Publisher’s Description:
“Following his vision of the coming Messiah, the prophet Daniel creates a select group of men who will count down the calendar to the arrival of Israel’s promised king. Centuries later, as the day nears, Myrad, a young magi acolyte, flees for his life when his adoptive father and others are put to death by a ruthless Parthian queen.
Having grabbed only a few possessions, Myrad escapes the city, and searching for a way to hide from the soldiers scouring the trade routes, he tries to join the caravan of the merchant Walagash. The merchant senses that Myrad is hiding secrets, but when the young man proves himself a valuable traveler, an epic journey filled with peril, close escapes, and dangerous battles begins.
With every day that passes, the calendar creeps closer to the coming Messiah. And over everything shines the dream of a star that Myrad can’t forget and the promise that the world will never be the same.”
My Review:
This book is NOT your typical retelling of the account of Jesus’ birth. This is not the “manger scene” that’s so familiar to all of us. This is not the Christmas story with all the pretty things we associate with it. It is, however, a rather gripping story about the Magi and their journey to follow the star to find the King of Kings.
This story is not always easy to read. The author has taken quite a few historical facts and shows us just how difficult the political landscape was in the times surrounding Jesus’ birth, and how that turbulence often turned to violence and murder. This book focuses on Myrad, a young man who has just become a magus. The evening of his first meeting with the magi, the political boiling pot overflows and many of the Magi are murdered, including Myrad’s esteemed father. Myrad himself begins a perilous journey of escape, but also one of seeking to find the meaning of the dreams he’s had about a bright star, unlike any other, appearing in the sky. His faith in God is all he has as he seeks to find the meaning of the dream and how that fits into God’s purpose for his life. He has become a “Keeper of the Calendar” that began back in the days of Daniel to keep track of prophecy about the Messiah being fulfilled.
This sweeping story takes the reader from the days of Daniel to the events in Acts Chapter 2. There were times I had to re-read something for clarification or refer back to chapters I’d already read. But that was fine, because this book was well worth reading. It gave me a whole different view of what was happening in the world when Christ was born.
This is a clean story, with no bad language or inappropriate scenes.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
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