Best-selling author Richard Paul Evans discusses his new book "Michael Vey 2: Rise of the Elgen"

August 14, 2012

Writer

Today, author Richard Paul Evans released the latest installment of the "Michael Vey" series: Michael Vey 2: Rise of the Elgen. Published by Glenn Beck’s Mercury Ink imprint, Michael Vey 2: Rise of the Elgen is the sequel to the instant #1 New York Times bestselling thriller Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25. Evans joined Glenn on radio this morning to discuss the new Young Adult novel.

“Rise of the Elgen, of course, takes off where the first book ended,” Evans told Glenn.

“Michael's mother was kidnapped and in Rise of the Elgen Michael is going down to save his mother. And it takes them to South America and into the jungles of the Amazon. I've actually spent a lot of time in the jungles. I've done a lot of humanitarian work down there. So it's a ride. That's all I can say. It's fun. It's a little scarier than the first book but I think that's good for especially the young male readers.”

Many fans of the series may not know that the book didn’t have a lot of supporters until Glenn decided to publish it as the first book from Mercury Ink.

“No one believed in the book,” Evans explained.

“The book debuts at number one of the New York Times,” he said, “ By the second day it was in its second printing.”

Back in June, Glenn encouraged viewers to create and interact with art that reflected positive values and lessons. The ‘Michael Vey’ series is just one example of this call being put into action. A story about hope and the power of goodness in an increasingly dark world, Michael Vey is a vehicle to teach kids important lessons and values.It teaches children that if they persist, and do what they know to be right, no matter how much pressure they face to do otherwise, then anything is possible.

You can get your copy of Michael Vey 2: Rise of the Elgin for 50% off TODAY ONLY by clicking HERE.

Read the full interview transcript below:

GLENN: During Restoring Love, we had book signings. David Barton was one of them. Michele Bachmann was one of them. We had ‑‑

PAT: Pat and Stu was one of them.

GLENN: Whatever.

PAT: Hello. It's huge.

STU: Huge.

GLENN: Brad Thor.

PAT: 730,000 people lined up.

GLENN: Brad Thor was there. I mean, we had some really big authors. And then there was Richard Paul Evans. Richard Paul Evans ‑‑

STU: Was that an insult?

GLENN: No.

PAT: Then this guy.

GLENN: Richard Paul Evans ‑‑ let me explain. Richard Paul Evans is one of the reasons why the Department of Homeland Security came to us and said they were worried about crowd control. His line for his book signing for Michael Vey: The Rise of the Elgin which is the Michael Vey, the second in the series, the reason why they said that they were concerned about crowds, his line was a quarter of a mile long. And you just told me, I didn't know this story. You stood in your own line.

EVANS: Yeah, I thought that was the line to get in to the event. I was there two hours early. I waited in line and thought, this line's not going anywhere.

PAT: What a buffoon!

EVANS: Thank you.

GLENN: Brad Thor wouldn't have done that.

PAT: Nope. Nope.

GLENN: (Laughing.)

EVANS: I'm a humble guy, okay? So I walked around.

GLENN: You stood in your own line.

EVANS: Yes. And so then I walked around and went to the front like I'm going to ‑‑ I have to get in there. And when I got to the front, people were wearing these T‑shirts they had made that said Vayniacs, and they started pointing at me and this guy said, this is your line for your book signing. I said, no, no, no.

GLENN: What's so funny is you were standing in your own line. Nobody knew. They're all waiting to meet you, they're all waiting to get your autograph and the people around you had no idea who you were.

EVANS: Well, it's all context.

GLENN: So amazing. The Michael Vey series, I'm just ‑‑ my kids were a little too young to read it last year. Raphe's just about 8 now and I'm reading it to my son and my daughter who is 7, and we love it. Just love it. I've been waiting to be able to share the books with them and I told Raphe last night ‑‑ we're just about finished with the first one and I told Raphe last night, we have to finish this because with new one comes out tomorrow. I told this story earlier. He looked at me like, he is not buying into me. And he was like, what are you selling? And I looked at him and I said, what's the problem? He said, Dad, it comes out tomorrow? And I said, yeah and he said, then how come we've had a copy for about a month?

