To young trainee Rain Barynd, becoming a Council Guard in bucolic New Haven will secure a positive future that involves neither farming nor any real fighting. Impressing his girlfriend’s skeptical parents and overcoming a handful of bullies among the trainees—along with the inexplicable intensity of his trainer, a decorated warrior from the East—are his greatest challenges. Or so he believes.
A rare and ruthless bandit attack marks the beginning of the mayhem that engulfs Rain’s childhood home and sets him on an unimaginable path that includes … his own magic? Talismans that enable travel to other worlds? Griffons and dragons, ancient nemeses thought to be long extinct? Strange metal beasts that spit bellowing fire? And even elves of fairy tale, as real as the dwarves?
Amid a besom of chaos and doubt, Rain must work with members of a mysterious ancient order to piece together a growing convergence of clues long prophesied. All while trying to figure out his place in the madness. Only one thing is certain—he is not ready.
After her miraculous rescue by the angel Raphael, Sophia, daughter of Barabbas and Chanah, sets out with the former slave Onesimus to find the elusive and itinerant apostle John. Once they find him, an unexpected trip outside the Roman empire into the mysterious northern nation of Sarmatia expands her understanding of God’s global efforts to gather his children to their Savior.
It also reveals in starker detail the pernicious, pervasive attempts by the adversary to disrupt the work and turn the children of God toward evil and superstition. Pride is her own weakness, and she must learn how to temper and control it, so that her mind might be open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
What surprises await her as she travels great distances with the Lord’s beloved apostle to spread the message of the gospel? How differently does God see her life than what she has assumed? What will happen to the growing church’s relationship with Rome when Emperor Vespasian dies and his sons pick up the mantle? And how does John continue to have so much energy and faith?
From the author of the award-winning Barabbas Trilogy and The Servant of Helaman comes another story about the harrowing challenges of discipleship ...
For a prosperous businessman in the Ancient American city of Ammonihah, God is good, but not top of mind. Until God’s call becomes more insistent and memories of productive faith rise from the ashes of spiritual indolence.
When the heavens orchestrate a meeting with the Lord’s prophet, who is on a mission to steer Ammonihah from certain calamity, the man named Amulek must face the consequences of boldly proclaiming the God he knows is real. He will also learn the depths of his own commitment … and of God’s perfect, eternal love for his children.
We know precious little of the man called Barabbas, a contemporary of Jesus of Nazareth. He is variously described in the historical record as thief, murderer, rebel, and notable Roman prisoner. His release by the Roman Prefect Pontius Pilate was part of the supernal plan for the Christ to offer himself as the ultimate blood sacrifice, but it’s doubtful Barabbas understood any of that at the time.
Many have wondered what became of him, or rather, who he became after that fateful day. Someday we will know the answer, but in the meantime, we can imagine that, like all of us, he too sought a path of personal redemption, imperfectly.
While a mighty nation reels following the assassination of its chief leader, its greatest enemy prepares to launch another bold invasion aimed at the subjugation of the free people of Nephi, about fifty years before the Savior’s long-prophesied advent to the world.
Caught up in the swirling cacophony of events is a young soldier and spy, a former orphan whose growing testimony of the coming Christ will be tested and refined as he engages in momentous battles to preserve the freedom and faith of his nation from invasion, assassinations, and creeping apostasy.
In this poignant capstone to the trilogy, the man called Barabbas—infamous former thief, murderer and prisoner turned Christian—and his wife Chanah continue their mission of spreading the gospel across the known world as cauldrons of political and military chaos boil across the Roman Empire. Nero is increasingly erratic, and it’s only a matter of time before the sharp knives of imperial politics finish him off. Various successors vie for position. Who will strike first, and who will come out on top?
Meanwhile, the rebellion in Judea has intensified, the Jewish zealots exerting great influence over the minds of the people. General Vespasian and his son Titus aim to put a permanent end to the insurrection. How many lives will ultimately be sacrificed on the great altar of Jerusalem? Can the Jewish nation survive the fulfillment of Jesus’s prophecy? What will become of the Jewish Christians and the apostles and sisters who lead them? And where will Barabbas and his family find lasting peace?
The man they called Barabbas has come a long way from the wretched prisoner released by Pontius Pilate in lieu of Jesus of Nazareth. He and his wife Chanah are growing in regard among the leadership of Christ’s fledgling church, which is expanding and thriving.
But increasing Christian influence breeds jealousy among several Roman governors and senators. How will Emperor Nero react? Can the apostle Paul soothe the moody young ruler and help the valiant Roman saints continue to spread the Word?
The Parthian Empire also poses threats, including in Eastern Africa, where the former centurion Cornelius has become a prominent Christian leader. Will the Christians need to flee, or must they fight both the Romans and the Parthians?
