The Carthage Chronicles
by Lynne Gentry
Time travel? Christian romance spanning the boundaries of time? Normally this idea would be a hit or miss for me. Honestly, I considered not even picking up the book, but my BookBub deal made it low-risk... and then I found myself awake at 3:00AM wondering where my own time got away with me.
Over the course of the chronicles (as it exists so far-- the third book will be released in Sept 2015), the main character, Lisbeth, is in training to be a doctor (though what that means changes over time... 1800 years approximately). Her mother disappeared when she was five and she spent her time with her father on digs all over the world, specializing in the Cave of Swimmers, the site where her mother disappeared. The story picks up when she gets a letter from her father about finding her mother. I'm hoping we will find out more about what he actually meant by that, because I still don't understand how her father fits in or how he saw her mother or knew she was possibly there.
When Lisbeth travels with plans to take care of her father, who she thinks is on the brink of dementia, she falls through a time portal in the Cave of Swimmers. Without ruining the story for those who haven't read the story, the general concept of it all is that she finds herself in Roman Carthage where she meet Cyprian Thascius, known to history buffs as a saint and bishop, but who at this time is an ambitious lawyer hoping for change through politics. A sort of romance develops between Lisbeth and Cyprian, and Lisbeth discovers her mother who is now known as the "healer" amongst Christians and who also happens to be a severely abused slave of a man made of pure evil. The story of love continues as the characters race to change history, stop a plague and also the beheadings of Christians and, if you know your history, of Cyprian himself.
In any case, it was a general hit, while not quite on target. The writing is very good, and the characters will suck you in. The character development is the entire reason I am waiting in great anticipation for the release of the next book. I do hope to see a re-writing of history in some creative twist. I will be disappointed if true history is not altered at the end of the chronicles.
I will admit I just read the main books and did not read the prequels and sequels. The drama was amazing, and a lot of the explanations I preferred to remain a mystery. There are several things I indeed love about these books:
1. I love that it does not skirt some of the tricky things that could have/did happen. Over the course of the chronicles, there is abuse, rape, death of all shapes and sizes and even significant imperfections in the stories behind the great loves and marriages. The hard things happen, and you still love through your own disappointment.
2. The concept of God working through time travel, while a bit far-fetched, is intriguing and I love the possibility. I love thinking about God as outside of and independent of time. While I find actual time travel a bit of a stretch, especially the fact that she could get by with Latin and some of the other slight holes, I'm willing to ignore the flaws for the greater concept-- God can work in limitless ways. Will I be praying to go back in time? No. But the concept is good food for thought.
3. The love story and character development. Nothing is simple about this story or its characters. Anything can happen, and it rarely happens in a simple or sloppy way. Lynn Gentry does a great job of actually developing the characters without rushing things or ignoring the boundaries that would be there.
4. The lessons of strong faith regardless of circumstances. I mentioned the miracle of work through time travel. However, as of yet, there is still a lot of death, immense suffering, and struggles beyond imagination. Horrible things happen and yet the possibility of going through these horrible things with a faith intact is inspiring and believable as we see the characters work through the struggles. Some never get past it. And some get through the struggles greatly changed, perhaps even with doubts, but somehow the faith remains and perhaps somehow strengthens. In honesty, the way Gentry treats the faith of the characters is not in the slightest far-fetched. They are not portrayed as saints nor as super human. They are extraordinary only in the sense that God is with them.
In summary, this series may not be my all-time favorite. It's simply not the style I normally am geared towards reading. However, I will read it to the end and can recommend it as worth the read to others. I look forward to what I believe is the last installment to be released in September.