Joseph, a master craftsman and carpenter, stokes the ire of his family when he weds his pregnant (and seemingly unfaithful) betrothed, Mary. Pious, devout, and guided by the dictates of Heaven, Joseph has no issue with taking Mary – who still claims to be a virgin – as his wife and committing himself to the protection of her child, whom he senses is extraordinary.
However, there are others who are also aware of how special the child is, and not all have its best interests at heart. Among these is the despot Herod, whose oppressive rule and wanton cruelty are legendary. Deeply troubled by a prophecy concerning a King to Come, the tyrant is committed to finding – and eliminating – this threat to his reign. (And, having already murdered members of his own family in order to maintain power, Herod has no qualms about killing a baby.) In addition, there are forces beyond the ken of men that also recognize the singular nature of Mary’s child, and which are determined to keep the salvation that the babe represents out of mankind’s reach.
All of these factions and more converge on Mary and Joseph as they trek from Nazareth to Bethlehem in hopes of starting a new life. On a journey fraught with peril, Joseph fights to protect Mary and her unborn child from danger on all sides, including the elements, bandits, and Herod’s legions – as well as an utterly evil and otherworldly demonic force determined to stamp out mankind’s only hope of redemption.
Armed with little more than his wits, his faith, and his carpenter’s hammer, Joseph must face impossible odds to ensure the safety and survival of not only his family, but mankind’s future…
Fairly well written. Great imagination. Good adventure. Not particularly close to the Biblical account. Very much written between the lines. The relationship between Mary and Joseph is uplifting. The negative spiritual world as represented is very disconcerting but ultimately God is in charge.
Instead of being a Story based on Joseph it was a ridiculous scientific fiction piece of junk. Joseph took Mary and ran for Bethlehem while being followed by Horde who was a devil and a league of Roman soldiers who were after the baby. As a devout Christian I found it not worthy reading and admit after the first encounter with Horde I just skimmed it.
I suppose the author does stimulate thought about the intensity of spiritual warfare. However, much of the heart of the story is lost in wildly speculative episodes. Historical accuracy goes out the window as the Magi arrive at the birth site, before the shepherds! I
The write demonstrates literary skill, but missd the mark badly, in my opinion.
I chose to get buy "The Carpenter" because the story of Joseph, the spouse of Mary and the human father of Jesus, because it's so rare - if not , in fact, unique. I've seen dozens of stories about the birth of Jesus, his life and death. His mother is deified in the Christian religion as well. But aside from the narrative about the miraculous birth of Jesus, there's virtually nothing said about Joseph. Did he die tragically young, or was he murdered? I've sometimes wondered if he was simply fabricated by the Church to legitimize the sacred birth of Jesus. This story is a Christian fantasy. of course. There is so little known about Joseph. It's a good story, with an interesting plot Best of all, it's told in comfortable parlance. "The Carpenter" is not filled with Christian religious dogma. What I found most gratifying is that it's is a story that really deserved telling. Christians, and people more generally, need to hear stories about a good man like Joseph, who cared about his wife and took care of her, even forgave her the questionable indiscretion of her pregnancy before their wedding. There is enough mystical nuance in the tale to justify the Christian belief that Jesus' birth was truly special, and ordained by God. There was a bit of spiritual "magic" in the story. Mary's unexpected, and unexplained pregnancy before her marriage to Joseph was clearly a deal-breaker in the early synagogues of the Jews. But that was also a time in early Jewish history when the Romans invaded Israel and imposed their authoritarian government on the Hebrew nation. It was a time of social upheaval in Israel. A bit of that historical background is also present in the story of "The Carpenter". The story is well told and a enjoyable read.
I'd always known that there had to be more to "The Story". How good a pregnant virgin have not been mocked and ridiculed when only she and Joseph knew she had never "been with a man"? How did Mary and Joseph wed when they would've been the gossip of Nazareth? And even more so, how could they have had an easy trip to Bethlehem and simply end up.in a stable for the Birth like it was just another day?
It couldn't have been that easy. Every odd imaginable would've been stacked against them due to the intense spiritual warfare having been going on like nothing else prior.
And then there's Joseph. Mary was of course chosen by God, but Joseph was, too. If that's the case, then his role had to be more than simply getting Mary safely to Bethlehem, and then to Nazareth and raise a family. No, God's role for Joseph had to have been much greater than that.
