Prophecy The Books

This astonishing book contains revelations that will shock, offend, move and startle readers...and only because it hits so close to home--dead center actually. Not for the faint of heart or the half-hearted spiritual seeker, this book will turn all your previous assumptions and beliefs on its ear. As the title of my review says, it is an amazing and wonderful book, and I would recommend it to ANYONE who seeks a deeper, more meaningful relationship with GOD.

Not a real page turner at first ,but, the information in this book is most interesting!

I would recommend for anyone who likes to study prophecy. OR is just a History buff...

It explained some of the things in the past that I was too young to be interested in. It helped explain why we are in some of the predictments that we are in because of past leaders decisions.

George Bush has a heart attack and dies. Obviously he goes to hell, where the Devil is waiting for him ....

"I'm not sure what to do," says the Devil. "You're on my list, but I have no room for you. As you definitely have to stay here, I'm going to have to let someone else go. I've got three folks here who weren't quite as bad as you. I'll let one of them go, but you have to take their place. I'll even let you decide who leaves."

George thought that sounded pretty good, so he agreed. The Devil opened the first room. In it were Richard Nixon and a large pool of hot water. He kept diving in and climbing out, over and over.Such was his fate in hell.
No!" said George. "I don't think so, I'm not a good swimmer and don't think I could stay in hot water all day."

The Devil led him to the next room. In it was Tony Blair with a sledgehammer and a room full of rocks. All he did was swing the hammer time after time. "No! I've got this problem with my shoulder. I would be in constant agony if all I could do was break rocks all day." commented George.

The Devil opened the third door. In it, George saw Bill Clinton lying on the floor with his arms staked over his head, and his legs staked in a spread-eagle pose. Bent over him was Monica Lewinsky, doing what she does best. George Bush looked at this in disbelief for a while, and finally said "Yeah, I can handle this."

The Devil smiled and said, "OK, Monica, you're free to go!"

This is full of facts you would have to search hard for in other means. Excellent history; old and newer. Well written and an easy read.

After reading this book, I was curious as to what other readers had to say on Amazon. I was surprised to see that the overall rating is close to 5 stars. After reading some of the reviews, this is probably because most of the reviewers can be lumped into the category of "Christian literalist" who believe in a fundamentalist view of the Bible and Christianity in general. Well, I'm not one of those and I'm here to tell you that this book is more dangerous than it is helpful. While it was interesting to get the authors views of the players and motivations behind the founding of the modern state of Israel, I absolutely diagree with the foundations of his arguments. Simply put, his Christian biases are too much to take seriously and will do nothing but widen the gulf between Western and Middle Eastern ideology, be it religious, political or social. For those readers who have an open mind, don't waste your time with this book. For those of you with a fundamentalist outlook, do yourself (and the rest of us) a favor and open your eyes to a new way of thinking.

The book is okay, but it is overrated. I also found dozens of copies at my local dollar store shortly after delivery.

"The Final Move Beyond Iraq" by Mike Evans was the best mistake order I ever made. My husband has not put it down. He says it is enlightening and in depth with interviews with dignitaries of other countries,not often seen or heard.

I like this book even though it is more chicken little extremism. I was initially interested in the book because I listened to the author on a talk radio show and found his points interesting. An assistant of his even answered some questions I had via email and offered to send me a free copy. Not long into reading the book I found some contradictions to his claims and tried emailing with questions. At first I got reasonable answers, but after a while I think the questions became to difficult and required thinking out of the paranoia box. In particular I asked the author about what he thought about the over throw of the democratically elected Iranian leadership in the 1950s and wondered if that might be a reason we've had such trouble with Iran. The question was brushed off.

My mother-in-law handed this book to my wife to read. I found this book lying in the toilet (which is exactly where it belongs) on the pot because my wife started reading it. So I decided to browse through the introduction section and boy was I "NOT" surprised to find such garbage.

The author's target audience are those Americans who have no prior knowledge of history of US policies abroad. These are the people who are easy targets for such propaganda. Ronald Reagan famously warned that the Nicaraguans were only "2 days from Brownsville, Texas" implying that if we don't take care of the Sandinistas we might face the Nicaraguan army on US soil. Most "informed" public in the US are also aware of the Communist threat and the wars fought over such fear mongering. This book is an extension of such propaganda from the right-wing of this country.

