BOOK BIN
“Christ Clone Trilogy”: End-Times Novel Reviews Part 3
Take some DNA from the Shroud of Turin and what do you get? It would seem a really awesome end-time series thanks to James Beauseigneur! Finally!
The book tells the tale of Decker Hawthorne, a journalist and the main character of the series. He is not a Christian believer, and thus we avoid the completely unrealistic stereotype in other books that portray followers of Christ as having a fascinating dearth of any real flaws. Through a chain of events, Decker becomes a caregiver to Christopher Goodman, the “Christ Clone”.
The Christ Clone Trilogy is as one would guess, three books: “In His Image”, “Birth of an Age”, and “Acts of God”. The series reads more like a Tom Clancy novel without all the eye-rolling dialogue that plagues the Left Behind series. There’s even the odd…gasp…swear word! I may be a church every Sunday, sabbath observing, kosher-hippie…but if a comet is heading for me, I’d be letting a few colorful metaphors cut loose. Of that I have little doubt.
Oh, and one more thing…it’s not classic pre-tribulationist.
It’s not even mid-trib, post, pre-wrath, or even amillennial. Stick THAT in your creative pipe and smoke it boys! In fact, it wasn’t until later on in the series that I realized that I missed the “rapture” entirely due to the authors creative interpretation. Sort of a slap in the forehead “shoulda had a V8” moment.
I hate to keep referring to Tim LaHaye, so I apologize in advance. It’s just that for too long the Left Behind series has been considered the MOST LIKELY way it could all go down. People, I don’t profess to know it all about eschatology, but I can promise you all this…it will NOT go down like LayHaye describes. I can guarantee it. So please, open yourselves to other possibilities!
James Beauseigneur gives end-times fiction a fresh, creative, and often unsettling scenario. Instead of the things happening “just because” like other series, the author gets wildly creative in interpreting Biblical prophecy.
Well, about freaking time is all I can say to that.
This anti-Christ is, shall we say, one bad mutha. But what makes him more frightening and less a comical dork like LaHaye’s or Van Kampen’s “Nicolae” is his motives. Nicolae ( in both ) was a half-wit who couldn’t find his demonic backside with both hands. As Robert Downey Jr. would say, Nicolae was “full retard”.
But this guy has a plan. This scenario shows anti-Christ as calculated, smart, and completely in charge. I also got a kick out of when the comet came by earth. It incinerated my neighborhood and province, so it was nice to be noticed. I think. Yet I suppose considering the state of my retirement savings, being reduced to ash beats having my swan song in a discount seniors home.
The series was originally published in 1998, and is still a good read. People, if you’re sick to death of stories about piles of empty laundry and sneakers being “left behind”, then you may want to be good to yourself and give the Christ Clone Trilogy a read.
REVISED RATING: I went back and read this again recently. I liked it more the second time around, so I simply must give this a 5 out of 5 star rating, up from my previous 4.5. There you go James…you got your half star back after all!
tricksterson
November 17, 2012 at
Okay, first off, a warning, I’m not an evangelical, or even a Christian, so I approached this series from a different perspective than most of you.
That being said I loved this trilogy, up until the the end. One of the things I love most is the ambiguity of who the good guy is, Yaweh or the Anti-Christ. Which is what I didn’t like about the end. Not that Goodman turn s out to be a villain but that his motivation is outright stated to be “for shits and giggles”. I think a much stronger ending would have been if he actually believed he was the good guy. Note btw that of all the condemnations Goodman lists of Yahweh’s biblical actions, quoting chaper and verse, no attempt is made to address or refute them, something I kept waiting for.
However other than this is it a far better and more realistic take on the premise and gets four out of five stars from this heathen.
chud
February 20, 2010 at
I like your review, I would have to agree on this review, this is THE best book for end-times fiction. The author does his homework, and his writing style is fantastic! I'm surprised he has not written very much after this series, as this is superb. 5 starts in my book!!
Danny Milliga
February 5, 2010 at
I have to confess, this series of books completely smoked the LaHaye/Jenkins series, was completely believable as far as his rather startling interpretation of some of the Judgments.
