Portent

by James Herbert

Book Overview

First there are the lights: strange, alluring, eerily beautiful, floating up as if from the heart of the planet itself. Then, moments later, the disasters: coral reefs exploding into shrapnel, cloud... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061054321
• ISBN13: 9780061054327
• Release Date: June 1997
• Publisher: Harper Voyager
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

STILL TIMELY - A UNIQUE APOCALYPTIC VISION

This story has all the elements of a good thriller, but adds a supernatural twist, as Mother Earth deals with the damage caused by humans to the land, the seas and the air. The scene shifts from a plane swept up in a hurricane in the skies over the US to government offices in Great Britain where climatologist, James Rivers, who survived that terrifying plane ride, is trying to make sense of what's happening. Freak storms, earthquakes and tsunamis are devastating nearly every part of the planet. Rivers meets Diane and her adopted twins who live with Diane's in-laws in a farm house in rural England. The twins are psychic - they have visions and can heal injuries. Not all their visions are happy ones as they make a psychic connection with a woman from New Orleans, a big black woman who can also heal, when she chooses to. More often she chooses to hurt rather than heal. She believes she serves Mother Earth, but her way is the way of destruction. The story moves swiftly as Rivers begins to believe that the twins and other children like them have some connection with what's happening. The author takes us around the world to witness various destructive events (India, Japan, the Philipines, and out on the ocean), Always, there is first the small balls of light that rise from the earth. These are the portents of something big, something destructive, about to happen. How does this mysterious and beautiful light point the way to the future? Where does it come from? How do children from all over the earth, who all have the visions, fit in? As you read, you begin to get answers. Rivers must confront the evil woman whose connection to the twins is all too real. A classic horror movie scene takes place at the farm house at the story's climax, complete with flashing lightening, crashing thunder, odd balls of light, flash floods, and ghoulish murder. The story is unique in its theory of the earth's destruction, which has within it a new beginning. Mother Earth is making an adjustment, but so is mankind in the consciousness of a new generation. It's a frightening picture of mankind reaping what it has sown, but the story also hints at a resurrection with a new improved human race.

A novel about humanity's wake up call.

Mother Earth is sick and tired of our pollutants and abuse and is ready to wipe us out. One group wants to right the wrongs humanity has made while another feels that it would better for all those involved that the human race be made extinct. There, in a simplistic nutshell, is the plot of british horror novelist James Herbert's tale of Earth's 'last and first days'. The book is full of Herbert's trademark graphic sex and grue as well as some truly awesome apocalyptic mayhem, all which is described in his deliciously clean and crisp prose. While the novel may lack a certain artistic depth it still offers a quick and special effects laden read that satisfies like a cold drink on a hot day. Enjoy.

Mr. Herbert's Finest Work

Hailstones as big as footballs and even bigger--in Los Angeles! Earthquakes in London and Scotland. Steaming geysers erupting all over the world. Sandstorms, tsunamis, cyclones. The disasters are plenty in James Herbert's amazing view of an ecological apocalypse. So far, out of all the Herbert books I've read, this is his finest hour. In ways, it is much more accessible and believable than Stephen King's classic "The Stand." Herbert captures you from the very beginning, and sketches some very believable characters: James Rivers, at first a skeptic and then a believer, finds out the frightening truth about the ecological disasters that are threatening the world as we know it; Diane Poggs is a woman with two adopted children possessing extraordinary psychic powers; Hugo and Bibby Poggs are her father and mother-in-law; supporting characters in various scenarios are given powerful moments. And, the villain of the piece, the gargantuan Mama Pitie' is a frightening and disturbing antagonist. The rush to save the world from ultimate disaster is filled with very frightening scenes of the earth's awesome power and terror. The "lights" in the book at first frightening and disturbing transform into harbingers of hope by the end of the story.This is a fantastic read, and certainly deserves more attention than it received.

Fast-paced and frightening

From the first page of the book the pace is set - a race against time to find an answer to the strange and frightening events happening all over the world. Although I am not a firm believer in the global warming theory of apocalypse, I do believe that our world changes as we take from it with little thought as to the consequences. Herbert's portrayal of climatic changes is very believable. There does exist a fight between good and evil - and sometimes answers are found in the places we least expect. I was spell bound until the final pages. An enjoyable read for anyone who has an interest in apocalyptic literature.

Something for everyone - a good all round story

This book takes the scare stories of global warming and the destruction caused by man and builds a believable and unpleasant picture of the furture. It also brings up the immortal story of good versus evil. There are children in the story, an evil witch, hero and heroine, a love story, something for everyone. An very good read!