A small example is present right at the beginning of this book in the Introduction:

On December 6, 2006, James Baker and Lee Hamilton released the Iraq Study Group Report on what their bipartisan commission believes should be done in Iraq. In it they recommended that:

- the Golan Heights be returned to Syria (a terrorist state);

- Judea and Samaria be given to a terrorist-led government (the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority);

- Iran and Syria be invited to the negotiating table as a "support group" with no preconditions and UN resolutions against those two nations forgotten;

- right-of-return into Israel be given to Palestinians (terrorists) in Lebanon;

- Israel be required to return to pre-1967 borders (which would mean the dividing of Jerusalem);

- the UN be allowed to determine the destiny of Iran?s nuclear program (which would, in my opinion, guarantee Iran with the bomb in a matter of a few years);

- and amnesty be granted to terrorists (insurgents) who slaughtered American soldiers in Iraq.
----
I will now point out the fallacies and ridiculously disingenuous method of writing of the above points:

1) The author refers to Syria as a "terrorist state" in parentheses which is not from the ISG report in order to reiterate to the reader which side we should be on, on the issue of Golan Heights i.e. Israel's. Obviously an ignorant reader doesn't know the illegal status of Israel's occupation of Golan Heights according to the UN Charter.

2) Judea and Samaria - Typical Biblical propaganda from the American Christian right and the Zionists who depend on them for their occupation of Palestine. The above territory is now known as the "West Bank" but the author tries to stir up religious emotions of the reader by referring to their beloved bible in order to grant silent legitimacy to Israel for their occupation.

The other lie is the fact that this point doesn't feature in the ISG because
a) It wasn't proposed in such a way
b) Hamas is in control of Gaza not West Bank

3) Iran and Syria negotiations: What are the authors preconditions? What right do we have to place preconditions on these states for negotiations? Isn't that the purpose of negotiations to make the other side agree to some conditions?

4) Right of return for "terrorists" - This is my favorite. The word "terrorists" is placed next to Palestinians. You don't need to have knowledge of history to know that this is not only illogical but WRONG to label all palestinians as terrorists.

The other aspect of this is those refugees were driven out through systematic deportation in 1948 by Ben-Guiron and gang which is now being found out after Israel opened up its archives in the last 2 decades. So much for a state formed to save a population from persecution!

5) Israel and pre-1967 borders and dividing of Jerusalem: For am American who is well content with the fact that his own country was formed through occupation, it won't be hard to make him digest this idea. Pre-1967 borders means the armistice lines drawn after 1948 war when the UN Security Council determined the rights of State of Israel. Ironically the author fails to bring up the innumerable resolutions passed by UN against Israeli occupation of "Judea and Samaria" like he does for Iran

6) UN be allowed to determine Iran's nukes: Its not as uncommon for right-winged pundits to promote unilateral action circumventing the rules and regulations followed by the International Community through the UN. We are Americans, we don't need to follow rules because they're for everyone else.

Hey Mike, do you want to talk about Israel's 200 nuclear warheads which is a fact admitted by the CIA?

7) Amnesty for insurgents: These insurgents happen to be Iraqi citizens fighting against occupation by a foreign country. They also happen to have the support of the bulk of the population. I don't remember reading the word "amnesty" anywhere in the ISG report but we can't expect anything better from Mike Evans. The ISG report calls for formation of a unity government between Sunnis and Shias which if not done will lead to further violence. That isn't amnesty but a logical approach. However, promoters of the Wild West style democracy want to punish everybody for fighting America who btw lied their way to Baghdad.

The book is full of such ridiculous comments, lop sided reviews and misquoted texts (with parentheses) designed to promote an agenda and brainwash an already ignorant reader. I didn't even want to give this book a star but I clicked on it accidentally.

