Review: "A.D. 30" by Ted Dekker

Ted Dekker is by no secret my favorite author.  Like any other release day, I rushed to the nearest bookstore and patiently waited as the bookstore had to truck to the basement to find me a copy of A.D. 30 (Center Street) which they hadn't put out yet (AND IT WAS ALREADY LATE AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING)! 

This day was also different then any other release day of my favorite author's new book for me.  My dad died that night.  Needless to say, it took me a while to read.  Me, the one who actually reads more when she is stressed because it's a break from the world, read less.  I read less, because it was hard.  There are some deaths within the first couple of pages, so...yeah.  I grieved with Maviah.  Through Maviah, I felt as if someone understood me, understood what I was going through.  I know, I know, she's a fictional character, but isn't it amazing how God uses story to change us?! To restore us.  To reach us...

I have read ALMOST every Dekker work and this one is simply different.  While I would still say that like his other novels, it is a parable-it crosses over to the biblical fiction realm.  The story however, is more inventive than any other piece of biblical fiction I've read.

Maviah is a slave, a single mother, a forgotten daughter.  Her world is turned upside down and she finds herself no longer a slave, but a queen, on a mission to save her kingdom.  She begins a journey to find Herod (yes, that Herod) and convince him to ally with her and save her people. She is accompanied by two of her dad's most trusted me, one of which is enamored with Yeshua.  On there journey, they stop and visit Mary, the mother of Jesus, who insists of meeting with Maviah.  Once Maviah experiences Jesus, she is changed.  That's what stuck with me the most.  Although, this was only the beginning of Maviah's journey.

She has yet to face deception, captivity, the feign of freedom, captivity again, deception again, and difficult decisions.  I know every Dekker book comes along and I say "THIS ONE'S MY FAVORITE!"  This one is so different, and for so many reasons I hold it close, and the story was SO good!  I have more pages dog-eared, and phrases underlined, and exclamations in the margins.  Dekker just gets it!

I'll leave you with this.  In the novel Maviah learns that Jesus is the only one fit to judge.  BUT he does not throw a stone at us.  Meditate on that truth and let me know what stuck out to you!