Review: Another Fabulous Addition and Thumping Good Read!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 29, 2012
Mr. Heppner, you keep doing it.  You keep writing this epic that's so compelling that I read one per day.  I can't stop!  Thank God there are six.  I get lost in your wondrous, fabulous, mythological story and it takes my breath away.  I've just bought the last three, so now I'm armed to the teeth and ready to face the First Born and Nephilim with Joash and Adah, Lord Uriah and Herek, Lod and Lillith.After the last book we left our heroes not only separated, but trying to protect the world from utter destruction.  Each group thinks the other is dead.  One group gets captured by the enemy, the other makes it to safety.  They both have to stop the Giants and Gibborim along with Tarag the First Born who is intent on entering Eden to eat from the Tree of Life and become an immortal God on Earth.  But first Tarag must do a few things.  He must find something stolen from Heaven.  He must also beat the mighty Cherub at the East Gate of Eden.  He needs Joash, who is now his prisoner to help him.  And that is where the story unfolds.  The hunt and finding of the Heavenly artifact; what happens to it after it's found.  The race to Eden by the forces of good and evil.  The titanic battle that takes place when they meet.  And of course what happens at the East Gate of Eden between Tarag and the Cherub.  Will Tarag become a God on Earth and make a hell for humans?  Will the Cherub destroy the Tree of Life thereby destroying all life on Earth in a great deluge?  Will the Cherub defeat Tarag?Again, Mr. Heppner's ending was done quite masterfully.  Never too rushed or too slow it had incredible dramatic tension.  You don't know the fate of the world until the final seconds.  You finished the book feeling intensely satisfied but still wanting more.His characters, as always, are genuine and varied; startlingly three dimensional.  We get to know a lot more about Giants such as Mimir the Wise and what the Nephilim and First Born believe (or at least least the lies they've told themselves) about Elohim, the Shining Ones, humans, the thousand years war, the fate of the bene elohim and other things.  This is just another example of Heppner's spot on characterization.  Of course the evil people have built justifications that put them in the right so that their actions make sense.  Very few creatures see themselves as truly evil, the fact that Tarag and the Giants believed that what they did - they did for glory and of course power.  What could be wrong with this?  Humans after all were just animals.  Ranked as a mule or a horse - a pack animal, rather stupid at that, but stubborn with great arrogance.  What would it matter if they were wiped out?  This just shows the cleverness of Heppner, getting into each character's head and figuring out how they'd think.  It adds to the credibility of all the characters, as much thought has put into each one.Out of all the characters, the one most changed was Joash.  He is travelling with Tarag, the Giants and Gibborim.  Because his belief in Elohim is strong he decides to not act like a slave to Mimir the Wise, but instead negotiate with him.  It is clear Tarag needs him for something, so he must foil their plans.  To do this he needs information from Mimir.  They strike a deal.  Joash learns of the Heavenly artifact. Later, as he carries the artifact from Heaven it's changing him - he picks up some supernatural abilities and an air of holy command.  In fact the artifact changes everyone in its vicinity.  Joash is even visibly changed by it.  I doubt he'll ever be the same again.  It cures Adah of her nightmares and damage.  That was so wonderful.I would heartily recommend all three books in this series to anyone who likes epic fantasy, angels, mythology or just a thumping good read of the first order.  Mr. Heppner, you've done it again, and I want to thank you for providing with the unalloyed reading pleasure.  I am on to book four.