Among the Gods is closely connected to book four: Faith of My Fathers. The main characters are: Manassah, and his chief advisor, Zerah; Joshua, Prince Amariah (Manassah's younger brother), Dinah (Joshua's sister, Manassah's former concubine), Jerimoth, Mattan, Nathan, and Miriam. This book closely follows the path of two men: Manassah and Joshua. It follows Manassah into truly dark places, but, it allows room for his humanity as well. And it also follows Joshua. Both journeys are difficult because both men are flawed, of course. Manassah's sins are OBVIOUS sins; Joshua's sins are hidden. (I suppose you could say his sins were anger, bitterness, holding onto the past, his pride that he is "the one" that God will use to bring Manassah down to the grave, his need to be in control ALL THE TIME, his thinking that he has all the answers and knows what is best.) Both men have a lot to learn about God, about love and grace and forgiveness.
I definitely recommend the series. The five books were wonderful. Austin did a great job in bringing biblical history to life. In the fourth and fifth book, the books were a bit more creative in telling the story because not as much is said in detail in the Bible. But the characters were definitely fleshed out. I thought the lessons taught in each book were marvelous. These lessons were often ILLUSTRATED through characters actions. It wasn't merely packing lectures into dialogue. (Some might think that is what Christian fiction is all about, but, in reality it isn't.) The books on Manassah were definitely harder to handle in way; but they were completely necessary as well.
I think these books are for an adult audience. While I wouldn't think twice about handing When Calls the Heart or Love Comes Softly to a fourth or fifth grader, I wouldn't say the same about this series of books!
© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible
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