EVANS: (Laughing.)

GLENN: He discovered Dad's a liar. But so we started. I haven't read it yet because I want to read it with the kids. Tell me about Rise of the Elgin.

EVANS: Rise of the Elgin, of course, takes off where the first book ended. Michael's mother was kidnapped and in Rise of the Elgin Michael is going down to save his mother. And it takes them to South America and into the jungles of the Amazon which I've actually spent a lot of time in the jungles. I've done a lot of humanitarian work down there. So it's a ride. That's all I can say. It's fun. It's a little scarier than the first book but I think that's good for especially the young male readers.

GLENN: You are ‑‑ you and I have one thing in common on when it comes to books, and it sets us apart, I think, from the rest of the publishing world. When you first had this book, you went to publishers and they said ‑‑

EVANS: They weren't interested. Remember how much fun we had last year, Glenn?

GLENN: Oh, yeah.

EVANS: Because no one believed in the book.

GLENN: I know.

EVANS: The book debuts at number one of the New York Times.

GLENN: I know.

EVANS: I just, I don't know if you know this. By the second day it was in its second printing.

GLENN: Holy cow.

EVANS: Yeah. Then basically Simon and Schuster stopped all the other books and just printed Michael Vey to keep up with the demand.

GLENN: The book comes out and all of the publishers kept saying you have to dumb it down, dumb it down. And when I read it, I said, Richard, smarten it up a little bit. It's got to be a little smarter and a little darker for kids. This is our first, as Mercury Ink, this is my first moving into try to get the young adults in a way they understand. Everybody else tries to get ‑‑ everybody else was like, I've got to do a moralistic book now. Golly gee, Wally, mom's going to be so upset when they find out. Leave It to Beaver doesn't connect. It just doesn't connect if the kids are in the filth that's out there. So this is kind of going into their world and dragging them back.

EVANS: Right. If you want to teach about self‑sacrifice, you could put an essay on there or you could do what Zeus does when all of a sudden they are being ‑‑ they are in a hall filled with rats and he ‑‑

GLENN: Don't tell me ‑‑ yeah, don't ‑‑

EVANS: But, you know, they make ‑‑ these kids make sacrifices because their love and their friendship.

GLENN: And it's easy to be able to read it with your kids and have conversations that are real that are not moralistic that are just real conversations. What are the ‑‑ what are you seeing? Did we give this out to advance readers? I know we did some but have you gotten any reviews back or anything from advance readers?

EVANS: Getting it back on my Facebook page and what they're saying is most are saying it's better than the first book. Getting a lot of, well, it's a little bit scarier than the first book, a lot of fun. And what I'm really hearing is the end of the book, the last third, once you start there, you'll be up all night reading it because once it starts rolling, you can't stop.

PAT: How many people are saying it needs more vampires? A lot? Are you getting a lot of that?

EVANS: You know what, people ‑‑

PAT: Shakespearian vampires, though.

EVANS: People are so glad there's no vampires in this and no wizards.

PAT: I bet. Have you seen the bookshelves, especially for young adults. You can't find anything that's not vampire‑related.

GLENN: You know why?

PAT: It's ridiculous.

GLENN: Because nobody is independent. They are all just sheep.

PAT: Yep.

GLENN: They are all sheep.

PAT: Yep.

GLENN: And so somebody comes up with an idea for a good book. Yeah, Stephenie Meyer does the Twilight thing and like, well, the kids love vampires. No, it was a really good story. Can you stop and come up with something original, which is what you did with Michael Vey. Let me ‑‑ I can't help. I hope I don't make you uncomfortable. I can't help because I'm reading it now and Michael keeps talking about his ticks. Michael has Tourette's syndrome. You have Tourette's syndrome.

EVANS: I have Tourette's syndrome.

GLENN: He keeps saying right when he gets into a nervous situation or he's about to be around a girl or whatever, he starts, you know, twitching and his eye starts blinking.

EVANS: Like I am right now.

GLENN: You're not now but when Pat was talking to you, your eye was twitching. You have a crush on him or ‑‑

EVANS: No, it's anxiety.

GLENN: It's anxiety?

EVANS: That's what Michael ‑‑ Taylor can always in the book tell when Michael's nervous because he starts twitching.

