Where Angels Fall

The Great and Terrible #2

by Chris Stewart

The war that began before we entered mortality is escalating into the final battle for freedom, liberty, and the hearts and souls of all men. Into this world filled with turmoil, our Father will send some of his most valiant servants. A child is born who may have the power to change the course of history. But will Elizabeth remember the covenants she made in the premortal world? Will she and her brothers have the strength to withstand the terrible forces of evil that reign in the Last Days? Against the backdrop of Middle Eastern conflict, the story of war and intrigue will have you riveted!

Genres: Fiction, Lds Fiction, Religion, Lds, Fantasy, Church, Christian

367 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Chris Stewart is a bestselling author and world-record-setting Air Force pilot whose previous military techno-thrillers have been selected by the Book of the Month Club and published in six different countries. He is the author of the highly acclaimed series The Great and Terrible, as well as A Christmas Bell for Anya, which was performed with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir during their 2005 Christmas concert. He has also been a guest editorialist for the Detroit News, commenting on matters of military readiness and national security. He is president of The Shipley Group, a nationally recognized consulting and training company and founder of the Utah Renaissance and Leadership Center.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading this thriller, I was left wondering if I am living up to the promises that I made before coming to mortality. You never know who is watching out for you and who is looking to drag you down.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than the first book, this one has more action, less cheez whiz. I like the premise of the great war in heaven carrying on in the last days, and the juxtaposition of spiritual war against physical war. We're getting warmer.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a MUCH better developed story that the first book! The pacing was overall slow as it set up the story and characters, but by the end it climaxed and left you wanting more. The author does a good job of adding some spiritual content and perspective into what otherwise would be classified as a thriller. No swearing or sex, but some violent descriptions of events.

[Dacia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The first half more than the second half because the second half was so sad. I really like that these books cause me to think and realize how much Satan is trying to influence me everyday. He really does want us to be as miserable as him. I also love how the book helps us to see the Lord's hand protecting us in our lives just as he did for some characters in the book. Can't wait to read the next book.

[Jared Meldrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really entertaining story! Builds great off of the first book

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one literally brought tears. So good

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 - I liked this book much more than the first, but I have a hard time with LDS fiction so... it’s probably better than I’m willing to admit. I found it less cheesy than the first so it was much easier to read.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written extremely well. It brought in new asspects to the story, but still rang true to the old. It is a different scene, but the same conflict, the battle between good and evil. Samuel, Ammon, Elizabeth, and Luke are now all on earth, the Father has sent them, his most valiant servants, in the last days to fight againt the adversary. They struggle with the every day temptation man has to go through. They are challenged to remember what they stood for, and what their values were in the premortal world.

With the backdrop of middle-eastern conflicts, this story has taken a new turn. With General Neil Brighton, his two twin sons Ammon and Luke and his adopted son Sam striving for good, Neil strives to understand what is troubling his close friend, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. We end up finding out he is plotting to kill his father and his brother. He is power hungry, and will do anything, and I mean anything to get it.

Elizabeth is born into an Iranian family, and is given a new name Azadeh. She lives the humble life of a village girl, staying close to her father and to God. Ammon and Luke learn the hard way to rely on God to get through life's hardest struggles. This book is mesmerizing, it has you on the edge of your seat the whole time. And the best part it, I am still only getting started.

[Ben Lund · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nope, nope, nope. I was on the fence about this book, as the first one did not inspire a lot of confidence. I understand this is a work of fiction, but when it is discussing doctrine, I need it to be grounded in that doctrine. The first book was made, whole cloth, from the authors imagination, which I was mostly okay with, since there is not a whole lot of literature to refer too.

But this second book, just keeps on going, making up things as he goes along. As far as I got into the book, there was an entity(?) who may or may not be a devil, a terrorist attack, and visions of a daughter in the premortal realm as she is being born. What finally stopped me though was reference to Master Mayhem, which I assume is based on a mis-hearing of Master Mahan, the name given to Cain after he killed Abel, which means "Keeper of the Great Secret," the secret being murder as a means to get gain.
Master Mayhem is mentioned nowhere that I could find, and seems to be something the author added in, because it sounds cool. I'm fine with taking artistic license with source material, I'm not fine with making up doctrine as you go along.

