Here is a book that puts a different slant on Revelation than the very popular Left Behind Series.  Left Behind and other commentaries put most of the predictions in Revelation into our future.  The only predictions they claim have already happened are those in the first three chapters, the letters to the seven churches.  They propose a future rapture, tribulation, and millennial kingdom.  In his End Times Fiction, Gary DeMar cautions against such interpretations.  He believes overenthusiastic commentators let their imagination run away with them.  DeMar thinks they mix "fiction" with "fact" and propose scenarios that won't happen.  He shows in his book that many predictions apply better to events in the first century than they will to present-day or future events.  He shows how the fiction develops as authors propose predictions that are not supported by a careful reading of Scripture.  He gives many examples.

The authors of the Left Behind are not the first to propose a future rapture, tribulation, and thousand-year millennial kingdom.  Hal Lindsey proposed these concepts in the 1970's with his best sellers The Late, Great Planet Earth and There's a New World Coming.  He predicted that the Soviet Union would attack Israel, starting World War III and paving the way for the Antichrist.  With the demise of the Soviet Union, this scenario did not happen.  DeMar thinks these adventuresome predictions attract people's attention, but if they don't happen, people might lose faith in Scripture altogether.

DeMar's End Times Fiction is well-written and informative.  It shows in detail where some of the fictionalized predictions come from.  He analyzes the quoted passages to show that they do not support the fictionalized claims of some commentators.  His book is a "must read" for people confused or frightened by the fictionalized predictions.