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Supernatural #6
War of the Sons
Twenty-seven years ago, Sam and Dean Winchester lost their mother to a mysterious and demonic supernatural force. In the years after, their father, John, taught them about the paranormal evil that lives in the dark corners and on the back roads of America... and he taught them how to kill it.
On the hunt for Lucifer, the boys find themselves in a small town in South Dakota where they meet Don - an angel with a proposition... Don sends them a very long way from home, on a mission to uncover the secret Satan never wanted them to find out.
A brand-new Supernatural novel that reveals a previously unseen adventure for the Winchester brothers, from the hit CW series!
On the hunt for Lucifer, the boys find themselves in a small town in South Dakota where they meet Don - an angel with a proposition... Don sends them a very long way from home, on a mission to uncover the secret Satan never wanted them to find out.
A brand-new Supernatural novel that reveals a previously unseen adventure for the Winchester brothers, from the hit CW series!
336 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 24, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 173 reviews
June 15, 2011
2.5 Stars. Okay let me get this out of the way first -- I'm a huge fan of this show which -- over the course of six seasons and counting -- has consistently offered so much more than cheap, dime-store, cotton-candy thrills. The writing is truly exceptional, the story arc original and perfectly paced, the scares are truly scary, and the humor side-splitting. Ghosts, monsters, demons, archangels, Lucifer, the Apocalypse – this show has everything! What more can you ask for from network TV?
And then there's Dean Winchester (be still my heart), the guy that caring writers have taken the time to carve into an iconic yet flawed character definitely worth 10,000 watts of fangirl adoration. Because this Winchester brother is much more than a pretty boy with a voracious appetite for sex, pie and mullet rock; he is a man of integrity and devotion, fierce loyalty and a golden heart. He might not always say the right thing, but when the chips are down, he will always do the right thing -- or die trying. I have become addicted to his acerbic, smart-alecky, movie referencing ways, his uncomplicated, deeply appreciative approach to food, sex and music and his fierce loyalty to his brother that guides every decision he ever makes.
I usually turn to these pulpy series novels when the show has wrapped up for another season, and there's that long stretch of Winchester-less summer before me until September. This latest installment - War of the Sons - is okay for a quick fun read. But just okay. Building on Season 5 canon, the story is rich in inside jokes and benefits from being able to draw upon the Apocalypse story arc. The time-travel twist is interesting, although I thought that so much more could have been done with the brothers in 1950s New York. I didn't like the love interest for Dean in this one either; it just felt forced and contrived. Some of the action sequences went on a little too long as well, and I found myself skimming more than reading several times.
Overall, these knock-off books used to promote the series are just that -- cheap knock-offs. They certainly could never be used to attract new fans, that's for sure. They are a poor substitute for the real thing.
And then there's Dean Winchester (be still my heart), the guy that caring writers have taken the time to carve into an iconic yet flawed character definitely worth 10,000 watts of fangirl adoration. Because this Winchester brother is much more than a pretty boy with a voracious appetite for sex, pie and mullet rock; he is a man of integrity and devotion, fierce loyalty and a golden heart. He might not always say the right thing, but when the chips are down, he will always do the right thing -- or die trying. I have become addicted to his acerbic, smart-alecky, movie referencing ways, his uncomplicated, deeply appreciative approach to food, sex and music and his fierce loyalty to his brother that guides every decision he ever makes.
I usually turn to these pulpy series novels when the show has wrapped up for another season, and there's that long stretch of Winchester-less summer before me until September. This latest installment - War of the Sons - is okay for a quick fun read. But just okay. Building on Season 5 canon, the story is rich in inside jokes and benefits from being able to draw upon the Apocalypse story arc. The time-travel twist is interesting, although I thought that so much more could have been done with the brothers in 1950s New York. I didn't like the love interest for Dean in this one either; it just felt forced and contrived. Some of the action sequences went on a little too long as well, and I found myself skimming more than reading several times.
Overall, these knock-off books used to promote the series are just that -- cheap knock-offs. They certainly could never be used to attract new fans, that's for sure. They are a poor substitute for the real thing.
January 5, 2021
War of the Sons (Supernatural #6) by Rebecca Dessertine and David Reed takes a little too long to get going but once our does it's pretty great. I really miss watching new episodes of the tv series. The authors do a good job of getting the tone of both Sam and Dean right which is one of the main things I look for in these tie-in books.
September 5, 2010
Overall, I enjoyed this romp, mostly because it featured heavily on Sam and Dean’s vessel heritage. I won’t lie, I really like the mytharc aspects of the story. As when the boys discover the missing piece of the Dead Sea Scroll was written by a prophet who knew the names of the vessels, including theirs, well it suckered me in. The boys also travel to 1954 Manhattan. I was in 2010 Manhattan only two weeks ago, so pretty cool.
The story features other hunters working together, and I can’t help wondering if it foreshadows events to come. One hunter, Julia, gets involved with the boys (Dean specifically, and you can’t help but scream: “Dean, it’s Bela 2.0!” He doesn’t heed our warnings though, much to Sam’s chagrin. We get inside Sammy’s head more than the usual, learning that sometimes, he still misses Ruby and at other times thinks the easiest apocalyptic solution would be to get himself killed.
The story is at its most cohesive while in Manhattan, once on the train westbound, things get a bit harder to follow. They have demons on their tail and a story of love and jealousy. Seems Lucifer’s got himself more than one woman. At first I thought, angels, they aren’t into sex, but then I remembered Gabriel and his outright debauchery and thought, what the Hell, Lu’s gotta be the same, after all, little bro learned from the best.
I guess that’s where I had issues of semantics. The authors call Lucifer the Devil and Satan most of the time. Which doesn’t really work with how the show really ended up painting him as an angel brother more than anything else.
In the end, everyone is satisfied, but not before there is this odd confrontation with Abaddon. You know Abaddon, the angel of death, sometimes also considered a fallen angel. Well here, that’s exactly what he is and Cas calls in 5 Heavenly angels who kill him. It was all just, a little weird, but anyways, I have an affection for Abaddon from the Blue Bloods series by Melissa De la Cruz, so I guess I couldn’t separate the two.
My greatest issue wasn’t with angels and names, nope it was with geography:
First off, the Great Lakes are no where near Albany! And if you are traveling west within the US, they will be on your right, not the left! Again with the geography: As the train heads north out of Manhattan a women notices it as she faces north with NJ on her right! Ummm that’s impossible! NJ would be on her left as would the Hudson that borders the west side of Manhattan (this the eastern border river got the name East River).
And then they take the “Freeway”. Ok, the term itself tends to be specific to locations (and TomTom GPS) but in 1954 the interstate system was just beginning (in fact, not federally ordered until 1956). Mostly people at that time would have traveled the larger US highways, for example US 20 which goes from Boston to Oregon, and is now mirrored in Interstate 90.
If you take any one of the supernatural novels, and consider it to be an episode, then you will enjoy the story. I like the idea of the books since summer hiatus is long. They are not the best written pieces, but they still hold my attention and stir my imagination.
The story features other hunters working together, and I can’t help wondering if it foreshadows events to come. One hunter, Julia, gets involved with the boys (Dean specifically, and you can’t help but scream: “Dean, it’s Bela 2.0!” He doesn’t heed our warnings though, much to Sam’s chagrin. We get inside Sammy’s head more than the usual, learning that sometimes, he still misses Ruby and at other times thinks the easiest apocalyptic solution would be to get himself killed.
The story is at its most cohesive while in Manhattan, once on the train westbound, things get a bit harder to follow. They have demons on their tail and a story of love and jealousy. Seems Lucifer’s got himself more than one woman. At first I thought, angels, they aren’t into sex, but then I remembered Gabriel and his outright debauchery and thought, what the Hell, Lu’s gotta be the same, after all, little bro learned from the best.
I guess that’s where I had issues of semantics. The authors call Lucifer the Devil and Satan most of the time. Which doesn’t really work with how the show really ended up painting him as an angel brother more than anything else.
In the end, everyone is satisfied, but not before there is this odd confrontation with Abaddon. You know Abaddon, the angel of death, sometimes also considered a fallen angel. Well here, that’s exactly what he is and Cas calls in 5 Heavenly angels who kill him. It was all just, a little weird, but anyways, I have an affection for Abaddon from the Blue Bloods series by Melissa De la Cruz, so I guess I couldn’t separate the two.
My greatest issue wasn’t with angels and names, nope it was with geography:
First off, the Great Lakes are no where near Albany! And if you are traveling west within the US, they will be on your right, not the left! Again with the geography: As the train heads north out of Manhattan a women notices it as she faces north with NJ on her right! Ummm that’s impossible! NJ would be on her left as would the Hudson that borders the west side of Manhattan (this the eastern border river got the name East River).
And then they take the “Freeway”. Ok, the term itself tends to be specific to locations (and TomTom GPS) but in 1954 the interstate system was just beginning (in fact, not federally ordered until 1956). Mostly people at that time would have traveled the larger US highways, for example US 20 which goes from Boston to Oregon, and is now mirrored in Interstate 90.
If you take any one of the supernatural novels, and consider it to be an episode, then you will enjoy the story. I like the idea of the books since summer hiatus is long. They are not the best written pieces, but they still hold my attention and stir my imagination.
September 22, 2010
I liked the story idea in general, especially towards the end when it was clear what secrets the scrolls were containing. But then there were so many things that I didn’t like that I actually feel the need to write it down. And usually, I’m not writing book reviews that are this long. As well as usually, when I don’t have anything nice to say, I say nothing at all. Maybe it’s because I noticed so many contradictions from canon, which I just wanted to point out. But which is also sad as the book was written by two people who’re working on Supernatural, even wrote episodes before, so they should know more.
Anyway, first, I had some troubles getting into the story, but I have that sometimes with books, so I wasn’t concerned and thought it would get better later on. But it already went downhill when Dean and Sam met Don, the angel, who wasn’t really that angel-like. But that’s not the worst part. I mean, we’re used to angels, not behaving like typical angels, like Gabriel for example. I also noticed that Don was very much different from the first time he appears in the book, at the very beginning when he’s looking for his (vessel’s) son at the camp site, than when he actually met the Winchesters. First, he was serious, but with the boys, he wasn’t at all. Knowing his end game in the end, I was thinking that he maybe just tried to act differently to get the Winchesters’ trust. Also, why the plague-like incidents just to attract the Winchesters attention, instead of just approaching them?
