Customer Reviews

Premonition (City of God Series #2)

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Not many writers can switch genres successfully. If you've read Ingermanson's previous works, you know that he dabbles in sci-fi, suspense, and futuristic thrillers. Knowing that this book was a sequel of sorts to "Transgression," I was surprised to discover Ingermanson's skill with historical fiction.

The story follows Rivka and Ari, two modern day adults thrust into a first century world via a wormhole. (This part of their tale was told in the first book, so a new reader might want to go back and read the first book as well.) The daily life and work of Jerusalem, AD 57, is brought into vivid focus. The struggles and cultural barriers are drawn clearly.

The heart of this novel is Rivka's place as a seer woman. Due to her knowledge of history, she is able to forewarn the citizens of Jerusalem about upcoming events. When, however, some of her "predictions" miss the mark, she is accused of being a false prophet, and her husband Ari loses his place of honor. As the story delves deeper into the turmoil and corruption of the day, Rivka and Ari must face the consequences, good and bad, of their premonitions.

Although the story is slower paced than his other works, "Premonition" keeps us turning the pages by showing us realistic characters facing very contemporary struggles of faith. The last fifty pages are beautiful and heart-wrenching. If you have an interest in messianic Judaism, this book is a must. If not, "Premonition" will stir your soul.

Randall Ingermanson is to be commended for the diligent work that has gone into putting together a somewhat elaborate and at times believable work of historical fiction. I have read through the series and recently finished Retribution, yet I was unable to give Premonition more than three stars for the following reasons (don't worry, there are no real spoilers here):

Pros: The plot is captivating, as many have pointed out. Ingermanson knows how to throw in a twist here and there and to keep the pace of the events relatively arduous. There seems to be a nagging problem to solve at the end of almost every section. He develops most of his characters with smoothness and many of them grow on you so that you care about what happens to them. Even one of the 'villains' evolves with a bit of depth and it is notoriously difficult to create a realistic and workable villain. I also like the way in which many of the historical facts are interwoven skillfully in the story and, of course, much of the cultural differences are played out with flair. Ingermanson has an interesting touch with that aspect. However, this brings me to the other side of the coin...

Cons: Historically speaking, the work is sketchy. In his attempt to create an elaborate setting for Messianic revisionism, Ingermanson relies too heavily on post-Second Temple rabinnical writings and far too little on the Biblical information. Historians who spend most of their time on this subject these days recognize that the rabbinical works that were compiled a couple of centuries after the events in which the story takes place are often enough not so very reliable because they are written with post-70AD (not to mention post 135AD) polemical concerns in mind. They can be of some help in reconstructing life before the destruction of the Temple, but it takes a rather sensitive and cautious student to make his way through and even some of the most respected historians, like Jeremias, have fallen far short. Unfortunately, Ingermanson is influenced by precisely this kind of work.

Even though I have a healthy sense of the Jewishness of the early Church in Jerusalem and have studied the literature on the subject, I found that, in developing the characters of those in the assembly of the Jerusalem Church, particularly historical figures--like James, the brother of Jesus, and Paul--this is where Ingermanson breaks down the most. Again, in relying upon the voice of more provocative and liberal studies, he ignores the Biblical account of the same period. The Christians in Jerusalem are, for him, essentially unaltered Jews who accept Mashiach as their Rabban. There is hardly a noticeable difference between them and the Orthodox Jews around them. They attend the Temple sacrifices, celebrate Jewish feasts and festivals, including Passover, circumcise their children, worship in the traditional Jewish manner, repeat the usual Jewish prayers to "HaShem" at the circumscribed times as though ignorant of the exemplary prayer of Christ ('The LORD's Prayer'), treat their women with the same diffidence as every one of their neighbors, bear a great hatred of their enemies, encourage a very personalistic and mystical religion contrary to much of Christ and His Apostles, and generally carry on as though they hadn't heard much about any 'New Covenant.' Even the teachings and the writings of the Apostles are neither discussed nor circulated and the believers in Jerusalem seem decidedly ignorant that a canon has been in the process of formulation as well as Gospels being written. All they know is Torah and even that is so extremely rare in their mouths that, beyond the Shema, it might as well not exist. Even the scribes among them never reason from Scripture when discussing religious difficulties. They argue from emotion and personal convictions or from confusing visions and personal revelations from "HaShem" which everyone seems able to tap into.

