Interesting question, uninteresting answer. ( )

An interesting take on eschatology. Harry Turtledove is most famous for alternate histories; this one is a near future “history”. I can’t say too much lest spoilers, but the gist is events happen in the Middle East that make it clear that the Last Days have come, and Orthodox Jews, Evangelical Christians, and jihadi Moslems are all somewhat confounded to find that the direct intervention of YHWH, God, Allah in everyday life doesn’t play out the way they expected. Not to mention how the secular feel about. A page turner, like most Turtledove books; worth a read. ( )

This book explores the question "What if the Bible is true about the end times?" In the book's opening pages, a red heifer is found in Arkansas and brought to Jerusalem where the 3rd temple is being built. Missing for centuries, the Ark of the Covenant has been located. The book includes Jewish, Islamic, and Christian characters, and various reactions to the drama unfolding before their eyes occurs. Who is the antichrist? Some scoff the rapture hasn't occurred yet. It's an interesting exploration of the theme by a mainstream author, but in the end, it fell a little short. ( )

An interesting look at faith and religion. Turtledove does a good job of weaving a story about the discovery of the Ark of the Covenant and the attempt by Israel to rebuild the Temple on the Temple Mount. What starts as a simple story about orthodox religion and attempts to bring about the End Days and the coming of the Messiah becomes something more as Turtledove weaves in the testing of one's faith and the presence of miracles. What I enjoyed most was Turtledove's way of showing how faith is dependent upon one's perspective and how events that we may first dismiss can radically change how we perceive things. The stubbornness of orthodoxy and the need for proof by the secular all come to play. This book may change how you look at your own faith, or even see the world around you differently. (Or maybe not.) ( )

A lackluster could be end of days novel. The ark of the covenant is discovered and it floats 3" off the ground and the first person to touch it drops dead. God is back, the god of the old testament, apparently, and no one is happy about it for long. Much of the book is a few more or less ordinary people who are trying to adjust to and digest what it means to them to live under God's eye. They don't seem to make much progress. ( )