Children of the Promise Series by Dean Hughes

These books were given to me by a neighbor several years ago, and I promptly tucked them away on a shelf.  I liked their pretty covers, but I wasn't in the mood for LDS fiction (honestly, I'm never in the mood for LDS fiction).  But having nothing to read a while back, I thought I'd give them a sporting chance.  So, dust covers removed, I began to "plow" my way through the series . . . or so I thought.  Instead, I found myself completely drawn in by Hughes' writing style, the stories, and the characters themselves.

He really did his research--I have to applaud that.  Although the main characters are fictional, almost everything that happens in the series is based on fact.  It follows the Thomas family, an LDS family living in Salt Lake City preceding, during, and following World War II.  With realistic dialogue, likeable characters, and a thrilling, fast-paced storyline, I didn't want to put the books down.  Any of them.  I think what I liked the most was learning about a piece of my family's history--both of my grandpa's served in WWII, and seeing what things were like for both them and their family and girls back home really struck a chord with me.  Very much worth reading, especially at this time of year--it begins around Christmas-time and describes the varied Christmases the family experiences as they spread all over the world.

The Great and the Terrible Series by Chris Stewart

This was a very interesting series. Now, I am not an LDS fiction reader, but this came highly recommended from a friend, and although I didn't love it, I'm not sorry I read it.  It's about a group of the noble and great spirits who make their way through life during the last days of the world.

Likes:  It really made me think about how Satan works (sort of put me in the same mindset as reading C.S. Lewis's "The Screwtape Letters"--only that's a completely different book--and such a good one--maybe I'll re-read it!).  The first book takes place in the author's rendition of the pre-existence, where you get to know the main characters of the series.  Good dialogue, good writing style, and the guy definitely knows his military stuff.

Dislikes:  It's definitely packed with action and a bit too much blood and gore for my taste.  I don't like reading about people's brains getting blown out, etc--maybe if I were a guy I would have liked it more.  Also, the whole adversary and devil's helpers thing started to scare me a bit.  And all the evil that leads up to the end of the world was just too much for me.  I'm afraid I did a lot of skimming through so I could get to the end and find out what happens.  The first and last books were my favorites.

If you are interested and want to know more, DeseretBook.com has a great review summing up the entire series.