This is my third book to read by Francine Rivers. I doubted for a long time, thinking that Christian fiction was like most Christian music: cheesy and mediocre. Then I finally broke down to read
Redeeming Love. I LOVED that book, just like everyone else who's read it. I went on to read
The Last Sin Eater, which was good. Then I saw this at Half Price Books. It sat on my bookshelf for about a year, because soon after I found out we were having a baby and started reading baby books. This has been my first venture out into the world of fiction since this time last year. It was marvelous. Oh how I missed it. I love the art of storytelling. Francine Rivers does an amazing job in this book of weaving a beautiful story. From the brazen setting of first century Jerusalem, Rome, and eventually Ephesus, we meet characters who walked with Jesus, including the apostle John. It's written in third person omniscient, so you not only relate to each character's point of view, but you see how each person changes throughout the story. I was hooked from the very first chapter and could barely put the book down. It was a 500 page quick read, if you know what I mean. :) I'm no longer in a place in my life where I have the luxury of curling up with a good book for a few days. Babies change those things, so I am waiting to cool down before I read the second book of this trilogy, because I need to practice better self-control next time.
What I liked: I could identify with nearly every character in this story, which makes you care about what happens to each of them. It included domestic and extremely adventurous events, ranging from the daily lives of wealthy Roman citizens and the duties of their slaves, to the gruesome destruction of Jerusalem and life in the gladiatorial ring. I also found it eye opening historically: I learned about how Jerusalem fell in 70 ad, the exile of the Jews, the persecution of the early church, and more personally, the trickery of sin and it's ability to destroy you from the inside out.
I immediately gave it to my mom to read, and she called me about starting the second one a week later. This is a rich tale of history, desperation, bravery, and the use of one life filled with Christ to reach many who are far off...
