An inventive and impressively researched alternative account of the influence of Rome on the genesis of Christianity.
A debut revisionist historical novel imagines a political interpretation of Jesus’ ministry and the birth of Christianity.
Pontius Pilate is ordered to leave Rome to become governor of Judea, a role he does not relish, though it’s ostensibly a promotion. Judea is notoriously insurrectionist, dominated by Jewish zealots who chafe at Roman rule. Pilate makes little headway upon his arrival, but recruits Joseph of Arimathea, a Jew, to spy on the Jewish Council. Joseph convinces the merchant John to also help, and Pilate encourages him to pose as a prophet and proselytize pro-Roman messages of conciliation. John becomes increasingly popular over time and known as John the Baptist, but also disenchanted, he ropes in his cousin, Jesus, to be his replacement. Jesus’ own Judaism perfectly suits Pilate’s ends—he’s progressive and contemptuous of the attachment to traditional rituals, and extremely critical of violent radicalism. He preaches a message of peaceful coexistence with Roman rulers, and even encourages Judeans to be less hostile to tax collectors. He amazes gathering crowds with staged miracles. Despite Jesus’ growing following, many stalwart traditionalists vehemently oppose his teachings. But when John, arrested on political charges, threatens to reveal the subterfuge, Pilate quickly hatches an opportunistic plan. He conspires to have John executed, and orchestrates Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion, as well as an ersatz resurrection, to pit Jesus’ more pliable disciples against the anti-Roman contingent. Fleming develops a clever and historically convincing narrative that suggests a secular interpretation of the birth of Christianity, shorn of supernatural explanation. In addition, Pilate is made much more than a villain. While certainly impatient and capable of great cruelty, he also shows compassion and love, as evidenced by his utter devotion to his wife, Claudia. Jesus, too, is portrayed in artfully complex colors, theologically iconoclastic but also egotistical and sensitive to criticism. Fleming’s attention to historical detail is admirable—he must have studiously researched the cultural and political realities of the day. For those more interested in the scholarly plausibility of the plot, the author includes a note at the end of the book discussing precisely that.
An inventive and impressively researched alternative account of the influence of Rome on the genesis of Christianity.Pub Date: Nov. 9, 2016
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 369
Publisher: Wellspring Books
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
A fine novel for those who like to immerse themselves in alternative worlds.
Set in the future and reminiscent of The Hunger Games and Game of Thrones, this novel dramatizes a story of vengeance, warfare and the quest for power.
In the beginning, Darrow, the narrator, works in the mines on Mars, a life of drudgery and subservience. He’s a member of the Reds, an “inferior” class, though he’s happily married to Eo, an incipient rebel who wants to overthrow the existing social order, especially the Golds, who treat the lower-ranking orders cruelly. When Eo leads him to a mildly rebellious act, she’s caught and executed, and Darrow decides to exact vengeance on the perpetrators of this outrage. He’s recruited by a rebel cell and “becomes” a Gold by having painful surgery—he has golden wings grafted on his back—and taking an exam to launch himself into the academy that educates the ruling elite. Although he successfully infiltrates the Golds, he finds the social order is a cruel and confusing mash-up of deception and intrigue. Eventually, he leads one of the “houses” in war games that are all too real and becomes a guerrilla warrior leading a ragtag band of rebelliously minded men and women. Although it takes a while, the reader eventually gets used to the specialized vocabulary of this world, where warriors shoot “pulseFists” and are protected by “recoilArmor.” As with many similar worlds, the warrior culture depicted here has a primitive, even classical, feel to it, especially since the warriors sport names such as Augustus, Cassius, Apollo and Mercury.
A fine novel for those who like to immerse themselves in alternative worlds.Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-345-53978-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2013
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