The Marus Manuscripts, Volume 1

Adventures In Odyssey: Passages #1-3

by Paul McCusker

Arin's Judgment: One minute, Wade Mullins is at home, attempting to destroy top-secret drawings for the atomic bomb. The next minute, he's in an alternate world staring at a strange prophet who says Wade is the final sign, an end-time omen of a culture on the verge of annihilation. Darien's Rise: Anna wanted superpowers, but now she's not so sure after being transported to a new planet. She sees visions of the future. And her brother Kyle is a bodyguard who can't fail. But both of their powers are only used to help Darien, the rightful heir to the throne of Marus. Darien is being held by a man so evil, not even Anna and Kyle can save him. Annison's Risk: Maddy finds herself in a strange new land called Marus where a conquering king is about to marry a princess. The king's most trusted adviser is hatching an evil plot to stamp out followers of the "old faith," and Maddy discovers that plan includes the new princess. Should Maddy reveal the truth and usher in political chaos? Or will the princess have to give up her life to bring peace?

Genres: Fantasy, Christian, Christian Fiction, Middle Grade, Fiction, Biblical Fiction, Christian Fantasy

464 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2013

About the author

Paul McCusker is a writer of many different kinds of things. You may know him from Adventures In Odyssey and Focus On The Family Radio Theatre. Or the Father Gilbert Mysteries. Or the Augustine Institute audio dramas Brother Francis: The Barefoot Saint of Assisi and The Trials of Saint Patrick. Or plays like The First Church of Pete's Garage and Catacombs. Or C.S. Lewis projects like The Chronicles of Narnia audio dramas or The Annotated Screwtape Letters. Or the film Beyond The Mask. Or lots of other dramas, novels, scripts and lyrics. He simply can't make up his mind what he likes to write.

Reviews

[Bridget]

This is volume 1 of the Passages series, which contains books 1, 2, and 3. Each book takes kids from our world into the fantasy world of Marus. Each book is also a retelling of a biblical story, set in this fantasy world. It was a lot of fun to read these stories and find the parallels between the Marus adventures and familiar Bible stories. I love stories like these ones too, where people from our world are transported to another world. The kids learn about the Unseen One while in Marus, which helps them understand more about their faith in God in this world. I also enjoyed the slight connection to Adventures in Odyssey. The kids in these stories were from Odyssey, and the manuscripts were found by Jack Allen and read by Mr. Whittaker. (The prologues with Whit and other Odyssey characters were taken out of this Volume 1 set, but they are in the individual books.)

The only thing that was a downside for me was the world-building. It seemed a little confusing to me. It felt at some points like a futuristic fantasy world, and at other times like a historical fantasy world with a bunch of time periods jumbled together. And the world wasn't as "fantasy-ish" as I usually like stories like this to be. But the characters were realistic, the stories were exciting, and the biblical re-tellings were a lot of fun to read.

Book 1: Darien's Rise - 4 stars
Kyle and Anna are transported to Marus and become a part of a struggle between an insane king and Darien, whom the Unseen One has chosen to sit next on the throne. This is a re-telling of David and Saul from 1 Samuel. I loved Darien as a character, and also the Old Judge (representing Samuel), who was so kind and wise and sassy all at once! This was my favorite of these three.

Book 2: Arin's Judgment - 3.5 stars
Wade finds himself in Marus at the height of a prophesy of doom, and his knowledge of weaponry makes him a pawn in a plot of defiance against the Unseen One. This is a re-telling of Noah and the flood with an unusual twist. The destruction takes a different form, but it is just as deadly. This story was a little darker than the first one, but it has important lessons about what happens when people turn away from the Unseen One (God).

Book 3: Annison's Risk - 4 stars
Maddy goes to Marus and becomes a helper to the Queen and, when they learn of a plot against the people who believe in the Unseen One, part of a plan to save them. This is a re-telling of Esther, and I really enjoyed it. This one had a lot of intrigue, with secret plots and secret messages and secret passageways. But what I loved most of all was how Maddy learned that belief in God isn't like a fairy tale; faith means we place our whole lives in His hands.

I'm excited to finish the last three books in this series in Volume 2, and I recommend them for fans of Christian middle grade fantasy or fans of allegory!

[Alisha L.]

Passages Volume 1: The Marus Manuscripts is a reprinted version of the first three Passages books now combined into one volume. Each of the Passages books is written about a child (or children) from Odyssey ending up traveling to an alternate world called Marus (in a style similar to The Chronicles of Narnia books). The Passages stories are retellings of real Biblical stories, but this time in the fantasy world of Marus where the stories are written with a new perspective and with new twists.

Book #1 Darien’s Rise is based on the story of David and Saul. It explores the importance of responding to God’s call.

Book #2 Arin’s Judgment is based on the story of Noah. It explores the saving power of God.

Book #3 Annison’s Risk is based on the story of Esther. It illustrates the power of our participation in God’s plan.

I remember loving these books when I read them the first time as a preteen 9+ years ago and I still love them after rereading them now! Paul McCusker has done a wonderful job of creating the world of Marus and retelling Biblical stories in a new way. While it does help to know something about Adventures in Odyssey (I’m a fan of the show myself), it is not necessary to have listened to the show before. The books can still be understood without any previous knowledge of Odyssey. The books do have some violence and deaths in them, though, so I would recommend them with the books’ first editions age recommendation of 10 & up. I have enjoyed reading this series and I would definitely recommend it.

[Alexey]

I used to listen to the Odyssey stories on CD, and when I found out that there are books related to the stories I dove right in. As two kids in the book went into an imaginary world it was truly addicting to read a book like this. Sometimes it even made me laugh and reading this book was the only thing I wanted to do. Also, it hid the Bible story so well that I only figured out what Bible story it was at the end of the book. I recommend this book to anyone who likes adventurous events and wants a little twist to the original Bible book of David.