GLENN: Twitching. How was that when you were growing up? How much of this ‑‑ how much of Michael is you?

EVANS: Most of it. And I didn't realize it until I ‑‑ after the book was out a year that a friend came and said, you know, this is you, right? You do know you wrote a book about yourself?

GLENN: Except you're not electric.

EVANS: I'm not electric. But the electricity's really a metaphor, the power we have within ourselves. Whether it's our love or our talents. It's just one other different thing we can use. And I had different ‑‑ I didn't have electricity. I had a different way of communicating with other people.

GLENN: There is a great ‑‑ there are several scenes in it that I mean, I think towards the very beginning and I think what people, kids and adults see in it is themselves. You say Michael Vey is you. I don't have Tourette's, but I had kind of the childhood that Michael Vey had, too, where you were just kind of the loser kid and you got beat up and, you know, whatever. And I think a lot of us had that kind of experience. Yeah, no, I know it's crazy. People didn't want to hear about George Washington. But the ‑‑ that you see yourself and your own childhood and we all kind of see ourselves as the ‑‑ as the outsider, being picked on somebody. But there is a really important scene in the first book about when Michael teams up with the guys who have been beating up on him and I just read this part with Raphe about two days ago and it was such a great conversation to have with Raphe where you realize what these kids who are bullies, what's happening to them in their life and it just, I could see lights go on in his head. Have you heard that very often? Have you heard that from anybody else that kids are ‑‑ they're getting ‑‑ they are not only seeing themselves but they're opening up and seeing other things that they never even considered before?

EVANS: You know expressed not quite so articulately.

GLENN: You're being kind.

EVANS: But what kids say is, wow, that's kind of tough being the bully. But also I can see why he does that. And Michael makes that statement. He goes, I probably will be shoving kids in lockers, too, if that happened to me at home. And so in fact, Jack because one of the favorite characters. In fact, my daughter said, she's my writing assistant, she goes, I think Jack's my favorite character now.

GLENN: Is he in 2?

EVANS: He's in 2. He's a big part of 2. And you get to see, one of the things that Michael is, why they love him so much is that Michael brings the Bess out of everybody. So Jack, he knows Jack wants to be a hero. He wants to be like his brother who is a marine and Jack gets to lay that part. And he becomes the best he can be, and all of them do. There's a scene in the jungle between Austin and McKenna, two of the characters that I think is stunning in the second book. It's one of the favorite things I've written of all my novels. I just read it over and over and thought, I love that scene. Because she inspires him to be who he really can be.

GLENN: The name of the book is Michael Vey 2: Rise of the Elgin and it is available everywhere. There's a reason why the line to get the autograph on this book was a quarter of a mile long. Just think of that, a quarter of a mile long for a book that most of America has not heard of really yet. I don't think this book will take off really until Book 3. And that's when this book will start to have momentum because that's kind of the pattern of these twilight and Harry Potter and Percy Jackson and everything else. It starts to build momentum around Book 3. In Book 1 it was already a bigger seller than Book 1 of Harry Potter when it was first released.

EVANS: It's actually Simon and Schuster's largest new series, young adult release in their history.

GLENN: So you've got that going for you now. There's a reason why it's a quarter of a mile long to say hello. Get your kids on the bandwagon and share it with a friend. It is a great way to teach your kids. Great way just to have a great read and it's not just for kids. Really not. It's a great book. Pat read it. You loved it.

PAT: Oh, yeah, loved it.

GLENN: I read it by myself, loved it. And this is one of the reasons why I said smarten it up a bit because you can really make me love it. And Pat, after he read the edits, Pat loved it as well. I mean, you can read it as an adult as well.

EVANS: We ran into a little bit of a problem with the adults were liking it so much, then giving it to the kids, the kids, there's a kind of lag here. Like if adults like it, then maybe we shouldn't be reading this.

GLENN: Yeah, don't let your kids see you like it.

EVANS: But then they caught on and their friends start reading it.

GLENN: And that's one of the reasons that also the first book was prisoner of cell 25. It had kind of a dark cover because I wanted it to not be like, your parents liked it.