2005-07, when it still seemed likely that George Bush would expand the war in Iraq to Iran, religion-based pundits, megachurch preachers and other asortments of Christian authors created a boom in apocalyptic, Bomb Iran Now books. "The Final Move Beyond Iraq" by Mike Evans probably didn't get the same amount of PR as the latest cash cow by John Hagee, but its vision is just as frightening. Evans is part of the religious right-wing club that makes excuses for imperialism by sounding the alarm off on phantom threats like Iran's "nukes" and despite the fact that the U.S. military is essentially "broken" according to Colin Powell, they are desperately pleading for yet ANOTHER war in the Middle East. Evans is a favorite on Fox News, which should tell you something about the accuracy in his work, but let's just judge his book for what it has to say. According to Evans, the current situation involving Iraq, Iran and the occupied territories in Israel are all part of some larger plan pushing us ever closer to the Apocalypse and Second Coming of Christ. Israel is of course considered by Evans and his ilk as "God's Chosen," and us, who use Israel as a client state in the region, are therefore destined to protect Israel no matter what, not for strategic purposes, but because it's God's will, this includes needing to bomb Iran and destabilize an already volatile region. Evans, like Hagee, ignores basic modern history, presents flimsy "evidence" and coded Bible talk and interpretations (how can anyone really know what a guy in a 2,000 year old world was seeing, he wouldn't even know how to describe a helicopter, so therefore his visions could mean anything) to promote a neocon agenda of military expansionism and colonialism. The main target of the book is of course Muslim anger towards the U.S. and Israel, with Evans fully ignoring Israeli atrocities in Gaza and the West Bank or the fact that it's been proven more than once that Iraq was invaded based on false information. Evans like his colleagues takes a few looks at ancient Persian history, never exploring Middle Eastern history from say, the 1950s or 1960s, when we actively overthrew democratic, progressive governments in Iran and Pakistan. Evans also fails to explain how close U.S. client states like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan will participate in the glorious coming war, in fact, Evans doesn't even mention if anything will even happen to the U.S. domestic population (we wouldn't want to see Hagee's or Kenneth Copeland's mansions get blown up right?). The evidence Evans presents for attacking Iran is based on mostly outdated sources or "Israeli intelligence" that has now been mostly disproven, unless Evans believes the NIE report is some sort of conspiracy against his glorious leader, George W. Bush, a pity the book was published before that crucial bit of intelligence was released. Look deep into "The Final Move Beyond Iraq" and you'll see the hidden agenda of the neocons wrapped in a religious flag: Israel is the only good guy in the Middle East, superficially because Jews are "God's Chosen," but in reality because they are a vital client state for U.S. interests, Iran needs to be stopped because of its nuclear program, eventhough Israel already has nukes as well as U.S.-ally, and hotbead of radical Islamists, Pakistan. This is important, crucial information Evans conveniently leaves out. This is the typical kind of hollow propaganda used to whip-up a frenzy among religious devotees desperately waiting for deliverance from this "liberalized" culture, it is also a useful tool to make lots of money off of people's current worries, but in the end, it's just bad writing, bad history, and not worth a dollar, much less $14 and up.

Good Omens (1990) is supposedly a parody based off the movie The Omen (1976) written by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, which I did not know about when I read the novel and have not seen the film either. So you could say my opinion of the novel alone remains untainted.

It took me awhile to get through it, as while it was interesting, it wasn't compelling enough to keep me reaching for it, until it hit the last fourth of so. It starts out pretty slow, but with a great premise, the Antichrist is placed into an American diplomat's family to be raised in Britain as their child so as to never really know the difference between good and evil. Unfortunately the minions at the hospital screwed up and the real Antichrist is off living elsewhere, a normal, regular life with friends, a dog and a active 11 year old boy's imagination.

There is an angel and a demon, Heaven and Hell representatives on Earth (respectively) who have become quite comfortable with their lifestyles amongst the people on Earth and humanity and upon hearing that the End Times is near, begin to grow closer and even work together to keep an eye on the Antichrist. Rather, who they think is the Antichrist. They start coming in handy at the end when they realize they might actually have some compassion for the people of Earth.
Now you might ask, where does this Agnes Nutter, witch, part fit in. Because I sure was asking myself that. The witch part doesn't really materialize until the latter half of the novel, in which it is revealed that this witch, Agnes Nutter, in the 17th century, made a whole lot of predictions about the future, published them in a book and then was promptly burnt at the stake like all good witches. I won't spoil what this particular witch did as her revenge, but the prophecies turn out to be extremely true and the last copy in existence being held by a distant relative who has made it her life's work to follow the progress and decipher the prophecies. Upon figuring out that the end of the world is near, she begins to look for the real Antichrist, knowing that there was a mix up at birth.

Enter the Four (updated) Horsemen of the Apocalypse. It's at this point that novel gets a lot more interesting, particularly since one of the horsemen is actually a horsewoman and pestilence has become pollution and so on.

Without spoiling it, since the best part is where it picks up at the end, I'll stop here! If you enjoy tales with satire on Heaven, Hell, Christ and Death, than this tale is for you. I ended up reading it because I liked Christopher Moore's A Dirty Job so much, but in this case, A Dirty Job is still the winner.

