Rise to Power

The David Chronicles, Volume 1

By: Uvi Poznansky

Narrated by: David George

Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

Here is the story of David as you have never heard it before: from the king himself, telling the unofficial version, the one he never allowed his court scribes to recount. Rooted in ancient lore, his is a surprisingly modern memoir.

Notorious for his contradictions, David is seen by others as a gifted court entertainer, a successful captain in Saul’s army, a cunning fugitive, a traitor leading a gang of felons, and a ruthless raider of neighboring towns who leaves no witnesses behind. But how does he see himself, during this first phase of his life?

With his hands stained with blood, can he find an inner balance between conflicting drives: his ambition for the crown, his determination to survive the conflict with Saul, and his longing for purity, for a touch of the divine, as expressed so lyrically in his psalms?

If you like ancient historical fiction about court intrigue, this king David novel has a modern twist like no book you have read before.

©2013 Uvi Poznansky (P)2014 Uvi Poznansky

Engrossing, Personable, and Poetic

This is the second book of Uvi's I've read and I enjoyed it. First, I'd like to say that the audio version is incredible and the narrator excellent. He truly did a wonderful job telling this story.

I am not well versed in the bible and did not really know the story of David. So this story was like reading any other historical fiction, but so much better.

The story begins with David ill and dying. As he fades away, losing his kingdom, he tells the story of his life. It is an interesting and well told story. It was history told in a modern way, which made it so easy to understand. There were no complicated words to look up or try to understand. It was all very straight forward. It made the flow of the story seamless.

David grew up with a struggle but a lot of smarts or luck on his side. As much trouble as he found, he seems to have weaseled his way out of it all. I was completely engrossed once David began to tell his story, and found his story telling to be personable and poetic.

If you like historical fiction and great story telling, I recommend this book to you.

Not Quite the Story You Remember from Bible School

In this unorthodox and thoroughly entertaining story, Uvi Poznansky tells the early story of the biblical David and his time in the service of King Saul. Told by David himself, in his own words, the story peels away the gloss and glory recorded by the historians who wrote the Bible and reveals the main characters in this saga as he saw them, with all their warts and wantonness.
Poznansky's Saul is spoiled, jealous and more than a little crazy and her David is a sharp witted, often self-depreciating schemer, determined to fulfill the prophet's predictions for his destiny. The story covers the early days from his arrival in Saul's court to his first meeting with Bathsheba.
A riveting story masterfully read by David George, Rise to Power will give you hours of entertainment and forever change your view of the story of two of the pivotal characters in the Old Testament.

Rise to power

Interesting story that I was trying to figure out what was the most important part of this book.

David in a diffenent light

If you have read your bible than you know of the story of King Saul and how he began to hate and fear David son of Jessie. This a most modernized story showing David in a different light than has been presented of him. He is more proactive, conniving and capable of getting what he wants and he wants plenty. Read this story and is how it could have been written instead of the one that we read in our holy book.

Masterful Adaptation of an Old Testament Story

"Rise to Power" is beautifully written, emotionally engaging, thought-provoking and very interesting. David George is a great narrator: emotional and engaging. His delivery is smooth and presented at the perfect pace, making the story easy to follow and easy to enjoy.

Uvi Poznansky's adaptation of a familiar story from the Old Testament is unique and feels very modern. From the very first line of the prologue, the story drew me in, partly because of the masterful use of the first person by the author, and partly because of her engaging writing style. The scene of King David as a prisoner trying to escape and tell his story to liberate his soul is compelling and highly readable.

And then the story gets even better. Like all Uvi Poznansky’s books, this one has crisp and engaging dialogue, well-drawn characters and a unique plot. It was interesting for me to hear about the events from King David’s perspective and trace his journey from childhood to maturity and right into today’s time, making the story relevant and engaging for today’s readers. In this story, King David is not a mythical hero – he comes across as a real person, imperfect, flawed, and experiencing conflicting emotions – and that makes him so much more relatable, and his story – so much more compelling. A great story narrated perfectly by David George! Five stars.

Exciting story with wonderful narration!

What made the experience of listening to Rise to Power the most enjoyable?

I enjoyed listening Rise to Power as the historical characters were strong and engaging. The narration was smooth and flawless.

Fabulous!

What made the experience of listening to Rise to Power the most enjoyable?

Uvi Poznansky combined her superb knowledge of Biblical history and her amazing sense of humor to create David’s story. In Rise to Power, David is looking back on his life and telling not only his story, but how he thought and felt at the time.
Because Rise to Power is told in first person by the protagonist, David, his-story literally comes to life!

What did you like best about this story?

With David at the center during a time of war and constant upheaval for the people, his story, as written through Poznansky and narrated by George, made me laugh out loud more times than I could count. Rise to Power in many ways, makes sense of some of the difficult to understand and nonlinear parts of the Bible.

What about David George’s performance did you like?

George was expressive, articulate, and engaging. Very professional - serious when he should be and appropriately amused when called for.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I would have liked to listen to Rise to Power for it's entirety but did it over a few nights.

Any additional comments?

Of all the audiobooks I've listened to thus far, Rise to Power has been my favorite.

Sherri Christian

Redeemable? Or should he be beheaded?

What made the experience of listening to Rise to Power the most enjoyable?

Educational. I felt like I was in a different place and time listening to this book.

What did you like best about this story?

I like that the main character is very interesting. He starts off one thing (young, on a lark, an artist) and becomes someone else through the story.

Which scene was your favorite?

The final scene. It was very intense. While the main character did some questionable deeds throughout the book, the ending left a short list of things he had not done.....but perhaps the character would be willing to do in the right circumstances. Chilling!

If you could take any character from Rise to Power out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Abigail. Supposedly, she is clever and I want to see that first hand. Also, supposedly she is a great cook and I want to see what she thinks of modern cuisine.

