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starblaze's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
3.0
readers_together's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
b_loy's review against another edition
1.0
Spoiler alert - don't read this until you've read the book :-)
The most glaring thing about this book is it's ignorance of history. The characters think, "I want to see Jesus, so I'll just go back to 28 AD, 28 years after the exact date of this birth." It doesn't work that way. The Christian calendar was instated hundreds of years after Jesus' birth, and is at best an estimate.
The author follows the Bible like it's a script, with everything happening in the exact order and everyone saying and doing everything exactly like the modern Bible says. Even the Gospels don't agree on some things, and they were written at least 30 years AFTER Jesus' death. The New Testament is not a historical document, it is a religious document, and should not be taken as historical fact. Following the Bible this closely took all the fun out of the book. Everyone knows how it's going to end.
When it became obvious that the author was going to piggy-back on the Bible to the letter, and when the character named "Tom" (who happens to be a bit of a "doubter") was chosen as a disciple, the ending of the book became wrapped in a nice little bow on about page 50. There is no reason to read on from there because the reader already knows how it's going to play out.
When the characters go back in time the third person they meet is THE Jesus! First, the name Jesus was a popular Jewish name in that era, so of course someone named Jesus will be on every street corner. If you say, "I'm looking for Jesus," you'd find plenty of them, but not THE Jesus. Second, since the dates in the Bible aren't clear, it would be impossible to find anyone without a lot of investigation.
There are a few prejudices in this book that I found offensive:
-all "hicks" are violent idiots
-all business executives are at best jerks and at worst evil
-all non-believers are wrong and know absolutely nothing about Christianity
-all military people are violent killers
Making all of the "bad guys" possessed by demons was a strange thing for the author to do. The "devil made me do it" attitude takes the responsibility of doing bad things away from the characters. When you do bad things are you possessed by the devil? No, you just made a bad decision. In this book's case it took all remaining unpredictability out of the plot.
There is a point where the characters say the world would be terrible without Christianity. The U.S., the greatest nation ever in the history of the universe wouldn't exist! Come on!! First, we are not a Christian nation. We have freedom of and from religion. Second, if Christianity hadn't existed something else would have taken it's place. The world could have been better without Christianity or it could have been worse.
There is a decent underlying story in this book, it's just under too many layers of Christian propaganda to shine. It's hidden under a bushel!
The most glaring thing about this book is it's ignorance of history. The characters think, "I want to see Jesus, so I'll just go back to 28 AD, 28 years after the exact date of this birth." It doesn't work that way. The Christian calendar was instated hundreds of years after Jesus' birth, and is at best an estimate.
The author follows the Bible like it's a script, with everything happening in the exact order and everyone saying and doing everything exactly like the modern Bible says. Even the Gospels don't agree on some things, and they were written at least 30 years AFTER Jesus' death. The New Testament is not a historical document, it is a religious document, and should not be taken as historical fact. Following the Bible this closely took all the fun out of the book. Everyone knows how it's going to end.
When it became obvious that the author was going to piggy-back on the Bible to the letter, and when the character named "Tom" (who happens to be a bit of a "doubter") was chosen as a disciple, the ending of the book became wrapped in a nice little bow on about page 50. There is no reason to read on from there because the reader already knows how it's going to play out.
When the characters go back in time the third person they meet is THE Jesus! First, the name Jesus was a popular Jewish name in that era, so of course someone named Jesus will be on every street corner. If you say, "I'm looking for Jesus," you'd find plenty of them, but not THE Jesus. Second, since the dates in the Bible aren't clear, it would be impossible to find anyone without a lot of investigation.
There are a few prejudices in this book that I found offensive:
-all "hicks" are violent idiots
-all business executives are at best jerks and at worst evil
-all non-believers are wrong and know absolutely nothing about Christianity
-all military people are violent killers
Making all of the "bad guys" possessed by demons was a strange thing for the author to do. The "devil made me do it" attitude takes the responsibility of doing bad things away from the characters. When you do bad things are you possessed by the devil? No, you just made a bad decision. In this book's case it took all remaining unpredictability out of the plot.
There is a point where the characters say the world would be terrible without Christianity. The U.S., the greatest nation ever in the history of the universe wouldn't exist! Come on!! First, we are not a Christian nation. We have freedom of and from religion. Second, if Christianity hadn't existed something else would have taken it's place. The world could have been better without Christianity or it could have been worse.