The quick wit, wry humor and awesome imagery of this book push it quickly into one of the most fun and imaginative out there. One understands the characters' behavior intimately and enjoys the roller coaster ride of a story while hilarious and ominous events constantly unfold.

I think my favorite part of the book is the representation of specific English accents and slang -- the reproductions in my head were enough to make me chuckle on more than one occasion. I don't think anyone with a sense of humor could avoid enjoying this book.

I have (at least) two copies of this book in case it becomes necessary for me to insist that a friend borrow and read it immediately. That way I won't be without it for that length of time.
This book has me in tears of laughter every time I read it.

I've now recommended this book to five friends, three of whom were intelligent enough to appreciate it fully ... and all of us (the intelligent ones) have read it several times, and are thinking of forming our own book club dedicated to ... Good Omens.

Bravo Srs. Pratchett and Gaiman ... usually I despise collaborations but the two of you made the story sing.

These two authors apart are amazing,put them together and my sides were hurting through the entire book.Amazing British timing...

Joel Rosenberg has the credentials, experience, and knowledge to discuss the scary, but real implications in "Epicenter". All of the sources used by Rosenberg are sound and responsible, and include his own personal knowledge. One of these sources is the Holy Bible; completely vetted and historically accurate. Most people would "sniff" at this, however, that's only because they have never taken the time to read and vet the Bible for themselves, as many far more intellectual and qualified people have already done over hundreds of years.

This work can be very upsetting, because Rosenberg is speaking the truth and elucidating on it's implications for us, the entire human race. My advice? Read it anyway!

Turn on the national news and it will have something about the Middle East in the reports. This should not be a surprise as the Bible teaches that it will have profound influence on the end times.

This book explains what is going on in the Middle East in practical terms on a spiritual basis. It addresses such subjects as oil, Israel, Iraq, and Iran.

It is a must read for the Christian in today's world.

I encourage anyone who's concerned about rising oil prices, the future of our country and the world to read this book. Rosenberg has the best intelligence I've seen on this subject, his insights and connections are amazing. You can't put it down. I can't wait for his next non fiction, have read 3 of his fiction books too, Ezekial Option was the best, plan to read his newest: Dead Heat soon.

An extraordinary book which once again, is amazingly prophetic. After reading Epicenter, daily headlines simply reflect what Rosenberg has written about the intertwined histories of the U.S. and Israel. His interpretation of the prophetic passages in Ezekiel and Revelation has answered many of my own questions as to why the U.S. does not seem to be a major player in end time events. Warnings that we must not turn our backs on Israel are so relevant in light of daily threats to our two countries - may our politicians be listening! Each day seem to bring us closer to the close of history and this book is a real asset to understanding how we must be prepared - spiritually and as citizens of this country.

Ill-researched, dogmatic and demented - classic warmongering, in which religion plays its usual reactionary role. For example, US tele-evangelist Jim Robison opened a Republican National Convention by saying, "There will be no peace until Jesus comes. Any preaching of peace prior to this return is heresy. It is against the word of God. It is anti-Christ." This is a mirror-image of bin Laden's rhetoric - a tiny fanatical minority talking big to frighten us. Rosenberg is the same - frighten us into hysteria, to justify attacking countries that are no threat.

If what interests you is escapism with fascinating characters, these stories are an excellent past time. I recommend them to people of all age groups and can't wait to get my hands on the next series.

The Belgariad series by David Eddings is one of the most addictive series I have ever read. The characters and his world are fully developed, and there is a good spicing of humor mixed in with the suspense and horror. The characters are wonderful. Aunt Pol is a particular favorite. The massive series, which includes the Mallorean, reads quickly and is always a joy-much like comfort food, this is comfort reading.
By Verna McKinnon, author of "Gate of Souls, A familiar's Tale Book One."

David Eddings has a wonderful outlet on life, and I believe that anyone who buys this book from anyone will be enriched by it.

This book continually gets better and has great humor. I expect the second volume to be 5 stars.

Having first read this series back in the mid/late 1980's as a high school student, I can say I enjoyed it just as much reading it 20 some odd years later. Not many can say that (Tolkien, Feist, Herbert and Eddings are some of the few).

The first thing I enjoyed was the development of the characters. Eddings does a good job making his characters real, down to earth people. It is almost as if you had been transported and were one of them. They have feelings and many of them aren't perfect (actually none of them are). Garion is quite believable and enjoyable, while his "grandfather" and "aunt" often steal the show.

