The Immortal Nicholas by Glenn Beck

The Immortal Nicholas Reviews

• 
  Annette

  This story is not what I was expecting. I thought it would be more rooted in history than author’s imagination. Nevertheless, it is an interesting story. The protagonist Agios loses his wife and son. The life journey takes him to a different country. He becomes a protector of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. Along the way he finds friendship and meaning in life - giving is better than receiving. He is also a woodcarver. He carves figures out of wood, which he leaves behind for children as he journeys.
  
  The story is written with a simple prose. Despite, well-intentioned premise, I didn’t connect with the characters and the style of writing. I wished feelings and thoughts were breathed into this writing, with stronger character development.
  
• 
  Suzanne

  Many people may turn from this book simply because of opinions, thoughts and feelings associated with the author; however as an avid reader I challenge you to open the covers of this book and step into an immortal story of humanity and hope.
  
  The beautiful storyline and masterful writing led me on a scavenger hunt from gem to gem to home and beyond.
  
  I struggle to write this review because sometimes reviews can destroy or diminish a reader's relationship with a story. Yes, relationship. Reading stories like this one is not simply an act of deciphering words on a page but an inspirational journey of soul and spirit. A conversation of discovery.
  
  This is neither an historical book nor is it political.
  
  As you turn the last page and realise the story has ended, I hope you also say, no! (I want more!)
• 
  Jami

  I LOVED THIS BOOK! I LOVED IT WITH ALL OF MY HEART AND SOUL! I don't want to say anything about it or give a synopsis because I feel like it has to be experienced individually. What a great storyteller!
• 
  Linda Mangan

  Was sorry when the book ended. I loved it.
• 
  Rachael Marsceau

  Oh my goodness, this book. It started out great and then had me snoring through the rest of the 200 pages. I had a lot of issues with this one.
  
  1. I had zero love for the main character, Agios. He was just a grumpy man who wanted no contact with humans and loved to complain. I really didn't care if he lived or died, but it turns out...HE'S IMMORTAL! Ding ding! We have to read about this guy FOREVER!
  
  2. Did Krampus have to be named Krampus? Isn't that a new horror movie or something?
  
  3. Suddenly Agios is immortal. How? We don't know. We're not supposed to ask, it seems. Just poof, a quick dive into water and the guy lives forever.
  
  4. There was so little dialogue. That will KILL a novel, and it did here for me. The book was just painfully slow and boring. I had to force myself to finish it.
  
  5. It's called The Immortal Nicholas, but then Nicholas turns out to be a small, side character that we don't even see until one of the last chapters of the book. Suddenly Agios decides to change his name, and we're supposed to go, "Hey! I see what you did there! Now he's St. Nick! Yay Santa!!!" Nah. I like to see a hint or hints of the book title a bit earlier in a 300+ page novel.
  
  Yes, it was cool to see a character follow Jesus throughout his birth, life, and ministry, but I felt the readers were given very little to love about the main character, which ended up making me personally not give a hoot what happened to him at all. I was sick of reading about his guilt and selfish sorrow. Blah.
• 
  Melanie Maloney

  This book represents all that is good and right! It gave me hope and filled me with joy! What a great telling of the true spirit of what giving at Christmas really means! Put aside any of your misgivings and read this book for what it truly is! I will be re-reading this each Christmas!
• 
  Sarah Carter

  Who would you have been if you had lived in Israel when Jesus was alive? How would you have reacted to the story of the shepherd’s vision of angels? Would you join a caravan of wise men from afar following a star? Would you travel from place to place for a glimpse of the man who does miracles? How would you react to His arrest and crucifixion? And, what kind of despair would you fall into if you never heard that He had risen from the dead?
  Glenn Beck explores these questions in The Immortal Nicholas. He states that the story is one based on how he tried to explain Santa Claus to his children. Agios is a gatherer of frankincense who has recently experienced the death of his wife and stillborn child. He takes his son with him for the annual frankincense gathering and his son is killed by adders – the same ones he put there to protect the crop. Agios feels his grief deeply and wanders until he is discovered by one of the wise men in search of the King of Kings. With some reluctance, he decides to join them and ends up being a protector of Jesus, Joseph and Mary. Along the way, he finds friendship in a man with disabilities who was abused by Roman soldiers. Agios treats him like a son. Agios is also a woodcarver and creates scenes and animals out of wood, leaving them along his journey wherever a child can find them.
  Agios and his friend finish their job watching Jesus once the Holy Family returns to Nazareth. Years later, he is at the well where Jesus is talking to a Samaritan woman and something in his heart comes alive as he hears Jesus’ voice and words. He and his friend decide to follow him and end up witnessing his crucifixion. At that point, Agios dives deep into despair again and I can’t tell you any more …
  I would highly recommend this book to anyone, especially around the holidays. It has a good message about the true meaning of Christmas. The book is broken into two sections and the first is a very thorough story. The second could have used a little more depth to it, but it does convey the message Beck wants to get across: It is better to give than to receive and God gave the original gift of love.
  