EVANS: Well, this one is scary. It has rats all over the second one.

GLENN: It's really good. Who is the artist that did the cover? Do you remember?

EVANS: I forgot his name. He does video games. He's fantastic.

GLENN: Really, really good. Go ahead.

EVANS: You heard about the deal we have on the book today?

GLENN: No.

EVANS: Oh, it's fantastic. It's just for your listeners. Premiere ‑‑ if you go to, of course it's available right now on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. But if you go to Premiere, just actually go to MichaelVey2.com.

GLENN: MichaelVey2.com.

EVANS: 50% off. It's like 9 bucks for the hard cover book.

GLENN: These are first edition copies. And may I make a recommendation. Keep your first edition copy. Buy two. Put one on the shelf. Have you seen, have you seen what a Harry Potter goes for? Buy 2, put one on a shelf. Mark my words. I collect books. Michael Vey, first edition copies. You can get them at MichaelVey2.com only for this audience. 50% off, today only if you go to MichaelVey2.com. But tell all your ‑‑ tell all your ‑‑ what did Michelle Obama call them? Knucklehead friends? Tell all your knucklehead friends that they can ‑‑ that they can get it at Amazon.com. Okay. Richard, we'll talk to you later. Thank you so much.

EVANS: Thank you.

Critical theory destroys truth and justice

Editor's note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

Critical theory once stood out as the absurd progressive notion that it is. Now, its maxims are becoming an integral part of ordinary political discourse. The more you repeat a lie, the more you will believe it, and this is the very dangerous place in which we find ourselves today.

Take this critical theory maxim as an example: If we desire justice, we must sometimes champion what may appear superficially as injustice. It's a necessary evil, if you will, the necessity of “controlled injustice.”

By using truth through fabrication and controlled injustice for justice, we’ll save the republic. We’ll be acting in a noble way.

This definition of justice is defined by the “oppressed,” not the “oppressor.” It is the greatest happiness for the greatest number. To achieve this justice, however, we need to endorse acts on occasion that, while seemingly unjust, serve a higher purpose. It will ensure the stability and the unity of our republic, and this may manifest in ways that seem contradictory to our values. But these are the necessary shadows to cast light on “true justice.”

And isn’t that what we are all after, anyway?

Here’s another critical theory maxim: Sometimes we find the truth through fabrication. Our pursuit of truth sometimes requires a strategic use of falsehoods. The truth is a construct that has been shaped and tailored to promote the well-being of the collective.

We sometimes need to accept and propagate lies designed by "the system” — not the old system, but the system that we’re now using to replace the old to get more justice through injustice and more truth through fabrication.

We’re engaging in a higher form of honesty. When we fabricate, it’s for the right reason. We are reaching up to the heavens fighting for a higher sort of honesty. To fortify the truth, we occasionally must weave a tapestry of lies. Each thread, essential for the greater picture, will ultimately define our understanding and ensure our unity under this infallible wisdom.

The election is coming up. Does this maxim sound familiar? Many think it is imperative that we secure our republic through election control to maintain our republic. Sometimes, we might need to take actions that by traditional standards might be questionable.

The act of securing elections requires cheating. It's not mere deception. It is a noble act of safeguarding our way of life. We're on the verge of losing this democracy, and without deception, we will lose it.

To ensure it doesn't fall into the hands of those we know will destroy it, we may have to make a few fabrications. We're fabricating stories to be able to control or secure the republic through our elections. By using truth through fabrication and controlled injustice for justice, we'll save the republic. Therefore, we'll be acting in a noble way. Stealing an election from those who wish to harm our society is truly an act of valor and an essential measure to protect our values and ensure the continuation of our just society.

If we desire justice, we must sometimes champion what may appear superficially as injustice.

I know it's a paradox of honor through dishonor. But in this context, by embracing the dishonor, we achieve the highest form of honor, ensuring the stability and the continuation of our great republic.

Let this be heard, far and wide, as a great call to patriotic action. As we advance, let each of us, citizens of this great and honorable republic, consider these principles. Not as abstract or paradoxical but as practical guides to daily life. Embrace the necessity of controlled injustice, the utility of lies, the duty to secure our electoral process, and the honor and apparent dishonor. These are not merely strategies for survival. They are prerequisites for our prosperity.