This brings me to the dialogue. I love the way the characters interact with each other. They often remind me of my own family and friends and the way we interact. No Shakespearean english here. These characters are well written as is their dialogue. The humor goes a long way to making this series one of my favorites. Robert Jordan (whom another review has mentioned) really could learn something from David Eddings. Rather than the ridiculous repetitiveness which plagues Jordan's writings (the braid tugging which is a constant, the constant references to bosoms and so forth) is thankfully absent in this series.

Finally, I enjoyed the originality of the series. I really can't think of another fantasy series which is quite like this one. While Eddings is no Tolkien, the doesn't try to be, and that is a good thing. Unlike many of the series which were published in the 1970's and 80's which were unabashedly rip offs of the Lord of the Rings, this series is a breath of fresh air due to it's originality. Next to the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant and the Deryni Chronicles, this has to be one of the more unique series in the genre.

This book has had profound impact on several men of God who have sought God's lead and wisdom in prayer and who have found direction and conviction in that prayer, not answers in a book written by man. If you are tapped in, your spirit will discern what is for you and what is not. If you are not, you will probably post something lengthy trying to discredit that which you either don't understand or that which convicts. What would Satan be doing if he didn't have so many christians willing to cause division. Awesome book and great discussion starter. It's not doctrine, use your heart and pray about it, take the player out of the equation and see if the message has any relevance.

This is one of three books (The Final Quest Series) which contain propheties about the times we live in and times to come. Personally, I found these books amazing. I also realize that there are many negative comments about this prophecy and prophecies in general. There is only one thing that really needs to be kept in mind, the Word of God.

John 16:12-14 (New International Version)
12"I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.

The books are easy to read like a science fiction novel. They moved me to tears many times and revealed many truths. Of cause they are not to be treated like scripture, but Rick Joyner says that himself at the beginning of each book.

Ok, well this review will be much shorter (and not quite as critical) as the very first review was (Dante did it better). With anyone that states God has shown them things, we must be prepared to A) take it with a grain of salt, and B) apply it directly to the Word to see how it lines up.
Going into this story you should expect it to be about Joyner's experiences, as if he is retelling a dream. To compare this work to Dante (whose faith has been called into extreme question, and who chose to write The Divine Comedy, not as an expression of a vision he had from God, but as a literary work and critical analysis of Catholicism), or to the Bible (Joyner never eluded to this comparison needing to be made) is a bit far fetched.
To be quite honest, when I have a dream, the plot generally surrounds me and my experiences; this story does the same. If you expect this work to change your life or be something of supernatural and spiritual proportions, you will be disappointed and upset as some other reviewers have been.
I enjoyed the book. More than anything, the theme of repentance (not apology) was what stood out to me, and I don't think that's spoken of enough in the Church. I have been to the church Rick Joyner founded in NC, and really enjoyed it. Bottom line though, he's a regular guy that's part of the Body, just like the rest of us. As far as this book is concerned (and like one of my professors always said), chew up the meat, and spit out the bone.

I read the book when it first came out. It is all the worst of what has been written about it. Part cartoon and part mystic vision its doctrinal implications are anti-scripture with a new age thrust.

This is a book that will lead the bible illiterate into a spiritual bondage Joyner has yet to imagine.

This book came highly recommended to me by a good friend but I regret to report that it is poorly written and more akin to fantasy than Christian fiction.

This book really captures my imagination, says Taima, age 8 1/2. I think it would be good for kids from advanced 7 to kind of below 9 years old. Anyway, I really think you should buy this book for a present or just to read. Even older people could read it and I'm sure that it would be good for them too.

All of the Erin Hunter books are great! I just love them and have read them many times over. I am not a reader, I hate to read!!! But give me a Warrior series book and leave me alone for a few days. They are the best. Thanks Erin for opening up a new world for me.

Warriors are my favorite books. I'm trying to get them all. Thank you for your help in my quest. Midnight is actually one of my favorite Warrior books.

WHAT THE HECK IS UP WITH ERIN HUNTER? Why did she switch the viewpoints like that? All Bramblepaw is is a even better Firestar without all his errors... He is just a goody goody freak. Why change viewpoints when you have already made your audience love the character you gave them in the first book. In this book Firestar is a dumb, old cat who is just mean. She also pretty much takes out all the other good characters like Graystripe, Dustpelt, Sandstorm, Ravenpaw, Barley, and lots of others.