There is a decent underlying story in this book, it's just under too many layers of Christian propaganda to shine. It's hidden under a bushel!
j_kent_holloway's review against another edition
5.0
I have to admit...I'm late getting to this, the first novel by Jeremy Robinson. I'm not sure why it took me so long. It's right up my alley in terms of my interests...time travel and biblical accounts. I've read most of Robinson's books with gusto. But for some reason, this book wasn't much of a priority on my list of books to read. What a mistake that was! I absolutely loved it! And honestly, after reading this book, it's no wonder that Robinson went on to become one of my favorite authors out there.
One of the things that struck me most was the insight he had into the biblical account of Jesus's ministry. Even more, was the insight he had into a few of Jesus's personal relationships with His disciples and with his friends. I have a Master's Degree in Biblical Studies. I specialized in the New Testament. And while Robinson did take artistic liberties in creating this tale (it's a time travel story...focused on a period in history in which we have little recorded. How could he not take liberties?), much of it was very well researched and depicted accurately. I was completely intrigued with his portrayal of Judas, in particular. Especially the enigmatic account of his part in the Last Supper. In Scripture, the scene where Jesus hands Judas the bread, indicating who will betray him, isn't very clear. But Robinson's portrayal of this event is believable and as good a guess as anyone could make.
Furthermore, I read one negative review that criticized the book for flat characters and nothing but fast-paced action. Really? The action is what it's all about. Want a coming of age story of someone overcoming impossible personal odds to cope with something? Find a literary fiction book. This is a thriller. Action is where it's at! However, I'll say that I enjoyed the characters in this story...good and evil characters alike. But no matter how well-developed characters are, without action in a thriller novel, the author would have failed miserably. Thankfully, Robinson knows his action very well.
Other negative reviews of this book have focused on the lack of time paradoxes, I personally say, "Bravo!" I loved this story because of the fact that Robinson used a different approach to time travel than most sci-fi stories. Whereas, in Doctor Who, there are certain fixed points in time that can't be changed, Robinson posits that all of time is fixed. This, to me, makes the most sense...especially if the universe is created by an all-powerful and organized God (which I believe).
Of course, this brings us to the topic most of the negative reviews seem to harp on. It's Christian perspective. I'm sorry. Did these readers NOT read the book's description? How could you not know what you were getting when you read it? I don't fault a person who doesn't like the story for its theistic worldview. That is a matter of taste and choice. But I don't understand how people can penalize an author for writing what is on his heart. I've read tons of books by authors who attempt to tear the Christian faith apart. I've never once written a negative review because of that fact. Still, I personally loved the Christian viewpoint in this tale, and will wholeheartedly spread the word of the wonders of The Didymus Contingency to all my friends and family. As a matter of fact, I've already bought a paperback edition specifically to give to my mother. And in my opinion, there should be no greater compliment to Mr. Robinson than that.
Oh, side note: I also listened to the Audible edition of this book, narrated by R.C. Bray. Once again, Mr. Bray killed it. His performance was top notch. His vocalization and characterizations were superb. Especially his portrayal of the demon-horde, Legion. Amazing!
One of the things that struck me most was the insight he had into the biblical account of Jesus's ministry. Even more, was the insight he had into a few of Jesus's personal relationships with His disciples and with his friends. I have a Master's Degree in Biblical Studies. I specialized in the New Testament. And while Robinson did take artistic liberties in creating this tale (it's a time travel story...focused on a period in history in which we have little recorded. How could he not take liberties?), much of it was very well researched and depicted accurately. I was completely intrigued with his portrayal of Judas, in particular. Especially the enigmatic account of his part in the Last Supper. In Scripture, the scene where Jesus hands Judas the bread, indicating who will betray him, isn't very clear. But Robinson's portrayal of this event is believable and as good a guess as anyone could make.
Furthermore, I read one negative review that criticized the book for flat characters and nothing but fast-paced action. Really? The action is what it's all about. Want a coming of age story of someone overcoming impossible personal odds to cope with something? Find a literary fiction book. This is a thriller. Action is where it's at! However, I'll say that I enjoyed the characters in this story...good and evil characters alike. But no matter how well-developed characters are, without action in a thriller novel, the author would have failed miserably. Thankfully, Robinson knows his action very well.
