Well this book proved to be more controversial than I thought when I suggested it!The premise for the book is that it is the book of Luke retold through the eyes of an Archangel - i.e.the life of Christ seen through the eyes of heaven. Oriel is a fictional archangel and the book is written as a diary of the events of Luke. It is a fictionalised account, so the machinations of the angelic world are a premise of fiction as are the additional characters and discussions added into the basic storyline told in Luke. At times there are humorous comments such as Oriel's rebuke of Gabriel for always frightening humans when he appears to them, just prior to his appearance to Mary, having rendered the father of John the Baptist dumb. The panicked actions of the angels, trying to get the birthplace of Jesus sorted is quite interesting ,as it is clear that what they saw as an administrative failure on their part, was the planned work of their Lord. The descriptions of the crucifixion and resurrection were quite moving and very interesting for me personally as part of my review of this book. However the general feeling for the book was that it was quite lightweight and at times even considered a little irreverent. It seemed that a fictionalised account of the life of Christ did not sit comfortably with some of our group, largely due to the fact that it was Jesus as the subject matter. Mr Harrison has continued the series following Oriel's diary of Paul and the early church and the life of Moses. It is possible as these men were not the Son of God, fictionalising around the truth of their life stories may be less controversial.
I would encourage anyone to have a go with Oriel's Diary and draw their own thoughts and conclusions about what you may think of whether this idea works or not.
