Official Review: The Prophet and The Warrior

[Amy Murdoch Coleman]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Prophet and The Warrior" by Richard H. Grabmeier.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Many children in western culture are raised with some knowledge of biblical stories. Exposure to the heartwarming stories of God's love is common, and adults often don't dig any deeper into the context of religion as they grow older. The Prophet and The Warrior by Richard Grabmeier delves far beneath the surface of biblical history, turning a simple series of stories into a tale of merciless killings in the name of God.

This novel explores the lives of Moses and Joshua, two heroes of the Old Testament. The story creatively expounds on short verses in the earliest books of the Bible, stretching them into a realistic account of how both enemies and allies may have perceived these two leaders. Moses and Joshua were biblically responsible for conquering the land of Canaan, which occurs in shockingly few verses. The reader gets to experience both Moses' and Joshua's ruthlessness firsthand. With the perspectives of both the Canaanites and the Israelites included, it becomes possible to see these two men of God through something other than rose-colored lenses.

Novels that unashamedly ask questions about where to draw the lines of morality tend to be controversial, and The Prophet and the Warrior is no exception. Challenging preconceived viewpoints about religious figures can be dangerous, but the journey included in this story is well worth the risk. The author takes bold liberties with the characters, but each decision is believable and backed up by biblical text (which appears in an index at the end of the book). One especially compelling aspect is that, though much of the story is seen through Moses' eyes, the reader never experiences a scene in which Moses speaks with God. On page 126, he says, "What's done, is done at the command of the Lord... I am but a tool in his hand." Moses makes similar statements to explain away many cruelties inflicted upon the Israelites, making the reader wonder time and time again whether or not Moses is a genuine prophet. It is completely possible that many of his decisions are his own rather than those of God.

There is unmistakable promise in this book, but it is crucial to address some issues that weaken the story. There are some careless punctuation errors throughout the book, where quotation marks are missing, or double (and occasionally conflicting) marks are used in the same sentence. In addition, there is an unfortunate lack of detail in the narration, and much of the story is told through dialogue. Dialogue in itself is not a weakness, but when the setting has the potential to be immersive, leaving it solely to the imagination can undermine the entire narrative.

Due to the unfortunate grammatical mistakes and the overwhelming amount of dialogue, I am giving The Prophet and the Warrior a score of 3 out of 4 stars. With some professional editing, this would be an amazing book. There are quite a few scenes of graphic violence and scenes of a sexual nature. I would recommend this book to anyone with biblical knowledge, especially those with a special interest in history. However, I imagine that it would be difficult to absorb for anyone unprepared to consider the deeper realities of some of the Bible's biggest heroes.

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The Prophet and The Warrior
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[kobby95]

It is always difficult when limited minds try to analyse the ways of God and His Chosen Ones. This is the reason for the persecution of Prophets, because man's limited understanding tries to encompass the complex, universal Plan of an All-Knowing God. Not my kind of book if it ends up belittling the glory and sanctity of One who is called and chosen by God to be His mouthpiece and guide to the people.