KAYE TROUT'S BOOK REVIEWS 1

I specialize in reviewing Print-On-Demand (POD) published books for my website and Midwest Book Review. Please query for a review by email to hgunther234@hotmail.com.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

AZRIEL - THE ANGEL CHRONICLES by Mark D. Chevalier

Llumina Press
7915 W. McNab Rd, Tamarac, FL
www.llumina.com
Genre: Fictional religious fantasy
Rating: Exceptional
ISBN: 1595266976, $15.95, 288 pp.


It is not possible to classify this novel into just one genre. Is it fantasy or messianic-religious science fiction?

Through dreams, pain and torment, Scott LeClair receives the memory of who and what he is–Azriel, God’s angel of death, destruction and chaos and . . . one-time ally of Abaddon, the Devil.

"On one side was the army of God, on the other the army of God’s accuser. It was a battle for the supremacy of Heaven and Earth."

Mark D. Chevalier is a uniquely dynamic writer and whether you like the genre or not, his writing talents are clearly evident, and I share an excerpt from page 12 for you to judge.

"The memories breached the wall of his sanity, spilling over into the depths of pure chaos. There was a Great Hall, covered in the radiance of a thousand suns. A preeminent debate was occurring, where gods and princes argued over a splinter that would grow to become a mighty oak of division.

"War spilled out from the Great Hall, over the Plains of Serenity to the edges of the mortal world. Ground was lost, ground was gained. Finally, legions of warrior and one-time comrades fell from the light, careening uncontrollably through the void between as final judgment was irrevocably inflicted.

"Blood flowed in rivers upon the Earth as armies began conquest after conquest. Civilizations rose, only to crumble beneath the onslaught of their own weight. Greed, genocide, murder, vanity, apathy, they all had a place in the new world order. The fallen were leaving their mark upon every living thing. Angered by their expulsion, driven mad by their infinite power while at the same time seemingly impotent, their goal had become to transform the Earth into the living manifestation of what they felt."

And from page 270:
"What you need to remember now as I sit down to finish writing these chronicles is that it was never solely about angels and demons; it was never about the war in Heaven, or how I came to be among the fallen, sacrificing my own eternal life.

"It was about you, humans! Abaddon may have started something long ago, but it was you who turned on each other. It was you who began to murder, looking at the Earth as a resource to be dominated and controlled, along with each other.

"You had the power to start it, and you have the power to stop it. As my father told me back in the church on that fateful first day, ‘You need to remember that no matter what else happens, the time you have is all you have. Make the most of it. Live, love, experience everything you can.’"

Mark had something to say, and through his novel he has added his voice to life’s wake-up call.

Reviewed by Kaye Trout - March 2, 2007

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