The Portent by Michael S. Heiser

The Portent by Michael S. Heiser

The Portent by Michael S. Heiser is the sequel to The Façade (which I reviewed). The story picks up six months later after the events of The Façade. The plot and characters develop throughout the story. It concludes without ending the story. In essence, this is the second book in a three-book saga. This is unfortunate, because the third book has not been written. However, I do look forward to reading the final book in the series.

As I said in my review of The Façade, this book continues with a Christian science fiction theme. The plot thickens as Dr. Scott continues to unravel the mystery of The Group’s plans. They include using the idea of extra-terrestrials to fool the world into believing that Jesus Christ as Messiah has returned, when in fact it is all a facade. The Portent adds the elements of portents (or signs in the sky) to this conspiracy. The book requires a couple of chapters for theological analysis (more than what was used in The Façade) to explain how the antagonist (Colonel Ferguson) plans to implement his dark plan. The book has a fascinating explanation of how portents in the sky were used by the wise men to discover Jesus Christ at His birth. Heiser extrapolates that these same portents in the sky will arrive when Ferguson plans to deceive the world. There are references to the significance of September 11th. as an important date for Christ’s birth as well as a possible date for His return.

Heiser takes great care in this book to explain the evil plans which will be used to fool people into believing this false messiah. He explains how the enemies will use the Watchers, occultism, Nazi technology and Aryan revisionist theology. The book goes into the historical background of these ideas and explains how these elements could form a conspiracy theory which would be believed by the public. This historical analysis was very interesting to read. Heiser effectively explained how the Nazis used these ideas for their plan of world domination in the twentieth century. Heiser uses this history to help the reader see how someone could fool the entire world into believing a false Messiah.

Along the way, Dr. Scott partners with a team of people who have their own secret organization – a Christian Secret Service or Christian MI6. Unlike The Group, this secret team of spies are the good guys. They use special technology, secret bases, research, and military-grade weapons to fight The Group and help bring about the return of Jesus Christ.

The book ends with many loose ends and a few questions which are not answered. I suspect these loose ends will be tied up and the questions answered in the final book to this trilogy. Nevertheless, The Portent is an excellent read. Yet, one has to know theology well to understand the underlying ideas. I fear that like the Left Behind series of novels, people will take this fictional account as a possibility for how end-times events will occur. Despite this, I look forward to the next book in the series. Heiser has incorporated a very interesting way for people to be involved in the next part of his tale. One will have to read the book, find the coded message in the book, and then continue to this website. If the reader solves the puzzle, a character will be named in their honor. I think this is a smart way for people to get involved in Heiser’s story. All in all, I would recommend this book.

You can buy the book on Vyrso.