Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt: A Novel

In a major step away from her most popular series of books, Anne Rice gets biblical. Actually, Ms. Rice has been biblical before, and in my opinion, this is not really the most spiritual of her books. I found Memnoch the Devil quite an intense view of Catholicism, where the dogma is explained from an angel's perspective, and Cry To Heaven also had a decidedly spiritual bent.

Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, is just what the title says. It is a year in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, and not even what you might consider an earth-shattering year. The events described, for the most part, are every day occurrences: work, play, worship, study. And although it is mostly a description of mundane life in the Holy Land, it is still fascinating. Chalk this up to Rice's excellent writing skills and the unusual risk she takes with this novel. The story is told in the first person by 7 year old Jesus himself as he tries to unlock the secret of his birth and anticipates (with some trepidation) his future. An original idea that might have failed terribly, Rice handles it with deftness. Also enjoyable were the descriptions of Jesus's family life with his extended family.

Rice is true to scripture and true to the events of the times. As usual, she is an impeccable researcher.

C.A.Wulff - Author of Born Without a Tail

Anne Rice takes a drastic side-step to the left in her book, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt. Fans of her vampires and Mayfair witch chronicles may be disappointed if those topics are the sole reason for their entertainment. But, for those who enjoy Anne Rice's writing and style this book is just as remarkable as her previous books.

In Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, Rice takes us back to ancient Israel, bringing us face to face with Jesus at the age of seven years. Living in Alexandria, Jesus' adoptive father, Joseph, decides that the family must flee Egypt after a particular altercation Jesus has with a local boy. It is during the journey to Nazareth and Jerusalem that Jesus witnesses his homeland in turmoil. With the murderous King Herod dead small factions are trying to pick up the pieces of Israel, and in their wake Jesus witnesses so much violence and misery.

Along the journey Jesus begins to learn about the circumstances of his birth. Puzzling out this family secret he slowly understands the importance of who he is and the destiny that awaits him. And while he tries to understand he must also discover the truth about the power he has within him.

Anne Rice's amazing attention to detail renders the ancient holy land, in all its primitive and majestic glory, beautifully in our imagination. Her ability to bring to life the worlds she writes about is put to the test in this book as she strives to recreate a momentous event in western history. Telling the tale of Jesus, through his first person point of view, Anne Rice combines her excellent research and penchant for capturing true-to-life settings to tell a rich and rewarding story.

Again, her ability to write clearly detailed settings and very personable characters are top notch. The story itself was very interesting, capturing the simple life of laborers and peasants in just the right amount of observation. Anne Rice uses the voice of Jesus to tell the story, but the story is told as if Jesus wanted to tell it from the mind of his seven year old self. The grammar tends to stumble toward a more simpler construction in an attempt to render this child voice, even using the narration to mimic the dialect or accent of the people. It isn't written in that poor context of an amateur writer (think junk Scottish vernacular), it is the style of the voices of Jesus and the people he talks or listens to that are reminiscent of foreign conversations such as one would find in a Turkish bazaar or Arab souk - "Come, my friend, come see my rugs, my beautiful rugs, I give you good price".

Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt does also lag in several places as the reader may get the feeling that "yes, this is just another day in the life of a seven year old boy, let's move on" and that the forward momentum of the story feels like it's just stop-and-go in some places. Ultimately, the story is worth reading, getting past these parts helps to make sure you are putting the book down in order to get to sleep on time at night, but just as equally are the parts that make you stay up all night just so you can get to the next chapter... well, maybe just one more chapter... ok, only one more. Out of five stars, I'd give a three point five.

Anne Rice lyrical style of writing translates this story into a vivid telling that we can all understand. I have read all of her books since I was in junior high and I am so happy with her direction and grasp of a very real person in our history that has meant so much to so many.

This book was a little slower to start with than the first book, but still captured my imagination. The "good parts", where Jesus realizes his power, are an inspiration to us all. It allows you the reader to feel God is here for you by making Jesus a normal man of flesh and blood. He feels anxieties, he has desires, he is searching for his future just like us all.

When I first saw the title in the store's selection of audio books I was very interested in listening to this book. Then I noticed the author's name; could this be the same lady that wrote the vampire books? It was! I was hoping that I made a good choice and I did! Very enjoyable. Listening to the audio book again and picking up additional meanings that I missed the first time.

Please listen to the author's message at the end. VERY Good Choice!
Phyllis