We all have to remember that justice is what our leaders define, that truth is what our party tells us. Our republic stands strong on the values of injustice for justice, honor through dishonor, and the fabrication of truths. To deviate from this path is to jeopardize the very fabric of our society. Strength through unity; unity through strength.

We've heard this nonsense for so long. But now, this nonsense is becoming an instituted reality, and we are entering perilous times. Don't be fooled by the narratives you will hear during the march to November. Never let someone convince you that the ends justify the means, that a little bit of injustice is needed to achieve a broader, collective vision of justice, that truth sometimes requires fabricated lies and narratives. If we do, justice will cease to be justice, truth will cease to be truth, and our republic will be lost.

Top 5 MOST EVIL taxes the government extorts from you

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"In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes." -Ben Franklin

The injustice of taxation has been a core issue for Americans since the very beginning of our country, and it's a problem we have yet to resolve. This belief was recently reignited in many Americans earlier this month on tax day when the numbers were crunched and it was discovered that the government was somehow owed even more hard-earned money. As Glenn recently discussed on his show, it's getting to be impossible for most Americans to afford to live comfortably, inflation is rising, and our politicians keep getting richer.

The taxpayer's burden is heavier than ever.

The government is not above some real low blows either. While taxes are a necessary evil, some taxes stretch the definition of "necessary" and emphasize the "evil." Here are the top five most despicable taxes that are designed to line the IRS coffers at your expense:

Income Tax

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"It would be a hard government that should tax its people one-tenth part of their income." -Ben Franklin

On February 24th, 2024 we hit a very unfortunate milestone, the 101st anniversary of the 16th Amendment, which authorized federal income tax. Where does the government get the right to steal directly out of your paycheck?

Death Taxes

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"Now my advice for those who die, Declare the pennies on your eyes" -George Harrison

Not even in death can you escape the cold pursuit of the tax collector. It's not good enough that you have to pay taxes on everything you buy and every penny you make your entire life. Now the feds want a nice slice, based on the entire value of your estate, that can be as much as 40 percent. Then the state government gets to stick their slimy fingers all over whatever remains before your family is left with the crumbs. It's practically grave-robbery.

Payroll

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"The power to tax is the power to destroy." -John Marshall

What's that? The nice chunk of your paycheck the government nabs before you can even get it to the bank wasn't enough? What if the government taxed your employer just for paying you? In essence, you make less than what your agreed pay rate is and it costs your employer more! Absolutely abominable.

Social Security

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"We don't have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven't taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much." -Ronald Reagan

Everyone knows the collapse of Social Security is imminent. It has limped along for years, only sustained by a torrent of tax dollars and the desperate actions of politicians. For decades, people have unwillingly forked over money into the system they will never see again.

FICA

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"What at first was plunder assumed the softer name of revenue." -Thomas Paine

FICA is the payroll equivalent of Social Security. Your employer has to match however much you pay. It means it costs your employer even more to pay you—again, you'll NEVER see that money. At this point, are you even working for yourself, or are you just here to generate money for the government to frivolously throw away?

5 DISTURBING ways World War III will be different from previous wars

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Has World War III begun?

Over the weekend, Iran launched an unprecedented attack against Israel involving over 300 missiles and drones. This marked the first direct attack on Israel originating from Iranian territory. Fortunately, according to an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, 99 percent of missiles and drones were successfully neutralized by Israeli defense systems. Iran claimed that the operation against Israel had concluded and that no further offensive was planned, although the possibility of another attack is still present.

This has left many people, including Glenn, wondering the same thing: did we just witness the start of World War III?

Glenn recently had a World War II Air Force Veteran as a guest on his TV special, who told stories of the horrors he and his brothers-in-arms faced in the skies over war-torn Europe. This was a timely reminder of the terrors of war and a warning that our future, if it leads to another world war, is a dark one.

But, if Glenn's coverage of the Iranian attack revealed one thing, it's that World War III will look nothing like the world wars of the twentieth century. Long gone are the days of John "Lucky" Luckadoo and his "Bloody Hundredth" bravely flying their B-17s into battle. Over the weekend, we saw hundreds of autonomous drones and missiles clashing with extreme speed and precision over several different fronts (including space) simultaneously. This ain't your grandfather's war.

