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Or joulestones may become a permanent part of the English language.   I could organize rock-hunting parties, where I send people out to hunt for those incredibly valuable energy stones, with a substantial reward for anyone who finds one. Put that on Facebook, and watch the fun.   Better yet, hold the rock hunt on April 1.

Great news, Jack. Congrats.

I think I can leave out the reference to hyperbattery, although I still need to give a minimal description of what the stones do. I'll have to search my Word docs for any references to batteries.

In addition to the three x-stones I already mentioned, I also like njc's arcstone. I want to avoid names that tie it to powering stardrives (e.g., jumpstones) since stardrives won't exist when the mineral is first found and named.

Although energystones and powerstones are the obvious names I could (should?) use, they're rather simplistic/boring. I'm trying to decide if the stones should have a less obvious, more interesting name with a story behind it. I don't intend to go into those details, but the names could be more interesting. I imagine that whoever first finds this mineral notices some odd properties about it (related to energy?), and its name, which is probably chosen soon after it's found, could reflect those odd properties.

Requirements for the revised chapter(s):

- Joseph tells his parents everything; this is necessary, even if only in a brief flashback. His goal is to convince them Michael et al are real, to renounce the throne, and be permitted to leave to become a prophet.
- His parents commit him to the psych ward and (foolishly) give the shrinks free reign as long as they don't harm him. I was considering using just one shrink, but I need at least two for their conversation about the illegal drug, and three allows me to use the Goofus, Doofus, and Rufus joke.
- Cut Joseph off from outside help, even if the guards are a mere shouting distance away (for emergencies). Torture him psychologically (e.g., the forced nudity) and physically (e.g., the dangerous tests) to bring him as low as I can at this point in the story, including putting his life at risk (I intend to do more with the latter; might as well kill him, even though only briefly).
- Introduce Catherine, and flesh out her character (this wasn't originally my intention, but given how it worked out, I'm going to keep her).
- Give the reader more background on Archangel Syndrome. The conclusion is he has the "condition". The implication is that Apollo has it to.
- Have Joseph take steps to get himself freed from the ward. Most of this one is currently missing since he depends mostly on Catherine for the rescue. As I mentioned in my reply to your review, I'm sure I can find a way for him to trigger the MIND to raise the alarm (e.g., with something he swipes from the testing station and takes to his room for later, which could be a sharp instrument).
- Finally convince his mother that Michael et al are real and to allow him to proceed with his destiny. This was actually the main goal of the whole tri-chapter, much of the rest having been unplanned. I need to involve Michael and St. James in his rescue, though, because it further demonstrates their importance to his safety, life, and future.
- "Revenge" against the shrinks in causing them to strip at the end. He has no control over anything else that happens to them.

With some changes noted above, I think I can put more of the plot and outcome of this chapter in Joseph's hands. He can trigger his own rescue, perhaps by stabbing himself, but I can't fully eliminate him relying on others for the actual rescue since that's the role of the guards. Naturally, it's great for the shrinks (i.e., the antagonists) to have their own goals, which run counter to Joseph's.

I originally intended this tri-chapter as the end of novella one, but I now plan to end it right before the above all happens, ending instead with the two prior chapters, when Joseph and Apollo commit to their respective destinies. The only disadvantage is that neither chapter ends with a cliffhanger, although committing to their destinies is a pretty big deal in and of itself.

Better?
Dirk

I prefer last stand to last gamble/gambit in part because of Custer's Last Stand. My target audience of course knows/expects Satan will lose in the end, but I think the reason people read those end of the world stories is to see how. Although his last challenge is a key driver for the story, ultimately it's about Connor being able to overcome Satan's control over him (genetically programmed to obey daddy, raised to believe his father has been wronged, etc.) and ultimately triumph in the end, albeit as the Lesser King and the Unholy Shepherd (if Gandalf can have a billion names, why not two titles for Connor (in addition to Antichrist).

Other possibilities for the trilogy title:
Satan's Last Stand - granted, it implies he will lose, but a Christian audience expects that anyway.
The Last Challenge - meh
Satan's War - nice and short, kind of boring though
The Millennia War - a possibility since the Last Challenge unfolds over two millennia
Kingdom of Fire & Faith - still in the running, albeit long
A title similar to Burn it all Down, which I like, but has been used too often
The End - simple, but impossible to find given the number of books with The End as part of the title.
Great Deeds Await
Great Deeds Await You
Killing the Messiah

Hmm. Per my previous post, I was hoping to shorten the title of the series from "The Lord of the Earth" because, when combined with the title of each novel, it strikes me as very long to have on a book cover. All three of those I was considering (The Lesser King, The Immortal Sinner, and The Unholy Shepherd) are too suggestive of the fact that Connor is not Christ, which is the big twist of book one. The Lesser King and The Unholy Shepherd are great titles for book three, though.

I really like Google AI's suggestion of Kingdom of Fire & Faith, but that's even longer than the current series title. The abbreviated title of Fire & Faith hasn't been used too much, but I find it too bland. I may just say to heck with it and use the full title (Kingdom of ...).

Not a fan of End War. Not lofty enough.
Needless to say, The Day of the Lord is taken.

