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kris_tea516's review against another edition
2.0
At the time that I read these books, I absolutely loved them. However, as I have learned more of the Bible & the theories of eschatology, I'm not so sure how I feel about the theology within these books. As far as a book to read but not pay much attention to the theology, it's a pretty fun read. :)
anotherpath's review against another edition
1.0
It's really getting to me. It's so bad, it's back to being bad from good-bad. It's also incredibly misogynistic and cringe for that.
And it's so dumb. Carpathia just continues to go around going, "Wouldn't it be great if I had UNLIMITED POWER?" and then he gets it, global control of media, religion, weapons, governments, and currency.
There's a full on conversation between the two romantic leads, wherein they both ensure that the other is still a virgin somehow. It's peak purity culture cringe.
The author's had some real nerve with the presentation of the timeline in this... The first four hundred pages of the novel take place over a period of five or so days, with most of the drama revolving around whether or not God wants our masculine heroes to accept opportunities for employment by the Antichrist (something so delusional only an Evangelical could consider it rational).
AND THEN IN THE SPACE OF AN EPILOGUE THE AUTHORS GO -18 MONTHS LATER- AND THEN TALK ABOUT THE MASSIVE EVENTS OF THE LAST 18 MONTHS IN PASSIVE TERMS, INTRODUCING A FEMALE CHARACTER AND THEN IMMEDIATELY MARRYING HER TO THE OLDER MALE CHARACTER IN A DOUBLE WEDDING THAT WAS IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWED BY THE NUCLEAR ANNIHILATION OF WASHINGTON DC, I CANNOT MAKE THIS SHIT UP.
What the hell? I'm genuinely shook.
And for being a book on Biblical Prophecy, it's REALLY light on scripture and historical references. It's really about feeling superior for being a born-again Christian, without any sort of theological justification for the assertions the believers are always making.
And it's so dumb. Carpathia just continues to go around going, "Wouldn't it be great if I had UNLIMITED POWER?" and then he gets it, global control of media, religion, weapons, governments, and currency.
There's a full on conversation between the two romantic leads, wherein they both ensure that the other is still a virgin somehow. It's peak purity culture cringe.
The author's had some real nerve with the presentation of the timeline in this... The first four hundred pages of the novel take place over a period of five or so days, with most of the drama revolving around whether or not God wants our masculine heroes to accept opportunities for employment by the Antichrist (something so delusional only an Evangelical could consider it rational).
AND THEN IN THE SPACE OF AN EPILOGUE THE AUTHORS GO -18 MONTHS LATER- AND THEN TALK ABOUT THE MASSIVE EVENTS OF THE LAST 18 MONTHS IN PASSIVE TERMS, INTRODUCING A FEMALE CHARACTER AND THEN IMMEDIATELY MARRYING HER TO THE OLDER MALE CHARACTER IN A DOUBLE WEDDING THAT WAS IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWED BY THE NUCLEAR ANNIHILATION OF WASHINGTON DC, I CANNOT MAKE THIS SHIT UP.
What the hell? I'm genuinely shook.
And for being a book on Biblical Prophecy, it's REALLY light on scripture and historical references. It's really about feeling superior for being a born-again Christian, without any sort of theological justification for the assertions the believers are always making.
brika8's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
thirdgrace's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
kevinscorner's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the first book much better. I found this book lacking in major plot developments and character journeys. Also, I found the 18 month jump in the middle of the book abrupt and sudden. I would have liked another chapter after Ben-Judah announces his discovery to see the ramifications of it. The highlight of the book for me is the conversation between Buck and Chloe when they FINALLY talk about their feelings for each other. Despite my low rating, I still liked the book and I am already reading the next one.
samalvarez823's review against another edition
5.0
Second in the “Left Behind” series and just as good, if not better than the first. This one picks up speed and more activity as the Tribulation of the human race forges on.
I’m my Bible Study, I’ve come to Revelations and it’s been an eye opening encounter. I picked up Tim LaHaye’s “Revelation Unveiled” book and have been able to follow along as I read chapter by chapter of Revelations. This book takes place in the chapters I’ve been reading and it’s like the book has come alive in my brain. I can picture the scenes and things being said. I am thoroughly enjoying reading all 3 together. In years past, reading the book of Revelations I would be filled with so many questions as the writing is filled with “signs” that are not easy to discern without research help.