[Dlora · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series, The Great and Terrible, explores the great battle for the hearts and souls of men in these last days. On one level, it explores the conflict between nations on the brink of war but on another level, we see Satan working to influence evil men and foment hate and war. Chris Stewart was an Air Force pilot in World War II and uses that experience to give realistic descriptions of military personnel and battle experiences. This second book in the series focuses on the rise of power in Saudi Arabia and explains many of the animosities of fundamentalist Arabs towards Americans and their own peoples. Though set in the future--the Last Days--the details are very current and applicable to modern life. It makes you wonder if we aren't in the Last Days right now. I'll be interested to read the rest of the books in the series.

[Tuesdi · Rating 3 out of 5]

After so enjoying the first book I found this one to be a bit more difficult to get through. I was especially distracted by unpleasent parts of the book that involved evil people killing and causing wars out of greed and a desire for power. It's not that I don't believe these things are happening, I know they do. They have for so long. It's just that I had a hard time pulling inspiration to do better and be better from the pages of this book. It was more about continuing the stories of the characters introduced in the first book. It is written in this day and time. it is still interesting and for the most part I enjoyed it. I will read the next book of the series too.

[Aimee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just finished this book and I really don't know if I liked it. After the first book, I thought I really didn't like it so well, but I wanted to read the second to see where it went. This book was hard for me because of all the violence, I think. I know the world is bad and hard and ugly even, but I guess I would just choose not to dwell on it and read about it and think about it. This book did make me cry and it wasn't because it was happy or good. I'm not sure if I want to read the next one or not. This one didn't leave me feeling good, so probably not.

[Amanda]

I really am liking this series. I feel like the characters have enough interest to make me want to be friends, there is enough spirituality, but without being completely overwhelming. I really loved when Elizabeth was born and her father saw her spirit.. her mother feeling like she disappointed him, but then he says, "No I wanted THIS child". Loved Sam "recognizing" Elizabeth and wanting to help her, and the Spirit whispering to Neil saying this would be his only chance to hear the gospel. I also loved that I felt like I wasn't being talked down to.

[Noah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chris Stewart does a great combining a bit of history into this novel to help understand the middle east. The book is hard to put down.

While fictional, this book provides an interesting view point of the reality and power of Satan. We would all be wise to not ignore Satan's influence on this world. Satan is real and is trying to make all men miserable.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chris Stewart is an LDS author who has written these books (there are three of them) about the premortal life and then those same people on earth during armageddon. They're crazy-realistic and terrifying and make me want to get my food storage RIGHT NOW.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was better than the prologue. It catches my attention but I'm still unsure if I really like this series or not. I've already started the 3rd book and it's getting more interesting...

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 2 moved more quickly. Really interesting being able to read a story that shows both sides of the veil at work. I am excited for the next book.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

While a little slow in parts at the beginning, this story of suspense and intrigue was easy to follow and interesting!

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was super intense and really made me think. I'm looking forward to seeing how the characters and story progress through the series.

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite writing style but the story is interesting and now I want to know what happens.

[Aidan · Rating 4 out of 5]

October 2019 Book Review: Where Angels Fall by Chris Stewart
My mom was the one who recommended this book to me. She heard of the book from my uncle, and I thought the first book had some cool views and perspective of life. I was looking for a dystopian themed book but couldn’t find any, so I settled for this one. The book has been interesting and has given me some different views on life. This review is for the first half of the second book in the series.
(Spoilers) The book I read was “Where Angels Fall” by Christ Stewart. This book continues with the family that was sent down from heaven in the previous book. It shows their lives and how they are being influenced by the world. The first earth family includes the 3 brothers, Ammon, Luke, and the adopted brother Sam. Ammon and luke are 17-18 years old, and they are the sons of General Neil Brighton. Sam, the oldest brother, was the son of an abusive father, and he was fostered by the Brightons since he was 11. Elizabeth was born in another part of the world in a small village, and she lives with her dad. The book has illustrated all of the moments in their lives where Satan has tempted and tried them. In both times of trial, angels were present in saving them, and it was really cool to see the resistance to Satan. It also talks about the trials of the general and his relationship with the unstable world. The book is making some cool connections that you have to search for to identify. In all, this book has been interesting and entertaining to read. (4 / 5 Stars)