Ingermanson never allows his Christians to witness of their faith to any of their neighbors. They wouldn't dream of converting anyone and seem to accept unbelieving Jews as basically on the same path. In fact, even though the couple of Christian tsadikks are exceptional men (while certain leaders are lunatic fanatics and murderers), Ingermanson spends far more time extolling certain Rabbinical Jewish sages as the pinnacle of faith in GOD or developing them into virtual super beings with the most miraculous prayers and profound insights into the "Other Side." The Christians seem in many cases a rather desultory step down from the epic wisdom and power of the Judaic stalwarts and many of the followers of Christ are almost without interest in His teachings on righteousness and the love of one's enemies. They have the hardest time struggling just to feel anything beyond what a decent unbeliever experiences in his moments of triumph.

There are a few other difficulties... including Ingermanson's insistence on demonizing the Romans at every turn (whom he paints rather one-dimensionally) and repeating ad nauseam the fiction that the Jews in Jerusalem at the time had nothing to do with the crucifixion of Christ, whatever the Scriptures might say about it. There is also his insistence on writing the script for GOD and drawing rather less than knowledgeable conclusions as he engages certain theological and philosophical conundrums. To be fair, the reader should appreciate that Ingermanson is not well studied in either of these fields and it is quite impossible to write a good novel without trying to resolve thicker philosophical dilemmas. Nevertheless, though he makes the attempt with more ability than the usual novelist, he too often stumbles over himself in contradiction and empty rhetoric. Somehow, this makes certain of his characters more believable and realistic while others are more stilted and inconsistent.

All in all, the books were enjoyable to read and at times even gripping or emotionally moving, yet they contained too many speed bumps along the way that threw this reader off (and sometimes were a little infuriating when favorite historical persons were abused or maligned and distorted). It was particularly saddening to find so little to connect with in Ingermanson's early Christians, even with a full appreciation of the Jewish culture that they surely grew up with and took part in, yet reinterpreted and some cases altered or resisted and abandoned. There was never any seeming cognizance of other Christians around the civilized world, many of whom (according to Scripture) sent money to Jerusalem to aid the Church there during the drought.

Biblical history takes a distant back seat in these works, so if that consistent perspective is what you're hoping for, you will be disappointed.

In Randall Ingermanson's first-ever novel, Transgression, backslidden Messianic Jew Rivka Myers found herself tricked into a dark closet, in the basement of a physics building in Jerusalem. It was difficult to get back, because it turns out there was a wormhole in that closet, built by somewhat of a mad scientist.

Physicist Ari Kazan wound up chasing Rivka and the other scientist into the wormhole, and into 1st-century Israel . . . Rivka met a Palestinian prostitute, and the scientist wanted to kill the Apostle Paul, and Ari got stung by wasps. . . . It gets kind of complicated.

I generally like complicated fiction, so I loved Transgression. But now, with the first installment of Ingermanson's new follow-up trilogy out, called Premonition, he deprecates himself a little, almost shrugging off Transgression as if a grade-school essay.

"You don't have to read Transgression to enjoy Premonition," Ingermanson says in his foreword. (Good thing, too, because at this point Transgression is almost darn near out of print.) "In fact, I recommend reading Premonition first because . . . it's a better book." [Ellipsis his.]

Because we're dealing with time travel and if you aren't careful the story can get contradictory, I'll go ahead and contradict the author by suggesting you read Transgression first anyway -- assuming it ever gets back into print and you can get a copy. It makes the time travel seem a little more plausible. While Premonition is better, I don't know how easy it would be to pick it up while being blind to the events of the real first novel.

(Example: some people can read The Lord of the Rings without reading The Hobbit first -- I did. But then, during LotR I didn't have a clue who Balin was . . . no idea whatsoever. Therefore the same situation goes for Premonition.)