If you’re a Christian, then you know the times we’re living in our numbered. God is coming back to rapture His Church and I’d be a fool to not tell you how bad these times will be after the Rapture. I can’t even comprehend just how bad things will be but, I do know that I will not be here. I pray my family and friends won’t be here either, scary doesn’t even begin to describe just how bad things will get.
If you have not read the series, I highly encourage you to do so. They’re helping me to better understand what will happen. Great writing and storyline.
I’m my Bible Study, I’ve come to Revelations and it’s been an eye opening encounter. I picked up Tim LaHaye’s “Revelation Unveiled” book and have been able to follow along as I read chapter by chapter of Revelations. This book takes place in the chapters I’ve been reading and it’s like the book has come alive in my brain. I can picture the scenes and things being said. I am thoroughly enjoying reading all 3 together. In years past, reading the book of Revelations I would be filled with so many questions as the writing is filled with “signs” that are not easy to discern without research help.
If you’re a Christian, then you know the times we’re living in our numbered. God is coming back to rapture His Church and I’d be a fool to not tell you how bad these times will be after the Rapture. I can’t even comprehend just how bad things will be but, I do know that I will not be here. I pray my family and friends won’t be here either, scary doesn’t even begin to describe just how bad things will get.
If you have not read the series, I highly encourage you to do so. They’re helping me to better understand what will happen. Great writing and storyline.
catchthesewings's review against another edition
1.0
Left Behind: Tribulation Force is a baffling book that will make you laugh and cringe, all while putting you to sleep.
So, you’re a writer, and you have an idea for a series of books set in a dystopian future where Christians are hunted by a one-world government. You see the potential for drama, action, political intrigue, and some of the craziest imagery the Bible has to offer. But there’s a problem: you’re already one book in, and the pieces are nowhere near where you need them to be. Sure, you have the main players established, and they know where this Tribulation thing is headed, but the world of your book is still virtually unchanged from the one we live in now. The same countries are still in power, the political climate is peaceful, and there’s no hint of persecution seeping into government policy. And there’s another problem: all of your characters are stuck in suburban Chicago, but all the interesting parts of your story take place in Iraq and Israel. So, what do?
Well, I hope you wore sweatpants, because it’s time to move furniture — and a lot of it.
This is undoubtedly the predicament Tim LaHaye found himself in when it came time to write the second installment of his Christian Apocalyptic drama. He was anxious to reach the meat of the conflict, but had an inadequate setup to get there anytime soon. This leads to characters making decisions that are unmotivated or out-of-character just so that the plot can go where it needs to. It also means that the book as a whole lacks any overarching theme or storyline that connects the disparate subplots. The only subplot that carries through from the first chapter to the last is the romance between Chloe and Buck. But the romance can’t be the A-plot in a story like this, because it drives so little of the action and isn’t connected to the main conflict (Carpathia taking over the world). As a result, it becomes hard to pin down what the book on its own is about. The best I can say is that it’s about members of the church being pulled apart and put into positions of influence so that they can witness or impact events to come.
But even a statement like that indicates a flaw in the storytelling: our protagonists are passive throughout the entire plot. Now, having protagonists that don’t drive the plot forward is not an inherently wrong choice. The Empire Strikes Back is a great example of a story where the antagonists set the pace for the majority of the story. But there is a difference between a reactionary protagonist and a passive one. There is tension and intrigue when the heroes are barely keeping ahead of the villains, making plans, improvising when those plans fall apart. In Tribulation Force, there is none of that back-and-forth. Carpathia makes a play; Rayford, Buck, and Chloe watch CNN in horror and do... nothing. By the end of the book, Rayford and Buck are both put into positions of power through no effort of their own, and they do not use those positions to affect the plot. LaHaye presents us with the illusion of meaningful choices by filling scenes with endless minutia — mostly scenes of arranging travel plans or a mid-travel update on how Buck is flying first class. So, while I can tell you what happened in this book, I have a much harder time telling you what the characters did.
