The Last Disciple

[Amazing Rando]

This thread is for discussing the novel The Last Disciple (http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=84375&netp_id=333327&event=ESRCN&item_code=WW), a book that has been called an answer to Left Behind. I'll be starting my own reading of the book over the weekend and we can take this discussion chapter by chapter. I'll be back Monday or Tuesday with my thoughts on the first bit of the book. Hope you all enjoy it! :smile: See you in a few days.

[Xavier]

Excellent... Gives me a chance to reread portions of it... :smile:

I should warn that I was not just incredabily impressed with the authorship of the novel. Sections that deal in Apologetics tend to get to the point of lecturing which is odd for the feel of the book and its characters. Very interesting characters though... :smile:

[Dee Dee Warren]

I have an audio version of the book so I will go along with the discussion in the audio version.

[Amazing Rando]

Okay, I've read the first hundred pages or so and would like to make some assessments.

First of all, I found the actual writing of the novel to be rather mediocre. The story is engaging, character development is marginally better than average, but several things seriously detract from my enjoyment of it. First, the constant jumping around between the various subplots is irritating. I appreciate a complex novel that has multiple plots interwoven throughout, but this novel relies on the rather unimaginative convention of a simple page break separating the plots. It jumps around wildly from a debate on whether Jesus was a false god or not to a father's abandonment of his daughter to die of exposure, to various brief and unexplained flashbacks to Vitas's(the main character's) past as a soldier in Britannia. I find this "shotgun" approach to novel writing to be somewhat amateurish.

Secondly, as Xavier noted, there are portions of the book that were obviously Hanegraaff's contributions to the work. They stand out very awkwardly from the rest of the novel. One early scene that particularly stands out in this regard is the debate between Caleb and Zabad. It is clunky, and has the feel of a 21st century apologetical debate in a style that would have been completely foreign to those living in the first century. For an example of a well-written apologetic dialogue that actually transpired between an early Christian and an educated pagan living in the Roman Empire, look no further than Justin Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho (circa AD 160), which can be found here (http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0128.htm).

This book would have been better had Hanegraaf kept his hands out of the writing and let Brouwer get the job done himself. Ultimately, this book reads like exactly what it is- the awkward marriage of an apologist with a popular novelist.

The packaging and marketing of the book is good though. The book's design is a beautiful work of art that intrigues one to read the secrets it promises to reveal. It promises, "Hidden inside the last words he wrote is a prophecy so explosive... it has the power to destroy anyone who uncovers its truth."

The interesting characters are one of the books brighter features, however. I look forward to reading more about the champion gladiator Maglorius, and discovering what happens to the baby Vitas saves from certain death (at the expense of his honor and prestige in the imperial court), and just what exactly the mysterious secret of the letter of the last disciple is. Plenty of cliff-hangers thus far, and interesting characters will keep me reading this book, as awkward as it has been thus far.

Anyhow, let's hear what you all have to say. Anyone else besides me, Xavier, and Dee Dee read this book yet?

[studyhound]

Anyhow, let's hear what you all have to say. Anyone else besides me, Xavier, and Dee Dee read this book yet?
I started it, made it through the first few chapters. And all the points that were prestented were the reasons I stoped.

:sh:

[Amazing Rando]

I started it, made it through the first few chapters. And all the points that were prestented were the reasons I stoped.

:sh:

:lmbo:

[Amazing Rando]

I've been reading more of the novel (up to about page 200 or so) and the story's getting good. Haven't been any more really awkward parts since the debate scene.

[Amazing Rando]

I read a good 75 pages or so yesterday and really enjoyed it! I should finish the novel tonight. I'm probably going to have to change my assessment of the book- while the first hundred pages or so were pretty awkward and choppy, the continuity is much stronger in the rest, and the story is pretty exciting.

[Amazing Rando]

:sigh: Anybody here?

Rando's just whistling in the dark, I suppose... :rando:

[spiritmech]

Shhh. I'm figuring out who the AntiChrist is. I've got it narrowed down to Michael Jackson, Dolf Lundgren, and David Hasslehoff.

SM