-righteousness of the book sickening. The author's repeatedly belittle the beliefs of others in the most hateful way. For example, Satan claims that he evolved and wasn't created, and then is promptly tossed into Hell. This the author's spiteful revenge on modern science's concept of evolution, which calls into question the fundamentalist's belief in a literal interpretation of the world's creation in Genesis. A far as style goes, the books are not in any way great literature. Many times the plot is simple minded and the prose is inferior to most popular fiction novels. For such a controversial book and series, this is the best information I know to give.