And now is as good a time as any to discuss our characters. In particular, I’d like to address this book’s female characters. Even more than the first book, Tribulation Force treats its female characters like garbage. Hattie is slut-shamed by every character in the book AND the narrator. Anytime she appears or is discussed, the male characters can’t help but think about how disgusted they are that she’s in a relationship with Carpathia, or how tragic it is that they introduced her to him, or how “she obviously didn’t get that position because of her brains.” Even Chloe climbs aboard the shame train to dish it out to Hattie. And speaking of Chloe, she is treated even worse than Hattie. In the first book, Chloe is at least a character with agency. She might be a little too perfect, but her entire subplot in the first book was one of self-actualizing, and her resolution was inherently a choice that only she could make. And the ending of that book made it seem like Chloe would be the brains of the opperation. She’s enthusiastic and smart, even if she isn’t in an influential position. In Tribulation Force, Chloe contributes not one iota to the plot, and she exists to be subdued or protected by our male characters. Rayford, Buck, and the narrator all express annoyance at Chloe’s talkativeness. In the first half of the book, she drops out of college to—no joke—learn to teach Sunday school, while Buck and Rayford are, respectively, taking over at a global newspaper and becoming the pilot of Air Force One. And I’m just not going to dive into the whole sexual purity angle when it comes to Chloe. It’s there, it’s problematic, moving on. While Chloe is viewed more highly by the author, I say she is treated worse than Hattie, because at least Hattie has some agency. By standing in opposition to the protagonists, Hattie moves the plot ahead (admittedly not by much) farther than Chloe does. Her choice to stay with Carpathia is also clearly *her* choice, not one that a man makes for her. So, even though Hattie is portrayed as a temptress, she at least chooses to be one, and that makes her a *slightly* stronger female character.
A side effect of the condescension our male heroes display toward the female characters is that it makes Rayford and Buck really hard to root for. Why should I hope Rayford and Buck can talk sense into Hattie, when they’ve done nothing but roll their eyes at her whenever she opens her mouth? In fact, none of our protagonists are given the chance to be the good guys. They never get a “save the cat” moment, even though Buck and Rayford are in perfect positions to have a little one-off adventure. If Rayford, say, stopped Air Force One from crashing, even though it was carrying the Antichrist, it would show us he values innocent lives in a way Carpathia clearly doesn’t. Or what if Buck managed to talk down one of the terrorists threatening the two witnesses, instead of letting them get burned to death with dragon breath? Without hero moments, we are left with only the flaws, and it makes it seem like Rayford and Buck have actually become worse as people since becoming Christians in the first book. And there it is again, that same creeping question from book one: “So what?” So what if the Christians win? The only Christians we saw were dicks. So what if Buck and Chloe get married? They aren’t a good couple. If you don’t like the main characters, “So what?” becomes the resounding cry at the end of every chapter.
##Eighteen months later
That’s right, the review is still going. This was such a bizarre part of the plot structure, I have to discuss it.
*SPOILERS for the end of Tribulation Force. You have been warned.*
Both Left Behind and Tribulation Force have a four-act structure, where Acts 1-3 are a normal three-act story, and Act 4 is the last chapter or two. Act 4 is the cliffhanger that sets up the status quo for the next book. In Tribulation Force, Act 4 takes place eighteen months after the plot proper ends. The bizarre thing is that 80% of the things that happen in Tribulation Force happen in these final two chapters. Not only do Buck and Chloe get married — we are introduced to Amanda, Rayford’s love interest (who got a blink-and-you-miss-it mention earlier in the book), and they also get married. Then, out of nowhere, Buck gets a call from the President as a head’s up that WWIII is about to start. Bruce falls into a coma, and then his hospital is bombed in the first wave of the war, and Bruce dies. Finally, we learn that Washinton DC and London have both been obliterated.
I do not understand why this came at the end of book two. The events of Act 4 are so disconnected from the rest of the plot that it felt like a completely different book. The eighteen month time jump would not have been jarring had it happened in the break between books.
I guess this section of the story got pushed forward so that something actually happens in book two? Even so, you don’t get credit for a sudden plot twist if you have done none of the legwork to set it up.
At the very least, Tim LaHaye is finally where he always wanted to start. The peacetime is over. Let the misery begin.
So, you’re a writer, and you have an idea for a series of books set in a dystopian future where Christians are hunted by a one-world government. You see the potential for drama, action, political intrigue, and some of the craziest imagery the Bible has to offer. But there’s a problem: you’re already one book in, and the pieces are nowhere near where you need them to be. Sure, you have the main players established, and they know where this Tribulation thing is headed, but the world of your book is still virtually unchanged from the one we live in now. The same countries are still in power, the political climate is peaceful, and there’s no hint of persecution seeping into government policy. And there’s another problem: all of your characters are stuck in suburban Chicago, but all the interesting parts of your story take place in Iraq and Israel. So, what do?
Well, I hope you wore sweatpants, because it’s time to move furniture — and a lot of it.