Other negative reviews of this book have focused on the lack of time paradoxes, I personally say, "Bravo!" I loved this story because of the fact that Robinson used a different approach to time travel than most sci-fi stories. Whereas, in Doctor Who, there are certain fixed points in time that can't be changed, Robinson posits that all of time is fixed. This, to me, makes the most sense...especially if the universe is created by an all-powerful and organized God (which I believe).
Of course, this brings us to the topic most of the negative reviews seem to harp on. It's Christian perspective. I'm sorry. Did these readers NOT read the book's description? How could you not know what you were getting when you read it? I don't fault a person who doesn't like the story for its theistic worldview. That is a matter of taste and choice. But I don't understand how people can penalize an author for writing what is on his heart. I've read tons of books by authors who attempt to tear the Christian faith apart. I've never once written a negative review because of that fact. Still, I personally loved the Christian viewpoint in this tale, and will wholeheartedly spread the word of the wonders of The Didymus Contingency to all my friends and family. As a matter of fact, I've already bought a paperback edition specifically to give to my mother. And in my opinion, there should be no greater compliment to Mr. Robinson than that.
Oh, side note: I also listened to the Audible edition of this book, narrated by R.C. Bray. Once again, Mr. Bray killed it. His performance was top notch. His vocalization and characterizations were superb. Especially his portrayal of the demon-horde, Legion. Amazing!
melissavandesteene's review against another edition
5.0
This is a really cool book that intertwines time travel and christianity. I loved it!
jadenchristopher's review against another edition
3.0
I love Jeremy Robinson, but I have only read his new stuff. I knew what I was getting into, but I thought I would still try and read it. Now I know I don't like his older religious stuff. I think this is a story right out of the bible, and its very preachy. As an athiest, I did not enjoy it.
jen_nicole's review against another edition
1.5
I hated this book. I almost didn’t finish it but I pushed through. I usually enjoy Robinsons stories. They are fun sometimes humorous sci-fi takes that I use as a palette cleanser between heavier reads. This book was not fun. The characters were bland and I couldn’t connect with them. And I just can’t get past the reasoning of why it was so important for Christianity to invented….. marriages of people who met in church and the founding of the US of A. Seriously?? So we’re just going to overlook all of the murder, wealth hoarding, persecution etc. This was not science fiction. List it as a Christian book and let it find the right audience.
krakentamer's review against another edition
1.0
This is the 10th consecutive Jeremy Robinson book that I've read, all as part of gearing up for Project Legion. I've had a great time; all of his books are a lot of fun. Until now. This was absolutely horrible. Time travel is my favorite genre, so I was really looking forward to this, even though it was going to be set during biblical times. As an atheist / former christian I really didn't have any desire to read a religious book. But after reading 9 books by the author, I felt pretty confident that it would be just another adventure set in the middle east.
Nope.
There were multiple discussions about how great the world is now because of Jesus. I was expecting there to be some twist about Jesus - perhaps he was an alien? another time traveler? Maybe the twist would be that the question about Jesus' divinity would remain unseen, unanswered, unclear?
Sadly, no. This was a blatant christian story written espressly to show the author's religious views. If this had been the first Jeremy Robinson book I'd read it would've been the last. As it is, I'm seriously having second thoughts about reading any more, and I have 20+ of his books in my to-read list.
Putting aside the religious aspect, this is also a book in bad need of an editor. As others here have mentioned, it was filled with mispellings and plot holes that any decent editor would've caught.
All in all a huge disappointment from an author I was really enjoying.
Nope.
There were multiple discussions about how great the world is now because of Jesus. I was expecting there to be some twist about Jesus - perhaps he was an alien? another time traveler? Maybe the twist would be that the question about Jesus' divinity would remain unseen, unanswered, unclear?
Sadly, no. This was a blatant christian story written espressly to show the author's religious views. If this had been the first Jeremy Robinson book I'd read it would've been the last. As it is, I'm seriously having second thoughts about reading any more, and I have 20+ of his books in my to-read list.
Putting aside the religious aspect, this is also a book in bad need of an editor. As others here have mentioned, it was filled with mispellings and plot holes that any decent editor would've caught.
All in all a huge disappointment from an author I was really enjoying.