How would you feel if you were a cat who has lived in peace in the forest with a clan for many months. But, a prophesy from your warrior cat ancestors is now haunting your dreams, saying that you must save your fellow cats from utter destruction. This is how Brambleclaw, warrior of ThunderClan, must now embark on a journey to find the answer he needs to figure out the prophesy.
The setting of the story is present day and takes place in the forest, a small town, and the coast. The main characters of the book are Brambleclaw and Squirrelpaw, cats of ThunderClan, Stormfur and Feathertail, cats of RiverClan, Crowpaw, young apprentice of WindClan, Tawnypelt, a she-cat of ShadowClan, and Leafpaw, Squirrelpaw's sister.
The plot of the story is about Brambleclaw, a warrior cat of ThunderClan who must find the answer to a new and grim prophesy foretold to him by his warrior ancestors in his dreams. He later finds out that he must now journey to the coastline to seek the answer he needs to save his clan and all the other clans of the forest. He is accompanied by cats from the other clans, for they have had the same dreams as him. Now six cats must journey to the coastline so that they can "listen to what midnight tells them" before all four clans of the forest are destroyed by an unpredicted threat.
The theme of the book is about how important teamwork can be. Unfortunately I don't know what the title of the book stands for. The pacing of this book is really fast and the authors craft is excellent because the author leaves cliffhangers at the end of every chapter, encouraging you to keep reading. I don't think this book is in a Christian perspective because when cat die they don't go to heaven, they go to StarClan. I have no negative opinions of this book. I recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure and fantasy books.

Prophecy is the second installment in the New York Times and World Wide Bestselling series The Symphony of Ages. While Rhapsody was a decent start of the series, Prophecy picks up where Rhapsody left off with a few "dreamy," scenes that reveal more of our fellow characters.
Rhapsody sets off to return a dragon claw that was found in Ylorc, while Achmed and Grunthor travel down beyond Ylorc and discover a few hidden treasures.
Ashe is flushed out more during the beginning of Prophecy, and Rhapsody is still the beautiful oblivious woman she has become after walking through the core of the earth. The two Firbolg discover a secret place filled of unfinished, magical relics and an ancient Dhracian, a guardian of the dangerous Sleeping Child (a little girl-like figure made of living stone). While Rhapsody rushes off to save a Religious leader and try to help Ashe reclaim his soul from the Rakshas. Grunthor (who is claimed to be the "key-character," of this novel, rarely shows) but he does play a big part near the stories end. Achmed is just as repulsive yet charming as ever, playing the role of annoying everyone insight and doing as he pleases. But you feel the fellowship of the three grow stronger, the stitches between them drawing together, forming a tight bond of utter friendship and loyalty.
The story unfolds quite nicely, and it has a nice, fast pace with artistic/creative writing that is pleasing to read. Haydon is such a talented writer that you can totally get engrossed in her book. The characters seem so real, it feels as if you are in the same room with them.
While a lot claim that Prophecy has no plot, or Rhapsody is an annoying "Mary Sue," these things are not exactly true. Prophecy does set it's point as trying to kill the Rakshas and set-up for the next book to come (Destiny). Rhapsody is simply trying to make-up for what she lost, and is still trying to keep her innocence. Though something's I do disagree upon. But don't let this disappoint you or chase you away from this book. Prophecy is very well-written, and once again has me grabbing for my dictionary and thesaurus. This is a fantasy novel, and come with some of the trappings of such a genre (romance, adventure, suspense, friendship, duty, good-against-evil and nice battle scenes). But The Symphony of Ages is different from regular fantasy series. It contains such elegance, and makes you feel one with the character, feel what they are feeling, and care for them. Often times most characters in fantasy series are dull, and don't capture your attention like Rhapsody, Grunthor and Achmed do.
So as many people have said before, Haydon is one of the best fantasy writers out there. And you don't want to miss her Symphony of Ages series ether. So pick up Prophecy and try it. And if you enjoyed the Symphony of Ages, try The Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme.

Romance, Magic and Adventure, does it get any better?? I think not. The suspence and mystery only improve the story and the visions created by this author are magical and action packed. I truly enjoyed this book.

The heroine is frequently called intelligent, but never proves this. Despite her intelligence, she's completely unaware of the effect her utter physical perfection has on everyone that meets her. She is called fair and compassionate despite being haughty and judgemental.

