David DeSilva

Intertestamental period expert David Arthur deSilva deviates from his normal academic writing by penning a novel based on the Maccabean period. It's a period many Christians know little about although Jews have a feast to commemorate it. We see the high priest's brother becoming too involved in the Greek culture around him and allowing his faith to be watered down by it. We see some Jews who remain true to their heritage and who are persecuted for it, and others who give into the culture around them. This is a great and readable novel that will be appreciated by both Jews and Christians. My library received a copy of this in exchange for my review of the novel for a publication. A longer review will appear in a future issue of The Christian Librarian.… (más)

Like other reviewers, I was a bit frustrated by the writing style and number of characters at the beginning, but I am glad I stuck with it and finished. The story was very interesting and insightful not only about the period of the Maccabees, but also about the Bible in general.

One disappointment was that the author didn't include a more thorough afterward, giving a quick nonfiction overview of the Maccabean revolt, sources of information, where he deviated from historical records for the sake of the story, and what happened (or would have happened) after his story ends. Also a map of Jerusalem might have been helpful, though it wasn't necessary.… (más)

I like fiction that recounts specific components of the Bible (included in the "publicly released" version of the Bible, or not) without being an actual lecture/sermon. I think the nature of the source material lends itself to being seen as "preachy"... even when, as in this case, it is not.

We are shown what life might have been like in the times leading up to the Maccabean Revolt - of course there is no way to know how it would REALLY have been, but this version of that time period is as believable as any other.

I thought it was well-written and factually interesting... though it was a little bit on the "documentary" side. This is not a bad thing, as long as you know you're not getting an action novel.… (más)