The time travel back to 1954 was a good idea, I thought. I don’t mind time travel at all, so that’s one of the few things that I really liked. I almost already expected Dean and Sam to get send back there as it was said in the beginning that that was when the War Scroll was seen complete the last.
First, I thought it would be really simple, a grab and run, so to speak, but then two other hunters appeared, Walter and his daughter Julia, which I thought was an interesting turn. Also because it’s not clear at all right away that they’re hunters, too. But the escape with the train was just ridiculous, I thought. Sam went from car to car and painted devil’s traps before the doors but then they were attacked by many demons anyway, so there really was no use at all for those. Same goes for painting the devil’s traps on the ceiling, walls and floor again when they were surrounded in one train car by the demons, and – Eisheth, one of Lucifer’s wives. Later, the reader finds out that she had been trapped in one of the clay jars where the scrolls had been in. But first, I was like, what the hell is she doing there? And why? But ok, that was cleared then. Still, I didn’t like it that much. Especially the scenes in the warehouse towards the end.
For the main characters, Sam, again, carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, as so often. Why he felt guilty for the dead hunters in 1954, I didn’t know. Something must’ve happened to them, otherwise they would still have those hunter meetings in such large groups in the future. Which the boys asked themselves, too, that something must’ve happened. So, if you ask me, Sam or Dean couldn’t be blamed for anything that happened there, as it was clearly part of the hunters’ destinies to die there and no one was guilty of it. Imagine the story without the boys entirely: Walter would’ve stolen the War Scroll right from the beginning and still would’ve met with the other hunters in that warehouse and Eisheth would’ve killed them all. It would’ve happened anyway.
The love story between Dean and Julia was pointless. Of course, it’s in Dean’s nature to be after (almost) every beautiful girl, but to develop feelings right away, that’s something else entirely. And then even thinking about giving up hunting, having a future with Julia – in 1954! – that is so not Dean at all! What I liked though was when Dean went to this retirement home – in 2010 – to go through Julia’s stuff that she left behind after she died. What I would’ve enjoyed even more, I think, would’ve been for Julia to be still alive and meet Dean again. The reader never finds out what happened to her back in 1954 after the boys left, so it could’ve been possible.
I liked that it were Dean and Sam who destroyed the last pages of the scroll in the end and that that made them travel back to 2010. As it’s first said, no one knows what happened to the pages and Don sent them to find the pages and bring them back, but due to what they find out about the scroll, they destroy it. So that’s why no one knows what happened to those last pages. Cool turn.
What I absolutely hated though was that Dean promised Eisheth to take her with them to 2010 to be with Lucifer, only that she wouldn’t kill Julia! I’m sure there could’ve been other ways, too. And then having her “travel” in Sam’s body?! Come on! Or letting her possess another woman then! Even if Dean had used that promise to have her let go of Julia, he could’ve still broken his promise and just killed her, in my opinion.
And then her fight with Don wasn’t good, either. I mean, still using Sam’s body to defeat an angel? At the same time while they’re fighting, Dean called Castiel and he pops right in the café next to Dean – where everybody saw it! Not the usual way they do things. And instead of helping Sam or rather Eisheth, so Sam’s body doesn’t get even more beat up, he summons more angels, although we’ve found out before that not all angels are our friends, right? And then they kill Don.
And Castiel! Why didn’t he heal Sam, I thought myself, like he would heal Dean later on in the season 5 finale? The story of the book takes place after “My Bloody Valentine”, so he doesn’t have his angel mojo, I realized then. But still he has enough power to teleport Dean and Sam, and even the Impala!? So, I guess there are some errors in the continuity.
All in all, for me, this was one of the worst Supernatural novels, so far.
Anyway, first, I had some troubles getting into the story, but I have that sometimes with books, so I wasn’t concerned and thought it would get better later on. But it already went downhill when Dean and Sam met Don, the angel, who wasn’t really that angel-like. But that’s not the worst part. I mean, we’re used to angels, not behaving like typical angels, like Gabriel for example. I also noticed that Don was very much different from the first time he appears in the book, at the very beginning when he’s looking for his (vessel’s) son at the camp site, than when he actually met the Winchesters. First, he was serious, but with the boys, he wasn’t at all. Knowing his end game in the end, I was thinking that he maybe just tried to act differently to get the Winchesters’ trust. Also, why the plague-like incidents just to attract the Winchesters attention, instead of just approaching them?
The time travel back to 1954 was a good idea, I thought. I don’t mind time travel at all, so that’s one of the few things that I really liked. I almost already expected Dean and Sam to get send back there as it was said in the beginning that that was when the War Scroll was seen complete the last.
First, I thought it would be really simple, a grab and run, so to speak, but then two other hunters appeared, Walter and his daughter Julia, which I thought was an interesting turn. Also because it’s not clear at all right away that they’re hunters, too. But the escape with the train was just ridiculous, I thought. Sam went from car to car and painted devil’s traps before the doors but then they were attacked by many demons anyway, so there really was no use at all for those. Same goes for painting the devil’s traps on the ceiling, walls and floor again when they were surrounded in one train car by the demons, and – Eisheth, one of Lucifer’s wives. Later, the reader finds out that she had been trapped in one of the clay jars where the scrolls had been in. But first, I was like, what the hell is she doing there? And why? But ok, that was cleared then. Still, I didn’t like it that much. Especially the scenes in the warehouse towards the end.
For the main characters, Sam, again, carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, as so often. Why he felt guilty for the dead hunters in 1954, I didn’t know. Something must’ve happened to them, otherwise they would still have those hunter meetings in such large groups in the future. Which the boys asked themselves, too, that something must’ve happened. So, if you ask me, Sam or Dean couldn’t be blamed for anything that happened there, as it was clearly part of the hunters’ destinies to die there and no one was guilty of it. Imagine the story without the boys entirely: Walter would’ve stolen the War Scroll right from the beginning and still would’ve met with the other hunters in that warehouse and Eisheth would’ve killed them all. It would’ve happened anyway.
The love story between Dean and Julia was pointless. Of course, it’s in Dean’s nature to be after (almost) every beautiful girl, but to develop feelings right away, that’s something else entirely. And then even thinking about giving up hunting, having a future with Julia – in 1954! – that is so not Dean at all! What I liked though was when Dean went to this retirement home – in 2010 – to go through Julia’s stuff that she left behind after she died. What I would’ve enjoyed even more, I think, would’ve been for Julia to be still alive and meet Dean again. The reader never finds out what happened to her back in 1954 after the boys left, so it could’ve been possible.
I liked that it were Dean and Sam who destroyed the last pages of the scroll in the end and that that made them travel back to 2010. As it’s first said, no one knows what happened to the pages and Don sent them to find the pages and bring them back, but due to what they find out about the scroll, they destroy it. So that’s why no one knows what happened to those last pages. Cool turn.
What I absolutely hated though was that Dean promised Eisheth to take her with them to 2010 to be with Lucifer, only that she wouldn’t kill Julia! I’m sure there could’ve been other ways, too. And then having her “travel” in Sam’s body?! Come on! Or letting her possess another woman then! Even if Dean had used that promise to have her let go of Julia, he could’ve still broken his promise and just killed her, in my opinion.
And then her fight with Don wasn’t good, either. I mean, still using Sam’s body to defeat an angel? At the same time while they’re fighting, Dean called Castiel and he pops right in the café next to Dean – where everybody saw it! Not the usual way they do things. And instead of helping Sam or rather Eisheth, so Sam’s body doesn’t get even more beat up, he summons more angels, although we’ve found out before that not all angels are our friends, right? And then they kill Don.
And Castiel! Why didn’t he heal Sam, I thought myself, like he would heal Dean later on in the season 5 finale? The story of the book takes place after “My Bloody Valentine”, so he doesn’t have his angel mojo, I realized then. But still he has enough power to teleport Dean and Sam, and even the Impala!? So, I guess there are some errors in the continuity.
All in all, for me, this was one of the worst Supernatural novels, so far.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 27, 2010
Okay. Here's the deal. The entire plot (and surrounding angst etc.) of this book rests on a false premise - one that was specifically negated ON THE SHOW. (In fifth season, episode 3 in fact - and the book states it takes place fifth season after *episode 14.*) How this got all the way to publication without SOMEONE saying, "Ummm....you do know we specifically said that wouldn't work, right?" baffles me.
Also, for a guy in the state Dean was in after episode 5.14 ("My Bloody Valentine"), he's surprisingly open to diving into a sentimental relationship with a woman he just met. Actually, just *for Dean* he's surprisingly open to diving into a *sentimental relationship*. Yes, this means there is romance in this book. But none of the good stuff is on the page.
The Dean in these books is never Actual Dean from the show, so his inconsistencies are not unexpected. The object of his affection is.... well, we are told she is fantastic, etc. but she does very little to merit the adjectives. You may think she is an irritating incompetent bitch, but you'd be wrong. She's just the most fantastic-est girl Dean has ever met.
So, if you can look over these issues, then you'll find it an entertaining read.
I read it all and it entertained me, although sometimes I just pretended it wasn't a Supernatural story so the inconsistencies didn't bother me (which sort of defeats the purpose).
Also, for a guy in the state Dean was in after episode 5.14 ("My Bloody Valentine"), he's surprisingly open to diving into a sentimental relationship with a woman he just met. Actually, just *for Dean* he's surprisingly open to diving into a *sentimental relationship*. Yes, this means there is romance in this book. But none of the good stuff is on the page.
The Dean in these books is never Actual Dean from the show, so his inconsistencies are not unexpected. The object of his affection is.... well, we are told she is fantastic, etc. but she does very little to merit the adjectives. You may think she is an irritating incompetent bitch, but you'd be wrong. She's just the most fantastic-est girl Dean has ever met.
So, if you can look over these issues, then you'll find it an entertaining read.
