Salon.com Books | Interview with ... Jesus?

The hype for Anne Rice's new book Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt on the early life of Jesus Christ began months ago. Rice, well known for Interview with the Vampire and other chronicles of the undead, returned to Roman Catholicism in 1998 and decided to take on the ambitious project of penning a fictional novel or series of novels about Jesus.

Now, with the book out, the reviews are coming in. Salon's Laura Miller thought it was surprisingly good, given Rice's departure from her usual subject matter (and some other criticisms Miller offered on the latter Vampire Chronicles). [note: registration required to read Miller's review].

I think this is going to be one of those books, like the DaVinci Code, that folks either love or hate, and again (like DaVinci), it will raise interest in (and questions about) biblical scholarship.

Do you plan on reading it?