Mosaic

I always enjoy Chris Aslan's books!  The plots grab my attention and I enjoy the pace.  Alabaster was the first book that introduced me to his writing and so I was keen to read Mosaic.  Whilst I don't think it surpasses Alabaster, I enjoyed reading about village life in the snow clad mountains about a Great Lake and Blood City.  I quickly caught on to the epic stories that gave Aslan his inspiration and enjoyed seeing him bring them to life.  This is a story about friendship and trust and lives restored and transformed.
I am not sure if I would recommend this book.  I think I would definitely recommend Alabaster; in fact I bought several copies for friends.  I can't quite put my finger on why but I found the intimate scenes in this book are bit difficult to read.  I think that would put me off recommending this book in particular - but I would still recommend him as an author to others.

MOSAIC by CHRIS ASLAN is the story of a young girl's journey from the highest village on the side of the Many Peaked Mountain to life as a merchant in Damascus. It is also the story of her spiritual journey, from being not very religious to earnestly following Yeshua, the Teacher, after she witnesses miracles, and also after she herself is delivered from unforgiveness and hatred.
The book closely follows Scripture which we find in Mark chapter two and Acts chapter nine, in particular; and Luke 12:52 "From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three", describes what happens to the five close friends, members of "the Hand", headed up by Tabita's brother Phanuel, when some are led to follow Jesus and others choose to follow the dead letter of the Law. We see how the Pharisees are threatened by Jesus and are all set to kill Him.
I like the "mosaic" metaphor as we see people from all situations in life, rich and poor, good and bad, accepted by the powerful yet humble Saviour of the world, the Son of Man.
I like the farming scenes. In them we get a real feeling of how hard it is to make a living in such extremely hard conditions, and how close knit the community is until they are split in two. The book is graphic in parts, which may offend some, but I feel that it shows how very basic life was at the time. I also like the pictures painted of the Sea of Galilee and the village of Capernaum.
The author has a good understanding of human nature and we feel what the characters are feeling.
I really enjoyed Mosaic and highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys Biblical fiction.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Lion Hudson Ltd. The opinions in this review are completely my own.

MOSAIC by CHRIS ASLAN is the story of a young girl's journey from the highest village on the side of the Many Peaked Mountain to life as a merchant in Damascus. It is also the story of her spiritual journey, from being not very religious to earnestly following Yeshua, the Teacher, after she witnesses miracles, and also after she herself is delivered from unforgiveness and hatred. I enjoyed reading about village life in the snow clad mountains about a Great Lake and Blood City.  I quickly caught on to the epic stories that gave Aslan his inspiration and enjoyed seeing him bring them to life.  This is a story about friendship and trust and lives restored and transformed. I like the "mosaic" metaphor as we see people from all situations in life, rich and poor, good and bad, accepted by the powerful yet humble Saviour of the world, the Son of Man.
 
I am not sure if I would recommend this book.I can't quite put my finger on why but I found the intimate scenes in this book are a bit difficult to read.  I think that would put me off recommending this book in particular. The author has a good understanding of human nature and we feel what the characters are feeling and this book may work better for different people. I like the farming scenes. In them we get a real feeling of how hard it is to make a living in such extremely hard conditions, and how close knit the community is until they are split in two. The book is graphic in parts, which may offend some, but I feel that it shows how very basic life was at the time. I enjoyed Mosaic and recommend it to anyone who enjoys Biblical fiction.