The Brothers

The Great and Terrible Vol. 1 Prologue: The Brothers by Chris Stewart

This book has been on my To Read list for a few years, but I was determined not to read it until the series was out.
The battle between good and evil, between Satan and Jehovah, has been engaged.  Satan is in open rebellion and has drawn away billions of spirits.  It is the pre-existance.  It is a time of much learning and of great decision making.
Although the book is entirely fiction and much license obviously taken, there were some extremely thought provoking conversations.  Honestly I was touched by the book.  I cried for most of the read (which was quite short and easy) because I could identify with the struggle to push onward and strive to live beyond mediocracy....yet feel that you never will.  It gave me a lot to think about.
Here are some spine tingling good quotes.........
     "To get what we want we must be subtle as snakes; .................  So go to your old friends and stand by their sides.  Pretend you want to help them while whispering deceits in their ears.  Only lie when you have to.  Speak the truth when you can; for the truth, once it's twisted, is the most effective tool we have.  Coat your lies with enough truth, and they will swallow it down."     -Lucifer

     "Now listen to me, people, for this is the key-evil can be twisted into virtue if you phrase it just right.  Any vice is acceptable if you cloak it as an issue of freedom.  Any immorality is worth fighting for if you tell them they are fighting for choice, if you wrap it in the mantle of privacy and freedom.  So take their moral agency and turn it on them.  But be patient...be patient...it takes time to turn the truth upside down."   -Lucifer

     As would happen on earth, the sad truth was that many of the Father's children were willing to stand and watch from the sides, interested but not committed, not willing to join hands with Satan, but also unwilling to dedicate themselves fully to the Son.  Most would say the right things and go through the actions, but fewer were willing to make a commitment, and fewer still were willing to fight.

     "You can tempt me, desert me, or cause me great pain; you can create a dark world that may cause me to fear; you can rule your world with blood and terror, that's true.
     "But you can't win.  And I know that. Weak as I am, with my imperfections and sins, even with all of my failings, I am stronger than you.
     "I will soon have a body.  And I have my agency now.  I will increase in my faith and knowledge and power.  I am not perfect, but I will be, and there's nothing you can do!  I will become like the Father if I follow the Son.  You are powerless to stop me.  You can threaten and tempt and whisper lies in my ear, but you can't stop me Satan;  I see that so clearly now!  I can stop myself, yes, but only if I follow you." 
     -Ammon

     The evil hand stretched its cold fingers across the dry autumn land, bringing disappointment and frustration that angered people's souls.  Though unseen, it was real, real as the heat of the sun, yet cold as ice water and brittle as bone.  To some it brought darkness and a thirst for hate and revenge, jealousy and a lust for power and flesh.  To others it brought a simple sense of unease--a sense that something wasn't right, something deep and unknowable, a sense of distress for the future, as if something was coming, a sense of awkward discomfort, as if the world had changed and would never step back.  The blackness settled like a blanket, covering the earth like black snow, falling slowly and silently until it draped the whole land.


Rating 5  Excited for the rest of the series....
Rating PG  War