This is undoubtedly the predicament Tim LaHaye found himself in when it came time to write the second installment of his Christian Apocalyptic drama. He was anxious to reach the meat of the conflict, but had an inadequate setup to get there anytime soon. This leads to characters making decisions that are unmotivated or out-of-character just so that the plot can go where it needs to. It also means that the book as a whole lacks any overarching theme or storyline that connects the disparate subplots. The only subplot that carries through from the first chapter to the last is the romance between Chloe and Buck. But the romance can’t be the A-plot in a story like this, because it drives so little of the action and isn’t connected to the main conflict (Carpathia taking over the world). As a result, it becomes hard to pin down what the book on its own is about. The best I can say is that it’s about members of the church being pulled apart and put into positions of influence so that they can witness or impact events to come.
But even a statement like that indicates a flaw in the storytelling: our protagonists are passive throughout the entire plot. Now, having protagonists that don’t drive the plot forward is not an inherently wrong choice. The Empire Strikes Back is a great example of a story where the antagonists set the pace for the majority of the story. But there is a difference between a reactionary protagonist and a passive one. There is tension and intrigue when the heroes are barely keeping ahead of the villains, making plans, improvising when those plans fall apart. In Tribulation Force, there is none of that back-and-forth. Carpathia makes a play; Rayford, Buck, and Chloe watch CNN in horror and do... nothing. By the end of the book, Rayford and Buck are both put into positions of power through no effort of their own, and they do not use those positions to affect the plot. LaHaye presents us with the illusion of meaningful choices by filling scenes with endless minutia — mostly scenes of arranging travel plans or a mid-travel update on how Buck is flying first class. So, while I can tell you what happened in this book, I have a much harder time telling you what the characters did.
And now is as good a time as any to discuss our characters. In particular, I’d like to address this book’s female characters. Even more than the first book, Tribulation Force treats its female characters like garbage. Hattie is slut-shamed by every character in the book AND the narrator. Anytime she appears or is discussed, the male characters can’t help but think about how disgusted they are that she’s in a relationship with Carpathia, or how tragic it is that they introduced her to him, or how “she obviously didn’t get that position because of her brains.” Even Chloe climbs aboard the shame train to dish it out to Hattie. And speaking of Chloe, she is treated even worse than Hattie. In the first book, Chloe is at least a character with agency. She might be a little too perfect, but her entire subplot in the first book was one of self-actualizing, and her resolution was inherently a choice that only she could make. And the ending of that book made it seem like Chloe would be the brains of the opperation. She’s enthusiastic and smart, even if she isn’t in an influential position. In Tribulation Force, Chloe contributes not one iota to the plot, and she exists to be subdued or protected by our male characters. Rayford, Buck, and the narrator all express annoyance at Chloe’s talkativeness. In the first half of the book, she drops out of college to—no joke—learn to teach Sunday school, while Buck and Rayford are, respectively, taking over at a global newspaper and becoming the pilot of Air Force One. And I’m just not going to dive into the whole sexual purity angle when it comes to Chloe. It’s there, it’s problematic, moving on. While Chloe is viewed more highly by the author, I say she is treated worse than Hattie, because at least Hattie has some agency. By standing in opposition to the protagonists, Hattie moves the plot ahead (admittedly not by much) farther than Chloe does. Her choice to stay with Carpathia is also clearly *her* choice, not one that a man makes for her. So, even though Hattie is portrayed as a temptress, she at least chooses to be one, and that makes her a *slightly* stronger female character.
A side effect of the condescension our male heroes display toward the female characters is that it makes Rayford and Buck really hard to root for. Why should I hope Rayford and Buck can talk sense into Hattie, when they’ve done nothing but roll their eyes at her whenever she opens her mouth? In fact, none of our protagonists are given the chance to be the good guys. They never get a “save the cat” moment, even though Buck and Rayford are in perfect positions to have a little one-off adventure. If Rayford, say, stopped Air Force One from crashing, even though it was carrying the Antichrist, it would show us he values innocent lives in a way Carpathia clearly doesn’t. Or what if Buck managed to talk down one of the terrorists threatening the two witnesses, instead of letting them get burned to death with dragon breath? Without hero moments, we are left with only the flaws, and it makes it seem like Rayford and Buck have actually become worse as people since becoming Christians in the first book. And there it is again, that same creeping question from book one: “So what?” So what if the Christians win? The only Christians we saw were dicks. So what if Buck and Chloe get married? They aren’t a good couple. If you don’t like the main characters, “So what?” becomes the resounding cry at the end of every chapter.