Randall Ingermanson seems to be a major genius. He likes to talk about physics occasionally, although judging from his descriptions in his first novel Transgression he has no idea how to build a wormhole in your basement closet -- or what it feels like walking through. (Is it cold? Clammy, dusty? Are their any cool sound effects, or CGI light ripples?)

Transgression was the precursor to Premonition, and now Ingermanson must have gotten tired of the physics anyway, and grabbed hold of about four or five alternate Ph.D.'s at once: Biblical history, Hebrew and hermeneutics, some archaeology, a little architecture, and a pinch of ancient midwifery, just for flavor.

And before I go on I'll make one thing clear: this author isn't too shy. Nothing in Premonition is overly detailed or prurient; don't misunderstand. But if you're a teenager you're bound to learn all kinds of things you never knew as soon as Rivka begins delivering babies in ancient Jerusalem. Exclamations may range from "augh" to "ungh," to "eawwrgh," to "Hey-whoa! I didn't know that" from any teenagers out there, especially males.

Based on the details on that subject and everything else, any readers may get the impression that Ingermanson does have a wormhole in his basement closet. Perhaps he sneaks in there late at night, "transgresses" dimensions to 1st-century Jerusalem and learns about things like Temple architecture or Hebrew midwifery; I don't know. There's no proof for this, and I don't want to start any rumors here.

Either way, his research is impeccable. From the very beginning of the novel you get some great diagrams of the Holy Land, Jerusalem, the Temple Courts and such, to the point where you wish the book came spiral-bound so you could Xerox the front pages for easy reference later in your reading. In addition to the maps you get a Glossary and a directory of historical persons in the back. Then there's a list of books, too -- Ingermanson blows the secrecy on many of the materials he read for research, making it all seem so easy . . .

It's not. And what's even better is the book doesn't even read like a great big pile of historical research. Premonition is a wormhole to the souls of the past. When reading it, you are there, with people you grow to love. The author gets into the characters' heads and stays there, switching between Rivka and Ari at first, and then adding more even from the natives: Hana, Baruch, and then historical persons like the High Priest.

It would be difficult to summarize The Plot because there really isn't a single one. But Premonition isn't like the Left Behind series; Ingermanson weaves about 10 subplots all together. The title comes from Rivka's foreknowledge of events which earns her a reputation in Jerusalem as somewhat of a prophetess. Before blundering through the closet wormhole, she had read a lot of history books and has much of the material still up in her head.

Meanwhile, Ari is finding work as well. Having two centuries of advance physics knowledge helps land him a job as an independent contractor/mechanical engineer. That eventually pits him against the high priest, which isn't much fun. At the same time Rivka is also forced to get involved in history, saving the life of King Agrippa's sister, and then she enters Jerusalem politics as well, flowing even more with history and helping to maneuver other men into the position of High Priest. . . . It gets kind of complicated.

With this level of "predictability" one might think Ingermanson would fall into the Infamous Left Behind Event Predictability Trap. Nope. Rivka and Ari can't really change history. Whatever they do just happens to fall in step, right alongside. History is alive and well, the story twists are many and so are the "Oh NO!" moments you will always get in a good novel.

Finally, everything has settled down enough for an ending that comes all too soon. That ending is only the second of Premonition's two minor disappointments. The second is the real spoiler that's given on the novel's back cover and even in the Amazon review (which may not be the author's responsibility anyway): "But when one of [Rivka's] predictions fails, she is scorned as a false prophet."

Oh NO! That makes everything completely predictable when you get to that part in the novel. This is it, this is it, she's not right about that prediction, no, Rivka, come on, don't do that! But alas, because of 14 words on the book's back cover, we have a premonition of her failed premonition.

Regardless of that, as well as some pervasive (and informative!) midwife-related details, Premonition is something to behold. Rumor has it the intrepid Ingermanson has already burned through the second trilogy installment, Retribution. . . .

This is going to be good, I can tell.

