A brutal re-imagining of the Gospel story, Next Year in Jerusalem follows the footsteps of Yeshua Bar-Yosif--an illiterate, epileptic, bastard son of a Roman soldier on his ill-fated life journey through a land racked by terror. As first century Judea bleeds from the oppression of Roman rule and the violent uprisings against it, Yeshua, tormented by familial guilt for abandoning his mother, eventually forms his own family of travelers who preach for peace and compassion in the face of internecine savagery. Their wanderings lead to encounters with false prophets, assassins, and a rapidly growing movement of extremist rebels whose leader Bar-Abbas' mission is to expel the Romans and establish an ethnocentric theocracy. Chance sends both Yeshua and Bar-Abbas to the court of Pontius Pilate--the dipsomaniac Governor obsessed with leaving a name for himself in the scrolls of history--and the outcome of that meeting seals the fate of the world for the next two millennia. With urgent parallels to contemporary issues of religious war, this book is both a lament and a warning. It is also a story about the passage of time, the nature of memory, and of mankind's inherent yearning for life everlasting.
Genre: FICTION / LiteraryAmazon Best Sellers Rank:
#183 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction > Middle Eastern
#3846 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Religious & Inspirational > Historical
#86468 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Historical
HAMSIN
“It’s all coming from God and whatever comes from God is good!” Eliyahu shouted to the merchant who waved him into his tent, offering shelter from the hailstorm. The drumroll of celestial ice pounded the ears and rendered both men deaf-mute. As much as Eliyahu strained his vocal cords, the merchant could not hear a word and was almost resigned to futility until finally, with the aid of wordless grins and gestures, fingers pointed to the sky, they exchanged understanding smiles and nodded in agreement that the hail was a blessing indeed.
For weeks, Judea had been plagued by violent storms of dust and sand. The Hamsin, whipped up from the barren plains of the Arabian desert had made its way north and attacked mercilessly. At dawn, the atmosphere grew orange like the embers of a fire. Objects yards away disappeared as if a curtain had been drawn in front of them. Nazarenes would rise with a sour taste in their mouths and a film of dust formed under furniture and over beddings. For days, Eliyahu would wake struggling to breathe.
Townspeople remained in the safety and darkness of their houses, windows sealed shut, burning valuable oil only when needed, singing and praying to Yahweh for the storm to pass. In Eliyahu’s home, the desperate pleas for God’s mercy were sometimes happily interrupted by passages from the Song of Solomon. Eliyahu’s daughter, Maryam, was soon to be married, and the gloom of nature turned less fatal by thoughts of future joy. And now the Hamsin broke. Dust and sand settled, a cold wind came first, and now, finally, rain and hail.
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Spanish
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Already translated.
Translated by Javier Gómez Tejeda
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Author review: Javier is an incredibly talented translator. I would go so far as to call him a prodigy and would recommend him unequivocally. Not only was the translation accurate, lyrical and as close to the tone of my English original as possible, Javier also works extremely fast and delivered the manuscript ahead of schedule. He was also able to pick up nuances, slang and idioms and find the correct Spanish equivalent. Highly professional. I cannot praise him enough. |
