Forsaken is the sixth and penultimate book in The Fallen series written by Thomas E. Sniegoski and centered on Aaron Corbet, who on his eighteen birthday learned that he is a nephilim – a human/angel hybrid.
Earth has been cut off from heaven, and the dormant evil forces of the world have come out to play. To make matters worse, Satan (who is not Lucifer Morningstar) is determined to lead these beings in a bid to take over the world now that Heaven’s influence has been stemmed. There are only a handful of Nephilim left to stand against him, and Aaron Corbet and Vilma Santiago have to pick and choose their battles carefully, condemning some people to die so they save others.
Forsaken is written rather well. Sniegoski continues to provide a dark, harrowing book. The narrative is compelling and refreshingly original, as the villain is Satan, but not Lucifer. The Nephilim must find ancient devices called Fear Engines to stem the darkness and evil encroaching upon the Earth, and work together with Verchiel, their once enemy who has unexpectedly returned from Heaven to help them as punishment for his evil deeds. We are also told a little bit more about the Architects, powerful angels who control the destiny of our world, who seem to be driving it to its own destruction. It's intricate and well thought out, and Sniegoski is obviously setting us up for an explosive conclusion.
Surprisingly, Aaron Corbert seems more tolerant in this installment and not as rash and violent as he has been in previous installments. He is tamer now, preferring to talk things through rather than intimidate or bully someone into seeing things his way, and he chooses not to punish his Nephilim followers like he would have in the past. It makes Aaron more believable as a leader as he is no longer conducting himself like an impulsive teenager.
The other notable character is Roger, a baby boy who Jeremy Fox and his mother rescue, who soon proves to be anything but an ordinary baby. He is snarky and alarmingly violent, and believes himself to be superior to everyone around him.
All in all, Forsaken is written rather well and is a somewhat good continuation to what would hopefully be a wonderful series, which I plan to continue in the very near future.