I do take issue with the idea of a pre-tribulation rapture, as I think any would who actually have READ and THOUGHT ABOUT what was being said in Revelations seven, vs nine through seventeen. As a hint, I give you this: Where was the Raptured church in this scene? The giant crowd there before the throne came OUT of the Great Tribulation, so if the Church was raptured before that point, where are they?
However, I don't think the rapture (as told by Beauseigneur) was integral to the plot of the story. The rest of the story could have happened without "the disaster" as a fore-occurrence, so I will keep my lip zipped. But, just so everyone knows…it ain't gonna go dat way, even though that would be nice :(
The asteroids were chilling. Like the blogger, Beauseigneur managed to wipe my hometown off the map with Calvin and Hobbes, lol (Alamogordo NM, only a few miles from the site of the Observatory that was sheared off the surface of the earth). I didn't dock the author any points for that, however, because my home town ppl wouldn't have noticed the difference, lol!
The darkness plague was chilling beyond anything I've ever read.
The Millennial Kingdom seems to me to be a bit Sci-Fi, but once again, we have very little to go on there, so Beauseigneur may have it nailed, perfectly.
As far as the Anti-Christ…I have no doubt that the real thing will be just as convincing, logical, and persuasive as Christopher Goodman, and I think the world would follow him a lot quicker than they would have been sucked in by a Nicolae Carpathia…
On a scale of 1-5 stars, this book series get 100…of the thousands of books I've read, this is the best, bar none.
-Danny Milligan
DysfunctionalParrot
October 30, 2009 at
Perhaps I should emphasize that it was not pre-trib according to current "pop-theology" understanding. The rapture was presented in a different light than is being pushed fairly hard right now. But true enough, in that sense it was "pre-trib-ish". At least it was entertaining and unpredictable, instead of certain popular end times "paint by numbers" books.
I'm just grateful there was none of the Jack Van Impe/Tim LaHaye theology being thrown around. I've had about enough of that as any man can stand!
joy
October 30, 2009 at
not pre-trib? what did you think the Disaster was? that's the only thing I didn't like about this series was that, as usual for eschatological novels, the rapture takes all the Christians out before the show even starts. When has God ever spared His Church from trials and missions for Him? The pre-trib rapture theory is so convenient and so baseless in Scripture, that I'm surprised such a well researched series would still use it. I hope I'm wrong. I'd love to be raptured. But I don't see it as very likely. And when Christians are so dogmatic about it, there is a risk that pastors will be standing in pulpits well into the trib saying "this can't be the trib because we're still here."
But I thought the books were frighteningly realistic otherwise and exposed a spiritual stronghold in my heart. All other renditions of the anti-christ seem so obvious to me and so obviously evil that I can't help shaking my head at how he could ever take in anyone, let alone the Saints. But Christopher was so convincing, so sneaky. And his lies resonated with some of my hidden complaints about God. Those doubts that I don't share with anyone about how God could let some things happen (like Judges 19) if he's a just and loving God. That was the scary part. I knew Christopher's stories were lies, but they were so convincing! And the real anti-christ will probably be even more difficult to see through. That will be a very bad thing for humans and even for Christians. Time to pray for wisdom and discernment and cleansing of doubts.
Joshua
October 27, 2009 at
Excellent review. I pretty much agree with all of it.
I can only say this about the trilogy: it started out good, but kept getting better from there. I'm having no shortage of enjoyment of the balance BeauSeigneur has found between adherence to Biblical prophecy and writing a good story.
James BeauSeigneur
September 15, 2009 at
Personally, I think it's a great review. Just can't figure out where I lost the half star. ;-)
DysfunctionalParrot
September 15, 2009 at
Hey, you incinerated my cozy Canadian residence with a comet! Had to dock you! :D
Mike
September 13, 2009 at
wow…quoting a drug addict like Robert Downey jr. as if he's some great expert on anything.
using the word retard is just wrong buddy. Stop for a second and think about how people with special needs must feel. Yes, they are actual human beings with feelings.
DysfunctionalParrot
September 13, 2009 at
I don't spend any time being offended by everyone that falls outside my comfort zone. It's bad for one's health.
Free advise…you shouldn't either.
Go in peace dude.