The Fallen (series)
The Fallen is a series of seven young adult modern fantasy novels by American author Thomas E. Sniegoski. The ABC Family three-episode miniseries Fallen was loosely based on the series.
Summary
Aaron Corbet learns on his 18th birthday that he is a Nephilim, the child of a human/angel pairing, and that he is being pursued by a group of angels called the Powers. The Powers believe that all Nephilim are an abomination and affront to God. However, there is a prophecy that a Nephilim will be born that will redeem all the Fallen and return them to Heaven.
Novels
The Fallen
(Pocket Books, 2003)
The story starts out with an introduction to the main character, Aaron Corbet. Aaron's not such a bad kid, though he was orphaned since birth and shoved from foster home to foster home, and had some anger issues to get over and under control. He was finally adopted by Tom and Lori Stanley, and tried very hard to be a good son and a big brother to their autistic son Stevie.
Aaron meets Vilma Santiago, a beautiful girl at his high school to whom he is immediately attracted. It seems like things are finally working out for Aaron; he has everything that he has ever wanted, so he thinks. On his 18th birthday, everything changes. He starts having nightmarish dreams and visions, has trouble concentrating, experiences bad headaches, starts hearing voices in his head and feels painful changes occurring inside his body. Other weird things start happening, too. Suddenly, he has the "gift of tongues" and can speak and understand languages he had never known; he can even understand his dog Gabriel talking to him. Surely Aaron is losing his mind. He reacts to this transformation with confusion; just when his world seemed normal, it now begins to unravel before his eyes.
A chance encounter with what Aaron thinks is a homeless bum turns out to be a Fallen Angel by the name of Ezekiel ("Zeke"). It was Zeke who sensed Aaron's true nature and told him what he really was: a Nephilim, the offspring of an angel and a mortal woman. Zeke warns Aaron that the Powers will hunt him down and kill him, that he must learn how to use his divine gifts and flee immediately. Aaron, of course, thinks the man is insane. Nevertheless, Aaron goes to his local library and looks up information on Nephilim. He begins to wonder if it could be true. Another angel, Camael, appears at his high school and tells him that he is the chosen one that the angels have been waiting for: the one spoken of in the Prophecy. Camael tells Aaron that he has come to protect him from the Powers and help him fulfill his destiny.
We are introduced to the Powers and their leader Verchiel, a cruel, relentless angel who feels it is his sacred mission in the name of the most Holy to eradicate the Fallen and their offspring from the face of the Earth. He especially wants to eliminate the Nephilim spoken of in the Prophecy who is supposed to redeem the Fallen, forgive them of their sins against the Creator and send them back home to Heaven. Eventually, Aaron meets Verchiel for the first time. Zeke and Camael come to the rescue, but not before Verchiel kills Aaron's adoptive parents and takes his brother Stevie captive. Enraged, Aaron's angelic nature takes over and he battles with Verchiel.
Leviathan
(Pocket Books, 2003)
This story opens with a Fallen Angel praying to the Divine and listening to others who are also praying. He is seized by the Powers and offers no resistance. Verchiel torments this prisoner with utter relish.
Aaron is now on the run with Camael and his dog Gabriel. Together they are searching for Stevie and trying to elude capture by the Powers. Along the way, Camael tries to help Aaron merge with his angelic self. The trio are lured to a seemingly peaceful town which has been seduced by a malevolent ancient creature known as Leviathan. Camael is drawn into Leviathan's web and is captured. Aaron's angel instincts feels something isn't right, but he can't quite put his finger on it. Gabriel also senses something is wrong. He searches the town for Camael.
Back in Aaron's old town of Lynn, Vilma is going through similar changes that Aaron went through: she too is Nephilim. Verchiel, meanwhile, uses angelic magic and transforms Stevie into Malak, a deadly hunter of false prophets and the Fallen. He intends to use his new creation to find Aaron and, if possible, kill him. What a sweet irony for Verchiel: to see Aaron killed by his own brother. Aaron finds Leviathan in a cave where he sees Camael, Gabriel and other magical creatures hanging in translucent sacks beneath the belly of the beast. He is seduced by the beast, but his angelic nature surfaces and rebels against the seduction; Aaron breaks free and saves those whom the beast feeds upon.
The Archangel Gabriel, one of the angels Aaron frees from Leviathan, tells him, "You have done much to expunge the sins of the father and to fulfill the edicts of prophecy... You are your father's son... You have his eyes..."
