Vanishings (Paperback: 148 pages)

Left Behind: The Book Series

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Dec 13, 2006

Pros: The 12 best books you'll ever read in Christian fiction

Cons: Uneven writing quality

The Left Behind book series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins truly deserves its status as a phenomenon. This rating above is for just the first book; this review covers the whole series in ranked order. A proper review must take the entire series into... account. Skipping one volume can make the whole series feel like it’s not worth reading. Even the lowest-ranking title in the series is a better read than the vast majority of other fiction. That said, here’s my spoiler-free worst to first ranking: #12 Left Behind book 1 rating 7 (out of 10) The first book also inadvertently shows Jerry Jenkins’ lack of writing maturity. By itself, it is a well-written, gripping suspense novel that is accurate to Scripture. When compared to the rest of the series, it ends up at the bottom of the list. Without it, though, the rest of the series simply doesn’t make any sense. This is still the foundation of the whole series. #11 Tribulation Force book 2 rating 7 The next book already showed an improvement over its predecessor, but only a slight amount. The characters definitely gained more depth here. #10 Glorious Appearing book 12 rating 7 The series finale was a bit of a letdown compared to some of the others, not because of the event depicted (which is the real climax!) but the way it was written, with a quality that seemed to revert back to books 1 and 2. #9 The Mark book 8 rating 7 This book’s low rank is due mainly to pacing. It covers the second-least amount of story time of any in the series, and there’s a lot of filler. #8 Nicolae book 3 rating 8 This earlier book makes a great comparison with The Mark - much better pacing, no real filler, great advancement of characters, and a great action sequence. #7 Armageddon book 11 rating 8 As the conclusion was drawing near, two of the major characters met their end. One we saw coming throughout the book, and few fans thought the death was necessary or really advanced the story any; the other was left a bit of a mystery at the end. We didn’t find out who the other victim was until a third of the way through the next book because it was written in such an ambiguous manner. #6 The Indwelling book 7 rating 8 The best-selling book of 2001 was also the book covering the shortest period of story time. Yet there is no filler and there’s lots of important character development, especially of several that didn’t get introduced until books 4, 5, or 6. #5 The Remnant book 10 rating 9 Among the most action-packed plot-filled installments of the series, even though it’s got the series’ most improbable event near the beginning to resolve the book 9 cliffhanger. #4 Desecration book 9 rating 9 The Remnant’s immediate predecessor was also just a tick above it in writing quality and story telling. It also with the series’most frightening cliffhanger at the end. #3 Assassins book 6 rating 9 This was the first book in the series to NOT improve on its predecessor, but still ended up with the series’ bronze medal. A stark departure in character development and a wonderfully paced ending raise it to third place. #2 Soul Harvest book 4 rating 10 First of two near the middle of the series as the major characters all head for the all-important mid-point of the Tribulation that top my list. Book 3 had a great cliffhanger at the end but it’s this book’s resolution of that cliffhanger that’s what makes this part of the series really work. and finally… #1 Apollyon book 5 rating 10 Though still prior to the Tribulation mid-point, this was a major plot turning point in the series and the book that truly was the best one in terms of real writing quality. The whole series is recommended; don't skip any book just because it's near the bottom end of the rank, and don't use the (not good) movies as a comparison. Read them in chronological order, not ranked order, and see if you don't agree! Enjoy! Read more Less