BookOpinion

BOOKOPINION REVIEW: In the year 2017 at an excavation site of the Lower Temenos in Jordan, a young archeologist and scholar, Nick De Vere, unearths an ancient casket, reminiscent of the Ark of the Covenant. This golden box is engraved with the royal crest of the “House of Yehovah” and bears three smaller etchings…the seal of the three chief princes, Mikhail, Gabriel and Lucifer. In awe, Nick and his assistants lift the heavy lid from the casket and find two huge, golden-bound codices…angelic writings. As Nick touches the writing, the Arabic letters instantly transform into English. The book is entitled, “The Secret Annals of the First Heaven…the Fall of Lucifer” as recorded by Gabriel, the Revelator.

You are instantly transported into the First Heaven, a world of unbelievable beauty, a place of shooting stars, twelve pale blue moons, a shimmering beach with huge, luminescent waves and radiant, fragrant gardens not seen on earth, the original garden of Eden. Michael and Gabriel, laughing exuberantly, are racing bareback through the frothing surf. In the distance from the Palace of Archangels, stands a lone figure with a perfectly sculpted face and crowned with a translucent light who watches his brothers compete in this light-hearted frolic…it is Lucifer, light-bearer and prince regent, beloved of Yehovah.

The three brothers, mighty warriors, dwell in harmony and kinship and eagerly look forward to the occasion when Gabriel, the youngest of the three, will be admitted into the rank of the elder brothers with one third of the angelic host at his command. But Gabriel is tortured by disturbing dreams…dreams of treachery in the heavenly realm. Eventually, he confronts Lucifer with his troubled thoughts but his eldest brother reassures him of his devotion to Yehovah, his love of Christos and his desire only to serve the Most High.

However, when Christos informs Lucifer of the desire to create a new race in the image and likeness of Yehovah, Lucifer is stunned. When he first realizes that Yehovah is intending the creation of a virtually identical Eden on a small, yet unformed planet, he becomes incredulous and wonders if he has been abandoned by the One he loves. The final blow is delivered to Lucifer when he realizes that the genetic code for the new creation is not angelic DNA but rather that of Yehovah.

What I have described is but the beginning of a tragedy that affected not only the newly created man but the entire angelic host. Wendy Alec delivers a stunning, believable rendition of her concept of this horrific story. “The Fall of Lucifer” is not a quick read, it is carefully detailed, complex and terrifying. It is also enlightening and creative. We see Lucifer as a tortured, conflicted, pathetic entity…he does not arouse sympathy but rather pity. For those who enjoy speculating on the ambiguous “what ifs,” this novel is likely to appeal to your tastes.

I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of this ambitious book even though I found it a bit dramatic at times. However, to be fair, this was a drama and one that changed not only human history but that of Heaven as well. I look forward to Alec’s next segment of this fascinating look into the lives of angels, their purposes and their impact on mankind.

– Elizabeth Channery