A vast, Conan-style saga with an inspiring protagonist who battles demons.
In this religious fantasy debut, an angel chronicles his adventures in heaven and on Earth.
Before the creation of the universe, Earth, and humanity, Sabrael is an angel in heaven. His task for the Almighty is to decorate the seven halls with “all manner of flora.” A quiet being, Sabrael is surprised when fellow angel Lucifer becomes friendly. He charms Sabrael into his confidence, and the shy angel’s stature grows in association with Lucifer, who is the closest among the host to the Almighty. Eventually, Lucifer comes to believe that life shouldn't be directed by, and full of praise to, Him. The resulting exile of Lucifer and his fallen host decimates heaven. To keep the fallen from preying on the recently created humans, God sends seven angels—including Michael, Raphael, Sabrael, and Barachiel—to Earth. There, they will protect God’s son, Jesus, through childhood and adolescence so that he might “cleanse mankind...and live perfectly in accordance with the Father’s law.” While on Earth, they each possess superpowers, such as enhanced speed, strength, and the ability to manipulate appearances. But they are trapped there—and can have no further communication with the Almighty until Jesus is summoned back to heaven. By turns emotionally rousing and graphically violent, Smith’s novel opens the Heavenly War Chronicles. The narrative initially feels like a straightforward adventure about Lucifer's jealousy and banishment from heaven. However, war between the two winged camps merely sets the stage for even grittier battles on Earth. While disguised as a human, Sabrael can heal wounds instantaneously and use divine weaponry. Only the removal of his heart can immobilize him or any of the fallen; in one vicious scene, Sabrael reaches into the chest of the demon Caim, who “clamped a hand on my forearm and dug his nails in, bit my hand, begged me to stop.” More surprising still is that the book becomes increasingly episodic, and the mission to protect Jesus is subsumed by the chaos of the wider world. Sabrael’s addiction to humanity and the further lives he leads are riveting to behold.
A vast, Conan-style saga with an inspiring protagonist who battles demons.Pub Date: May 13, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-5089-7452-9
Page Count: 578
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
These letters from some important executive Down Below, to one of the junior devils here on earth, whose job is to corrupt mortals, are witty and written in a breezy style seldom found in religious literature. The author quotes Luther, who said: "The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn." This the author does most successfully, for by presenting some of our modern and not-so-modern beliefs as emanating from the devil's headquarters, he succeeds in making his reader feel like an ass for ever having believed in such ideas. This kind of presentation gives the author a tremendous advantage over the reader, however, for the more timid reader may feel a sense of guilt after putting down this book. It is a clever book, and for the clever reader, rather than the too-earnest soul.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1942
ISBN: 0060652934
Page Count: 53
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1943
This first novel, ostensibly about the friendship between two boys, Reuven and Danny, from the time when they are fourteen on opposing yeshiva ball clubs, is actually a gently didactic differentiation between two aspects of the Jewish faith, the Hasidic and the Orthodox. Primarily the Hasidic, the little known mystics with their beards, earlocks and stringently reclusive way of life. According to Reuven's father who is a Zionist, an activist, they are fanatics; according to Danny's, other Jews are apostates and Zionists "goyim." The schisms here are reflected through discussions, between fathers and sons, and through the separation imposed on the two boys for two years which still does not affect their lasting friendship or enduring hopes: Danny goes on to become a psychiatrist refusing his inherited position of "tzaddik"; Reuven a rabbi.... The explanation, in fact exegesis, of Jewish culture and learning, of the special dedication of the Hasidic with its emphasis on mind and soul, is done in sufficiently facile form to engage one's interest and sentiment. The publishers however see a much wider audience for The Chosen. If they "rub their tzitzis for good luck,"—perhaps—although we doubt it.
Pub Date: April 28, 1967
ISBN: 0449911543
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1967
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