The second installment in the War of the Realm
series by Chuck Black is Rise of theFallen by Chuck Black. Having read the first book in the series, Cloak of the Light, I was very excited to get to read and review the second book as well. Rise of the Fallen did not disappoint!
In some ways it may have even been better than the first book in the series. The
second book really adds to the story of the first book. I am interested to see
where the next book goes with the story.
The first book, Cloak of the Light, focuses on the main character of Drew Carter.
For the most part it is written from his point of view. Throughout that book
you see the war that is going on in the spiritual realm, but from a human
perspective in most ways. In Rise of the
Fallen, the focus is on an angel, Validus. Most everything is from his
perspective. This completely changes the tone of the book. This book has much
more of a supernatural war tone to it because of it being from the point of
view of Validus, a warrior angel. The war may be a supernatural war, but it
very much has the feel of a natural war.
This book also doesn’t just focus of the story
of Drew from Validus’ point of view. The story weaves back and forth between
the story surrounding Drew and the history of Validus. You see Validus move
from an inexperienced angel at the beginning of time to one of the greatest
warrior angels that there is. This part of the story moves along through some
significant moments in Biblical history. Throughout this book the parts about
Validus may be more intriguing than the parts following the story of Drew.
My one warning of this book, and really this
series, is that some people may find some theological fault in it. Clearly some
the parts involving and about the angels, demons, and spiritual warfare is
fictionalized. There is only so much that we know about the spiritual world
from the Bible. Chuck Black does take some liberties in this area. A great
thing that he does to back up his writing is put stuff that is a direct
Biblical quote or Biblical truth in bold letters. Then there is a reference in
the back that corresponds to these parts and gives explanations. He also
addresses some the things that may bring up questions about the spiritual
world, and backs up his answers with Scripture. This is a great resource,
especially since this book is written for the young adult genre. It is equally
good for the adult reader too.