I really enjoy reading historical fiction. When I discovered Transgression, the first book in the series, I couldn't put it down. It was full of energy, suspense, and action. So I eagerly looked forward to reading Premonition. When it finally arrived, I eagerly started reading about the ongoing adventures of Rivka and Ari. While I found the book hard to put down, I didn't think it was quite as good as Transgression. Don't get me wrong - it is a good book to read, but didn't seem to have the same level of energy and suspense.

I've read a fair amount of alternative fiction - enjoying Turtledove and Gingrich greatly - but this book is different. Is the timeline diverting or not? Is this alternative fiction or a just a story about 2 modern people trapped in 57 AD.
Ingermanson's story is interesting and compelling, but not quite satisfying. His characters are strong and believable. One really comes to hate Hanan ben Hanan. However, the story doesn't have a strong payoff.
This book is a good lesson on honor and forgiveness. As Ingermanson uses Jesus' words wisely to show that honor (what we might call status) is not what God desires, but rather forgiveness. His characters display this powerfully and authentically.
There were some gliches such as how many times I had to read that "The Romans crucified Jesus" and that "Christians killed Jews." But overall Ingermanson brings first century Palestine to life without difficult language. A nice read.

Premonition was a gift to me from the author with the understanding that I write an honest review of his work. I did not read Transgression (the 1st in the series) before diving in to this; however that oversite was not a barrier to getting hooked on this from page one. You can read the editorial reviews yourself to get the details. For me, this book touched my christian historical interets and my heart in a big way. I highly recommend this book for all readers, you'll learn a little history and gain an insight to what it means to be a follower of Jesus. I am diving into Retribution next - cannot wait to continue to journey!

What do you get when you combine a Messianic Jew, an Israeli physicist and a wormhole?

A ripping good read!

This was the first Randall Ingermanson book I had picked up. I really didn't know what to expect, despite hearing glowing reviews from a friend. Sci-fi wasn't my cup of tea, and anything involving time travel usually brought a yawn to the surface quick smart.

But this was more than sci-fi. From the first chapter I was hooked. I was pulled into the world of Rivka, a Messianic Jew, and her husband Ari, an Israeli physicist. I too entered the wormhole and was transported back to the year 57 A.D.

As Rivka roamed Jerusalem in the first century, armed with foreknowledge of disastrous coming events, I learned a thing or two about the Jewish culture. Not only was this book entertaining, it was informative. I'm not particularly into historical fiction either, but this book was more than that. It has all the elements to make a good read for everyone. No matter what type of fiction you usually read, this book won't disappoint.

According to the author it isn't necessary to read his first novel TRANSGRESSION first. I hadn't. And he was right. I could still follow along nicely. More than anything, reading PREMONITION first has given me a hunger for TRANGRESSION, which could be a bit of a problem since it is now out of print and hard to get. A shame. The more Randall Ingermanson books out there, the better.

Still, I had RETRIBUTION to follow on ...

This is an author I will be sure to keep an eye on. I advise you to do the same.

PREMONITION grows out of rich research, patterned plotting, gritty detail, and the pitiful lot of prophets. The author delivers on his warning of first century culture shock and provides new depth to the relationship, 'Abba.' PREMONITION pits one woman and her man against the stream of history--knowing the future, powerless to prevent being part of it. Ingermanson's best fiction yet.

It's a problem common to those who write historical novels: How does one write about customs that seem alien to us without interjecting our modern western sensibilities into the text? Randall Ingermanson solves this problem rather neatly in his City of God series, which pits a modern couple against the world of the past. One can hardly call PREMONITION a time-travel novel, as it involves no science-fiction elements. But since this is a sequel to TRANSGRESSION, a book in which the protagonists, Rivka Meyers and Ari Kozan, are stranded in time, one needs only a brief reminder about who they are and how they came to be there, and suddenly, the reader is immersed in the world of Jerusalem, circa 57-62 a.d. One doesn't need to worry about seeing the past through modern eyes, as this is actually the basis of the whole book.

