Review: A struggle for power
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 30, 2013
Vividly told, action packed, this story concerns the struggle for power.  Wall gives us a different look at supernatural forms.  Here, though they travel to and from the physical plane to the inter-dimensional, all are secular, even God.Confusion accompanied me through several chapters because explanations come late, not until Chapter 8 or even 18.  Terms should be explained at first mention.  For example, skia, exous, the Falling Curtain.  Include a glossary of characters and terminology.Sometimes a flashback seems indistinguishable from the present.  For example, the war in Heaven, or Peter’s battle with Gerald.I reread chapters before I understood the action occurred in the physical plane or the inter-dimensional.  Sometimes a character has a seizure, which happens so abruptly I’m looking for a missing sentence.Lack of logic bothers me.  Such as, if angels have no free will, how can they rebel?  If angels have no sex, how can they be male and female, capable of lust?  And for the act of one female angel, why should all female angels be banned from Heaven?  Why is God a male individual instead of a universal force that contains both male and female principle?Enough said about my quibbles.  This is a complex tale in which new characters continue to emerge and old characters transform.The first main character we meet is Gerald, a fallen angel.  He seeks redemption, so God tells him to help Drean.Drean is a seraph, a defender of God.  Drean has been given free will and sent from Heaven to Earth to learn about humans and love.Riell is a female half angel who has partnered with Shrazz, a demon.  They are commanded to capture Drean and deliver him to Satan.  Riell finds Drean attractive and decides to describe Gerald as the angel they are seeking.Eventually Drean discovers God is dying.  Why?  Because the Faithstream that empowers Him is being diverted.Aware of God’s problem, the characters seek the Faithstream, for God or to become God.  Battles overflow with supernatural power as fighters transform or diminish.  Tension mounts as sympathetic characters seem to win, only to lose.  Battle scenes are long and detailed.  A bit too much for my taste.Drean needs to recover the Faithstream.  Shrazz wants it for the power it will give him.Satan wants to divert it.To recover it, Gerald, Riell, and Drean descend into Hell, leaving us to read the continuing adventure in the next book, From Earth to Hell.I prefer books that can stand alone, even if they belong in a series.The story is so complex that if this book were a movie, many characters would not appear onscreen.  Generally well written with few errors.  Interesting and imaginative.