From EMP strikes to cyber attacks, here are FIVE ways the face of war has changed:

EMP attacks

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The entire modern world, on every level, is completely dependent on electricity. From your home refrigerator to international trade, the world would come to a grinding halt without power. And as Glenn has pointed out, it wouldn't even be that hard to pull off. All it would take is 3 strategically placed, high-altitude nuclear detonations and the entire continental U.S. would be without power for months if not years. This would cause mass panic across the country, which would be devastating enough on its own, but the chaos could be a perfect opportunity for a U.S. land invasion.

Nuclear strikes

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Nuclear war is nothing new. Many of us grew up during the Cold War, built fallout shelters, and learned to duck and cover. But times have changed. The Berlin Wall fell and so did the preparedness of the average American to weather a nuclear attack. As technology has advanced, more of our adversaries than ever have U.S. cities within their crosshairs, and as Glenn has pointed out, these adversaries are not exactly shy about that fact. Unfortunately, the possibility of an atomic apocalypse is as real as ever.

Immigration warfare

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The strategy of strangling an opposing nation's economy to gain the upper hand is a wartime tactic as old as time. That's why the Border Crisis is so alarming. What better way to damage an opponent's economy than by overburdening it with millions of undocumented immigrants? As Glenn has covered, these immigrants are not making the trek unaided. There is a wide selection of organizations that facilitate this growing disaster. These organizations are receiving backing from around the globe, such as the WEF, the UN, and U.S. Democrats! Americans are already feeling the effects of the border crisis. Imagine how this tactic could be exploited in war.

Cyber shutdowns

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Cyber attacks will be a major tactic in future wars. We've already experienced relatively minor cyber strikes from Russia, China, and North Korea, and it is a very real possibility that one of our adversaries inflicts a larger attack with devastating consequences on the United States. In fact, the WEF has already predicted a "catastrophic" cyber attack is imminent, and Glenn suggests that it is time to start preparing ourselves. A cyber attack could be every bit as devastating as an EMP, and in a world run by computers, nothing is safe.

Biological assault

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Don't trust the "experts." That was the takeaway many of us had from the pandemic, but something less talked about is the revelation that China has manufactured viruses that are capable of spreading across the globe. We now know that the lab leak hypothesis is true and that the Wuhan lab manufactured the virus that infected the entire world. That was only ONE virus from ONE lab. Imagine what else the enemies of America might be cooking up.

The government is WAGING WAR against these 3 basic needs

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The government has launched a full-on assault against our basic needs, and people are starting to take notice.

As long-time followers of Glenn are probably aware, our right to food, water, and power is under siege. The government no longer cares about our general welfare. Instead, our money lines the pockets of our politicians, funds overseas wars, or goes towards some woke-ESG-climate-Great Reset bullcrap. And when they do care, it's not in a way that benefits the American people.

From cracking down on meat production to blocking affordable power, this is how the government is attacking your basic needs:

Food

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Glenn had Rep. Thomas Massie on his show where he sounded the alarm about the attack on our food. The government has been waging war against our food since the thirties when Congress passed the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938. They started by setting strict limits on how many crops a farmer could grow in a season and punishing anyone who grew more—even if it was intended for personal use, not for sale on the market. This sort of autocratic behavior has continued into the modern day and has only gotten more draconian. Today, not only are you forced to buy meat that a USDA-approved facility has processed, but the elites want meat in general off the menu. Cow farts are too dangerous to the environment, so the WEF wants you to eat climate-friendly alternatives—like bugs.

Water

ALESSANDRO RAMPAZZO / Contributor | Getty Images

As Glenn discussed during a recent Glenn TV special, the government has been encroaching on our water for years. It all started when Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1972, which gave the government the ability to regulate large bodies of water. As the name suggests, the act was primarily intended to keep large waterways clear of pollution, but over time it has allowed the feds to assume more and more control over the country's water supply. Most recently, the Biden administration attempted to expand the reach of the Clean Water Act to include even more water and was only stopped by the Supreme Court.

Electricity