Still reeling from the horrors of World War II, Chris Stavros-an American soldier-has one goal: getting home safely to care for his son after learning his wife has died. But in the midst of battle and trying to stay alive, he finds the stakes raised, as heavenly warriors emerge from the skies-and an impossible task is given to Stavros’s platoon: recover the lost Sword of God before a troop of arcane, unkillable German soldiers locate it and storm heaven’s gate! These American soldiers, this “Light Brigade,” will begin a supernatural crusade that will determine the fate of the world… one bullet and one soul at a time!
Peter’s Review:
If you think the cover looks like a comic, you would be correct. Graphic novel to be exact, although that is just the modern name for what I grew up knowing it as a comic. I had this graphic novel on my wishlist with Amazon for more than 5 years, did a random check on it yesterday, and was pleased to see that it had been converted to the kindle format. I wanted this as it deals with the genres I love, the Nephilim, supernatural, spiritual warfare, military, angels, and demons. The 4-5 star reviews were another drawcard.
Despite its 224 pages, this only took about an hour to read as the graphics take up the majority of the page space. I am really glad I was able to buy this now, as this was one great story.
This would be the second WWII story I have read and also the second one that deals with the occult and the supernatural in this same war. The previous one was The Fist of God (The Agarthi Conspiracy) (Volume 1) by M. E Brines.
Set against a WWII backdrop in Belgium towards the end of this war, this story is composed entirely of the supernatural. This composition has the last of the Gregori, (angels charged by God with watching over the human race) and the Nephilim, (the offspring of the sexual union of the Grigori with human women,) two warring angels, an immortal Roman centurion, Marcus Longinus, (who pierced the side of Christ while He hung on the Cross), supernaturally powered artifacts from the Crucifixion, the eternal flame of Christ’s Cross, the Monks who have guarded these relics for centuries, a supernaturally powered sword, and a supernatural baptism the US soldiers have to enable them to fight the remaining Grigori and the Nephilim in preventing them from exacting revenge against God for wiping out their race in the biblical flood.
All these elements fit really well in the conflict of the German and American armies as they meet in Belgium, the German army with a hidden agenda and the American army none the wiser, except for one member of this army.
Tomasi provides a brief history of the Grigori and the Nephilim, and the biblical flood that nearly wiped them out. From this it reveals the origin of the revenge of this last Grigori, who is transformed into human form as Colonel Zephon, of the German Army. This backstory provides much-needed depth and suspense to the supernatural aspects of this story and acts as a cohesive bond to the plot.
Another aspect of this cohesive bond is the character of Marcus Loginus, the Roman Centurion who has been charged by God to do a special mission involving the Grigori then he will go to be with the Lord. So in the German army we have the last Grigori, in the guise of Colonel Zephon and in the US army we have Marcus in the guise of soldier Mark. Tomasi also provides the history of Longinus that led to this special mission that culminates at the end of the story. In effect, we have then two supernatural leaders of opposing forces, one good, one bad, leading to a final explosive end.
Tomasi brings all the supernatural elements together for one fast paced, good versus evil battle using supernatural and physical warfare, with an increasing toll of life as a result but a very satisfying end all round.
Tomasi’s story and the artwork of Snejbjerg make this one very enjoyable read and an entertaining education in the history of fallen angels and spiritual warfare.
I would love to have seen this also made into a full-length novel as I feel the back stories and more of the plot and characters, especially those of the American army, would benefit from more depth and fleshing out. But maybe I say that because I am not a graphic novel lover. However, I am still very glad I read this graphic novel, it adds a nice element to my collection of novels in this genre.
Strongly recommended.
Peter Younghusband has been an avid reader from as early as he can remember. Since becoming a Christian in his early 20s, his passion for reading led to specifically Christian fiction and this has developed into reviewing them on his blog. He loves reading new author’s novels or author’s who have not had many reviews or exposure and giving them much needed encouragement where appropriate.