##Eighteen months later
That’s right, the review is still going. This was such a bizarre part of the plot structure, I have to discuss it.
*SPOILERS for the end of Tribulation Force. You have been warned.*
Both Left Behind and Tribulation Force have a four-act structure, where Acts 1-3 are a normal three-act story, and Act 4 is the last chapter or two. Act 4 is the cliffhanger that sets up the status quo for the next book. In Tribulation Force, Act 4 takes place eighteen months after the plot proper ends. The bizarre thing is that 80% of the things that happen in Tribulation Force happen in these final two chapters. Not only do Buck and Chloe get married — we are introduced to Amanda, Rayford’s love interest (who got a blink-and-you-miss-it mention earlier in the book), and they also get married. Then, out of nowhere, Buck gets a call from the President as a head’s up that WWIII is about to start. Bruce falls into a coma, and then his hospital is bombed in the first wave of the war, and Bruce dies. Finally, we learn that Washinton DC and London have both been obliterated.
I do not understand why this came at the end of book two. The events of Act 4 are so disconnected from the rest of the plot that it felt like a completely different book. The eighteen month time jump would not have been jarring had it happened in the break between books.
I guess this section of the story got pushed forward so that something actually happens in book two? Even so, you don’t get credit for a sudden plot twist if you have done none of the legwork to set it up.
At the very least, Tim LaHaye is finally where he always wanted to start. The peacetime is over. Let the misery begin.
sarahcoller's review against another edition
2.0
Ok, I tried, I can't do it.
I was going to do a quick reread of all these Left Behind books over the next few weeks but the gripping story line (which I don't necessarily dispute, to be clear) is not enough to force me to suffer through the horrendous writing style. I was doing ok (to put it graciously) until the 18 month jump ahead in the last quarter of the book. Waaaaay to much info, too fast. Rayford's new wife comes out of nowhere with very little back story (if I remember right, from 20 years ago, this explains itself a bit...several books later) and that's just one of the MANY things to hit the reader at once as the chapters are annoyingly rushed up at the end.
I was also REEEEally irritated with Chloe's overdramatic immature behavior. I have a hard time believing a 31 year old professional guy would have put up with all that but... Maybe the authors have super whiny wives and this is normal female behavior in their eyes.
The "fun" part of these books is reading about all the "high tech" technology that the authors imagined---stuff that has now been outdated a good 8 or 10 years. Chloe left college to come home after the Rapture, yet she needs "Buck the man" to set up her E-mail (capital "e" and hyphen included). The super high tech description of the inside of the futuristic plane: "every seat had its own phone, modem jack, VCR, and TV." The Presidential living quarters had "technology allowing the plane to communicate with anyone anywhere in the world." Wowie!
The world is so different now... Like when the characters are annoyed that they have to find something to do since they've arrived at the airport an hour before their flight takes off. Now we arrive 90 minutes early, at least...and have lots to do.
I may still finish these up over the course of the year, but for now I need a break.
I was going to do a quick reread of all these Left Behind books over the next few weeks but the gripping story line (which I don't necessarily dispute, to be clear) is not enough to force me to suffer through the horrendous writing style. I was doing ok (to put it graciously) until the 18 month jump ahead in the last quarter of the book. Waaaaay to much info, too fast. Rayford's new wife comes out of nowhere with very little back story (if I remember right, from 20 years ago, this explains itself a bit...several books later) and that's just one of the MANY things to hit the reader at once as the chapters are annoyingly rushed up at the end.
I was also REEEEally irritated with Chloe's overdramatic immature behavior. I have a hard time believing a 31 year old professional guy would have put up with all that but... Maybe the authors have super whiny wives and this is normal female behavior in their eyes.
The "fun" part of these books is reading about all the "high tech" technology that the authors imagined---stuff that has now been outdated a good 8 or 10 years. Chloe left college to come home after the Rapture, yet she needs "Buck the man" to set up her E-mail (capital "e" and hyphen included). The super high tech description of the inside of the futuristic plane: "every seat had its own phone, modem jack, VCR, and TV." The Presidential living quarters had "technology allowing the plane to communicate with anyone anywhere in the world." Wowie!
The world is so different now... Like when the characters are annoyed that they have to find something to do since they've arrived at the airport an hour before their flight takes off. Now we arrive 90 minutes early, at least...and have lots to do.
I may still finish these up over the course of the year, but for now I need a break.