I could also see giving Connor a different title than king, like The Shepherd or The Caretaker. The book could then be called the Unholy Shepherd or the Holy Caretaker.
Great Deeds Await, with or without You at the end.
The Antichrist Burns or The Burning of the Antichrist, which, technically, he does.
Burned Alive!  possibly with The Destruction of the Antichrist as the subtitle, although the subtitle is a little misleading; he is burned alive and destroyed, but he is brought back to life by God, who declares the Antichrist part of him to no longer exist/been burned to nothing)
The Immortal Sinner - since Connor will become immortal at the end.
The Antichrist Triumphant.

EDIT: Oddly, the Unholy Shepherd has been used before too, although only once, released in 2019 or 2021, for a murder-mystery. 4.8 stars on Amazon, although only from 9 reviewers (friends & family?). So, I consider that title usable.
EDIT: A Kingdom of Fire and Faith. -- Google's AI suggested this one.

From the looks of the two lists (including my previous post), it will almost certainly be one of the titles in blue. Right now, "The Lesser King" and "The Unholy Shepherd" are in the lead.

Well, crap! An end times novel was just released called "The War for Souls", which was to be the title of my second book. It's from the line Nnamani speaks as he and Campagna flee the Vatican at the end of book one.

Satan will indeed be thrown (sucked) into the lake of fire, which, as you may recall, is an interstellar portal, but it can also send you elsewhere on Earth. God decides who goes where. Satan will end up on a small moon being sucked into the black hole at the center of our galaxy. Haven't figured out if I plan to send all demons there as well, or elsewhere. Some hellish world, perhaps, with instructions from God that no one ever go there. But will humans obey him this time?

I have two options (or both together) for someone going into the lake of fire. One is that time in the lake of fire is much slower than real time, so before you pass through the portal you will be punished by the lake for the unabsolved misdeeds of your life. However I make it, it can't be forever since I want to get all mortal sinners to other worlds. Which brings me to option 2, which is to state that they are, figuratively, in the lake of fire forever since they'll be on other worlds forever (they can never get back to Earth). I'll probably combine them, so you get some burning, then get transported.

Connor/Adam burn to nothing except for one thought: Agony! That's because Adam agreed before returning to Earth to personally accept everyone else's punishment. But he's too afraid to jump into the lake when the time comes, so Connor does it (one of the great deeds that awaits him). Then they get transported back to Megiddo, to the other waiting characters.

One issue to resolve is that I want the portals to be able to take you between worlds, so Connor, Campagna, and Romano, among others, can travel everywhere in the future since Connor, who is now immortal, has to rule all of it. Connor's throne will be on a renewed Earth.

Satan will, of course, burn worse than anyone else. And he'll never get away from the black hole.

Just to clarify my previous comments, many Catholics consider Revelation heavily figurative, but since there's 1.3 billion of them, I'm guessing a huge number of them don't know much about it. Even if they've read it, much of Revelation seems bizarre, so you probably need help understanding it, and if you go to the internet for your info, there are tons of Protestant websites that give their interpretation, but I don't recall any saying that they're a Protestant website and that interpretations differ.

The Catholic-specific study guides can vary quite a bit too. If you like, I'll send you the name/author of what I thought was the best one. When I first read Revelation, I thought John was off his meds. But, the aforementioned book was terrific at explaining things, and by the time I was done, I thought John was brilliant.

The bet was made shortly after Satan read Revelation, so early in the second century.

With respect to your previous comments, God knows everything, God will win.

Here's the logic I've tentatively settled on (unless someone blows this up on me):

Like everything in the Bible, the version of Revelation we have has to be interpreted correctly. So, when God shows it to us, common sense says that the correct interpretation of the future currently in the Bible is: Satan and sinning humans, change your ways or Revelation is what will happen to you. It's God's final warning.

As a result, Satan knows he must do something else, otherwise his butt will burn. Rather than stop sinning and return to worshipping and serving God, Satan cooks up the challenge, which, if he succeeds, offers him a different way to escape the fire while simultaneously forcing God and the angels to leave Earth, so Satan can rule it. Since God has a greater purpose for the challenge, he accepts.

The prophets, too, realize that Revelation is a warning (as are many Bible stories), not to be read literally (e.g., prove your obedience to God by killing your son, unless an angel stays your hand), so they have no problem writing it the way they did, which was done under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Humans, being smart too, have enough intelligence that they can figure this out as well (hell, I did, and my brain's not exactly firing on all thrusters, lol). It's just that most humans suck at interpreting the Bible correctly (45,000 denominations and counting), so most Christians think Revelation is literally what will happen.

Many Catholics have begun to realize what God intended, and have changed their interpretation, including the fact that much of the wording in Revelation is figurative, not literal. They too realize God is saying: Satan and sinning humans, change your ways, or Revelation is what will happen to you.

One might ask why God didn't simply come right out and say the above words. Sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't. He didn't, for example, include an explicit statement prior to the story of the Flood (sinning humans, changes your ways, or I'll drown you all). Similarly, in Genesis, in the story of Adam & Eve, he didn't say, sinning humans, don't disobey me (i.e., don't eat the fruit), or I'll punish you severely, although he does say that elsewhere. Tons of examples where God has decided to show, not tell.

Here, too, dual timelines are no longer needed.