The Didymus Contingency by Jeremy RobinsonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
First off, don't listen to the hater reviews for The Didymus Contingency. Sure, not everything about the book was historically accurate. Notice that it's classified as "Literature & Fiction" -- meaning that the author may take some creative liberties with the work and that everything isn't required to include 100% accurate historical facts. Second, right in the book's description, it says Tom will be going back in time to see Jesus -- again, no surprise then that the book ends up focusing quite a bit on Jesus' life and issues of religion. And going back to the first point, it's fiction so readers should not be shocked to learn that the book may include details added about Jesus, the apostles, and the time period that aren't 100% purely true and are used to fill in historical gaps and to make the narrative more entertaining.
There are many things I really appreciated about The Didymus Contingency. I'm a sucker for this kind of book -- one that retells a familiar story (especially using a different genre) but is just different enough to keep you reading to find out how the new elements will be interwoven into the old tale. And Robinson did just that extremely well. The Didymus Contingency melded time-travel science fiction, history, and religion together in an account of the biblical Gospels while at the same time tackling a time travel paradox in a creative and interesting way (which is all I can say to keep this review spoiler-free). The intricacies of the layered plot kept the story engaging as even though those familiar with any of the four Gospels could not always see where the narrative was going. There were plenty of twists and turns to keep the story fresh and entertaining. And once the plot was resolved, it was so satisfying to see everything fall into place to give you that big "ah-ha" moment when it all makes sense.
Beyond all the praise I've already included, The Didymus Contingency is a well-written book -- but there are a few places I'll agree with some of the more critical reviews. For example, most of the characters were really only as deep and developed as they needed to be to make the plot work and as a result, they came across as a bit tropey. And some characters became plot devices and didn't always seem to make the best and most logical decisions given the situations they were in. However, everything else was so well done that I have no problem overlooking these minor issues as none of them really hindered my overall enjoyment of the book.
In the audio version of the book, R.C. Bray’s performance is excellent. By now, I expect anything R.C. Bray narrates to be great and The Didymus Contingency is no exception. His tone is ideal, the character voices are unique, and the pacing was matched to work well with each scene.
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