From Afar by Roger Thomas<\/a>
\nPublisher:\u00a0Tumblar House
\nGenre:\u00a0Scriptural Fiction \/ Adventure
\nAge category:\u00a0Young Adult<\/p>\nThe Magi, or Three Kings, of the Nativity story are among the best loved yet most mysterious figures in all history. The fleeting and sparse account in St. Matthew’s Gospel raises as many questions as it answers. It has been so embroidered over the centuries that the original historical context has been almost completely buried. Yet the world of the early first century was as dynamic and intriguing as any legend – and much more perilous.<\/p>\n
In his compelling novelization of the journey of the Magi, Roger Thomas draws on Scripture, history, and modern research. This swift-moving tale brings these shadowed figures to vivid life. You meet them as men of their time and culture: learned and noble, yet experienced with a brutal world and even violent when necessary. Come with them as they search for a King they do not understand, and seek for answers to questions lying in the deepest parts of their souls – providing they survive the dangers of the journey.<\/p>\n
Excerpt:<\/p>\n
\u201cYou did what?\u201d Captain Tigranes nearly shouted, grabbing Baba by the shoulders and shaking him. \u201cBaba, do you realize \u2013 had you been caught, you would have been killed! Immediately, without mercy, and with no consideration of your youth! None of us could have done a thing to help you!\u201d<\/p>\n
Baba could tell the captain was more than just angry. He was pale in a way that Baba had never seen, and his hands were trembling. Baba realized that the captain was frightened \u2013 badly frightened. Well, so was Baba, but he needed to tell the captain what he knew.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know, sir, but after the lords left, I heard the king talking to a man \u2013 a dark man.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA dark man?\u201d the captain asked sharply. \u201cDid you hear his name?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, sir, he didn\u2019t mention it. He and the king seemed to know each other. He was thin.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I know who you\u2019re talking about,\u201d the captain said, starting to pace the floor. \u201cWhat did they say to one another?\u201d<\/p>\n
Baba told him, shaking with fright at the retelling. The captain was focusing on him, though his hands were still trembling, and he asked Baba many questions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is bad, isn\u2019t it, sir?\u201d Baba asked when he\u2019d finished.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very bad, Baba,\u201d the captain replied. \u201cAnd though what you did was very dangerous, I\u2019m glad you came and told me what you\u2019d heard.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWould you like me to fetch Lord Gaspar, sir?\u201d<\/p>\n
The captain was silent for a minute, as if making up his mind. \u201cNo,\u201d he said at last. \u201cLet\u2019s leave Gaspar out of this. Here\u2019s what you can do: you know Lord Gaspar\u2019s guards, Gordias and Tetius? Can you find them and ask them to come see me? Very quietly?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Baba \u2013 don\u2019t tell anyone what you\u2019ve told me. Not Gordias and Tetius, not the lords, not the cook, not anyone, do you understand?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hey, it’s Mischa. I have another Christmas book. And, no Aadi, it’s not a romance novel. The book is From Afar by Roger Thomas.\u00a0It’s historical fiction that gives a new look at the journey of the Magi in the real setting of the Hellenistic period. It was way more dangerous than what we hear in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":533,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[86,82,83,84,87,85],"class_list":["post-532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-what-im-reading","tag-christmas","tag-from-afar","tag-historical-fiction","tag-magi","tag-roger-thomas","tag-three-kings"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/dawnwitzke.com\/CatholicUnderground\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/32791551.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7xtYd-8A","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/dawnwitzke.com\/CatholicUnderground\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/dawnwitzke.com\/CatholicUnderground\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/dawnwitzke.com\/CatholicUnderground\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dawnwitzke.com\/CatholicUnderground\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dawnwitzke.com\/CatholicUnderground\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=532"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/dawnwitzke.com\/CatholicUnderground\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":534,"href":"http:\/\/dawnwitzke.com\/CatholicUnderground\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532\/revisions\/534"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dawnwitzke.com\/CatholicUnderground\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/dawnwitzke.com\/CatholicUnderground\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dawnwitzke.com\/CatholicUnderground\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dawnwitzke.com\/CatholicUnderground\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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