This book, "The Carpenter", tries to make an account for all this in a fictional (or "factional") tale and couldn't have done it any better. Fast paced, full of adventure and even humorous at times, the author did an outstanding job putting everything together. It impacted me greatly and will likely stay fresh in my mind for some time.
So if you're expecting a Biblically correct story, take a look at the cover you can tell its not more Biblical but more sci-fi. There are some interesting things in the book. If you read the book of Revelations there is an area where you will find that for a time there will be demons coming after the woman who is pregnant. But it's a different time then what Revelations is talking about. Its not that far fetched to think the devil would be after the Messiah. Its also not far fetched to think Romans would be after the newest "King." So even though this book isn't Biblical it isn't too far fetched to think some of these thing could happen. Did they happen, no, not according to the Biblical account. But this is a different look at the story. I wouldn't call it a retelling of the Story of Joseph of Nazareth. It more looks into the accounts of others and what they're thinking, not much of Joseph's thoughts except how to protect Mary and the unborn Messiah. This was different then what I'm used to reading but it was pretty interesting, very action packed and full of lots of sci-fi.
This is not just a retelling, it's some an awful attempt to make Biblical events into something like a B-rated action movie. The tone of the story changed many times from Joseph understanding and having faith to counting events as coincidence or just luck. There is a scene where a tent is found then later it's pitched in a matter of minutes by one person like some nylon pup tent. Historically incorrect and just plain laughable. Joseph at another point seems to forget what he was told about Mary and "the baby" when he tells the Magic to explain what they mean that the baby is special, or the Messiah. The earlier narrative told that Joseph had been given that information by Divine message which is why he was so intent on going on with the marriage. Really a terrible story...part sci-fi and part action story with a thin layer of Biblical information. Really needed to be edited to continuity tone of voice.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
One star is me trying to be kind. This book, for me, wasn't intellectually challenging. The main characters seemed to lurch from one disaster to the next. Read the first twenty chapters (they're extremely short!) then skipped to the end where Mary gave birth to Jesus. Rather confusingly, the three Wise Men arrived at the stable before the shepherds did. Also, I'm sure the angels appeared to the shepherds to tell of the birth. There were an awful lot of misfortunes that befell Mary and Joseph. Roman soldiers, a mysterious sci fi monster horde thing and floods, apart from family hatred towards Mary. If I didn't know better, I'd have thought that Mary lost the baby and was widowed as Joseph defended his heavily pregnant wife. I like historical and Biblical fiction, but I like the stories to be more believable than this one was. I'm sorry I bought it and read it. Can't wait to start a better book. Perhaps another Ken Follett.
I have read books that were about all the Mary might have experienced with the birth of Jesus & I was intrigued by a book about Joseph. It started out pretty good & brought up some things that I hadn't thought of, should have, but I hadn't. Like how his family reacted to marrying Mary. Then it starts on the journey to Bethlehem. Maybe they encountered some of the things that were written, but then it seemed to get a little bazaar. It was an easy read, but there were some things that I thought were totally Biblical..... some things I thought were out of order. I was hoping to use this book for book club, I just don't think it will work.
We all want to know how Joseph and Mary fared in the way to Bethlehem. This book tried to tell us. It is full of exciting adventures and intimate love between Mary and Joseph. I am not in agreement to some of the things that happened to them, but whether it happened or not, we have to keep in mind that it is the author's vision of what happens in the road to Bethlehem. It is an exciting story, nevertheless. I wished that the story would continue up to when Joseph would die. Perhaps the author would do us a favor and write another book about that. We can only hope. Enjoy this great story.
I felt that the story was farfetched. ...a little too much action. I did enjoy the conversations between Mary and Joseph until the end when Mary said she wanted more children. In my heart I feel that this holy couple were virgins after the birth of the Savior. My belief is that Jesus is God and the Messiah. There would be no need for the couple to have other children. They completed the task of the Almighty. Jesus, God, became man to save the world, which He did on Calvary. I was hoping the story would be more human and we would appreciate how Joseph raised his earthly son by teaching Him prayers and carpentry.