However, the absolute worst of it is any interaction that involves Ashe. Aside from the fact that he comes off as a player character someone rolled up for a d&d campaign (see, I'm this half-dragon...), his presence turns any chapter from fantasy to bad romance.

If you seriously browse the romance section when choosing a book, you may just love this, though.

This was a good add on to the Symphony of Ages trilogy. Comparing it to the first book Rhapsody it was well done. The flow of the story was pretty fast and not slow because the writer jumped around quite often with one plot to another but with sometimes longwinded. The characters still there but a bit less of Grunthor. The good side about the characters is how Ashe is one person in the beginning then he is discovered to be someone else. Elizabeth Haydon throws in some funny plots also that I just could not stop laughing about. From my opinion I will look at the good and the bad.

Good Sides to the Book
1. Flow is pretty fast and well written.
2. In some portions of the book you get a very intimate and sensual writing. Parts of the book are a bit graphic if you must know.
3. Characters are well written. The plots of each character sometimes are angry, happy, sad, sexual, and at times funny.

Bad Side
1. Rhapsody at times is still in her life saving mode. Even when trying to kill the demon she questions should she do it. The writer makes the plot in those parts londwinded.
2. Parts of the book too much sex. I am not too interested in sex and intimate parts. Maybe once or twice but not 5 times or more. I just laughed when the writer kept writing about making love again and again.
3. The ending is quite abrupt. Not a very well ending but this is a trilogy so if you want to read more okay ending but if you wish to stop the ending leaves you hanging.

Overall the book is very well written. This wasn't a fast book slapped together it was fairly well done. I still enjoy this book and the first because there are funny parts when a person is all the sudden nice then turns it a wild monster. Makes me laugh at times. Ashe half dragon is funny when he lets his dragon side take control. If you like fantasy total fiction and a sensual story this book is good but read it with the rest of the trilogy. If you are wanting just one book and lots of guts, gory, and killing then you will partially satisfied but not completely. If you are thinking of a book for dragons, death, pirates, or just plain action you might be disappointed. This book is best read along with the trilogy so you understand the whole story.

I really wanted to like this book. I liked "Rhapsody" well enough and thought that it had a lot of potential as a first novel. Unfortunately, "Prophecy" is a huge step backwards for Haydon.

The Good: Haydon has a knack for vivid description. All of the locales in the novel are evocative and well written. She's also a pretty fair action writer, as these things go. Her world is well developed and interesting. Rhapsody's Naming magic is generally interesting, as are the general elemental magic abilities. Several of the minor characters (Elynsynos, Lord Stephen, Lord Trystan) are better than the main characters.

The Bad: Haydon strips all of the endearing character traits from her two best characters, Achmed and Grunthor, and turns them into annoying charicatures. Instead, the entire book focuses on Rhapsody.

This is a huge problem, because Rhapsody is a fundamentally uninteresting character. She's "perfect" in every way: perfectly beautiful, perfect student, perfect lover, perfect friend, perfect warrior, perfect diplomat, etc., etc., ad nauseum. Her only "flaw" is that she doesn't realize how beautiful she truly is, and is self depricating because of it. Of course, that never makes any difference, because she never fails at anything she attempts and ends up getting the perfect man anyway. The only plus here is that she spends less of this book going from emotional equilibrium to indignant rage at the drop of a hat. Speaking of Ashe/Gwydion/Sam, he's an empty suit for Rhapsody to have sex with.

I mentioned above that Haydon's descriptive writing is strong. This is outlined all the more because her dialog is utterly insipid. Achmed answers everything with an annoying question or a "cutting" quip (such as when he shows a diplomat several examples of fabrics and wines that are of a manufacture the diplomat has never seen before. The diplomat asks, quite reasonably, where Achmed acquired them. Achmed's withering response to this perfectly reasonable question? "Don't be an idiot"). However, even that pales in comparison to the "banter" between Rhapsody and Ashe. If teen couples in ice cream parlors cooing "I love you!", "No, I love you more!" cause you to roll your eyes, stay far, far away from this book.

Finally, there are structural issues with the book. Not a lot happens in the first place, but the story slams to a halt when Haydon decides it would be worth the time to have Rhapsody and Ashe have sex for 35 pages. No really. They continue to have sex and coo at each other intermittently for the final 200 pages of the novel. In addition, a minor character is raped, "Rosemary's Baby" style, in teeth gratingly awful detail (note to fantasy authors: most of us don't read fantasy for vivid descriptions of rape, it's unpleasant). The demon that rapes this character looks exactly like Ashe, yet when Rhapsody discovers this she's so perfect that she never has any difficulty around Ashe. Apparently she has no imagination.