I read it all and it entertained me, although sometimes I just pretended it wasn't a Supernatural story so the inconsistencies didn't bother me (which sort of defeats the purpose).
July 2, 2016
This book reads like bad fan fiction. Did the publisher even hire an editor? The author is one of those morons who think "should've" is spelled "should of" to name one pathetic error that shouldn't be made by anyone writing above a fifth grade level. Once she describes a characters legs as "akimbo." Seriously. Since the definition of akimbo is "with hand on hip and elbow bent outward" that's pretty hard to do with your LEGS, since you know, they aren't ARMS. www.dictionary.com/browse/akimbo
She uses "begs the question" to mean "brings up the question" rather than the rhetorical device of avoiding the question that it actually is.
She uses "whomever" when it should be "whoever" I guess thinking it makes her sound smart, when it really shows she has no grasp of English whatsoever. Seriously, I've seen fanfic authors with a better grounding in basic grammar and word usage.
Does she even watch the show? Some of the errors are just pathetic and would only happen if someone had just never watched. These are just a FEW of them:
She has Sam saying he "dropped out of law school" when in fact he never attended law school.
She introduces a new ANGEL called (HAHAHAHA) ABADDON! Whoops!
She describes Dean as not having taken care of Sam as a child, as having left Sam to fend for himself as far as food, etc. We know this is false even in the first season as they show child-Dean making Sam Spaghettios and cereal (all they had, sadly.)
Early in the book she has an angel say "even angels have to pee." NO THEY DON'T. Angels don't have to do any bodily functions. They never have to pee. Ever.
I'm only going to finish it because of my reading challenge and to have someone to laugh at. This is really, REALLY BAD.
She uses "begs the question" to mean "brings up the question" rather than the rhetorical device of avoiding the question that it actually is.
She uses "whomever" when it should be "whoever" I guess thinking it makes her sound smart, when it really shows she has no grasp of English whatsoever. Seriously, I've seen fanfic authors with a better grounding in basic grammar and word usage.
Does she even watch the show? Some of the errors are just pathetic and would only happen if someone had just never watched. These are just a FEW of them:
She has Sam saying he "dropped out of law school" when in fact he never attended law school.
She introduces a new ANGEL called (HAHAHAHA) ABADDON! Whoops!
She describes Dean as not having taken care of Sam as a child, as having left Sam to fend for himself as far as food, etc. We know this is false even in the first season as they show child-Dean making Sam Spaghettios and cereal (all they had, sadly.)
Early in the book she has an angel say "even angels have to pee." NO THEY DON'T. Angels don't have to do any bodily functions. They never have to pee. Ever.
I'm only going to finish it because of my reading challenge and to have someone to laugh at. This is really, REALLY BAD.
July 11, 2011
This takes place after Lucifer has been released from the Cage and the boys already know they are to be Lucifer’s and Michael’s vessels.
Spoiler Alert: This non-review was more difficult than most to separate the plot and go with vague reactions, so I just gave up and pretty much reveal the entire plot. So if you haven’t read it yet and don’t want to be spoiled, you might want to skip this non-review.
Prolouge—A kid’s dad (Don) shows up at his camp and is acting weird. The camp lake gets a sudden infestation of frogs.
Chapter 1—Dean & Sam investigate the camp as the sudden frog outcropping is a sign of the Apocalypse. Get a lead on the dad Don. This chapter is mostly set-up, explaining what has been happening with Lucifer’s jailbreak and Sam and Dean trying to avoid their end-game roles.
Chapter 2—Walking through town they hear a scream. The town swimming pool spontaneously started boiling. They track Don down in a bar and are surprised that he knows exactly who they are.
Chapter 3—Don is the angel Abaddon, gatekeeper of Satan’s Cage, a job he was sick of. But as the guard, he heard a lot of things and he learned another way to defeat Luficer without Dean and Sam having to go to the prize fight. Abaddon’s cavalier personality is a lot like Balthazar’s. Basically there is an ancient text that was part of the Dead Sea Scrolls, but was lost in 1954. Said text has the secret to ending Satan once and for all. Before they know what is happening, Abaddon sends them back to 1954.
Chapter 4—It’s kinda cute seeing the boys get used to 1950s New York without computers, working cell phones, or current money. They do have Ruby’s knife on them. They find a cheap apartment to stay in and Sam sleeps in the bathtub because there isn’t a bed.
Chapter 5-6—The ancient text is going up for auction at the Waldrop Astoria so they go to get jobs at the hotel. Sam isn’t hired because his hair is too long for that day and age. Hee. Dean jokes about that until he finds out he has to wear one of those bell hop outfits with the little monkey cap. Double Hee. While carrying bags, Dean can’t help flirting with an attractive woman. Dean’s got a love interest! Who technically is 30 years older than him, but hey.
Meanwhile doing research, Sam meets a Hebrew scholar named Walter who knows quite a bit about the text.
Second meanwhile, a security guard at the hotel, accidently unseals one of the ancient jars accompanying the text and is possessed by black smoke. It is not an ordinary demon, more like a guard dog demon, as in he now has the attributes of a dog. He kills another of the guards.
Third meanwhile, Sam goes back to the apartment and notices a pretty woman walking down the hallway. Once inside, he realizes the place has been ransacked and Ruby’s knife and their useless phones are gone. But hey, he found the bed, one of those fold out from the wall units.
Chapter 7— Dean gets drunk with the guard James to get access to the text. Uh-oh, when Dean lifts one of the jar lids and see a Devil’s Trap inscribed, James-dog goes on the alert and charges Dean.
Chapter 8—Dean loses that fight and comes to with the hotel clerk standing over him and two cops approaching. He’s fired and taken to jail. Sam comes to get him out and finds Dean has been making friends and playing poker with the cops. Now they have some money.
Dean and Sam buy 1950s suits and Sam gets 4 inches cut off his hair. 4 inches? Seriously? He slicks it back so hopefully it’s still long enough. Ugh. Really don’t want writers messing with the boy’s hair. He pretends to be a representative for a made-up buyer so he can get into the private auction for the texts.
Dean goes to the Waldrop. He runs into James who doesn’t recognize him as the demon-dog lays low when it’s not in proximity with the text. Dean sees the pretty girl from earlier so goes to flirt with her. Her name is Julia. She flirts back, though more in a teasing hard-to-get way.
Chapter 9—Sam finds a goodfella and purchases some weapons. Kind of a fun scene. Julia follows the boys without them seeing her.
Chapter 10—Sam and Dean put two and two together that Julia is tailing them and was the one who stole Ruby’s knife. They buy salt to make salt rounds as they prepare to get the text.
Chapter 11—Plans are made to rob the auction. Dean goes into big brother mode because he doesn’t like that Sam has to go in alone. Dr. Sexy is mentioned. Grinning.
Chapter 12—Staking out the hotel before the heist, Dean spies Julia pick-pocketing another guy’s wallet. He confronts her, but the hotel clerk comes after him so he has to let her go.
Chapter 13—Sam goes to the auction & is surprised to find scholar Walter there as well. Guard dog demon James is on his way to the auction suite. Pretending to be a window washer, Dean harnesses up to repel off the roof.
Chapter 14—Aution is interrupted by gunshots—not Sam’s, someone beat him to it. Julia enters, intent on stealing the text. Walter is in on it with her. James comes, starts killing guards, jars are broken, Walter grabs some of the parchment. Chaos. More shots fired. James claws Walter. Heroically, Dean breaks through the window, firing salt rounds. Security comes in firing at Sam. Julia Jumps onto Dean and they fall out the window.
Chapter 15—Intent on the briefcase Julia holds with the text, doggieJames launches out the window, latching onto the rope. Dean screams for Julia to drop it. She reluctantly does and doggie goes after it, falling to his death. Dean gets the rope and harness under control. Unnoticed, one of the other guys at the auction, Eli, picks up the briefcase. During the chaos in the suite, Sam slips out and helps the wounded Walter to the roof to help Dean and Julia, Walter’s daughter. Walter and Julia ditch them. Dean misses the Impala.
Chapters 16-19—While checking out Walter’s ransacked office, Sam runs into Walter. The guy knows a lot more about Lucifer and Michael and demons than he’d let on. Sam convinces him to work together. They track Eli& the texts to a train station. Sam, Dean, Walter & Julia get on the same train. Unfortunately so do several demons.
Chapter 20-21—Sam starts drawing Devil Traps under the carpets by all the train-car doors. They find Eli. Demons find them. There’s a new player. Eisbeth, fallen angel, one of Lucifer’s wives, stuck in one of the jars for centuries to guard the text. She’s a little unbalanced from being trapped so long. She’s nasty, totally In love with Satan and is thrilled that her husband’s new vessel, Sam, is a stud-muffin. I approve. She’s the best villain any of these Supernatural books has offered so far. Crazy is always much more frightening. And she wants those texts.
Chapter 22—While Dean holds off the demons in their car, Sam is full-on running across the top of the train cars, dropping down and unhooking cars so the other passengers will be safe. Dude, he’s like James Bond. Sam shows back up, gives the signal, and they all jump across to the forward car before the other car detaches, leaving Eisbeth in the dust.
Chapters 23-24—A few more run-ins with Eisbeth. Julia now knows that Sam is Lucifer’s vessel. Dean and Julia do the bedside tango.
WARNING: Don’t read the next chapter summary if you don’t want the entire plot-line boiled down. Skip to Chapter 27.
Chapters 25-26—Turns out Julia and Walter are Hunters, within a network of several hundred Hunters. Walter starts translating the text. Turns out it doesn’t detail a way to kill Lucifer. It’s a list of all the angels and their vessels. Including the Winchesters. Abaddon tricked them into getting the text so that the demons could kill all the vessels bloodlines and the angels wouldn’t have any vessels.
Chapter 27—Apparently the network of Hunters of the 1950s are pretty ruthless, ready to do whatever it takes to do their jobs and stop the future Apocalypse. Julia argues with Dean about how he should kill Lucifer’s vessel for the greater good. Walter & Julia ditch them, taking the text.
