Judged (Preface)

The following short story was written as proof-of-concept for a much bigger idea. It was inspired by my review of Orson Scott Card's Homecoming series, which successfully integrated plot elements from the Book of Mormon in a distinctly science-fiction fantasy setting. I realized that it would be a similar creative leap for Christians to adapt content from the Bible into existing literary genres.

There have been a few modern adaptations -- see, for instance, Bill Myers' Eli. But such cases almost always revolve around the Gospel narrative. There are far fewer adaptations, if any exist at all, from the Old Testament. Yet it is a treasure trove of story-telling.

I can envision the second half of Genesis as a road movie and the first half of Exodus as a political drama. I see Numbers and Joshua as a homecoming narrative, with a ending comparable to what the Scouring of the Shire (if only they had included it in The Return of the King!) I envision Ruth as a romantic comedy, 1 Samuel as a LOTR-style fantasy epic, and 1 Maccabees as a post-apocalyptic war movie. But surely there are more gems than these in Scripture. Perhaps Elijah and Daniel deserve to have their stories told as well.

So I present an 8-page short story I whipped out in four hours as proof of concept. I enjoyed writing it quite a bit -- I might just keep going. But for now, enjoy the hors d'œuvre.

Part 1 is posted here.