Alma

Alma



H.B. Moore



King Noah is thundering with rage. The former high priest Alma has vanished from the city of Nephi, and every night more of his believers manage to escape. The king blames Amulon and threatens certain punishment unless Amulon recaptures Alma—a seemingly impossible task. But Amulon has a plan. An equally valuable prisoner is at his fingertips: Noah’s wife, Maia, whose newfound faith means bitter humiliation for the king and an opportunity for Amulon to seize power. Amulon’s disavowed daughter Raquel has plans of her own. Despite her grief, she is determined to begin a new life in the colony Alma and his followers are building. When Lamanites plunder and burn her settlement, Raquel and her young son are forced to flee to the waters of Mormon. Drama and danger escalate as Alma the Elder organizes the Lord’s Church and baptizes its members, bringing an outpouring of divine grace and power. But even as they rejoice, the believers have profound and perilous trials to face, from the outward threat of Amulon’s treachery to the inward threat of pride and disobedience.



Ok, because I have read The Book of Mormon more than once, and attend Sunday School class with regularity, and I even graduated from Seminary, I knew the ending of this story before I ever opened the book. But I wanted to read it anyway. I was dissapointed when I missed commenting on Heather's blog in time to get a review copy of the book.



Heather is a really sweet person, in addition to being a great writer, and she sent me a book anyway. But that has nothing to do with the fact that I am going to say good things about this book.



So, back to the fact that I knew the ending of the story at the beginning. I just didn't know the route Heather would take to get there. It was a great trip with beautiful scenery and only a few sidetrips.



Amulon- what a horrible person he is and Moore does a perfect job of showing us just how horrible and evil he is. I never want to meet him and feel sorry for the daughters of the Lamanites. Showing us the possible way he manipulated and schemed his way into the good graces of the Lamanites and into power.



Alma- used to be best friends with Amulon and sunk to deepest, darkest place of his life before he chose to leave King Noah's court in Moore's earlier book, Abinadi. (but you don't have to read it to understand Alma)

He is now a prophet and leader and at odds with Amulon, who later becomes leader of Alma and his people.



I would have liked to see more of Alma's transformation from repentent man to humble servant of God and less of the match making of Raquel's and Helam's mothers.



I loved the story that Heather has weaved around and with this familiar scripture passage. I love the way she makes the familiar names become real people. I love the way she has imagined and portrayed all the what ifs and whys and maybes that are left out of the scriptures and they feel real as if that is the way it could have happened.



Heather's next book will be about Alma's son, a newborn in this book, Alma the Younger. I am looking forward to the journey she will take us on with him.



Buy the book here



Product details

Linda Curley Christensen, artist

6” X 9”

336 pages

ISBN 978-1-59811-864-3

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Indeed.

Abinadi

Raquel has a secret. As the daughter of one of King Noah’s priests, she enjoys a luxurious life and the admiration of powerful men. But her heart belongs to a commoner, a man with no earthly wealth but rich heavenly gifts. When King Noah demands that Raquel join his harem, she flees the only life she has known and marries her secret love. His name is Abinadi.

The couple finds abundant joy in their community of believers and in their firstborn son. But when the Lord calls Abinadi as His prophet, their faith is tested to the outermost limits. Abinadi’s commitment to the Lord requires them both to give their all—even unto death. Yet if Alma, the newest priest in King Noah’s court, chooses to overcome his troubled past and cleave unto the truth, their sacrifice may yield rich fruit.

With vivid detail and poignant emotion, this historical novel pulls readers into a fiery tale of love, courage, and faith that is difficult to put down and impossible to forget.

We read this book for our Provident Ladies Book Club February selection. I have not read H.B. Moore's Out of Jerusalem series, so I had no idea what kind of author she was. I will admit that I was worried about the premise of Abinadi being a young man instead of the older prophet that we usually picture him as. In fact, while chatting a friend stated,

I have to say that all the reviews say the same thing, that it was a good move to make Abinadi a younger character. But that's all they say. Which leads me to believe one of a few things. It is a short novel and doesn't require too much complexity. It is a romance (again) and the main character has to be young in order to, well, do stupid things that guys do in romances, even if he is a prophet. Or, they all copied the other guy's review.

To that friend I would say, Yes it is short, 248 pages, but it made me think about the people involved in the story. The real people. The ones we read about in the scriptures. Parts that I usually just skip over. Like Alma the elder. I honestly never really thought about what kind of man he was while he was a priest in King Noah's court. In my mind he was just kind of there, hanging out until Abinadi's part was over and it was time to read about Alma's conversion. Heather made Alma come alive for me. I enjoyed watching his descent into sloth and degregation just so I could feel the rapture in his change.

And King Noah. Wicked does not begin to cover it. Again, I had never put much thought into what exactly was covered by that word "wicked". Oh, he is truly a wicked man. But not as wicked as Amulon, whom I usually just sort of skip over thinking about when reading the Book of Mormon. You want a wicked man? Amulon is your guy. I will be paying a lot more attention to him when I reach those chapters in a couple weeks.

As for making Abinadi younger? I think it was a good move. Heather tell us in the Preface of the book and she told us again at the book club meeting that she did research and could find no indications of how old Abinadi was. According to Robert J. Matthews in an April 1992 Ensign article, "We know nothing of Abinadi's early life. We find nothing in the record to indicate whether he was old or young, large or small. What we do find... is a man of courage with an agile mind, a profound knowledge of the gospel, and a strong personality."

In the preface, Heather also tells us that she made him young so that his death would be one of a man that had a lot left to live for. A wife, a child, a home, a dream. Not the death of a man that had lived a good life full of happiness and contentment, but the death of a man just beginning to find those things. A death of a man that could have chosen to go home to his wife and child, but instead choose to follow the call of God.

As for Abinadi being young so that he could do the stupid things that guys do in romances? Not really. Yes, his being young helped that there could be a romance, but it is not stupid and sappy. And I never felt the urge to throw the book across the room or gouge my eyes out during the romance scenes. It is too bad that not all husbands and wives love each other as much as Abinadi and Raquel in the short time they had together.

Heather

Heather, Tristi and Taffy.

Sandra, Heather and Tristi

Indeed.