Chapters 28-29—The boys stop another Hunter Julia sent to kill a little boy who will be the granddad of one of the vessels. Dean is really sad because he liked Julia. They track the Hunter to an old abandoned railroad warehouse where the network of Hunters are meeting, getting assignments to go kill innocent people with the bloodlines of future vessels. Of course, Eisbeth and a ton of demons crash the party.
Chapter 30—Eisbeth orders her demons to kill everyone, but Sam. Sam is stuck between her, and a bunch of Hunters who just leveled their guns at his back. Eisbeth goes off on a bad guy monologue, explaining how it was Abaddon who tricked her into going into the jar. She also says she’ll spare everyone if Sam goes with her. Walter’s the first one killed. Since he was ready to kill Sam, I’m not too broken up about that.
Chapter 31—Chaos as demons fight Hunters. Dean grabs the text off Walter and he, Sam and Julia make a run for it, finding a bunch of explosives in the basement. Of course they did. Leading a fuse line, they crawl through a sewage tunnel to get out, but in the rear, Sam gets pulled by a demon, breaking the fuse. Sam has to go back to the warehouse to light it. Eisbeth is there. She starts kissin and stuff on Sam, but he manages to light the fuse and blow up the demons and Hunters upstairs. But when he goes to stab Eisbeth with Ruby’s knife, she loses it and throws Sam into an old train, knocking him out, even though she didn’t want to hurt him.
Chapter 32—Outside, Dean is freaked by the explosion and no little brother showing up. He freaks out even more when Eisbeth appears, dragging an unconscious Sam across the ground. Thinking fast, Dean makes a proposition that will get crazy demon chick reunited with her devil hubby right now instead of waiting 30 years. Oh, Dean, you are so clever when you have to think fast on your feet.
Eisbeth voluntarily vacates her vessel. Back at a hotel, Dean says goodbye to Julia, though she wants him to stay. Sam finally wakes up, but is a little out of it. Dean burns what’s left of the text.
Chapter 33—Abaddon zaps them back to 2010. As soon as Sam sees him he is enraged. Abaddon realizes too late that it’s not Sam, but Eisbeth possessing him and the two angels start beating the crap out of each other while Dean yells things like “hey, careful with my brother.” Seeing that Sam is taking on angel-size punishment not meant for a human, Dean grabs a phone to call Castiel. Castiel shows, quickly does an incantation so other angels can find Abaddon. Within seconds, angels are stabbing Donny and Cas transports Sam and Dean away before the angels turn on Sam. Poor Sam, he’s already beat to hell. Castiel asks why there is a demon in Sam, but Dean tells Cas to let her go per their deal.
Epilogue—Dean visits the nursing home where Julia spent the last years of her life. Going through her things he finds the transcribed list of angels and their vessels, except by Lucifer and Michael, the names of their vessels have been cut off.
What I liked about this book is that the Winchester angel/demon saga is closely tied into the plot. In fact, I think it’s the first Supernatural book I’ve read where the boys being vessels is the main plot, instead of some other mystery they solve.
I liked it. It stayed true to the characters, had enough excitement, clue-gathering, brotherly angst and hurt to satisfy. Plus the way the conclusion played out was interesting and clever. I always love a good villain too, and Eisbeth was well rounded in her insanity to be pretty frightening.
I can definitely recommend War of the Sons.
Spoiler Alert: This non-review was more difficult than most to separate the plot and go with vague reactions, so I just gave up and pretty much reveal the entire plot. So if you haven’t read it yet and don’t want to be spoiled, you might want to skip this non-review.
Prolouge—A kid’s dad (Don) shows up at his camp and is acting weird. The camp lake gets a sudden infestation of frogs.
Chapter 1—Dean & Sam investigate the camp as the sudden frog outcropping is a sign of the Apocalypse. Get a lead on the dad Don. This chapter is mostly set-up, explaining what has been happening with Lucifer’s jailbreak and Sam and Dean trying to avoid their end-game roles.
Chapter 2—Walking through town they hear a scream. The town swimming pool spontaneously started boiling. They track Don down in a bar and are surprised that he knows exactly who they are.
Chapter 3—Don is the angel Abaddon, gatekeeper of Satan’s Cage, a job he was sick of. But as the guard, he heard a lot of things and he learned another way to defeat Luficer without Dean and Sam having to go to the prize fight. Abaddon’s cavalier personality is a lot like Balthazar’s. Basically there is an ancient text that was part of the Dead Sea Scrolls, but was lost in 1954. Said text has the secret to ending Satan once and for all. Before they know what is happening, Abaddon sends them back to 1954.
Chapter 4—It’s kinda cute seeing the boys get used to 1950s New York without computers, working cell phones, or current money. They do have Ruby’s knife on them. They find a cheap apartment to stay in and Sam sleeps in the bathtub because there isn’t a bed.
Chapter 5-6—The ancient text is going up for auction at the Waldrop Astoria so they go to get jobs at the hotel. Sam isn’t hired because his hair is too long for that day and age. Hee. Dean jokes about that until he finds out he has to wear one of those bell hop outfits with the little monkey cap. Double Hee. While carrying bags, Dean can’t help flirting with an attractive woman. Dean’s got a love interest! Who technically is 30 years older than him, but hey.
Meanwhile doing research, Sam meets a Hebrew scholar named Walter who knows quite a bit about the text.
Second meanwhile, a security guard at the hotel, accidently unseals one of the ancient jars accompanying the text and is possessed by black smoke. It is not an ordinary demon, more like a guard dog demon, as in he now has the attributes of a dog. He kills another of the guards.
Third meanwhile, Sam goes back to the apartment and notices a pretty woman walking down the hallway. Once inside, he realizes the place has been ransacked and Ruby’s knife and their useless phones are gone. But hey, he found the bed, one of those fold out from the wall units.
Chapter 7— Dean gets drunk with the guard James to get access to the text. Uh-oh, when Dean lifts one of the jar lids and see a Devil’s Trap inscribed, James-dog goes on the alert and charges Dean.
Chapter 8—Dean loses that fight and comes to with the hotel clerk standing over him and two cops approaching. He’s fired and taken to jail. Sam comes to get him out and finds Dean has been making friends and playing poker with the cops. Now they have some money.
Dean and Sam buy 1950s suits and Sam gets 4 inches cut off his hair. 4 inches? Seriously? He slicks it back so hopefully it’s still long enough. Ugh. Really don’t want writers messing with the boy’s hair. He pretends to be a representative for a made-up buyer so he can get into the private auction for the texts.
Dean goes to the Waldrop. He runs into James who doesn’t recognize him as the demon-dog lays low when it’s not in proximity with the text. Dean sees the pretty girl from earlier so goes to flirt with her. Her name is Julia. She flirts back, though more in a teasing hard-to-get way.
Chapter 9—Sam finds a goodfella and purchases some weapons. Kind of a fun scene. Julia follows the boys without them seeing her.
Chapter 10—Sam and Dean put two and two together that Julia is tailing them and was the one who stole Ruby’s knife. They buy salt to make salt rounds as they prepare to get the text.
Chapter 11—Plans are made to rob the auction. Dean goes into big brother mode because he doesn’t like that Sam has to go in alone. Dr. Sexy is mentioned. Grinning.
Chapter 12—Staking out the hotel before the heist, Dean spies Julia pick-pocketing another guy’s wallet. He confronts her, but the hotel clerk comes after him so he has to let her go.
Chapter 13—Sam goes to the auction & is surprised to find scholar Walter there as well. Guard dog demon James is on his way to the auction suite. Pretending to be a window washer, Dean harnesses up to repel off the roof.
Chapter 14—Aution is interrupted by gunshots—not Sam’s, someone beat him to it. Julia enters, intent on stealing the text. Walter is in on it with her. James comes, starts killing guards, jars are broken, Walter grabs some of the parchment. Chaos. More shots fired. James claws Walter. Heroically, Dean breaks through the window, firing salt rounds. Security comes in firing at Sam. Julia Jumps onto Dean and they fall out the window.
Chapter 15—Intent on the briefcase Julia holds with the text, doggieJames launches out the window, latching onto the rope. Dean screams for Julia to drop it. She reluctantly does and doggie goes after it, falling to his death. Dean gets the rope and harness under control. Unnoticed, one of the other guys at the auction, Eli, picks up the briefcase. During the chaos in the suite, Sam slips out and helps the wounded Walter to the roof to help Dean and Julia, Walter’s daughter. Walter and Julia ditch them. Dean misses the Impala.
Chapters 16-19—While checking out Walter’s ransacked office, Sam runs into Walter. The guy knows a lot more about Lucifer and Michael and demons than he’d let on. Sam convinces him to work together. They track Eli& the texts to a train station. Sam, Dean, Walter & Julia get on the same train. Unfortunately so do several demons.
Chapter 20-21—Sam starts drawing Devil Traps under the carpets by all the train-car doors. They find Eli. Demons find them. There’s a new player. Eisbeth, fallen angel, one of Lucifer’s wives, stuck in one of the jars for centuries to guard the text. She’s a little unbalanced from being trapped so long. She’s nasty, totally In love with Satan and is thrilled that her husband’s new vessel, Sam, is a stud-muffin. I approve. She’s the best villain any of these Supernatural books has offered so far. Crazy is always much more frightening. And she wants those texts.
Chapter 22—While Dean holds off the demons in their car, Sam is full-on running across the top of the train cars, dropping down and unhooking cars so the other passengers will be safe. Dude, he’s like James Bond. Sam shows back up, gives the signal, and they all jump across to the forward car before the other car detaches, leaving Eisbeth in the dust.
Chapters 23-24—A few more run-ins with Eisbeth. Julia now knows that Sam is Lucifer’s vessel. Dean and Julia do the bedside tango.
WARNING: Don’t read the next chapter summary if you don’t want the entire plot-line boiled down. Skip to Chapter 27.
Chapters 25-26—Turns out Julia and Walter are Hunters, within a network of several hundred Hunters. Walter starts translating the text. Turns out it doesn’t detail a way to kill Lucifer. It’s a list of all the angels and their vessels. Including the Winchesters. Abaddon tricked them into getting the text so that the demons could kill all the vessels bloodlines and the angels wouldn’t have any vessels.