This book is wonderful. I started reading and finished in Two hours could not stop reading. It related to much of the bible. It was inspiring, humorous. I liked it from the beginning to the end. I like Joseph attitude and his protection and love Mary. The parts that touched my heart was Jesus opened His eyes and when Joseph asked to hold Jesus one last, kissed Him and got his healing. I'm so glad I read this book during Christmas season. Yes, I would recommend this book.
Historical fiction -- those who do not understand 'historical fiction' may not understand or appreciate this novel. That said, this is an amazing work of historical fiction that I appreciated very much! The author took some surprising liberties to fill in the gaps of what the Bible tells us about Joseph; but they were thought-provoking surprises. I could never have imagined some of the plot twists the author presented and the action crossed the line of expectation; again, knowing that this fiction (not a religion history resource) left me satisfied and greatly entertained! Truly an amazing read!!!
Of course, this is someone's wonderful imagination, but how do we know it's not true? It is not written in the Bible, however, there are many things not written in the Bible...if all things were written that happened over those thirty three years the book would have been too large and so many mysteries, that no one would have been able to read it all! God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit are for all of those who believe in Him, and only He knows the facts!!! A wonderful story of faith and God's love for all of us. Read John 3: 16. Thank you.
If you like biblical fiction, I do not recommend this book. I was looking forward to reading about Joseph the earthly father of Jesus. Since not much is known about him from the Bible I fully expected fictional details to be added. I did not and do not appreciate the known details of Joseph to be changed. I had to wonder if the author had much idea of the terrain from Nazareth to Bethlehem. I did not have a problem with the supernatural part that involved the Hoard. I’m sure Satan was not happy that our Savior was soon to be born.
A lot of license with the story. Didn't care for the story line. The violence, the changes to one of our most beloved stories. It took our entire story about the journey and made it "theatrical" and actually added a lot of unnecessary violence (not to mention that I am sure that God would have protected them all from the series of absurd events that went on).
This is a fiction story of Joseph of Nazareth. Although I'm not sure some of the stories follow the Bible, I would say it doesn't go against the Biblical account. Reading this book caused me to expand my thoughts on Joseph and Mary. Specifically what they had to go through for the Son of Man to be born. The Carpenter is an interesting story and kept my interest the entire way through.
If we really knew all the truth, what a story that would be.
The author made the story of Joseph and Mary exciting enough I didn't want to put it down. But, I had to keep reminding myself that it is fiction and that is why it is different from the biblical accounts leading to the birth of Jesus.
This book was a good book as it gave a voice to what Joseph would have tried to accomplish. We never think much of Joseph since the Bible doesn't give an account to what he may have faced. But God has everything in control. Just a reminder that this book is mostly fiction.
A different view of the trek of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem
It was an entertaining story of the first few days of Mary and Joseph's married life together before the birth of Christ. Overwhelmingly froth with obstacles and evil pursing the couple and unborn Savior. A quick and entertaining read. It definitely is fantasy story of their flight from Nazareth.
I liked the story, but so much was added to the true bible version that I hesitate to endorse it. This was a great piece of fiction. To read the real story, try Luke, chapter 2, in your Bible! But this was well written and a very interesting read that could have happened, but we don't have any record of it being this way!
The author provides a story that covers Mary and Joseph's trek to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus. Interesting and thought provoking, this fictional glance embellishing the birth of Our Savior gives a glimpse into what might have happened. An easy read, I definitely recommend the book.
You know the story of the birth if baby Jesus, but this book tells you how Joseph defied his father and married Mary. It's the story of their travel to Bethlehem and what happened to them enroute. It's a very interesting story from the author's point of view. Could it have happened this way? Perhaps.
I started this story and it grabbed me pulled me in completely. Read it in 1sitting. Love this book. Thanks for a great vividly discriptive story. Characters were real people.
This is Joseph's story. It's thought provoking and entertaining. It is fast moving and the characters are so believable you think you are traveling with them. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more by this author.
This was an excellent story of Joseph and Mary and the birth of the Blessed Baby Jesus! While it is not factual, it is still very entertaining and gripping! I highly recommend this story to everyone!!!
I was drawn to the promise of a story about Jesus' earthly father, but found more of a Chuck Norris character than the man in the Bible. Entertaining, yes. Faithful to scripture, no.