Few months back, I was looking for a post-apocalyptic theme book to read so I asked some of my friends who love to read books like me for recommendations and I received many recommendations. 'The Four Horsemen series by Laura Thalassa' caught my attention and immediately I started reading the series. This series is spellbinding, captive and intriguing.
"The Four Horsemen" series by Laura Thalassa is a fascinating series that is set in a post-apocalyptic future where the book of Revelation is fictionally explored. The line between good and evil is thin because the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are written as antagonists. The series consists of four books: "Pestilence," "War," "Famine," and "Death." So let's talk briefly about the Four books.
Pestilence
“It was you who came to destroy us ,” - Sara
"Humans have done a perfectly fine job of destroying themselves without my help. I am just here to finish the job.” -Pestilence
Pestilence is the first book in the series which introduces how the events of Apocalypse unfold with the arrival of the Four Horsemen who have come to destroy humanity as they ride to the Four corners of the world so it all ends. Pestilence is the first Horseman. His mission is to spread diseases across the Northern part of the world. As he begins his mission with his white monstrous horse, he encounters his death in the hands of a young woman, a firefighter, Sara Burns.
However as Sara celebrates that she successfully stopped the Horseman, she becomes his prisoner instead and Pestilence makes her ride with him as he keeps spreading disease around the North. Determined, Sara vows to stop the Pestilence from killing more humans. Will she succeed?
This first book was written well, the story was compelling and convincing. As the world is ravaged with disease and death, I got to experience what the world would look like. The world was built excellently, characters were built well, and the themes explored were palpable. Rating the first book, I will give it 4 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed reading it, it was interesting, and adventurous.
War
"This is a man made to be feared." -Miriam
"I can injure and I can heal". -War
The second book is War that centers around the second Horseman as he wakes from his sleep to complete his mission. Unknown to him, Miriam is determined to stop War and make his mission difficult to achieve. Miriam, a warrior, a weapon maker, and Swordsman. War rides into Miriam's city in Jerusalem, New Palestine with his armies to fulfill his mission but Miriam stands in his way and challenges him to a one on one combat. Unfortunately, War kidnaps Miriam back to his camp instead of killing her.
Laura wrote this second book in a fiesty, hardcore, brutal, and gory manner. She also delves into the past life of War. We got a snippet of how old War has existed, how he is intertwined with humanity and his relationship with his other brothers, the Horsemen. All aspects explored by the writer made this book full, rich, and interesting. To me, War is the best book out of the rest of the books in the series. Rating this book, I will give it 4.8 out of 5 stars.
Famine
“How I hate you,” -Ana
"Why find me and risk my wrath yet again?” -Famine
In this book, Laura explores the figure of Famine who is both enigmatic and troubled with his mission. Famine encounters Ana who hates him with every fiber of her being but can't summon up the courage to kill him. Ana has a traumatic background that intersects with Famine's.
The story of this book was kind of frustrating for me to read because it was strung out unnecessary and there was a lot of back and forth stuff there. It took about 1 week to finish, I kept getting bored and ditching it for another book to spice things up. Don't get me wrong, the storyline was excellent but the writing didn't scream Laura. Like it wasn't her that wrote the book. Both main characters had issues, some issues here were not given a good resolution.
One thing I appreciated about this book was that we got a glimpse of who the last horseman was and how much power he holds over the rest of the Horsemen. Rating this book, I will give it 3 out of 5 stars because it didn't meet my expectations and I was disappointed.
Death.
“I don’t recognize you. You shouldn't be alive. Who are you?” -Death
“I don’t know how to answer that,” -Lazarus
Death is awake to finish the rest of the mission his brother couldn't finish. He is determined to finish his mission and end humanity. As he rides into Georgia town, he takes the soul of everyone in that city except for one. A young woman named Lazarus who can't die, and whose soul can't be taken by Death. Shocked that she was immune to his brutal and deadly power, Death immediately rides away from her town but Lazarus hunts him down for killing her family, town's people and destroying her home. As she hunts down Death, other Horsemen join forces with her to end Death. Will they succeed?
This last book of this series made up for the lapses I found in the third book. It was action packed, interesting, intriguing and it was dark. I really enjoyed this one because the storyline was written excellently well, the main characters were solidly built, and it explores power themes that are thought-provoking. The ending was satisfying and well deserved. It was also heartfelt and emotional. Rating this book I will give 4 out of 5 stars.
Anyone who enjoys reading post-apocalyptic fiction I urge should check out this series. I highly recommend it. You enjoy reading it because you will be sucked in from the beginning till the end. Not only that, you will also get to enjoy the strong protagonist characters, intense/dark romance, amazing world building, dark/violent themes, unexpected plot twists, and an excellent blend of genres (fantasy, paranormal, and dystopian). Have you read the rest of the series?
All images above are from my E-library
Header images compiled in Canva.
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