Chapter 27—Apparently the network of Hunters of the 1950s are pretty ruthless, ready to do whatever it takes to do their jobs and stop the future Apocalypse. Julia argues with Dean about how he should kill Lucifer’s vessel for the greater good. Walter & Julia ditch them, taking the text.
Chapters 28-29—The boys stop another Hunter Julia sent to kill a little boy who will be the granddad of one of the vessels. Dean is really sad because he liked Julia. They track the Hunter to an old abandoned railroad warehouse where the network of Hunters are meeting, getting assignments to go kill innocent people with the bloodlines of future vessels. Of course, Eisbeth and a ton of demons crash the party.
Chapter 30—Eisbeth orders her demons to kill everyone, but Sam. Sam is stuck between her, and a bunch of Hunters who just leveled their guns at his back. Eisbeth goes off on a bad guy monologue, explaining how it was Abaddon who tricked her into going into the jar. She also says she’ll spare everyone if Sam goes with her. Walter’s the first one killed. Since he was ready to kill Sam, I’m not too broken up about that.
Chapter 31—Chaos as demons fight Hunters. Dean grabs the text off Walter and he, Sam and Julia make a run for it, finding a bunch of explosives in the basement. Of course they did. Leading a fuse line, they crawl through a sewage tunnel to get out, but in the rear, Sam gets pulled by a demon, breaking the fuse. Sam has to go back to the warehouse to light it. Eisbeth is there. She starts kissin and stuff on Sam, but he manages to light the fuse and blow up the demons and Hunters upstairs. But when he goes to stab Eisbeth with Ruby’s knife, she loses it and throws Sam into an old train, knocking him out, even though she didn’t want to hurt him.
Chapter 32—Outside, Dean is freaked by the explosion and no little brother showing up. He freaks out even more when Eisbeth appears, dragging an unconscious Sam across the ground. Thinking fast, Dean makes a proposition that will get crazy demon chick reunited with her devil hubby right now instead of waiting 30 years. Oh, Dean, you are so clever when you have to think fast on your feet.
Eisbeth voluntarily vacates her vessel. Back at a hotel, Dean says goodbye to Julia, though she wants him to stay. Sam finally wakes up, but is a little out of it. Dean burns what’s left of the text.
Chapter 33—Abaddon zaps them back to 2010. As soon as Sam sees him he is enraged. Abaddon realizes too late that it’s not Sam, but Eisbeth possessing him and the two angels start beating the crap out of each other while Dean yells things like “hey, careful with my brother.” Seeing that Sam is taking on angel-size punishment not meant for a human, Dean grabs a phone to call Castiel. Castiel shows, quickly does an incantation so other angels can find Abaddon. Within seconds, angels are stabbing Donny and Cas transports Sam and Dean away before the angels turn on Sam. Poor Sam, he’s already beat to hell. Castiel asks why there is a demon in Sam, but Dean tells Cas to let her go per their deal.
Epilogue—Dean visits the nursing home where Julia spent the last years of her life. Going through her things he finds the transcribed list of angels and their vessels, except by Lucifer and Michael, the names of their vessels have been cut off.
What I liked about this book is that the Winchester angel/demon saga is closely tied into the plot. In fact, I think it’s the first Supernatural book I’ve read where the boys being vessels is the main plot, instead of some other mystery they solve.
I liked it. It stayed true to the characters, had enough excitement, clue-gathering, brotherly angst and hurt to satisfy. Plus the way the conclusion played out was interesting and clever. I always love a good villain too, and Eisbeth was well rounded in her insanity to be pretty frightening.
I can definitely recommend War of the Sons.
December 12, 2019
Of the SN books I've read thus far, this one actually probably felt the most like a show episode. Sam and Dean and the whole angel/demon deal was handled just liked the show's storyline. My one complaint is though it was only 330 pages long, it felt a good 70 pages or so too long. Some of the little subplots that did nothing but add pages could have been cut out.
September 7, 2010
A solid effort in the series of Supernatural tie-in novels. In some ways, this book remained closer to canon than many tie-ins, taking advantage of the events and tone of Season 5 of the series. The plot of this one was quite interesting, with a very neat twist near the end. It had a more series-like feel to it--the sort of thinking that comes from Kripke and the writer's room--and the tone was appropriately dark. Plenty of snark and entertaining pop culture references, but with more of the edge that was apparent in Season 5 as the boys dealt with the Apocalypse and their own issues.
If I had one complaint about the book, it was that it put a little more emphasis on Dean's lack of education and dumbed him down a bit more than I like to see. Not horribly, but at least noticeably to a mega-fan like me.
Also (serious nitpickery ahead), on page 262, the editor let something slip by that is one of my pet peeves--the use of "reign" instead of "rein" for controlling ones thoughts or emotions. URGHH!
I read this book straight through (hooray for long weekends!) and enjoyed it thoroughly. The tie-in books keep getting better and better.
If I had one complaint about the book, it was that it put a little more emphasis on Dean's lack of education and dumbed him down a bit more than I like to see. Not horribly, but at least noticeably to a mega-fan like me.
Also (serious nitpickery ahead), on page 262, the editor let something slip by that is one of my pet peeves--the use of "reign" instead of "rein" for controlling ones thoughts or emotions. URGHH!
I read this book straight through (hooray for long weekends!) and enjoyed it thoroughly. The tie-in books keep getting better and better.
January 11, 2011
This was my first foray into Supernatural- the Novel and I was not a happy bunny.
The central premise of this story is that Dean & Sam have to travel back to 1954, to find the missing piece of a scroll, at the behest of a angel called, Abadonn (no not the horned demon thing that lived under the rift). This is where the problems start, because according to the authors, in 1954, the people speak and behave in exactly the same way as they did in 2010. To make matters worse, the authors actually make references to Mad Men but fail miserably to understand why Mad Men is a spectacular masterpiece.
There are also too many other things happening in this story that simple didn’t needed to be included like action scenes, or references to movies from the 80’s.
I would recommend, not to read this first.
I will read other books in this series but probably not if it is written by these folks.
That is all.
The central premise of this story is that Dean & Sam have to travel back to 1954, to find the missing piece of a scroll, at the behest of a angel called, Abadonn (no not the horned demon thing that lived under the rift). This is where the problems start, because according to the authors, in 1954, the people speak and behave in exactly the same way as they did in 2010. To make matters worse, the authors actually make references to Mad Men but fail miserably to understand why Mad Men is a spectacular masterpiece.
There are also too many other things happening in this story that simple didn’t needed to be included like action scenes, or references to movies from the 80’s.
I would recommend, not to read this first.
I will read other books in this series but probably not if it is written by these folks.
That is all.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 16, 2011
Mediocre Addition to Supernatural Tie-Ins
This tie-in did not stir any strong feelings in me (other than astonishment at a clear anachronistic reference in the 1954 past to St. Louis and the Gateway Arch--not begun until 1963). In overall quality, this effort was more or less in line with the early tie-ins by DeCandido and others--okay, but not demonstrating a clear grasp of the nuances of the characters or how they talk and act. And it pales in comparison to Joe Schreiber's 5-star SPN tie-in: The Unholy Cause.
Strong points: The guys were actually given something to do and took actions to attempt to solve the problems. Body count was not over the top. Introduced characters had some interesting things about them and the overall plotline meshed well with the guys' continuing reluctance to sacrifice few in order to save many.
Bad points: Arch anachronism. Some inconsistencies and inaccuracies regarding possession and methods of killing angels and demons. Weak on interactions between Sam and Dean and in the voices of the characters from time to time. Many, many too many references to Mad Men. Guys being a bit stupid about money and other things in the past.
Okay for the fan who is not overly sensitive to canon, voice, and continuity.
Donald J. Bingle, Author of Tales of Humorous Horror and Tales Out of Time.
This tie-in did not stir any strong feelings in me (other than astonishment at a clear anachronistic reference in the 1954 past to St. Louis and the Gateway Arch--not begun until 1963). In overall quality, this effort was more or less in line with the early tie-ins by DeCandido and others--okay, but not demonstrating a clear grasp of the nuances of the characters or how they talk and act. And it pales in comparison to Joe Schreiber's 5-star SPN tie-in: The Unholy Cause.
Strong points: The guys were actually given something to do and took actions to attempt to solve the problems. Body count was not over the top. Introduced characters had some interesting things about them and the overall plotline meshed well with the guys' continuing reluctance to sacrifice few in order to save many.
Bad points: Arch anachronism. Some inconsistencies and inaccuracies regarding possession and methods of killing angels and demons. Weak on interactions between Sam and Dean and in the voices of the characters from time to time. Many, many too many references to Mad Men. Guys being a bit stupid about money and other things in the past.
Okay for the fan who is not overly sensitive to canon, voice, and continuity.
Donald J. Bingle, Author of Tales of Humorous Horror and Tales Out of Time.
May 25, 2018
This book is based on the television series and takes place during the fifth season. In this one, Sam and Dean go back in time to retrieve a document that shows a way to defeat Lucifer. If you are a fan of the show you know that it doesn't work out that way.
I wasn't particularly fond of this novel and I cannot blame the author for this. It had some discrepancies with the show and this can be blamed from later seasons of the show that made this book more like fan fiction. I did like the story but I believe the story would have worked with other characters that did not belong from Supernatural. There was something off thru the entire book. The first thing was the appearance of Abbadon. This character is a major character in later seasons so this entire book did not work as this was the character that put things in motion. Once again, the author was not at fault. The other problem I had was with the characterization of Dean and Sam. They were off and I never truly felt like the Sam and Dean I see from the show.
I did like the story concept but the pieces that were involved did not fit correctly. There were just too many pieces that did not work that lowered my rating. When I read a media tie-in book, I would like to feel like I am back in that universe and I never quite did with this book.
I wasn't particularly fond of this novel and I cannot blame the author for this. It had some discrepancies with the show and this can be blamed from later seasons of the show that made this book more like fan fiction. I did like the story but I believe the story would have worked with other characters that did not belong from Supernatural. There was something off thru the entire book. The first thing was the appearance of Abbadon. This character is a major character in later seasons so this entire book did not work as this was the character that put things in motion. Once again, the author was not at fault. The other problem I had was with the characterization of Dean and Sam. They were off and I never truly felt like the Sam and Dean I see from the show.
