A couple of years back, I found THE Biblical fiction series. THE Biblical fiction series that changed my life and gave me a representation of Jesus like no other. THE Biblical series I have raved about to all my Christian friends(and even some agnostics). I am referring to the CROWN OF THORNS series by R.S. Ingermanson, who has penned an account of the life of Jesus that is meant, in my view, to be iconic.
I have had the distinct honor of being an alpha reader of the sequel. And now that it is about to come out in paperback, my enthusiasm to share my thoughts with everyone is off the charts.
Right off the bat: this book is every bit as intense and heartrending as the first one was. If in the first novel, Yeshua is concerned with how to „make a justice for his mother”, here he deals with the thick-headed, but huge-hearted Shimon the Rock, who is of course, Simon Peter, as he wrestles with the guilt and grief he feels after losing his brother, Yehuda Stonefist to a Shomroni(Samaritan) soldier, and not remembering how, because of a nasty concussion. The hatred between Shomroni Nation and Yehudi Nation(Jews) is something that The Greatest Satan is using to stir the hatred in their hearts. This novel picks up where the first one left off in more ways than one, as Yeshua is confronted with greater challenges. There is much more at stake, as He struggles with how to teach a tough, foul-tempered fisherman the essential matter of compassion, and He is tempted by Satan with the power that David wielded back in his days of glory.
I think the crowning achievement of Mr. Ingermanson’s series is that it is the first one to truly immerse its readers into that world. The slightly stilted, strangely “spoken” English in the book, peppered with Aramaic words, is a brilliant manner to achieve that immersion. The sense of time and place, so, so, so important in a historical novel, is here to stay in this series.
With that sense of time and place come the cultural differences from the world we live in as well. We Christians nowadays have a very clear definition in mind when we hear the word Messiah. We don’t even have to think one second about what it is that Messiah should do, or did. Two words come to mind immediately: Jesus Christ.
In the world Rabbi Yeshua lived in, though, there was also a very clear definition of Messiah. And that definition was very different from our present image of Jesus. It was that of a warrior king-prophet-priest who would drive the Romans away and rule Israel, then the world, with an iron fist. Which, of course, does not fit the nature of Rabbi Yeshua at all. And it is this tension between „making a domination” and „making a kindness” that drives the novel forward with all the force that its predecessor had, and then some.
I LOVED the scene of the wicked birthday party that Herod Antipas throws. Gospel readers will recall how it ended for a particular preacher related to Jesus. I will just say this: it’s a Game of Thrones-level banquet scene in a Biblical novel, the narrative force of which was like a punch to the gut.
What I also enjoyed were the various miracles that Jesus performed throughout the novel, with their sense of gritty realism. I never thought that there could be such logical approach to His mighty works of wonder, but Mr. Ingermanson managed to surprise me.
Where the book shines the most, though, in my view, once more, is in the growth of its characters. For some Christians, the people in this novel are saints they are used to venerating. In this series, though, they are flesh-and-blood people, failing, doubting, getting angry, confused, sad, to the brink of brokenness, and I just LOVED following both Yeshua and Shimon the rock on their journey of understanding the works of HaShem in their lives. I promise each and every reader of Biblical fiction one thing: you will NEVER read the parable of the Good Samaritan the same way after reading this follow-up to SON OF MARY.
Mr. Ingermanson, you have outdone yourself in the most miraculous of manners. I am grateful for the opportunity to have read this book since its earliest stage, and all the more grateful for you taking my feedback into consideration. The views herein are entirely my own, and this book gets a strong right hand of friendship, a kiss and a kiss and a kiss, and all the stars in the sky! Now the greatest challenge awaits: may HaShem grant me the patience needed for the arrival of SON OF ADAM!
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