Any additional comments?

The story opens with an old king, one who has had his claws and fangs pulled. Indeed, he is not a particularly impressive specimen. Through the course of one night, his memory flashes back to younger days. David started off as a court entertainer – a poet, a dancer, a harp player. But then one decision after another leads David down a road of tough choices, choices that often lead to blood. Set in the land of Israel in the 1st or 2nd century BC, we watch as David rises in power, watch as that power is snatched away, and then watch as David claws that power back.

This story was new to me as I am not religious, though I am pretty certain that the life of David is chronicled in the Christian and Hebrew bibles. So some of you may already be familiar with many of the details of this story. Even I, who lives under a rock, had heard the tale of David versus Goliath. I have to admit that my overall ignorance of David and his deeds added to my pleasure in discovering this tale through this book. except for the David versus Goliath fight, I had no idea what would happen to David. So, yes I fretted over him.

He started off so simple and care-free. He was a court entertainer and a bit of a ladies’ man. A young lad soon to be a man who had little a need to be noticed. Of course, the King (King Saul) offers him a daughter’s hand in marriage for defeating Goliath. This turns out to be a bit of a ruse and David ends up with another daughter. But don’t worry, later in the story he collects a few more wives. He has plenty of companionship in the bedroom. Just as he has plenty of conflict in the king’s court and later in the battlefield.

David is a complicated guy. He starts off on a bit of a lark, off for adventure. Then marriage and court intrigue send him into a series of conflicts that bloody his hands. By the end of the book, we have a very different picture of David. I am not sure I like the man he turned into, even as I am sure that I am quite intrigued by him. The ending left me ready for the sequel in the series, wanting to know if David can redeem himself of his misdeeds, or if I am going to want to behead him.

My few criticisms are small, as I quite enjoyed my time with this book. The first partly stems from my own cultural and (perhaps) historical ignorance. There is a scene where David must collect the foreskins of 100 Philistines. Now I assume that the only way to do that is to convert the uncut men to Judaism, and part of that conversion means the willing circumcision. The other option is to kill the Philistine men and then collect their foreskins. I can only imagine that would be a grisly task left to servants and they would probably do it quickly, so there might be a few extra tips thrown in with the foreskins. Ugh! Oh, and these were a wedding present. As you can see, I had to make some assumptions there as to why David would be tasked with foreskin collection duty.

The other criticism is that the ladies are mostly wives and sex objects. We’re told one lady (Abigail, I think) is particularly clever, but in the few lines she had, I did not see it. The ladies don’t seem to have anything other than David to talk about, so I didn’t get a sense of their personalities.

Still, with those in mind, I did enjoy this book, and I enjoyed learning a bit of history from it. David is a complex character that evolves through out the book and while I may not end up liking him and wanting to have him over for tea, I want to know more about him.

The Narration: David George made a good David, scoffing and pouting and womanizing in all the right places. He also did a good job expressing incredulity (like the numerous times King Solomon has to throw his spear at someone in court). I especially liked his voice of the taunting David when certain items were liberated (quietly and sneakily) from an enemy’s camp. His female voices were rather similar, but as the women didn’t have major roles and didn’t chat with one another, it was easy to keep their characters apart.

A Fantastic Twist on a Familiar Biblical Tale

What made the experience of listening to Rise to Power the most enjoyable?

Hearing Uvi's gorgeous prose read, with great depth and feeling by the narrator, David George

What was one of the most memorable moments of Rise to Power?

David's introduction to King Saul, and his desperation to carve our a place for himself. It's very compelling.

What does David George bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He brings life and depth to the characters. It IS there on the page, but hearing it, with the emotions brought out, lends a whole new dimension to the story.

Who was the most memorable character of Rise to Power and why?

David himself. Seeing a completely different side to him from the David we know in the Bible was fascinating - but also completely believable.

Any additional comments?

This is my original review of the story:

Uvi Posnznsky's "Rise To Power" follows in the style of previous stories (her tale of Job's wife in "Twisted" and her retelling of the story of Jacob and Esau in "A Favorite Son"), taking a well-known Biblical tale and examining it through a modern lens. And like those previous stories, she has created a compelling book that can't be put down.

"Rise to Power" chronicles exactly that: David's rise from obscurity to the throne of Israel. All the elements of the Biblical story are here, and the beautiful psalms and songs of David, but the author gives us a look behind them to the human beings who lived and struggled to create them. It's a fascinating approach, and it makes a distant age more accessible to modern readers.

Like her other works, the use of language in "Rise to Power" is simply beautiful - the author's artistic training shows through in the way she carefully uses words to paint images and draw forth emotion. It's simply a pleasure to read Uvi Poznansky's prose.

I'd highly recommend this book, and I'm looking forward to the next book - "A Peek at Bathsheba".

Impressive achievement

Where does Rise to Power rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is one of the best realised audiobooks I've listened to so far.

Have you listened to any of David George’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is the first time I've listened to a performance by David George. I think his presence is excellent and he makes a great success of bringing out the passion and intrigue of Uvi Poznansky's great writing.

Any additional comments?

The story of David, known by many only for the killing of Goliath, offers a rich source for mythological storytelling that has appealed to writers, poets, playwrights and filmmakers. Uvi Poznansky joins this select group by offering a new perspective, one infused with her acute artistic sensibility. Writing from the point of view of David himself, she presents a portrait of a man consumed by passions he will perhaps never be able to fully control and imagines in superb detail much that is absent from the historical record. This is not the expected picture of the biblical King but one that brings out the whole man, good and bad. ‘Rise To Power’, the first volume of a three book series, is an impressive achievement and one that leaves no doubt that the remaining books in the series will be at the top of your reading list.