I did like the story concept but the pieces that were involved did not fit correctly. There were just too many pieces that did not work that lowered my rating. When I read a media tie-in book, I would like to feel like I am back in that universe and I never quite did with this book.
October 23, 2011
Why is the book that was written by two Authors who actually wrote episodes for the show is the one with the most OOC moments? :( Sam had to fend for himself when they were little? Sam lets himself be willingly possessed by a wife of Lucifer (quite apart from the fact that he has a tattoo that prevents possession!)? The boys just trust Don and later Julia and her father without even saying once "Christo" even though they know something is strange?!
Also, that book was clearly written by a Sam lover. Yes, I'm a Dean girl but when watching the show and reading the tie-in novels I'm all for both of them and cheer, mourn, hurt and suffer with both of them. I might favour Dean but I enjoy Sam too! So, I really don't like it when tie-in novels do the job that is reserved for fanfic and favour a character or ship which the show doesn't (a reason why I'm not reading the SGA "Legacy" books and didn't like "Endgame" very much - the John/Teyla UST/ship. That's something for fanfic when it wasn't featured in the show (or at that point of the show the book is set) but not for an (officially) tie-in novel!).
That and some other things (like shifting POVs) made me not enjoy this book.
Also, that book was clearly written by a Sam lover. Yes, I'm a Dean girl but when watching the show and reading the tie-in novels I'm all for both of them and cheer, mourn, hurt and suffer with both of them. I might favour Dean but I enjoy Sam too! So, I really don't like it when tie-in novels do the job that is reserved for fanfic and favour a character or ship which the show doesn't (a reason why I'm not reading the SGA "Legacy" books and didn't like "Endgame" very much - the John/Teyla UST/ship. That's something for fanfic when it wasn't featured in the show (or at that point of the show the book is set) but not for an (officially) tie-in novel!).
That and some other things (like shifting POVs) made me not enjoy this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 14, 2013
This book was mostly interesting due to the setting the boys were placed in and reading how they dealt with things in such a place. Although you go into the book knowing that whatever mission the boys are sent on won't work because then it would mess the TV show story line up, it was very interesting learning what their "real" mission is once it's revealed to the boys and definitely a unique interpretation to the Lucifer story line in the show.
One complaint I do have about this book is Dean's love interest. They start out hating each other and though it's not uncommon for Dean to have sex with random women, the two of them just went from hate to love very quickly. Dean barely knows the woman for two weeks before he's pining over her and saying he's fallen for her. I felt that was very unrealistic and very out of character.
This book was very well written, made me laugh a few times, and was over all a joy to read.
One complaint I do have about this book is Dean's love interest. They start out hating each other and though it's not uncommon for Dean to have sex with random women, the two of them just went from hate to love very quickly. Dean barely knows the woman for two weeks before he's pining over her and saying he's fallen for her. I felt that was very unrealistic and very out of character.
This book was very well written, made me laugh a few times, and was over all a joy to read.
March 19, 2011
Fairly quick read and somewhat interesting, but not super great. It's hard to believe a story of this magnitude wouldn't be mentioned on the show - one of the problems with book spinoffs. You're supposed to believe the brothers went through this crazy adventure but it's not cannon to the overall story.
Plus, I just don't understand why the authors felt the need to throw in random liberalism when it had no place in the story whatsoever. I swear it's like a sickness or something. And, it harms the story because you're fully immersed in the tale and suddenly there are Clinton, Obama, and Palin references - instantly causing you to jump out of the world the authors created. Lame.
Plus, I just don't understand why the authors felt the need to throw in random liberalism when it had no place in the story whatsoever. I swear it's like a sickness or something. And, it harms the story because you're fully immersed in the tale and suddenly there are Clinton, Obama, and Palin references - instantly causing you to jump out of the world the authors created. Lame.
May 18, 2018
Time travel, totally my thing! Probably my favorite SPN book so far. Loved it!
August 20, 2025
Okay. I have mixed feelings about this one.
I think it’s one of the best plots, but poorly driven and written.
What I DIDN’T LIKE:
• The writing. It’s pretty vague sometimes, especially when the characters and plot goes from one place to other. It also drove me a little crazy the way the authors changed to first POV when the characters thought of something (not a bad resource but way too overdone).
• Blaming everything on Sam??? Not only the Apocalypse but also Don’s plan. Some sentences and implications, even tho I liked to see his guilt and way of thinking (which makes richer the character). Dean was a little crappy in some ways towards this, and also the authors themselves. Sam deserves better.
• Castiel’s absence and uselessness. It’s infuriating how the best angel pal is overlooked in this plot, just appearing in the end with a magic way of helping them. Wished to read more about him.
• Julia and Walter. URGH. Where do I begin??? Walter was an okay character, his motivation towards the scroll is a little lame (could have used a little more of thought). But Julia? Oh, boy, she was the worst. Your typical stereotypical badass girl, she’s rude but soft with Dean, leading me towards the next point…
• Dean&Julia’s relationship. Made 0 (ZERO) (ZIP) (NADA) sense. Dean hitting on her, even sleeping with her, unnecessary but in-character. What was really off character is Dean FALLING in love with this 50’s chick which we don’t even know her last-frigging-name. Also Dean acting like a frigging teenager towards her??? Dean is hooked on Lisa in this season, that’s why after all he goes towards them, and the “falling in love” with a 50’s chick is unreasonable and unrealistic towards Dean’s character. It infuriated me.
• Abbadon. I had mixed feelings about Don -or Abaddon-, primarly because in season nine there is the actual Abbadon, Prince of Hell, and here he is an angel and the Cage’s Keeper. But I can ignore it considering the fact that the authors couldn’t have known about the demon in season nine. His character here was poorly written.
• Eisheher being Satan’s wife it’s a nice ring to it, tho her escaping leaves a plot hole unsatisfied. Also, her “demon dog”? Not giving this creature a twist is just lame and lazy. The whole lore about them and the scroll, way too vague.
• The up-and-downs toward the whole story??? Gosh, sometimes I couldn’t even keep reading it. The way everything is easy back in the 50’s? How Sam and Dean could pay for a room? Or got a job? Or guns?? Or just magic ways of communicating in a time where there aren’t phones? Or just got away with things? It was unsettling and ruined a little the mood.
As you can see, much of the book didn’t resonate with me, but not everything is bad and crappy… what I DID LIKE is:
• Not wasting time in presenting characters and their story that leads nowhere because their just victims. The authors concentrated their efforts in Sam and Dean’s mission, which I value.
• The plot, the scroll and even the going back in time to fetch it. And it’s a realistic way of ending the book, (spoilers!) with them torching it, protecting the human vessels. It brought me the hopelessness that’s characteristic of this season. No matter what Sam and Dean do, they can’t fight their fate.
• The brother’s dynamic, some of the references, Dean’s love for the Impala, some of the saying about Winchester’s past, Dean consoling Sam at the end, Sam’s patience with Dean. The action packed.
I gave it 3 stars because of this few good points, and because it could have been way better. Not gonna lie, I kinda want to write it my own way. Give Sam and Dean a good in-character story.
I think it’s one of the best plots, but poorly driven and written.
What I DIDN’T LIKE:
• The writing. It’s pretty vague sometimes, especially when the characters and plot goes from one place to other. It also drove me a little crazy the way the authors changed to first POV when the characters thought of something (not a bad resource but way too overdone).
• Blaming everything on Sam??? Not only the Apocalypse but also Don’s plan. Some sentences and implications, even tho I liked to see his guilt and way of thinking (which makes richer the character). Dean was a little crappy in some ways towards this, and also the authors themselves. Sam deserves better.
• Castiel’s absence and uselessness. It’s infuriating how the best angel pal is overlooked in this plot, just appearing in the end with a magic way of helping them. Wished to read more about him.
• Julia and Walter. URGH. Where do I begin??? Walter was an okay character, his motivation towards the scroll is a little lame (could have used a little more of thought). But Julia? Oh, boy, she was the worst. Your typical stereotypical badass girl, she’s rude but soft with Dean, leading me towards the next point…
• Dean&Julia’s relationship. Made 0 (ZERO) (ZIP) (NADA) sense. Dean hitting on her, even sleeping with her, unnecessary but in-character. What was really off character is Dean FALLING in love with this 50’s chick which we don’t even know her last-frigging-name. Also Dean acting like a frigging teenager towards her??? Dean is hooked on Lisa in this season, that’s why after all he goes towards them, and the “falling in love” with a 50’s chick is unreasonable and unrealistic towards Dean’s character. It infuriated me.
• Abbadon. I had mixed feelings about Don -or Abaddon-, primarly because in season nine there is the actual Abbadon, Prince of Hell, and here he is an angel and the Cage’s Keeper. But I can ignore it considering the fact that the authors couldn’t have known about the demon in season nine. His character here was poorly written.
• Eisheher being Satan’s wife it’s a nice ring to it, tho her escaping leaves a plot hole unsatisfied. Also, her “demon dog”? Not giving this creature a twist is just lame and lazy. The whole lore about them and the scroll, way too vague.
• The up-and-downs toward the whole story??? Gosh, sometimes I couldn’t even keep reading it. The way everything is easy back in the 50’s? How Sam and Dean could pay for a room? Or got a job? Or guns?? Or just magic ways of communicating in a time where there aren’t phones? Or just got away with things? It was unsettling and ruined a little the mood.
As you can see, much of the book didn’t resonate with me, but not everything is bad and crappy… what I DID LIKE is:
• Not wasting time in presenting characters and their story that leads nowhere because their just victims. The authors concentrated their efforts in Sam and Dean’s mission, which I value.
• The plot, the scroll and even the going back in time to fetch it. And it’s a realistic way of ending the book, (spoilers!) with them torching it, protecting the human vessels. It brought me the hopelessness that’s characteristic of this season. No matter what Sam and Dean do, they can’t fight their fate.
• The brother’s dynamic, some of the references, Dean’s love for the Impala, some of the saying about Winchester’s past, Dean consoling Sam at the end, Sam’s patience with Dean. The action packed.