• 
  Brittany J.

  This book will take you completely by surprise. I felt honest excitement as I neared the end and saw all the puzzle pieces coming together. It completely rejuvenates our view of "St. Nick", redirecting our views to the joy of giving (verses receiving) and highlighting the greatest gift we have already and ever will receive.
• 
  Leah Jay

  Read my full Non Spoiler review here:
  https://readingcavy.wordpress.com/201...
• 
  Charlie Holmberg

  Had to give this one back before I finished it for book club, but I really enjoyed it. Not what I was expecting.
• 
  Jessica

  This is a cute little story that is hard to rate. For concept I would give 5 stars but for composition, character and plot development I would be kind to give 1 star. I settled on three stars because I did enjoy it and think the subject is a worthy one.
  
  The first 1/3 of the book was fantastic but after that I found it a tedious read. The middle to end of this book felt like a dream in two ways. First, while you are reading it you feel like you are moving in a fog and chasing something. It turns out you are chasing a plot that is always just out of reach. As a reader I like to have some sense of where a story is going but I could not get a sense of the purpose until the last maybe 20 pages. That brings me to the second way this book is like a dream. When I was finished reading it was like waking from a dream and the weird and random stuff that made sense while you were reading suddenly made no sense at all. The beginning of part three was like starting a whole new book. It was out of left field for me and Beck laid absolutely zero ground work to account for Agios' sudden immortality nor did he make any attempt at explaining it.
  
  I think this book could have been half the length and it would have been twice as effective. Agios' character never evolved for me. I would think that he was about to and then it was a big fake out.
  
  I very much appreciated that the story linked Santa and Christ. The overall message is to serve which is a great message.
• 
  Callie

  Note: I just found out that Glenn Beck is a Mormon, which I did not know when I originally read this book. Though it is a fun take on a legend and I didn't see any obvious theological red flags in the story, Mormon theology is NOT Christian, and this makes me more skeptical of this book than I originally was. Read cautiously, and know that my previous recommendation of this book in no way condones Mormon theology, which is not biblical.
  
• 
  Overbooked ✎

  My intention was to read a book on the figure of St Nicholas, traditionally observed on 6th Dec. This book is does not follow the tradition, instead of telling the story of the bishop who lived in the fourth century AD, the author invented a new story. Unfortunately, it did not work for me, abandoned.
• 
  Matt Spaulding

  Oooof....I should have known right from the description on the cover what I was getting into with this book. It straight up says that the author (who is very much known for his religious beliefs) was becoming concerned his children were too focused on Santa Claus rather than the "true meaning of Christmas" and decided to write this book.
  
  I am an atheist who very much loves the secular parts of Christmas and very much loves the Santa Claus legend. As such, this book was WAY too religious for my tastes. Especially since the first 200-something pages were basically "Glenn Beck rewrites the Gospels with a couple of his own original characters thrown in."
  
  This isn't to say this book was without merit to me. It IS very well written and the main original character, Agios, is created in a way that I was engaged in his story and cared very much about what happened to him. At least until it became clear to me that he was going to become Santa Claus for reasons that I didn't exactly care for that I won't get into here. But for most of the book, I cared a lot about Agios and felt bad that so many tragedies befell him.
  
  I also cared a lot about Krampus, though I thought it was rather pointless to name a character of such goodness after a character traditionally portrayed as a demon just for the sake of doing it, especially since it didn't lead to anything.
  
  On the whole, there isn't anything wrong with this book, it just wasn't written for me at all. Someone with more religious sensibilities who isn't so picky about the way Santa Claus is portrayed will probably enjoy this a lot.
• 
  Julie Carpenter

  My parents gave each of my siblings and our families copies of this, either book format or audio format. I chose the book so I could read it myself out loud to my family. We started reading and at first weren't quite sure what to think of it as in the first chapter something sad happens that we weren't sure if it was appropriate for certain ages of our children. But my mom had already read it and loved it so we decided to keep reading it to our kids. About half way through my parents came to spend Christmas with us and we ended up finishing it by listening to the audiobook.
  
  Such a wonderful spin on Christmas and Santa Clause. All of my children (even the younger ones) sat quietly and listened happily to the story. I'm sure that at some point it wasn't the easiest for the youngest one to understand but at the end all of my children were sad to have it finish. They wanted to hear more about the characters. We all really enjoyed watching how the main character was in the background watching Christ and protecting his family. The good that he did in his life filled with sorrow yet his ability to do good and to share and give of what he happened happily and freely.
  
  If you are looking for a good Christmas book that brings the focus back on the purpose of Christmas and not on the commercial side of it I highly recommend it.
  
  Happy Reading!!!
• 
  Ellen Peterson

  After reading the final page and closing The Immortal Nicholas for the last time I sat for several minutes wiping at uncontrollable tears. Speechless. I had no words to sum up the heartbreak and love I was feeling simultaneously. The best I can still come up with is...
  
