Transgression: A Treacherous Plot to Alter History [Paperback]

Another of Randall Ingermanson's books, he uses his impressive scientific and Biblical knowledge to write an incredible story.

Rivka Myers finds herself used as an unwitting guinea pig and sent back in time to Ancient Israel! Fortunately, she is skilled in ancient linguistics, and manages to get around town pretty well...until she is mistaken for a prostitute. (Cut-off jeans, and no covered hair...shocking!) A "fellow" prostitute covers for Rivka until she can get her bearings and recover her modesty. She soon learns that the "mad" scientist who sent her back in the first place has followed her into his "wormhole" and into Ancient Times. Rivka must find out why, while also dealing with a new friend coming to her rescue...even after they had a fight.

I have it from a good source (the author) that his book is only the first of three (or was it five?) books in this series.

This book is incredibly well-written, entertaining, interesting, believable, and action-packed. There's twists and turns all along the way, and the fun's not over yet! Buy this book, and be on pins and needles for the next!

One question: It's never made clear why this book is called Transgression. Perhaps it will in future books, but for now, it's a mystery.

Really, I did. I found this book by following up on recommendations from other books I'd liked, and I wanted to like it too. But it really doesn't deliver. It gets the third star solely because of Ingermanson's believable, sympathetic, and downright fascinating--though frustratingly brief--portrait of Paul. At the same time, it has three major problems.

First, don't look for much science here. The discussion of the theological implication of the arrangement of quarks is great, but only about two sentences long. Other than that, you mostly get high-sounding jargon.

Second, the theology is just plain weird. Ingermanson takes fiendish delight in trying to prove that most everything you ever learned about the early church is biased and wrong, and that obvious agenda gets REALLY ANNOYING after a while. Plus, he succumbs to the temptation, unfortunately pretty common in this subgenre, to present Jewish people as a sort of para-church group who retain something of their Old Covenant status as the chosen people of God under the New Covenant, without reference to a relationship to Christ as Redeemer. This is a pretty ironic weakness considering that Paul himself tried hard to correct this misconception. Maybe Ingermanson corrects this impression in his following books?

Third, unfortunately, Ingermanson's writing is weak. Character development in this story, when it happens at all, is oddly sporadic and has little connection to the events of the plot. Common sense is in woefully short supply among all the characters, from our hero who jaunts back into the past with an unbelievably small supply of his vital allergy medication, to our villain who was incredibly slipshod in his prep work, to our heroine with her remarkable cluelessness about gender norms in the period she should know so well. Some plot elements test your patience more than they should, too. Excuse me--even if you really could build a wormhole in your local physics lab, could you really use a cell phone while standing in it? In my building, cell phones won't even work in the elevators, folks! Also, assuming you build said wormhole, do you really think the Israeli government's immediately going to believe you can use it for time travel? (The whole government was apparently pretty blase here.) And even if they do believe you, do you really think their first concern is going to be whether your cool new technology should be shut down for the Sabbath? I wish!

Other minor gripes: this book is short on physical description of any kind. Also, the two and a half romances which meander along through its pages proceed so strangely that you'll occasionally feel you MUST have skipped fifty pages in there somewhere. Most everything is left hideously (NOT tantilizingly) unresolved at the end. And the sad fact is that if you don't speak a fair to middling amount of basic Hebrew, you will miss some detail. Exasperating.

So do what I did. Check this book out from the library, but don't buy it. If you can ignore a little strangeness for a big payoff, read (or re-read) A Man Called Blessed, instead.

I love hard science fiction (NOT fantasy) and time travel is my favorite theme--when it's done well. Transgression is truly a remarkable mix of science, adventure, history, religion, and even romance. The balance is perfect. This is the first book I've read by Ingermanson, but now I'll read the others for certain. I do highly recommend Transgression--reading it is like taking a vacation into the past. As a Catholic, I enjoyed the Christian slant to it. I really can think of no criticism--definitely 5 stars!

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 37 reviews  4.6 out of 5 stars