I gave it 3 stars because of this few good points, and because it could have been way better. Not gonna lie, I kinda want to write it my own way. Give Sam and Dean a good in-character story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 28, 2013
On the hunt for Lucifer, the boys find themselves in a small town in South Dakota where they meet Don - an angel with a proposition... Don sends them back in time to the 1950's on a mission to uncover the secret Satan never wanted them to find out. This was supposed to take place shortly after the episode "My Bloody Valentine", though it didn't really seem to be in the same grove of where the episode is.
October 11, 2021
So this was actually really good! It started a bit slow and I was a little skeptical about how the plot would unfold with Don but then WTF TIME TRAVEL?? That threw me, but in a really good way. Supernatural has done its fair share of time travel stories, but they've always been abrupt and to the point. We never get to see Sam and Dean really settle into a different era. Until now.
The Winchesters spend weeks in the New York of 1954. We get to see them working a pretty high-profile case all without the modern amenities they're used to: cell phones, the internet, BOBBY. This gave the book a chance to show off the resourcefulness of the brothers and threw them for a loop in a really fun way.
If I had one complaint about the book it would be that the story got a bit big to be believable in the canon. If it had been an actual episode that would've been great!
Still, it's a really fun read and one of the better entries in the Supernatural book series.
Merged review:
So this was actually really good! It started a bit slow and I was a little skeptical about how the plot would unfold with Don but then WTF TIME TRAVEL?? That threw me, but in a really good way. Supernatural has done its fair share of time travel stories, but they've always been abrupt and to the point. We never get to see Sam and Dean really settle into a different era. Until now.
The Winchesters spend weeks in the New York of 1954. We get to see them working a pretty high-profile case all without the modern amenities they're used to: cell phones, the internet, BOBBY. This gave the book a chance to show off the resourcefulness of the brothers and threw them for a loop in a really fun way.
If I had one complaint about the book it would be that the story got a bit big to be believable in the canon. If it had been an actual episode that would've been great!
Still, it's a really fun read and one of the better entries in the Supernatural book series.
The Winchesters spend weeks in the New York of 1954. We get to see them working a pretty high-profile case all without the modern amenities they're used to: cell phones, the internet, BOBBY. This gave the book a chance to show off the resourcefulness of the brothers and threw them for a loop in a really fun way.
If I had one complaint about the book it would be that the story got a bit big to be believable in the canon. If it had been an actual episode that would've been great!
Still, it's a really fun read and one of the better entries in the Supernatural book series.
Merged review:
So this was actually really good! It started a bit slow and I was a little skeptical about how the plot would unfold with Don but then WTF TIME TRAVEL?? That threw me, but in a really good way. Supernatural has done its fair share of time travel stories, but they've always been abrupt and to the point. We never get to see Sam and Dean really settle into a different era. Until now.
The Winchesters spend weeks in the New York of 1954. We get to see them working a pretty high-profile case all without the modern amenities they're used to: cell phones, the internet, BOBBY. This gave the book a chance to show off the resourcefulness of the brothers and threw them for a loop in a really fun way.
If I had one complaint about the book it would be that the story got a bit big to be believable in the canon. If it had been an actual episode that would've been great!
Still, it's a really fun read and one of the better entries in the Supernatural book series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 25, 2023
3-4 stars
i am unsure how to rate this.
the writing was well done and the characters mostly behaving typically to the show -so that’s well done too.
the story itself was good as well.
but this takes place in season 5 … and abadoon makes an appearance. a different representation than the one than the one appearing in season 8 in the show BUT still i have to say that bothered me.
i understand this was written before season 8 so it wasn’t as of the authors new the show would take the character of abadoon into a very different direction… but because of that and that knowledge of where the actual show takes the character this books representation of the abaddon character wasn’t up to snuff for me.
but the rest of the book and it’s story? pretty well done.
the time travel aspect was pretty well done, as already mentioned dean and sam were mostly behaving in recognizable ways and the overall plot was entertaining and fluently written and so easy to read and overall fun.
it’s a good book but sadly has the negative side of if you have watched passed season 5 this representation of Abaddons character won’t reach the one done in the show. at least in my opinion!
i am unsure how to rate this.
the writing was well done and the characters mostly behaving typically to the show -so that’s well done too.
the story itself was good as well.
but this takes place in season 5 … and abadoon makes an appearance. a different representation than the one than the one appearing in season 8 in the show BUT still i have to say that bothered me.
i understand this was written before season 8 so it wasn’t as of the authors new the show would take the character of abadoon into a very different direction… but because of that and that knowledge of where the actual show takes the character this books representation of the abaddon character wasn’t up to snuff for me.
but the rest of the book and it’s story? pretty well done.
the time travel aspect was pretty well done, as already mentioned dean and sam were mostly behaving in recognizable ways and the overall plot was entertaining and fluently written and so easy to read and overall fun.
it’s a good book but sadly has the negative side of if you have watched passed season 5 this representation of Abaddons character won’t reach the one done in the show. at least in my opinion!
August 24, 2023
Although it didn't quite take the top spot in my list of favorites from the series, I must admit that I thoroughly relished the experience of delving into it. The captivating journey alongside the indomitable Winchesters allowed me to forge a deep connection with their trials and triumphs. What truly held my attention were the intricacies of this particular installment – the nuanced character development, the unexpected twists that added layers of suspense, and the skillful world-building that lent a rich backdrop to the story. As I immersed myself in the narrative, I found myself increasingly intrigued by the unique elements that set this chapter apart, ultimately creating a reading experience that left me both satisfied and eager for more.
August 14, 2021
So this book takes place around season 5 of the show. The brothers being the vessels for Michael and Lucifer. If you've seen the show or not, I won't go into detail as it will give away spoilers. It took me a little while to get into this book but once it really got started, it was a great read overall.
July 28, 2021
Not bad, not great, too many happy coincidences to get the story going. A good editor could have made this much better. Two-and-a-halve stars.
December 29, 2013
Great! This was the best novel in the Supernatural spin-off series! This story is set after the events of the episode "My Bloody Valentine," in which Sam and Dean Winchester successfully fought their second Horseman of the Apocalypse, Famine. The way that episode started and ended was bloody and tragic as both men had to endure fighting the Apocalypse with no end in sight, and Dean in anguish as he begins to lose hope. This story starts with Sam and Dean checking up on an Apocalyptic omen that the two, particularly Dean, are working on while still feeling awful. Sam has gotten the demon blood out of his system and is gunning the Impala for the next job, but feels awful about the joy of being strong from the blood. As they deal with the omen, they eventually learn that it's the work of an angel known only as Don, as he admits that this omen he created was to get their attention. Introducing them with a plan to end the Apocalypse without the big prize fight between the archangel Michael against Lucifer. Instructing them to find a lost document that could give them the information they need to stop the archangels. Dean has his doubts, but Sam, in his desperation, agrees as they are sent back in time to 1954 before the release of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the legendary lost War Scroll.
From here follows one of my favorite types of stories in Supernatural, time travel. Done twice before, first in season 4 as a fact-finding mission in 1973 and then in season 5 in 1978 to stop an angel from killing them before they are born. Sam and Dean realize that they aren't looking for the scroll in the present day, where it's been lost, but going back in time before it was lost. In their attempts to get the job done, they encounter several interested parties who want the scroll, which in turn leads to mayhem involving humans as well as demonic entities in a heist at the Waldorf Astoria.
Eventually, Sam and Dean realize that they aren't the only hunters on the case as they meet up with a father and daughter who have spent a greater part of their lives looking for this scroll and intend to utilize its knowledge to prevent the Apocalypse from occurring, only for Sam and Dean to realize that in the end, they cannot let this happen on the same way they cannot say yes to Michael and Lucifer.
There is so much that I love about this story that makes it the best story of the Supernatural spin-off books. The premise of a rogue angel sending Sam & Dean back in time with an opportunity to prevent the Apocalypse with limited loss of life was amazing, heck, it felt like a real episode to the show, but I can see why it isn't. It did feel too complex and long, but at the same time, there could have been more told about various characters. It's always a great thing whenever time travel is used in the show; many of the best episodes involve time travel with some of the best storytelling due to how hardworking the writers are in incorporating the past. 1954 New York City is so cool in many ways, the story feels like Back to the Future or Mad Men with such an involved age. Sam & Dean hope to capture a lost scroll that will help them stop the Apocalypse, however, they're not sure they trust the source of help with the rogue angel. Plus other dangers, such as one of Lucifer's minions, including his vicious and devoted bride Eisheth, a demon who was an angel yet rejected her grace and became corrupted to follow her lover in his war against mankind. A very twisted love story.
Speaking of love stories, I loved how the story between Dean involved him and a hunter from the past. The relationship between the two was amazing, in many ways Dean's equal as a hunter but also as a woman. Not just some floozy or hurt girl offering him sex. Dean's brother Sam usually has bad luck with women, but at least he is willing to find love, whereas Dean enjoys hooking up with women but never offers his heart. Cassie from season one and Lisa from seasons 3, 4, and 6 are great ladies because Dean truly is happy with them. Many felt that the character of Jo was supposed to be his love, but it felt forced and unwelcome in the face of Dean's grief over the loss of his father. Plus, Jo was more of a little sister than a lover. Julia was a great woman who was beautiful and elegant, yet casual and relaxed. A veteran hunter, not a wannabe hunter like Jo. A remarkable hunter as well as a great woman. It's a shame she and Dean couldn't be together.
The end was an amazing conclusion, but I feel should have gained a sequel in its own right. All in all, a great story. A+
From here follows one of my favorite types of stories in Supernatural, time travel. Done twice before, first in season 4 as a fact-finding mission in 1973 and then in season 5 in 1978 to stop an angel from killing them before they are born. Sam and Dean realize that they aren't looking for the scroll in the present day, where it's been lost, but going back in time before it was lost. In their attempts to get the job done, they encounter several interested parties who want the scroll, which in turn leads to mayhem involving humans as well as demonic entities in a heist at the Waldorf Astoria.