[Bella]

This book was so good. I enjoyed seeing the parallels to the different bible stories in each of the short stories. The characters also were really good.

[Geneva]

When Kyle and Anna explore a house hidden in the woods they are transported into another world called Marus. They must help General Darien with their newfound powers. Will Kyle stay strong in his faith in the Unseen One? Will Anna escape before she is sold into slavery? What will happen when the Old Judge makes the kings soldiers laugh and cry uncontrollably? you will find all of this out in The Marus Manuscripts.

[Noah F.]

it is split into three different books, which is the only thing I don't like, because none of the stories tie together, but it is a great read for rewritten iconic Bible stories like David and Goliath

[philip connor]

it was a lot in one book. it started off with an allegory of David, Jonathan, and Saul, then there was an allegory of Noah's ark. And what better way to end than an allegory of Esther?

[Elizabeth]

I loved listening to Adventures in Odyssey when I was a kid so reading Passages Volume One was almost like being a kid again. This volume basically has three mini books in one and they all start out the same way. Mr. Whittaker lets a child, who needs to learn a valuable Christian truth, read a story and as the child reads, they leave Odyssey and travel to the land of Marus. One they get into Marus, the child discovers that there is a job that God has for them so that His plan is carried out. In one story, Maddy is sent to Marus to stop the king from marrying the wrong princess to keep the old faith from being destroyed. In another one, Wade interacts with a prophet who declares that he is the last sign of the end of Marus, which is about to be utterly destroyed. Another story is about Anna who wants to have special powers and when she enters Marus, she is given the power to see the future while her brother is given the gift to defend without the possibility to fail. What the two children learn is that they can only use their special gifts to help free the rightful heir to the throne who is being held by pure evil and Anna and Kyle may not be able to save him. This volume is a great read for kids and those who are kid at heart. What I loved about this book is that they are entertaining reads that teach valuable Christian truths in a way that even a young child can understand.

[Louise Pearson]

Passages is a wonderful book that gives you three stories in one book. Darien’s Rise is an exciting story of princes and kings, loyalty and betrayal, capture and escape, visions and God’s help, life and death. 10 year old Anna has dreams and visions that help her and her brother escape capture. They make daring raids, get supplies, and survive despite attackers. How long can they successfully outwit their enemies? Will help arrive in time? In Arin’s Judgment boys attack another boy Wade because they wrongfully assumed Wade’s father loved Germans when he really was fighting for America in the South Pacific. It's a different telling of the story of Noah. The third story, Annison’s Risk, is the story of the marriage of beautiful Annison to King Willem that will unite the people of Palatia with those of Marus. A good man Simet, a castle guard, tries to protect Annison and Maddy from evil Lord Hector who is plotting to poison the king. To kill Simet, Lord Hector persuades the king to outlaw the Old Faith. Not knowing Annison and Simet are members of the Old Faith, the king gives Lord Hector his wish to kill all people of the Old Faith. But Maddy helps Annison and ultimately the good people defeat the bad. Do you recognize the story of Esther? All of the stories start in Odyssey and then have the children end up in the new world of Marus.

[Madeline J. Rose]

Initial Response
WOW!
This was such a fun read! Though the two were re-reads, I still loved it as much as before!

MINI REVIEWS:

Darien's Rise - 5/5
I just really love how well this story was retold. I <3 Darien. I will never not. :) Also, the Old Judge is pretty amazingly, sarcastically awesome. :) I love Kyle and Anna's character as well.
This is probably my favorite out of the bunch.

Arin's Judgement - 4.5/5
I really liked this one too! However, I felt that Wade was not as...smart as he could've been at some points. But over all, this was really cool. The technological aspect of it really intrigued me too. Everything was so advanced...yet not. Loved it.

Annison's Risk - 3.5/5
I didn't enjoy this one as much as the others. It felt bland, like nothing was really going on, which in actuality (in the real Esther story) there is A LOT going on. So I guess I was just expecting more. I was a little disappointed.

Conclusion
This was a really fun read!
I would recommend if you're looking for a good Christian fantasy type book.
5/5.

[Kris]

I found this book to be absolutely fascinating! It is 3 books in one – all dealing with another world in the land of Marus (they have 2 moons). In each story children from Odyssey end up in Marus. The first story has Kyle and Anna arriving in different areas of Marus – Kyle is with General Darrien and Anna is with the Old Judge. This is the story of King David and the Old Judge is Samuel. The second story is of Wade arriving in Marus and joining the family of Arin. This is the story of Noah. And the last story has Maddy becoming part of Annison’s court, the story of Esther. I loved these stories. Even though I have read all of these stories in the Bible the author Mr. McCusker brought to light so many things I had never thought of. He did change things to make them better suited for children but did a fabulous job of staying true to the story. Although this book is written for children – late elementary – they definitely are wonderful for adults as I thoroughly enjoyed them and have a richer understanding of the Biblical stories.

[Celena Janton]

This is actually 3 books in one and I was so excited when it came out! Each book is about different children throughout different time periods in Odyssey's history who end up finding themselves in another world (reminiscent of Narnia). The world, Marus, parallels the bible in which each book is a bible story come to life, though with a very different setting and intriguing twists. My favorite book within Passages Volume I is "Darien's Rise". My church adapted this into a play and it was incredible! The story tells about King David's rise--before he becomes king and after he is enthroned. It's an incredible story, though I recommend all of them. My children love them and they can't wait to read Volume 2!

[Cassandra]

I loved this book. It drew me in from the very beginning. It was really cool to be able to identify familiar people from the Bible in each story.

[Marie]

I am just not a fan of these book but if you are then the this is the combined first 3 books of the Passage series.