Book Review: Ascent of the Fallen

Ascent of the Fallen. Rebecca L. Frencl. Solstice Shadows, an Imprint of Solstice Publishing, February 26, 2014, E-book and Trade Paperback, 216 pages.

Reviewed by Marssie Mencotti.

When a mystery man who has stood in judgment of human souls at Hell’s Gate for millennia is sentenced to live among them, he finds not only compassion but love in his new-found life among humans.

Joining with a group of friends who have banded together to form a family unit, mystery man Rue is faced with a choice: remain on earth and do battle, or return to whence he came and share the lessons he has learned with his brother judges.

As he moves among men, Rue is visited by various major and minor archangels: Azrael the Angel of Death, Anieal the Angel of Love, Naya’il the Angel of Testing, Lilith the Demon Temptress, and Asmoday the King of the Demons.

This is the first inkling that there are more and greater battles going on and that Rue is learning more than compassion. Frencl leads us into what we think is a sweet love story and a heaven versus earth dilemma. However, before long the novel stretches its wings to include an earthly battle with a dangerous disease and a hellish battle for more souls. The stakes are constantly raised. There’s death, fire, demons, and disease. As each crisis and ethereal visit brings more rules and instructions, we are lead to believe that Rue alone will make a difference.

Teacher and self-described ‘union rabble-rouser’ Rebecca L. Frencl writes what she likes to read—an eclectic mix of fantasy and paranormal romance. She grew up on choose-your-own adventure books, the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon, and polyhedral dice. She firmly believes there is no such thing as someone who doesn't like to read. They just haven't found the right book yet!

In this exciting ride of a read, Frencl equips her protagonists with positive ‘weapons’ such as love, deep and abiding friendship, caring, honesty, and faith. But rather than let the story wind towards a foregone conclusion, Frencl adds more and more complications as the line between earth and beyond is blurred. Are these positive weapons strong enough to withstand the powerful forces of deception? 

Heroic main character, Rue, and his love interest, shopkeeper Sarafina, are written with extraordinary physical beauty, inner strength, and vision. Their broadly drawn characters drive the plot and provide an erotic overlay to the story. The angels and demons are frightening and consistent in their power, while at the same time presented as entertaining, making startling and titillating entrances and exits in Rue’s day-to-day life.  

However, the most compelling characters in my opinion are the homeless Mackey and shopkeepers Dan, Joss, and Chloe, the other friends in the pod, because all of the turmoil generated around Rue and Serafina affects them deeply. The author seems to expect us to connect with the heroes but they are sweetly and charmingly predictable. Other readers might be most concerned with the fate of the demon-buffeted, flawed, and floundering mortals.   

Was I dazzled by the sudden appearances of angels and demons with gigantic fourteen-foot wingspans, secretly revealed shining swords, and gigantic squishy-tentacled demons? Yes, without a doubt. Was I impressed with the compassion Rue learns from loving an angelic Serafina? Yes, again.  But they pale by comparison to the genuine affection that Dan shows for the homeless Mackey by piling him into his hand-me-down Nissan and taking him to the homeless shelter. That is an earthly heavenly moment.

Ascent of the Fallen is an epic adventure that spins the reader through the deepest depths to the highest heights and touches on a great deal in between.  From the mystical to the magical to the mundane, Frencl has created a believable earthly world that coincides with a heavenly one in turmoil and presents the challenges of that interface in a fast-paced feast of interwoven and inter-world storytelling.