Books like The Left Behind Collection I:

WARNING: Spoilers... for the Book of RevelationFiguring out exactly how I feel about these books has been a real issue for me. At first, I thought that I didn't like them. The more I think about my time reading them though, I have come to decide what I don't like is not really being able to pinpoint what I don't like about them. This is mainly because I can't decide whether this story is plot-driven or character-driven. At times, the Biblical apocalypse makes it seem plot driven, but then the books often focus on the internal struggles of the two perspective characters over the plot. I really can't decide what category they fall into. Nevertheless, I do really enjoy the way that the two perspective characters are written. They feel like real people with real struggles, and I connect with them. Also, the plot is often nail-bitingly riveting. That being said, most characters outside of the two perspective characters feel flat. The authors start to improve on this later in the series, but I still feel like it could be better. In other books, the non-perspective characters are the most interesting ones. Another issue is that at other times it feels like the plot comes to a screeching and unnecessary halt because they need to fill pages. Then I think that there is a bit of a book-to-book continuity problem. Some things that you are left to believe are going to have massive consequences at the end of one book are easily resolved at the beginning of the next. Those are my issues, and here is my ranking of the four books in this collection.1. Left Behind - by far the best of these four. All character decisions feel real and there are a variety of interesting side characters. Additionally, the characters are constantly dealing with the consequences of the plot. 2. Tribulation Force - probably next to last. This one drags a little bit. The Antichrist and his plan are fleshed out a little more in this one so that is nice. The most jarring thing for me was the introduction of large time gaps, a series staple. While it might have seemed necessary, I feel that parts of this book could have been trimmed off to shorten that gap. 3. Nicolae - the second best. The disasters in this book are incredible. The earthquake at the end makes your heart pump. The Antichrist actually starts to antagonize the world and our heroes in this book, that was refreshing. 4. Soul Harvest - the worst of this bunch. I thought that it was completely forgettable. I read this one the most recently and I can barely tell you what happened. So much of this feels like filler. The only interesting things that happen are the One World Religion being fleshed out and my favorite side character joining the little band of saints. That being said, I have read the fifth book and I can tell you that this one was just a fluke. They do get better.