Anyway, after this interlude we get a false climax, where the novel seems like it's over. But it isn't. It continues for another 130 pages, most of which is setup for the third novel in the trilogy and could easily have been put elsewhere (like in the third book).

In addition, Haydon writes mostly in third person limited. However, at certain points she switches,without warning, to third person omniscient. This book needed to be locked in a padded room with a savage editor for about a month. Several hundred pages could easily have been shaved off of it.

I had intended to end the review with a section devoted to the moments of unintentional comedy. My favorite is when Rhapsody enters a forest and uses her naming magic to know the forest's exact dimensions, take strength from the forest, and know the positions of four expert trackers that are following her. However, several days later she is ambushed by a platoon of the same trackers and is taken utterly by surprise. That happens within the same chapter, by the way. However, I can't in good conscience recommend the book on those grounds because the comedy scale drops in the later stages. I couldn't even muster up more than a groan when Haydon used the phrase "make love" just about every other word during the "sex romp" portions.

The bottom line here is that the only thing stopping this book from being forgotten in the Harlequin Romance section of your local book store is a little bit of tarting up with magic, dragons, and several hundred pages of unnecessary length. Do yourself a favor and read any of the myriad other fantasy writers who do it better.

Good read. Clears up a lot of questions after having been raised in some of the false movements. Thanks for standing for truth no matter what the cost.

In fairness to the author and potential readers of this book, I must admit that I am not yet finished reading the entire book, so my comments are more "first impressions" at this point. I may write another review later after completing the book if my initial impressions are found to be inadequate.

Aside from its affordability, Andrew's book is a worthy read based on my first impressions of the work. It's not "polished" and has a bit of a "rushed to press" feel, but that should not be a distraction. Andrew clearly poured his heart into this book and it is very good. This comes across as a "heart-to-heart" conversation by a true bro in Jesus whose heart is deeply moved with godly concern. Andrew's words are compelling and encourage the reader to consider history and not to grow complacent in maintaining biblical and spiritual discernment.

This is also a timely work and I admire Strom for not worrying about "cosmetics" so much for the sake of getting the word out. The reports keep coming in about Lakeland; Charisma Magazine's reporters have been investigating the "revival" and, thus far, have found little positive to report on. For example, out of 20 claimed resurrections from the dead, ZERO (0) have been confirmed! I repeat ZERO! ZILCH! NADA! NIL! SQUAT! What we have coming out of Lakeland is a lot of hype and half-truths and many unconfirmed and some bogus reports... So much so that Charisma's reporters were told by Lakeland to stop asking questions! If anyone knows Charisma Magazine, they would be the first to proclaim positive reports about a "Charismatic movement", but so far the actual evidence does not match the testimonies from the pulpit. Bentley's own accounts of radical healings are often found to be either false, exaggerated or unconfirmed. Even when he claims to have actual confirmation from the pulpit, outside investigative sources have had a most difficult time tracking down any actual evidence. Yet the money continues to roll in - BY THE MILLIONS!

Andrew's book presents a sincere look into this current movement and gives an honest, fair and biblical response (as well as taking a brief look at some historical revivals in perspective). I hope there will more like this. Andrew's book is, unfortunately, a little light on footnotes and gets redundant towards the latter part of the work, but the content overall is decent and I do look forward to trying to finish reading it.

Thanks Andrew! :)

A short note to say how VERY TRUE the FACTS are in this precious book! Where are the modern day prophets that have the discernment of the Lord today! We need to have the mind of the church enlightened and the ears of the deaf to hear true admonishment in this hour of great need!

Read the entire book through and check the references with the Scriptures. You will then understand the book's cover more fully.

Brother Andrew

Andrew Strom has done an excellent job of documenting confirmed, historic revivals and comparing them with the current movement of today. Interested Christians would be wise to read the information in this book and make their own decisions on this important topic.

An absolute must for ALL Christians currently caught up in the deception that Todd Bentley's Ministry is from God (which God are YOU following at all)

This book sets out the clear differences between real revival (a very different concept) to the false revival currently taking place in Lakeland , Florida.

If you love God at all , please take time to read this book or find out more about the Strong delusion that God says He will send in latter times and study the Bible on this theme.