This book is not as good as "Out of Egypt", but it is still a good book. Good stories of Jesus handling conflict and enhancing a wedding with some wine freshly produced from water. ( )

I've seen much better come from Anne Rice. This book doesn't have the pizazz that most of her books have. The storyline is plain and very hard to follow in places. ( )

Amazing. Tons of audacity...and enough faith and talent to pull it off. I wept and laughed. Put Biblical passages I've known and loved for years into a context that gave them even more emotional power. ( )

I bought the first book in this series, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt for its novelty. The Vampire chronicler herself was tackling the life of Christ, and it seemed like an honest endeavour. I bought the sequel as soon as it came out on the strength of the first novel. I wasn’t let down. The Road to Cana even surpasses Out of Egypt.

Here’s why this novel shines:

1. Historical Accuracy: Rice has done her homework. She studied N. T. Wright and many others to ensure she understood the era before embarking.
2. Theological Acumen: Rice has not only done her historical homework—she’s worked through the theology as well. Having just preached a message on the Wedding at Cana, I was happily surprised to discover the theological nuances she revealed in her prose, while never sounding like a text book.
3. Vocational Wrestling: Have you ever wondered when Jesus knew that he was the Messiah, God’s Son, or even God himself? Without giving the novel away, the scenes where Jesus wrestles with his vocation are among the strongest in the book.
4. Contemplative Prayer: A path to contemplative prayer involves reading scripture slowly and placing yourself into the text. What would it be like to stand on the bank of the Jordan River when John the Baptist looked up and caught a glimpse of the one whom he had foretold? How would the crowd react? In a very real sense, this book is a prayer. I found myself compelled to follow Jesus’ life and example all over again as I saw him through Rice’s imagination.

Read this series. For the theologian, Rice places diverse theological ideas into a beautifully concise narrative—which theology’s home in the first place. For the believer, these books will make you love Jesus and think about his life all over again. For those who don’t know much about Christ the Lord, these books are a great introduction to the most enigmatic person in history. ( )

This powerful novel vividly portrays one person's imagined view of what it was like for Jesus to live among us as a human. It covers time in Jesus' life when he is an unknown carpenter living in Nazereth, struggling with feelings of love for a beautiful young neighbor, and with the scorn of many of his other neighbors. Rice certainly does a skillful job of portraying the time period in which He lived and Jesus' family members and neighbors also come to life in a way that the sparse stories of the Bible don't allow for. And the reader even feels an emotional connection to Jesus and hs struggles as we listen to him tell us about life among us in his own words and thoughts. I did think that Rice went too far in portraying Christ's humanity, however, as He did not come across to me as being perfectly sinless like he must have been. But then how can a sin tainted writer portray someone who was perfectly sinless anyway? The emotional impact of Rice's work cannot be denied, and I did well up with sadness at the end and I pondered all the pain that Jesus would have to go through as he chose the path that would lead to salvation for humanity. I highly recommend this book--it will definitely make you think! Also I listened to the audio version and the narrator James Naughton has wonderfully warm voice with captured just the right tone and pace for this book. ( )