He had risen from the least through the ranks of warrior angels until he’d been given command of the North American continent, and now with the stroke of a pen he had been demoted to a guardian assistant.
Had he done something wrong?
Or was it that this one man, this Drew Carter, would play a significant role in the future of humanity?
Rise of the Fallen by Chuck Black is the second book in the Wars of the Realm series. While it’s a quality story, it also takes the series in a completely new direction and only minimally moves the plot forward. I’ll break it all down in this review.
Table of Contents
Plot
A six thousand year war rages and now the demonic Fallen are coming for him—the one man shrouded in mystery. Only Validus stands in their way.
Validus is the last and least of God’s angels, but he’s seen much across the millennia since his creation. Empires have risen and fallen as angelic and demonic forces battle in a raging war that will determine humanity’s fate – and the fate of his defeated brothers.
Eventually called to be an earth-bound warrior, Validus rises to a position of power and respect, commanding legions of angels through impossible battles and overwhelming odds. But when orders arrive from the Creator’s most elite Messenger, he finds himself suddenly demoted to a task of apparent insignificance considering the fierce war they are waging against the demonic Fallen – the covert protection of one unbelieving man.
Validus soon finds himself on a mission that will push him beyond his abilities as he battles to protect Drew Carter, for the Fallen are coming for him. Legions of them.
As Validus races against time to discover why Drew is so important to humanity’s survival, can he stand between Drew and all who would destroy him?
The plot was, to be honest, thrilling. Rise of the Fallen marks a shift from the mystery and investigation of the previous book to a military story. It explores the history of the war between the angels and demons (called Fallen in this book) while slowly moving forward the story began in book one.
I have mixed feelings about this. For one, it was a genuinely good story. I had a hard time putting the book down after starting it, and it has some awesome moments. Seeing a speculative dive into the military operations of angels was intriguing and thought-provoking, and watching Black’s conjecture on how they influenced major Biblical events was fascinating. As a stand-alone, it shines.
However, taken in context with the first book, it’s really not a sequel. Most of the events take place thousands of years before the events of book one, with only very minimal progress being made in the main story. It mostly follows the life of the angel Validus from the beginning of time to the present.
Having read a couple of chapters in book three, I can tell the information in this book is going to be vital to understanding the events of book three. But it also completely stalls the character that I had come to root for.
Characters
Validus is an intriguing character, to be sure. Being an angel, you might think he’s a perfect…well, angel. But Black finds a way to write him with human thoughts and emotions, making him feel real while also making him morally perfect.
As with much of the worldbuilding laid out in the book, it’s interesting speculation. Do angels have occasional doubts about God’s plans even as they fulfill them? Do they feel lonely or depressed with the spiritual and physical wars raging around them? We don’t know. However, the author gives some possible answers to these questions while staying faithful to Scripture.
It was also interesting to see the difference in writing style between the flashback and present-day scenes. Past Validus’ thoughts radiate uncertainty and insecurity even as they shine with wonder, hope, and childlike joy. But six thousand years later, the present-day commander comes across as battle-weary and exhausted. Black did a skillful job of contrasting his growth over the centuries.
Some interesting side characters come up, namely his close friend, Persimus. I always love close friendships in stories. This is no exception. Their relationship grows throughout the story from strangers to brothers born in battle.
Theme & Content Warnings
The theme is primarily, “Spiritual warfare is real.” As with other such supernatural thrillers, it mostly works to bring spiritual warfare to life, instead of focusing on any particular message for the characters.
This isn’t to say it’s without Scriptural truths. The book is full of dramatic descriptions of Bible stories from the perspective of angels, showing how their war with demons influences them.
In this respect, Black does an admirable job of portraying what the battles might look like. He shows how these supernatural beings fight and influence events while still giving humans free will and letting them ultimately determine things.
Using his military background, he also explores what both the angels’ and Fallen’s command structure might look like, and expands on their methods of combat shown in book one. This was all fascinating to consider, both as worldbuilding and as speculation about their actual operations.
Content warnings are the same as Cloak of the Light. Due to the intended audience, there are some intense scenes, such as a school shooting and sneaking into a cartel lord’s house. Some scenes show the souls of unbelievers crying for help as their dragged away by demons. Some of Validus’ friends die in battle, but they simply dissolve into mist and float away to Heaven. The same happens to the demons—though, obviously, they don’t go to Heaven.
But that’s about it. It’s a clean book but can be intense and even depressing in parts as Validus contemplates the ancient war raging around him.
Overall
Rise of the Fallen is a good story, but an odd sequel. It completely abandons book one’s protagonist in favor of an extended series of flashbacks. Some of these accomplish or set up major events for the main storyline, and all of them are interesting, but at times they feel unnecessary.
All things considered, I did thoroughly enjoy the book. It has some awesome scenes, and the author’s speculation about both past and present spiritual warfare was thought-provoking.
Thanks for reading!
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