[Paul Black · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing was very good - engaging and descriptive. Incidents carried me along. But the plot was insignificant. I expect a book to stand on its own: that is, a problem arises then is resolved. Or maybe a heroine is captured then freed. But this book merely set the stage for the next "chapters" in the series. I was willing to pass it off to character development, but what appears to be two primary characters, if counted in terms of pages and order of appearance, are killed (tragically). I began to suspect early on that action chapters were just dropped in, but the characters didn't manifest any change because of them. It's like the author wanted to pad the book somewhat. I suppose I might not have felt so sad had I not been emotionally attached to them, but I consider the scenes to be a waste of paper. I really have no desire to reread the book, nor any others in the series. I have no idea how long the series will go on before some definable (sub)story is finished.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Luke and Ammon are born as twin brothers with Sam as their adopted brother. Luke and Ammon go on a climb up a rock and the anchor comes loose and Luke is hanging on by the tips of his fingers. The devil is trying to convince him to let go but good prevails and he is able to have strength to pull himself up onto the ledge. But very tense situation - a nail bitter.

Beth is born Azadeh in Iran to a single father who raises her after her mother dies at birth. They struggle with being poor farmers. Things turn desperate when the Saudi Prince Saud has his family assissinated and so he brings his second wife and 4 year old son to Rassa and Azadeh to hide him because he is next in line for the crown, but his brother is out to destroy him to take back the power. Prince Abdullah hires him assisins to take out the wife and son and the soldiers come to Rassa's house. A friend escapes with them into the mountains but Rassa and Azadeh stay behind. The soldiers are ruthless - they burn Rassa tied to a tree and then they kill all the baby boys in the village who are 3 or 4 years old. They kill the parents if they put up resistance. Such brutality and carnage left behind. Sam and his Delta Force show up to chase the soldiers off, but he is devastated by what he sees. He finds Azadeh and tells her to go to Khorramshahr and he will have someone waiting to help her but then he has to take off in his helicopter. Azadeh is all alone but feels comforted by her father's spirit. Definitely very intense reading this with the assassination and the soldiers brutality. And now Abdullah is out to bring down the United States. Look forward to book three in the series.

[Fiona Robison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ironic that this book was published 20 years ago when the story he tells is happening right now in Israel. So much conflict and confusion and honestly evil intent of men is clouding the narrative. Chris Stewart does a fantastic job of bringing the story of what is going on in the Middle East to a very plausible understandable scenario that makes you think twice about #46 decision to not support our ally any longer. It takes a long time for him to bring the characters in the prologue into the story and there is a lot of death and sadness when characters were have come to admire come to an ignominious end, but they are several books to go and I am hopeful that good will still triumph.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about the characters we meet in the first in the series, which was more of a prologue. This is probably actually the first. Anyway, I liked it ok. Not as much as the first, but it’s action packed, and moves along nicely. I just don’t think it’s really my kind of genre of book. While I enjoy the spiritual aspects that have a strong underlying message, it’s still a military type book, and was a little boring in those parts. For me at least. I just found out there are 6 in this series...might be awhile before I finish.

[Shantra Winger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series but I feel like there is a minor plot hole. At the end of the prologue there is a woman in Chicago who has a little girl with the middle name of Elizabeth and that little girl mentions that she feels like something is happening to her brother. The woman says she doesn’t have a brother. I thought that implied that our pre-mortal Elizabeth was that little girl, but there is no way because our pre-mortal Elizabeth was born in Persia and stays there her entire childhood. I don’t remember if the author ever reconciles that little girl in Chicago or not.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these characters. While the book is fiction, it makes me think about how we carry our strengths from before we were born to here on earth. Also, the way the author writes Satan in is so spot on and really touches on how important it is to pay attention to who we are listening to. Love this series!

[Christie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars for me. It is slow but finally about the last 1/4 of the book started to gain my attention more. Prefer this over the first book. The first book was too Saturday’s-Warrior-ish to me. This book definitely has cheesy “Mormon” moments as well, but I suppose it was written many years ago and reflects the culture of the time.

[Angela Hobbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first was so poorly written I can't believe it was the same author. I was encouraged to read book 2 and it really does get better.the story is exciting and writing is impressive. The battle between gold and evil is a real battle we are fighting today and I like his perspective. I'm excited to finish the series.

[Shaury Searle · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Great" concepts "and Terrible" execution. I wanted to love it, I really did! But I could only tolerate it. It was some of the most interesting ideas with the absolute worst writing. I loved his idea of the pre-mortal existence, and following this "family" throughout their mortal journey until present day. However, it was incredibly cheesy writing - almost painful to make it through.