Thomas N. Tabback

The best way to describe this book is "weird." I found it in a second hand bookstore in the Philippines...there were about 20 copies of it there presumably shipped from the USA. I did manage to finish the book because I was drawn in by the storyline and the historical theme of the Israelites and their various conquests. I am unsure if this is meant to be a Christian book. I thought it would be based on the subject matter but I found some overly graphic violent and sexual content.

The story is told in the first person which I think is what makes the book a bit odd. The character in involved in a violent fight and then wakes from a coma having been transported to Biblical times. There are hints at reincarnation and previous lives throughout the book which again are misplaced, if this is meant to be a Christian book.

However, by far the most off-putting aspect of the book is the role of the main character who is basically portrayed as a superhero single-handedly conquering cities and "rescuing" the "poor" Israelites who don't seem to know what they are doing. At one point he falls "in love" with a woman and ends up sleeping with her outside the camp. Because this is fiction the author has basically developed his own fantasy land and taken extensive liberties with the Biblical story. I find it disturbing that he would choose real events planned by God and turn them into his own fiction land with no attempt to portray them accurately. In giving a central role to his own character it is almost as if the author himself is in the midst of these events and is orchestrating them rather than God.

The author would have done better to describe events from the perspective of a by-stander or less central figure as in the AD Chronicles Series by Brock and Brodie Thoene.

Not recommended for Christian readers due to the content and some disturbing themes.… (mehr)