Ingermanson is the kind of author discerning Christian readers have been waiting for, one who blends his knowledge of science and his faith seamlessly in the telling of a strong, emotionally-driven story. And this is the sort of book that (presumably) would sit equally well with an unbeliever or agnostic; not all questions are answered, and not all storylines are wrapped up (presumably, to leave room for a sequel, as well as to tell a more genuine story). This is not BACK TO THE FUTURE, with its fast-paced racing through time to solve a paradox; this is a realistic look at what would happen if someone who knew the future as though it had already happened (for Rivka Meyers, it has) were to be dumped suddenly into the very events she had studied all her life. The adventure is in the living, breathing realities of what it means to be literally lost to one's own world.

Those readers who have read TRANSGRESSION (and I do recommend reading it first, even though the author doesn't; while the second book is indeed better, the setting of the stage is too important to miss, and PREMONITION does expand on the first in many ways) will know that Rivka and Ari have indeed married, something that seemed unlikely as their respective faith and lack of faith clashed throughout the first book. In PREMONITION, we find that Ari has accepted the reality of HaShem (the Creator God), but still does not believe that Yeshua (Jesus) was the Messiah. Watching Ari grapple with his own heritage and faith is a surprisingly gripping experience; one does not always read novels that ask deep questions without having to wade through pat answers. Far from giving us trite clichés, Ingermanson presents us with moments of sheer power, through which the reader is given an idea of what it is truly like to try to find answers to the unanswerable. Ingermanson's City of God is well researched, and while the writing is tight, the picture he paints is lavish. This series has convinced me that I need to learn Hebrew, in order that I might understand more greatly the roots of my own faith.

My only puzzlement is that after reading the entire book, I had to double-check to make certain that the blurb on the back did indeed match the text; I did not see many indications in the character of Yaakov ben Joseph that he was indeed James, the brother of Jesus. While there are many reinforcements of the idea that he leads the Way (the early Christians), not much is said about what it is like to be the little brother of the Messiah. All in all, though, PREMONITION is a fully worthwhile reading experience, and I wholly recommend it to anyone who is fond of historical novels, romance, adventure, science fiction, or (as it happily happens) a combination of all of the above.

Premonition by Randall Ingermanson

Rivka, an archaeologist and Messianic Jew and Ari, her physicist husband, are swept through a hole in time from contemporary USA into first century Jerusalem. They try to bridge the gender, generation, religion and language gaps. Rivka has an eidetic memory and recalls passages from Josephus, the First Century historian. She struggles to find a way to communicate critical information to a culture that is unprepared to hear or to accept her because she is considered to be a "seer" or false prophet.

This book is about relationships: woman to woman; woman to man: man to man; man to child; and man to God. Premonition is filled with episodes of high drama - crises that will keep you turning the pages into the night. One of the most beautiful passages concerns Ari wanting to identify with the inexpressible grief of his best friend. Without words, Ari kneels on the ground alongside his friend at the ash heap and dusts himself with ashes. One can feel the agony of the soul and almost hear the groans of spirit with grieving spirit.

Ari understands complex linear operations, fiber bundles, Hilbert spaces but has to struggle with how to introduce basic physics such as gears for a water lift to supply water for the Temple. He believes in a personal God but has inner struggles about why a good God would permit evil to exist. He likens this to quantum mechanics, which don't make sense - yet work.

Many of the first century Biblical characters have a place in this book: Paul, Governor Festus, James, King Agrippa, Queen Bernice, Gameliel and others. Conflict and stress evolve from Jewish religion and culture. Dr Ingermanson seems equally at home in painting word pictures of tender, gentle love or hideous, malicious acts of violence, humiliation and degradation. The book was well researched and has a ring of authenticity. It is thoroughly entertaining and offers a greater understanding of the activities at the Jewish Temple, the priesthood, morning prayers for the men, festivals; and the stoning of persons.

I was brought to tears during a scene in which one of the priests had a monumental inner battle with hate. The brutal, malicious killing of priests made him hate the perpetrators of the crimes. The struggle was not for his life, safety or freedom but to be able to claim victory by releasing the hatred in his heart as he faces death. The final chapters present a problem. The tension is so great that it hurts to go on and yet the reader can't stand not to find out what happens next. The images of friend with friend and the "redemption" of an innocent child will linger long after the covers of the book are closed. Surely Premonition will earn a special place - a singular place - in contemporary literature.