a newbie

[Peng]

was i expecting too much from this book? or i just don't know anne rice's writing that much? this is her first writing that i have read and i didn't enjoy it as much as i believed i would. but if i love yeshua so much i guess i should not expect that much from someone who writes about vampires and erotices. hehehe...

[Sherry]

I also love Yeshua, and have read many of Anne Rice's books. She was better at writing about vampires- I have not finished it, I am enjoying it OK- but am disappointed. If she had been able to bring J-man alive like she did the vampire Lestat it would have been amazing.

[Pati]

i read all of the vampire chronicles as a teenager and i loved them. I was excited to hear that she was writing Christ centered books. I did enjoy this book along with Christ the Lord the Road ot Canna, but i agree that she wrote far more passionately about vampires. maybe it's the differnce in my persepective from a teenager to adult?? maybe she's lost her touch? i also read Angel Time writen after the Christ the Lord books and it was terrible!

[Jim]

I was blown away by her Christ the Lord books. As a person who is very familiar with the era in which Christ lives, and someone who loves Yeshua, I was pleased to finally find a Christian book that didn't make those days sound like transplanted modern secular Americans with fake story lines. I felt she captured what it was like to live at the time of Christ and be a Jewish believer in the prophecies. If you read to the end of the book, she has an astounding story of her personal faith journey and what she discovered when she started researching the book.
I never was a fan of her vampire books, but she definitely got the history right in this book, even when she had to invent.

[Tim]

I agree with you, Jim. I am wondering whether anyone knows if Rice is planning to finish this series. I have looked at her web site and the most recent thing I can find is dated 11/17/2008, where she says, "I continue to work on Christ the Lord, the Kingdom of Heaven, the third book in the Christ the Lord series." Does anyone know anything further?

[Elaine]

She has once again renounced Catholicism, and Christianity, so I wouldn't hold my breath.

[Troy]

I loved them both and applaud her for her historical thuroughness. Takes Kahoonas to write a book from the first person perspective of Jesus.

[Bill]

Not all Christians are Catholic *!*

[Elaine]

nobody said they were

[Carrie]

I thought it was ok/good, not great. I read both Christ the Lord & Out of Egypt books. I agree with Jim that she did great with the character's viewpoint from a historical perspective. I just enjoyed her vampire books more :-). That's more my style of book. I also kind of knew the story based on knowing your Bible stories. I do like how she did invent but did stick to the "facts" per se, no marriages/kids added, etc.

[[deleted user]]

Peng wrote: "was i expecting too much from this book? or i just don't know anne rice's writing that much? this is her first writing that i have read and i didn't enjoy it as much as i believed i would. but if i..."

Here's what happened. You were expecting something different. A Jesus book with something uniqe that only Ann Rice can deliver, but instead all you got was just another Jesus book.

[Bill]

Elaine wrote: "nobody said they were"

The present POPE did, he said all other Christians were Heretics, and would not get into Heaven, but would go to Hell.

[Dawn]

lacks passion. i signed it out at church b/c of it's nice white cover. the reviews were more enlightening - more interesting the people who read these kind of books. nice to see 'Christians' admit to reading A.R.'s Vampire books. Refreshing & unexpectedly open minded of them. CTLOOE is pedestrian reading but I suppose that's what all that 'nomadic living' would be like at that time & place in history. Reads more like a dry academic school term paper than a best seller novel.

[Bill]

This book did get the feel of the times, by that I mean Ceasr was dead and Harod was dead. This ment a possible civil war in both Rome and Palastine. To this backdrop we have the birth of Jesus. It did try to explain the social mores of the time.I found some of the Jewish customs better explained in this book than many other books of the same time period.

[S.K.]

I so very much enjoyed her Vampire Chronicles, even tho I am not into vampires I found her writing about them exceedingly seductive, beautiful and most intelligently written. I was expecting a lot from "Christ The Lord " and I can't say she delivered. It was a nice sort of alternate reality as historical fiction goes. A fill in the blanks on the young life of Christ. I enjoyed the Jewish traditions and customs of the time being explained, quite pleasant and informative in that I love learning about history of various cultures. I know she does some heavy research, and she has re-accepted her faith in recent years. Yet it did not seem that she wrote with any great fervor. Her heart and soul did not seem to be in it. It was rather short and I did not feel all that well developed. The problem is that she has to compare with herself on everything else she writes since The Mayfair Legacy and the Vampire Chronicles. "Angel Time" and "Of Love and Evil" are a couple in a newer series that I liked better.

[Monica]

She has renounced organized religions, not her faith. I don't see why she would not finish the series even if she renounced organized religion. She didn't promote any particular religion in these books. It's simply a story told from a different perspective. I truly hope she finishes the series because I loved it! I've been waiting for the next one to come out for ages!!

[Mauro]

The follow up is fab, particularly the clash between Jesus and Satan over the 40 days in the wilderness.