The Second Coming (Words of the Prophecy) [Kindle Edition]

I've read a fair amount of fantasy, adventure & horror over the years - enough that I don't often find something really new that I like. I did this time - it was both unique & thrilling.

An excellent dark fantasy or horror fantasy that sets the background in a post apocalyptic world based on our current one & the Christian myth, adds in some others, & stirs the mix into an intriguing mystery-adventure. It is not for the faint-hearted. All of the characters are flawed, most badly enough that they're not all that likable, but the reasons for this are revealed - slowly. Against my will, in many cases, I was drawn into sympathetic agreement with their plight & their actions. Revelations were logical, redemption plausible & plights were chilling. The action was well described & the scenery was awesome. Wow! What a trip!

Usually, if I don't like or can't identify with one of the main characters, I put a book down. I couldn't this time. The writing was too good & the plot too intriguing.

I was very surprised that a self-published novel (it is, isn't it?) read as if it were professionally edited. One of my biggest turn-offs is poor punctuation, logic flaws, rambling text & 'favorite lines'. (Pieces of text that don't quite fit, but are kept by the writer because they like them.) All of these are typical of self-published novels. I didn't find any here. The writing was tight - sometimes requiring close reading or I would miss an important point - Perfect! That's the way it should be, but often isn't, even in commercial publications.

As I write this, the book is available only in electronic format for a couple of bucks on Amazon (or write the author). I hope to see it in paper format, someday because it is complex enough that I wanted to flip back & forth a few times to double check names, which I find hard to do in electronic format. If it does come out in paper, I will buy it & likely re-read it when the sequel is released & I read that (hurry up & write, David!). Definitely a keeper & a book I'd like to add to my collection.

This was a very impressive first book by a small press author. I was pleasantly surprised.

Sure, it was a bit erratic at times. The tenses seemed to switch up and the time flow was confusing. The story didn't always flow smoothly from event to event, as time shifted differently for the different character sets.

There was also a lot of backstory. Repeat: a LOT. Good backstory, I'll give him that. Very intriguing stuff. I just felt overwhelmed with it all at some points. It was hard to keep the characters straight as the narrative bounced around so much, and to keep the proper backstories to the proper characters. Perhaps this could have been solved by extending the work to a longer volume, or series of volumes. Then there would have been more room for character building and gradual backstory development.

That said, I very much like the method of telling the backstory as the present story happens. David did this without heavy use of flashbacks, which can be something of a cheat. I loved the real in depth histories to all the characters, it just seemed that I needed a map to keep up with them all.

I love the premise of the book. 500 years in our post apocalyptic future, where technology is gone and magic is back. The dead have power and demons are back. I enjoyed the way David brought the religions of the world together to cope with the happening that wiped out our civilization, and the way it has developed. The biblical references and interpretations were quite intriguing.

I did have trouble as well with the multitude of strange new races of people. Or more accurately, old races that are now back due to the world shifting on its axis. Between Little Doe's tribe, the Firstborn, the Revenants, the Nymphs, the Lastborn, the Sidhe, and the Obek, I was often having to stop and retrace who was of what race and aligned with which others. There was also the fact that many were of mixed races, so mapping that all out in my head took a bit of effort. Again, this is a lot of great information and worldbuilding, but the book's shortness made it seem a bit jumbled.

Would I recommend stretching this book out a few hundred pages to make the worldbuilding smoother? Not so much. That might help, but I like David's brevity. He's trying to pack a great story in a shorter format, which is a relief to those that are accustomed to huge bricks for fantasy novels. He certainly doesn't drag anything out. But maybe it might have worked better to be a bit more gradual about the histories and backstories, even if it meant giving some of that in future volumes.

All in all, this was a satisfying read with dark concepts that pushed the envelope of moral beliefs of human history. I'm looking forward to future volumes.

It's rare when a writer surprises me anymore. Honestly, I only bought the "book" due to Margaret Weis's recommendation - is that bad? So glad I did as I'm a new fan. I have to say, it was pretty darn good as the story took a different spin on cliche angel/ demon/ fantasy concepts. Only a few critique's - I wish the author had done a little more backstory on his many characters, I would have loved that and could have fleshed out the book even more and taken it to that epic fantasy level. It did seem a bit choppy as if the editor removed parts to fit the story in a certain page amount, but the story line was that good that I kept reading. I felt it took too long to reveal some pertinent information, but that is up to the reader to decide.

I am disappointed that the second book isn't out yet. Hurry David, your new fans are awaiting!