Eventually, Sam and Dean realize that they aren't the only hunters on the case as they meet up with a father and daughter who have spent a greater part of their lives looking for this scroll and intend to utilize its knowledge to prevent the Apocalypse from occurring, only for Sam and Dean to realize that in the end, they cannot let this happen on the same way they cannot say yes to Michael and Lucifer.
There is so much that I love about this story that makes it the best story of the Supernatural spin-off books. The premise of a rogue angel sending Sam & Dean back in time with an opportunity to prevent the Apocalypse with limited loss of life was amazing, heck, it felt like a real episode to the show, but I can see why it isn't. It did feel too complex and long, but at the same time, there could have been more told about various characters. It's always a great thing whenever time travel is used in the show; many of the best episodes involve time travel with some of the best storytelling due to how hardworking the writers are in incorporating the past. 1954 New York City is so cool in many ways, the story feels like Back to the Future or Mad Men with such an involved age. Sam & Dean hope to capture a lost scroll that will help them stop the Apocalypse, however, they're not sure they trust the source of help with the rogue angel. Plus other dangers, such as one of Lucifer's minions, including his vicious and devoted bride Eisheth, a demon who was an angel yet rejected her grace and became corrupted to follow her lover in his war against mankind. A very twisted love story.
Speaking of love stories, I loved how the story between Dean involved him and a hunter from the past. The relationship between the two was amazing, in many ways Dean's equal as a hunter but also as a woman. Not just some floozy or hurt girl offering him sex. Dean's brother Sam usually has bad luck with women, but at least he is willing to find love, whereas Dean enjoys hooking up with women but never offers his heart. Cassie from season one and Lisa from seasons 3, 4, and 6 are great ladies because Dean truly is happy with them. Many felt that the character of Jo was supposed to be his love, but it felt forced and unwelcome in the face of Dean's grief over the loss of his father. Plus, Jo was more of a little sister than a lover. Julia was a great woman who was beautiful and elegant, yet casual and relaxed. A veteran hunter, not a wannabe hunter like Jo. A remarkable hunter as well as a great woman. It's a shame she and Dean couldn't be together.
The end was an amazing conclusion, but I feel should have gained a sequel in its own right. All in all, a great story. A+
March 23, 2019
A good story but looking back from the shows perspective, it would not have fit into the story line. Still a good read.
April 1, 2022
Sam and Dean find themselves sent back to 1950’s New York in order to track down a possible lead to subvert the Apocalypse thanks to a rogue Angel. The time travel episodes of the show aren’t my fav but I felt the characterization was fun and it felt like reading an episode of the show. Dean definitely has his quick witted comebacks and pop culture references that make me laugh. The only small issue is Abandon does become a different character in the show canon but that’s a couple of years after this got published so I’m happy to overlook it.
September 5, 2026
3.25
Okay this was odd because the beginning was kinda fun, the middle was a bore, and then the ending was fun again.
I literally never cared about Walter or Julia. Dean’s romantic subplot with Julia was so BORING and UNNECESSARY. Like dude you haven’t even known her that long, and she was annoying and a sneaky little liar. And Dean kept trusting her? But if SAM were in his position, Dean would be an ASSHOLE. Walter’s whole “this is my destiny” shtick was kinda neat, but they’re calling Julia the most woman-written-by-a-man ever. Hard read, there. She had so little depth.
AND Dean was unnecessarily 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂 in this book, too. It’s like he needs castrated. Does he have a fetish for Asian women? What is happening?
But this book really pondered that big question of, “Why don’t we just kill Sam and Dean?” because yeah.. that’d solve a lot of problems. I can’t remember exactly, but I’m pretty sure this book takes place after Sam and Dean know that neither side—Heaven nor Hell—will let them die. It’s impossible and they’ll just bring them back, so… awk.
However, NOT a fan of when people say they should just kill Sam, though. Mfs would have to go through me first. I stand on business. #SamDefender4Life I am so SICK of people putting the whole Apocalypse on him. Everyone is on my shitlist. Also, can we free him of getting sexually harassed? Leave Sam alone!!!!
& how did Eisheth possess Sam there at the end? And the whole demon dog thing is just… tossed?
Someone did make a good point about how this plot is way too influential to not influence in the show, but I’m not that picky. I AM picky about them not really having any issues navigating the 1950s, though.
I read this for more insight and whatnot to Sam and Dean being the vessels—like some cool lore or something. Oh well.
characters 4/5
character interactions 3/5
plot 3/5
storytelling 3/5
personal enjoyment 3.5/5
= 3.3 ➡️ 3.25
Even if I’m doing everything in my power to find another way… can someone change the role they’re destined by fate to play? Avoiding destiny is what Dean and Sam had been doing so far. But how much longer can we keep that up?
Okay this was odd because the beginning was kinda fun, the middle was a bore, and then the ending was fun again.
I literally never cared about Walter or Julia. Dean’s romantic subplot with Julia was so BORING and UNNECESSARY. Like dude you haven’t even known her that long, and she was annoying and a sneaky little liar. And Dean kept trusting her? But if SAM were in his position, Dean would be an ASSHOLE. Walter’s whole “this is my destiny” shtick was kinda neat, but they’re calling Julia the most woman-written-by-a-man ever. Hard read, there. She had so little depth.
AND Dean was unnecessarily 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂 in this book, too. It’s like he needs castrated. Does he have a fetish for Asian women? What is happening?
But this book really pondered that big question of, “Why don’t we just kill Sam and Dean?” because yeah.. that’d solve a lot of problems. I can’t remember exactly, but I’m pretty sure this book takes place after Sam and Dean know that neither side—Heaven nor Hell—will let them die. It’s impossible and they’ll just bring them back, so… awk.
However, NOT a fan of when people say they should just kill Sam, though. Mfs would have to go through me first. I stand on business. #SamDefender4Life I am so SICK of people putting the whole Apocalypse on him. Everyone is on my shitlist. Also, can we free him of getting sexually harassed? Leave Sam alone!!!!
& how did Eisheth possess Sam there at the end? And the whole demon dog thing is just… tossed?
Someone did make a good point about how this plot is way too influential to not influence in the show, but I’m not that picky. I AM picky about them not really having any issues navigating the 1950s, though.
I read this for more insight and whatnot to Sam and Dean being the vessels—like some cool lore or something. Oh well.
characters 4/5
character interactions 3/5
plot 3/5
storytelling 3/5
personal enjoyment 3.5/5
= 3.3 ➡️ 3.25
November 24, 2010
As much as I like Supernatural and the Winchester brothers, I have to admit that my feelings regarding this book are starting to run along the same pattern as my thoughts of the show; I'm getting sick of all the demon action, and the drive to find an even bigger villain for their next stunt. (Can you really top Apocalypse without getting really ridiculous?)
I loved the first three books that appeared in the Supernatural series (Nevermore Supernatural 1, Witch's Canyon Supernatural 2, Bone Key Supernatural 3). The next three, including this one (Heart of the Dragon Supernatural 4, The Unholy Cause Supernatural 5) have been a bit of a drag. The freshness is gone. It's feeling like the "same old, same old".
The plot was fairly eventful, but I couldn't help a feeling that it was dragging a bit as well. Sam and Dean, in their struggle to find a way around the Apocalypse that Sam started, take a trip to the past to avoid saying "yes" to certain Archangels - and end up searching for a battle plan that ought to put a stopper on Big S himself - Lucifer.
I tried to enjoy this book - and that's all that really needs to be said. It was okay, but not amazing. I was left disappointed. Something important was missing, and I think it could be creativity and a fresh breeze instead of the stale stink of repeating the same thing over and over again.
I loved the first three books that appeared in the Supernatural series (Nevermore Supernatural 1, Witch's Canyon Supernatural 2, Bone Key Supernatural 3). The next three, including this one (Heart of the Dragon Supernatural 4, The Unholy Cause Supernatural 5) have been a bit of a drag. The freshness is gone. It's feeling like the "same old, same old".
The plot was fairly eventful, but I couldn't help a feeling that it was dragging a bit as well. Sam and Dean, in their struggle to find a way around the Apocalypse that Sam started, take a trip to the past to avoid saying "yes" to certain Archangels - and end up searching for a battle plan that ought to put a stopper on Big S himself - Lucifer.
I tried to enjoy this book - and that's all that really needs to be said. It was okay, but not amazing. I was left disappointed. Something important was missing, and I think it could be creativity and a fresh breeze instead of the stale stink of repeating the same thing over and over again.
June 19, 2015
TV show tie in novels are tough to review. They're never going to be great works of art so I never set the bar too high. At the same time they need to live up to two pretty basic requirements for to really enjoy them.
First they need to capture the voice of the series. This is something that the Veronica Mars books do really well. War of the Sons tries really hard to capture the voice of the series. It does it much better than Nevermore. Still there were parts, especially towards the end, where I was so distracted by trying to force the book into how it should sound that I wasn't even paying attention to the story. However there were bits of dialogue that fit really well, Dean's snarky personality and pop culture references were on full display here. However,
The second thing that tie in novels need is to at least attempt to stay within cannon. This book fell so far outside of canon it was hard for me to think of it as anything other than particularly good fanfiction. Also, it's Cas NOT Cass thankyouverymuch.
Despite all of that I enjoyed the story. I love anything that takes me back to the days of the Apocalypse and I'm sucker for time travel. Taken as a work outside of canon it was a fun read.
First they need to capture the voice of the series. This is something that the Veronica Mars books do really well. War of the Sons tries really hard to capture the voice of the series. It does it much better than Nevermore. Still there were parts, especially towards the end, where I was so distracted by trying to force the book into how it should sound that I wasn't even paying attention to the story. However there were bits of dialogue that fit really well, Dean's snarky personality and pop culture references were on full display here. However,
The second thing that tie in novels need is to at least attempt to stay within cannon. This book fell so far outside of canon it was hard for me to think of it as anything other than particularly good fanfiction. Also, it's Cas NOT Cass thankyouverymuch.
Despite all of that I enjoyed the story. I love anything that takes me back to the days of the Apocalypse and I'm sucker for time travel. Taken as a work outside of canon it was a fun read.
February 20, 2019
This wasn't one of my favorites of the series. The last few chapters were the best part of the book and pretty much the only parts that peeked my interest.
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