Thursday, January 17, 2008

On... Jerusalem Vigil by Bodie and Brock Thoene

This book begins the Zion Legacy Series, a follow-up to the series I just finished.

In fact, this book picks up the very day after the fifth book of the Zion Chronicles Series (A Key to Zion) ends.

The entire scope of the story takes place in three days, three days of intense fighting for the survival of the Jewish state. I could not put the book down. I flipped through the pages at such a rapid pace not really because I wanted to finish the book quickly but because I wanted to find out what would happen to all of the characters.

This series introduces several new characters whose stories will probably develop over the remaining books in the series. Moshe and Rachel return from the Zion Chronicles but David and Ellie weren't mentioned at all in Jerusalem Vigil. (I hope that David and Ellie's fate is at least alluded to in the books to come. :D I want to know what happened to them).

While most of the other books I have read recently by the Thoene's had little if any recap this book had quite a bit in the first few pages but I believe that's to be expected when a new series is started. The readers of this book may not have read the Zion Chronicles or even realized that the Zion Chronicles is a connected series to this one and that they come first chronologically. (I just realized that I reserved the books at the library in a very providential order. I don't think I would have enjoyed it very much if I had read the Zion Legacy Series before the Zion Chronicles. :D)

As alluded to before, I could not put this book down. The captivating storytelling held my attention as did details of history that I never knew before. Reading these books has awakened such a desire in me to go to the Holy Land and if that is not feasible in the near future to learn as much as I can about the land God chose for His people.

Once again I give a very strong recommendation of these books. I probably will be asking for them to be added to my collection. :D

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