Aerie
(Pocket Books, 2003)
Our story picks up with Aaron, Camael and Gabriel still searching for Stevie. Aaron is still no closer to discovering the identity of the angel who sired him. By pure accident, they stumble upon folks who are from Aerie, a place where the Fallen and Nephilim live together to avoid the Powers. Verchiel is still in hot pursuit of Aaron and sends his magical warrior Malak to hunt for Aaron's scent. Malak wears armor impervious to angel fire, and possesses the keen ability to pick up the scent or trail of the Fallen and Nephilim; he mercilessly kills them. He is determined to prove his worth and find the chosen one for his master Verchiel.
Aaron must prove to the citizens of Aerie that he is indeed the chosen one, a hard enough task when he is unsure himself. An ancient, wise, and gentle Fallen Angel named Belphegor helps Aaron to fully unite his human and angelic natures. While in the process of becoming whole, Aaron hears Vilma's pleas for help and instinctively goes to her rescue, not realizing that it could be a trap. Despite overwhelming odds, he battles Verchiel and the Powers to save Vilma. Aaron meets Malak and realizes that it is his little brother Stevie who has been changed somehow; however, he cannot bring himself to kill his own brother. Aaron rescues Vilma and takes her back to Aerie, but the battle follows him and he loses many friends and loved ones.
Verchiel learns from Belphegor who Aaron was sired by; during the battle, he taunts Aaron with jibes about his father. Enraged, Aaron demands that Verchiel reveal his father's identity. Aaron learns who his father is from his friends at Aerie, and is stunned by the news.
Reckoning
(Pocket Books, 2004)
Verchiel is rapidly deteriorating, and he becomes more demented and full of rage. He tries to undo the "Word of God" and, with the help of the Archons and magical shackles, he has his prisoner, Lucifer Morningstar, strung up and he orders the Archons to disembowel Lucifer. With magicks and sacred runes, the Archons attempt to unleash the sins of the father upon the world, all the hatred, rage and sorrow which is buried deep within the center of Lucifer's being by the Creator.
Aaron is now struggling with the knowledge of his true parentage: that Lucifer, the greatest sinner, first of the Fallen, Satan himself, is his sire. Aaron has accepted his destiny as the Redeemer chosen by God to be able to forgive the Fallen for their sins and send them back home to Heaven. He also becomes more comfortable and familiar with his angelic powers; with the demise of Belphegor, he is now the protector of the citizens of Aerie. They know he is the son of the Morningstar, and are aware of how powerful his angelic nature is, yet given the circumstances of his parentage, some of the citizens are torn and do not know if they can trust him. Aaron must win their trust and fight to save them and mankind from Verchiel's pious madness. Vilma, the woman Aaron loves, is not able to cope with her angelic transformation, and Aaron must find a way to help merge both her human and angelic natures. To do this, Aaron must find the last of the angel sorcerers known as the Malakim to help save her or else face the unthinkable decision to put her down like a rabid animal.
Verchiel is eventually successful in releasing Hell from Lucifer's body while Lucifer himself, repentant of his crimes, struggles in vain to hold the essence back, although it costs the mad angel the lives of his magicians and the remainder of his soldiers. Aaron faces Verchiel down in a titanic battle in the gym of St. Athanasius. Verchiel's formerly blind healer Kraus decides to help Lucifer reclaim Hell and, in the end, Verchiel is taken up to Heaven to face God's judgement. Aaron is unable to redeem his father and Lucifer decides to live in Aerie alone.
End of Days
(2011)
Forsaken
(2012)
Armageddon
(2013)
- At some point in 2012, the first four books of the series were rereleased preceding the fifth story of the series. The new versions were printed as a pair of Omnibus novels. The first omnibus contains The Fallen and Leviathan while the second contains Aerie and Reckoning. The reprinted versions also featured different cover art more in line with that of the final three books.
DVD/Movie
Fallen first aired in 2006 and 2007, and released for re-sale in 2010. The movie doesn't follow the same sequence of characters and events as outlined in the novels. Actors in the mini-series are as follows;
- Paul Wesley as Aaron Corbet
- Rick Worthy as Camael, the former leader of the Powers
- Hal Ozsan as Azazel, the fierce Fallen angel
- Will Yun Lee as Mazarin, the current leader of the Powers Powers
- Fernanda Andrade as Vilma Santiago
- Bryan Cranston as Lucifer Morningstar
The DVD contains the following sequels;
- The Time of the Redeemer
- Mysterious Ways, and All That
- Someone Always has to Die
- Il Gran Rifiuto (lit. "the grand refusal")