A prominent businessman suddenly wakes up in another world where everything is red. The exact place where he wakes up is a cave with all kinds of strange writings on the wall. Only one sentence is intelligible, and it tells him to go to a certain place.
When he goes there, he meets several other people who have also been called into the strange world. From there, they embark on a journey similar to that of Pilgrim's Progress.
There are several unexpected twists to the plot, one in particular being more interesting and original than the rest.
The characters are actually pretty good, considering the type of plot this is. Not many allegories have good characters.
If you thought you had the ends to all allegories figured out, than think again. This one will surprise you.
What Randy Alcorn has done with this book is he has mixed up all kinds of interesting philosophies and shoved them all into one book.
This book is definitely worth your time.
4 stars
Showing posts with label randy alcorn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label randy alcorn. Show all posts
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Dominion by Randy Alcorn
Clarence is a newspaper reporter working in Seattle alongside Jake, who was introduced in the first book of this series. Clarence's journey begins with his sister's death by gunfire at night in her own home. Clarence immediately plunges himself into the investigation, which pits him to work alongside Ollie Chandler, our eccentric ho-ho-homicide friend.
On top of that, his teenage son is contemplating joining a local gang with whom he hangs out with often.
The investigation is long and drawn out, like a realistic one would be. It is filled with complexities, rabbit trails, and false clues as Clarence and Ollie are plunged into the street world of gangs, drugs, and racial discrimination. But to make the book not all about the mystery, Randy throws in all kinds of extra scenes such as history lessons on the Negro Leagues, family life in Clarence's family tree, and more heaven scenes, this time focusing on Dani, Clarence's dead sister.
The characters are better than in the first book because they have matured, along with the author's writing style. None of them are perfect.
Randy poured almost every idea he had into this book, which is an explanation for its 600+ page length.
The final scene is not a typical one. It's something that the reader does not expect at first. When the reader is done reading it, they don't know what hit them.
I could go on and on about the flawless writing style of this book, but the best way for you to find that out is to read it for yourself. It may take a week, but just bare with it and finish it. The end is worth the wait.
5 stars
On top of that, his teenage son is contemplating joining a local gang with whom he hangs out with often.
The investigation is long and drawn out, like a realistic one would be. It is filled with complexities, rabbit trails, and false clues as Clarence and Ollie are plunged into the street world of gangs, drugs, and racial discrimination. But to make the book not all about the mystery, Randy throws in all kinds of extra scenes such as history lessons on the Negro Leagues, family life in Clarence's family tree, and more heaven scenes, this time focusing on Dani, Clarence's dead sister.
The characters are better than in the first book because they have matured, along with the author's writing style. None of them are perfect.
Randy poured almost every idea he had into this book, which is an explanation for its 600+ page length.
The final scene is not a typical one. It's something that the reader does not expect at first. When the reader is done reading it, they don't know what hit them.
I could go on and on about the flawless writing style of this book, but the best way for you to find that out is to read it for yourself. It may take a week, but just bare with it and finish it. The end is worth the wait.
5 stars
Deception by Randy Alcorn
Finally...the book we have all been waiting for...the book that hands Ollie Chandler the reins and lets him fly-in the first person, nonetheless!
A certain homicide is baffling everyone-even old Ollie. A man is in his own apartment, and the crime scene itself is a complete puzzle. There are many different, nonsensical objects left behind at the crime-each one of them belonging to a different person around town. One by one, the suspects are eliminated until just a select few are left. The ironic thing is, since Ollie was drunk the night the murder occurred, he has no other choice but to put himself on the suspect list.
Having a book in the first person of a character like Ollie Chandler gives Randy Alcorn all kinds of creative avenues to drive down with his sentences. And judging by the length of the book, I think Randy drove down every one of them. The tone is completely different than that of Dominion for that reason. Not as much research, more wisecracks.
Ollie is steadfastly true to his character. He has several daily habits that are not overemphasized by the author. After several times of them preforming them, the reader catches on without any prompting from the author.
There is a very original non-overemphasized romantic subplot-one of the best ever crafted.
It takes a while for Ollie to unravel all the clues-but he finally does. The culprit will shock you.
Usually final scenes are ridiculous and bland, but this one is not. Though it is completely different from the final scene of Dominion, it is still just as original.
Sadly, I must suggest that, while I would LOVE to read another book from the first person of Ollie Chandler, I must discourage Randy to write any more in this series for fear of depreciation.
But for now, I will celebrate in the present.
5 stars
A certain homicide is baffling everyone-even old Ollie. A man is in his own apartment, and the crime scene itself is a complete puzzle. There are many different, nonsensical objects left behind at the crime-each one of them belonging to a different person around town. One by one, the suspects are eliminated until just a select few are left. The ironic thing is, since Ollie was drunk the night the murder occurred, he has no other choice but to put himself on the suspect list.
Having a book in the first person of a character like Ollie Chandler gives Randy Alcorn all kinds of creative avenues to drive down with his sentences. And judging by the length of the book, I think Randy drove down every one of them. The tone is completely different than that of Dominion for that reason. Not as much research, more wisecracks.
Ollie is steadfastly true to his character. He has several daily habits that are not overemphasized by the author. After several times of them preforming them, the reader catches on without any prompting from the author.
There is a very original non-overemphasized romantic subplot-one of the best ever crafted.
It takes a while for Ollie to unravel all the clues-but he finally does. The culprit will shock you.
Usually final scenes are ridiculous and bland, but this one is not. Though it is completely different from the final scene of Dominion, it is still just as original.
Sadly, I must suggest that, while I would LOVE to read another book from the first person of Ollie Chandler, I must discourage Randy to write any more in this series for fear of depreciation.
But for now, I will celebrate in the present.
5 stars
Deadline by Randy Alcorn
Jake is a newspaper reporter working in Seattle. His family life is suffering, and so is his career. One night, while out with two of his buddies, a car comes head on and rams into them. Jake is the only one who survives.
After finding out that his daughter is pregnant and has AIDS, he begins to rethink everything he ever believed and wrote about in his articles. So he begins to write more articles, countering his original ones, all while working with a quirky homicide investigator to find out whether the car accident was really an accident or not.
The characters are pretty good, as good as can be expected with a debut novel. Ollie, the homicide detective, is one of the more creative characters ever crafted.
This mystery isn't really a mystery; the answer is pretty easy to figure out. The end is complete with a long "suspenseful" showdown with the bad guys.
The major plus that keeps this book afloat is a completely original fiction feature Randy has included in this book: scenes depicting life in heaven, which include characters that die during the plot. This originality is what keeps this book afloat.
All in all, this book is good for a debut novel, but otherwise, it's kind of boring. But the characters make the reader want to read the next book.
3 stars
After finding out that his daughter is pregnant and has AIDS, he begins to rethink everything he ever believed and wrote about in his articles. So he begins to write more articles, countering his original ones, all while working with a quirky homicide investigator to find out whether the car accident was really an accident or not.
The characters are pretty good, as good as can be expected with a debut novel. Ollie, the homicide detective, is one of the more creative characters ever crafted.
This mystery isn't really a mystery; the answer is pretty easy to figure out. The end is complete with a long "suspenseful" showdown with the bad guys.
The major plus that keeps this book afloat is a completely original fiction feature Randy has included in this book: scenes depicting life in heaven, which include characters that die during the plot. This originality is what keeps this book afloat.
All in all, this book is good for a debut novel, but otherwise, it's kind of boring. But the characters make the reader want to read the next book.
3 stars
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