Product Description

Winner, 2004 Logos Bookstore Award for Fiction

Go back in time to first-century Jerusalem. It's a dark time in the world's holiest and most turbulent city. Walk with Peniel, the blind beggar who longs for rescue from his suffering. Peek into the lives of Susannah and Manaen, two lovers separated by overwhelming odds. And meet an unusual healer, who ignites a spark of controversy in the fire of hatred, deceit, and betrayal that is always burning in this ancient city. This first book in the A.D. Chronicles series will bring you face-to-face with the man called Yeshua.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #117121 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-08
• Released on: 2004-03-08
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 464 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Although Jerusalem's Hope, book six in the Zion Legacy series with Viking, was supposedly the conclusion, this new offering from Tyndale picks up the same basic story line and many familiar characters. It's now 2002, and Moshe Sachar takes his youngest son, Shimon, through a secret passage to an underground library chamber. There, Shimon is shown a cache of 70 scrolls and told to begin studying the fourth (other scrolls were the premise of earlier books in the series). The words of the document begin, "Those who lived in darkness have seen a great light..." Several pages later, the novel's time period changes to that of the document-New Testament times-where the story revolves around a young blind beggar named Peniel. Other familiar characters from the earlier series, including Zadok, Miryam, Nakdimon and Marcus Longinus, make appearances throughout. The text, which is a retelling of New Testament events and history at the time of Christ, is heavily padded (Peniel is repeatedly visited by Old Testament characters, and their stories retold), and the pacing drags. Although the Thoenes are veterans of historical fiction, this plot sags under the weight of choppy dialogue and one-dimensional characters. CBA readers may recoil at some fairly gruesome incidents, as when Susanna bat Maccabee carries what she believes is her lover's heart around with her in a jar, or when another character is viciously blinded with a hot dagger. While hardcore Thoene fans will add this to their collections, many readers' patience will be sorely tested by this too-long rehash of scriptural stories.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Viking canceled the Thoenes' Zion Legacy series after its sixth entry, Jerusalem's Hope [BKL S 1 02]. Undaunted, evangelical fiction's second-best-known duo (after Jenkins and LaHaye) have come home, as it were, to Tyndale, with a new series called A.D. Chronicles. It's simply a continuation of Zion Legacy, telling the story of Moshe Sachar in present-day Israel, whose discovery of ancient scrolls frames the historical story of Yeshua. Marcus Longinus, arguably the strongest character in the series, has a vital presence in this outing, doing his best to prevent the slaughter of Jews before Passover. The Thoenes introduce several new characters, the most appealing of which is a blind teenage beggar-boy, Peniel. The shepherd Zadok and the three Sparrows return from Jerusalem's Hope, though their travails are submerged in the larger story of Jewish revolt, Roman unease, and the imminent Crucifixion. Though every public library will want First Light, it lacks the narrative punch of its predecessors, perhaps because the Thoenes have now entered territory already famously, and more passionately, treated by such novels as Quo Vadis and The Robe. John Mort
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author
BODIE AND BROCK THOENE (pronounced Tay-nee) have written over 45 works of historical fiction. That these best sellers have sold more than 10 million copies and won eight ECPA Gold Medallion Awards affirms what millions of readers have already discovered-the Thoenes are not only master stylists but experts at capturing readers' minds and hearts.

Customer Reviews

Wonderful book!
I loved this book and hated to see it end. This was the first book by this author that I had read, and I have already gotten two more from my local library (because many are now out of print). The characters and the Bible both come alive in this story. It was very important to me that this was also biblically accurate. I am recommending this to many of my friends.

insightful, touching
I just finished this wonderful story and rushed to my computer to order #2. The Thoene's do their usual masterful work of historical accuracy, great character development, and insight into the complexities of the human condition. I strongly identified with Peniel and when he was healed, I wept. This is a moving account of how lives are set free by the great I AM when we choose to seek Him. It is different in style and scope than their previous works, so don't expect it to be the same as their past series. I can see in this book the culmination of the Thoene's writing and research experience, as well as the fruit of their maturing faith. Enjoy!!

What Happened?
I have not finished the book yet, but I'm am really disappointed in the Thoenes. This book barely gets into what the characters are actually like...it seems like they started the story in the middle of all the characters stories. I don't like how they made Mary Magadalene Martha and Lazarus' sister! I am finding the pace of the book very slow and parts of it are extremely boring. I really, really liked the Zion Chronicles and the Zion Covenant series, all of which I read several times. I was looking forward to a new series, especially one that involves Moshe Sachar. But, as I've said before, I am disappointed. The sentences are short and choppy...the Biblical stories too long. I recommend the MARK OF THE LION series by Francine Rivers...which takes place after Jesus' resurection and is about the Romans/Jews.