The Rising

View other editions of The Rising.
View books by Tim F. LaHaye, Jerry B. Jenkins.

Prequel - Rated
This is a prequel to the Left Behind Series. It is basically a biography of two of the characters in the series. Rayford Steele and Nicolae Carpathia. Once again the typeset and fonts make the book appear to be twice as long as it really is. And though a good read. I did not have the feeling that I had to turn to the next page to see what was happening.

The book follows Rayford starting at age 9 determined to be an airline pilot or a professional athlete. And ends with him as the Airline Pilot we meet in the series. He was a very good athlete in school, but things kept happening to make him just not good enough in any of the sports he played to gain an athletic scholarship. So he accepts an ROTC one. He also accomplishes his goal of a private pilots license before high school graduation. Though some of the insights he has are a little too mature for the age he has them.

The more interesting story is that of Nicolae Carpathia the Antichrist. And what transpire in order to pick the correct mother and father. And how much of that conspiracy the mother knew nothing about. Nicolae's conception, birth and schooling are covered. And we follow him up to the time where he was returned from his 40 days in the desert. The intelligence and lack of compassion in the boy is truly scary.

A story of two boys - Rated
I had just finished the twelfth "Left Behind" book and was wondering how to feed my ravenous addiction to this series, when I found the prequels and started reading, "The Rising." It was surprisingly exciting and, I think, the best-written of the books so far. It's all about the childhoods of Rayford Steel and Nicholae Carpathia. Ray grows up in an average mid-west family, marries, and becomes a pilot. Nicholae is born to troubled parents in Romania; with the help of the mysterious Viv Inis he becomes a phenomenally successful entrepreneur with an eye on world domination.

Unbelievable dialogue was Jenkins' weakness in the previous books, but "The Rising" has a lot less dialogue and reads much better. The narrative is swift and mesmerizing. I couldn't wait to see what would happen next to young Nicholae - his story was absolutely chilling and would make a terrific movie. Ray's life is more conventional but still interesting and well-told. The book ends with Nicholae at age 23 and about to enter the political arena; Ray is 32, dealing with marital problems and temptation at work. "Left Behind" fans are sure to enjoy this exciting prequel; it's a quick and satisfying read.

The Rising - Rated
I was very sceptical of a prequil to 12 very good books and I found most of the book a very hard read as it was very dark but it did keep you held to it. As time went on and you saw the figures grow I started to enjoy it and now I am hoping to read The Regime the next one in the in this enjoyable line of books.

Disturbing - Rated
I found some of the content of this book disturbing, to say the least, and would choose very carefully who I gave it to. I realise that a prequel is probably very hard to write, and understand that much of the background material was necessary for the plot, but wonder if too much interest may be piqued in the darker side of spirituality. Read it yourself before passing it on to anyone else.

Pointless - Rated
While never confusing them with great literature, I enjoyed the previous books in the Left Behind series. I was skeptical when I heard about this book, thinking it was just an excuse to make more money. My fears were justified.

This book goes back years before the series starts to find Rayford as a nine-year-old. He knows what he wants to do, be a professional athlete or a pilot. And there is no way he is taking over his father's tool and die business. In fact, his parents embarrass him. They're older then his friend's parents are and poorer then Ray would like. He is determined to become rich no matter which career path he takes.

Meanwhile in Romania, Marilena Carpathia has become surprised to find a longing for a child. Trapped in a marriage without romance, she searches to find a distraction. That distraction leads her to Viviana Ivinisova's class on spiritualism and a potential solution. Should she accept the offer even if it means raising her child as a spiritualist?

The problem with this book is that it really doesn't have a story to tell. We already know what will happen to the characters, so much of the suspense is gone. It serves more as biography then novel. I was also rolling my eyes as Ray spent time analyzing his actions toward his parents. I know of no nine-years-olds who have the incite he did. Heck, some adults wouldn't look at things that way.

There were some points of the book that held my interest, but these were few and far between. The lack of a story made the poor writing of the previous entries stand out even more here. My advice is to stick with the originals and skip the prequels. You aren't missing much.