Title: The Moses Chronicles: Bondage, Volume 1
Author: H.B. Moore
Pages: 256
Year: 2015
Publisher: Covenant Communications, Inc.
This is a story about Miriam, the sister of Moses, as she ekes out a living as a slave to the Egyptians. She is twenty-five years old and is a weaver by trade. She lives with her parents so she can take care of them as they age and has pretty much given on getting married. There aren’t many available men her age and the ones that are smell bad, have a temper or want to change her. Her brother Aaron and his wife live close by and he tries to keep tabs on her. She sneaks away from the work place early some days so she can catch a glimpse of her brother Moses as he is raised by his Egyptian mother, Princess Bithiah. As the story begins, Moses is eighteen. The last contact Miriam had with him was when he was three years old. She stays hidden on her forays so he doesn’t ever see her as no one outside her family knows the fate of Moses and as a slave she could be in big trouble if she is caught near the palace. She realizes she is being followed on these trips by Caleb and figures her brother Aaron has put him up to this. She finds out this is not the case and that Caleb just wants to keep her safe.
As the story progresses, Miriam and Caleb fall in love. Readers see Moses become more aware of the Hebrew slaves and the injustices they suffer. He wonders at their dedication to the One God and the worship and belief in Him alone. More action and drama ensue through various trials for Miriam, Moses, Aaron and Caleb, making for a story sure to keep readers’ attentions focused on the pages.
I never thought of Miriam’s earlier years as a young woman, so this made for a story that drew me in from the start. She is shown as being impulsive, sometimes reckless, loyal; passionate about what she thinks is right and merciful. I was involved with the story and appreciated the short chapters as they kept the story moving at a quick clip as I eagerly turned the pages to see what happened next. The portrayal of Moses as a young man I also thought was well done. I liked the historical setting and the character of Bithiah was also interesting. While this is a fictional account, readers should be aware that in the Bible Miriam is the oldest sibling, not Aaron as depicted in this story. Also, Moses was forty years old when he fled Egypt for Midian after killing the Egyptian taskmaster (Acts 7:23) and not a teenager as in this story.
My rating is 4 stars.
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When it comes to any story that's been told and retold again and again, especially one as ancient and legendary as the story of Moses, I hope to find something about the story that will make it stand out from other retellings I've encountered.

Bondage, Volume One of The Moses Chronicles by author H.B. Moore, makes its case for standing out with all that it tells about Miriam, Moses's sister, and Bithiah, Moses's adoptive Egyptian mother and Pharaoh's daughter. Granted, I've read good novels about both women (Miriam by Lois T. Henderson and The Pharaoh's Daughter by Mesu Andrews), but the balance of their two storylines in this novel along with that of Moses still gives Moore's version some unique angles. It's helpful knowing beforehand that the Chronicles are broken up into separate volumes, as hearing that a book is about Moses and the Hebrews in Egypt might immediately make one think of burning bushes, plagues, "Let my people go!" and all that, which isn't what this novel is about.

Instead, here are engaging, interwoven tales about a Hebrew woman in slavery, an Egyptian woman who feels like an altogether different kind of slave, and a young man who believes he's Egyptian, navigating his place among the empire's royalty, even as that place is becoming less and less of a comfortable fit for him. The novel incorporates romance, intrigue, faith, and a violent battle against a threat to the empire.

There are some places in the book where the narrative basically spells things out for the reader when it could've left "unspoken" space for perception and nuance. An important moment of danger has a setup that feels artificial, as it seems that the characters, already aware of their precarious situation, take a needless risk they would've known better than to take. Also, a portion of the novel lagged for me, adding some events into Miriam's storyline that indeed felt like "added events" instead of vital or driving components of the plot.

Still, Bondage is a compelling opening to a series I'd very much like to continue. Now, the wait for the release of Volume Two...
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I received a complimentary copy of this book from Ebooks for Review in exchange for an honest review. ( )

This is a nice take on Moses and his sister Miriam. We get to see how Moses might have thought during his early years and what Miriam was doing at this time also. This story goes to the time when Moses has to go into exile and Miriam must avoid Ramses. I look forward to reading the next segment. This part expands on what we know from the bible. It is a good historical fiction. I received this ebook from ebooksforreview for a fair and honest opinion. ( )