  Beautiful. Eloquent. Spiritual. Encouraging. Heart-breaking. Heart-warming. Enlightening.
  
  This is one of the best novels I've ever read. The story, wrapped in multiple layers of faith and acceptance, will stay with me for the rest of my life.
  
  If you get your hands on The Immortal Nicholas... read it.
• 
  Jeni

  I do not mean any disrespect to the loving, self-sacrificing story of Jesus but this book is...zzzzzzzzzzzz. It wasn't the idea of the plot at all but the sluggish events that did not blend well from one to the next.
• 
  Donna

  I know. It's March and I'm reading a Father Christmas story. This one came up in a reading challenge and I have to say, I enjoyed this one. I loved this simple little story about a father, who loses the people he loves the most in life. He eventually finds Christ, becomes immortal and does "good" with his life. He has great purpose and a great motive.
  
  The story was 5 stars for me. I'd read this every Christmas because it is a "feel good" "true meaning of Christmas" kind of book. The writing was very simple which worked for this story, but at times I wanted more depth, more dialogue, more descriptive strokes. So 4 stars.
• 
  Jill

  Really enjoyed this story about redemption, forgiveness & loving your fellow man. The book for me was summed up in a sentence towards the end: "How many of the people who had known Jesus could truly say that they understood who he was and what he intended to do?"
• 
  James Biser

  Glenn Beck has turned out to be a good writer. This story is a fine invention of how Santa Claus originated years before Christ and gained his immortality as he was near Jesus during the Master’s ministry. It is a fine story and a fast read. This will be enjoyed by many as a new Christmas tale.
• 
  Andrea

  I enjoyed the book very much. Its good to have a reminder this time of year that its the presence not the presents... I listened to the audio while doing errands and found myself being alot nicer and more patient that I normally am this time of year.
• 
  A.J.

  ©2015
  ISBN: 978-1-4767-9884-4 (hc)
  
  My mother’s currently unable to read because she was attacked by a stroke, so, knowing she loves Jesus and also adores the figurine of Santa worshipping at Baby Jesus’ manger, I checked this book out from the library to read to her.
  
  I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I enjoyed it. I tried to limit myself to one or two chapters, but there were times I found it hard to stop, no knowing where to!
  
  The gist is Agios (“aw-GEE-ohs”), the hero, loses his son and, depressed, leaves their home and sets out to “lose himself.” He accomplishes this through wine. It’s when he’s drunk that he’s taken by travelers for whom he eventually comes to work. And the leader of this group? Caspar, as in one of the three Wise Men. Of course, they’re joined by Melchior and Balthazar and are led by the bright star straight to Bethlehem, where Herod requests to worship the Baby with them. Then it comes to the Wise Men and Joseph (Jesus’ adopted father) that Herod’s up to no good, so the Wise Men ask Agios to accompany the Holy Family to Egypt, which he, with his newly acquired friend and former Roman slave, Krampus, does. (Glenn wanted to combine the European legends of Santa, and one includes a deformed black man named Krampus—Glenn simply gave a possibility as to how this legend became ugly and deformed.)
  
  Their story covers Jesus’ meeting with the Samaritan woman at the well and also His Crucifixion. Then, part two, is how Agios comes across a little boy who helps him see God’s call on his life and introduces him to what the world now knows as the legend of Santa.
  
  I didn’t want to give away too much of this story because it’s good. I got to Part 2 and wondered how in the world this was going to be pulled off and, frankly, didn’t like how Part 1 ended and considered not going on. I’m glad I did though because it was an uplifting end. And part of me wants to say: “But there was no end, Agios doesn't get reunited with his loved ones,” but then I remember Agios prayer to be able to serve Jesus to the end of His mission—and, of course, Jesus’ missions not over until He returns for His Church. What am I talking about, you ask? Read the story and find out. You won’t be sorry you did. Just give it a few chapters to get into it and don’t give up till you’ve come to the last page.
  
  Good story, Glenn. It’s destined to become part of the Christmas tradition. That famous Christmas song will have to be written, “There’ll be scary ghost stories and talk of the glory of Christmases long, long ago,” to something akin to “…and tales of the glory of Glenn Beck’s A-gios.”
  
  Grade: A+
• 
  Jacquline

  I’ve read all of Beck’s fictional books, and this has to be the best one by far. Not only does his book stay close to the real meaning of Christmas, he also shows how Nicholas and the idea of Santa Claus all came into place, bringing everything full circle. The story of Agios is full of hardships and suffering, but his experiences show readers that one is never too old to believe. God kept Agios alive, so he can fulfill his promise of continuing Christ’s mission until its over, which would be Christ’s second coming. Also, the whole idea of belief is highlighted throughout the book over and over, especially through characters like Krampus and young Nicholas. Agios witnessed Christ’s miracles and teachings, and he carried those lessons with him, even though he felt like he failed because he let Christ die on the cross, only to come and learn that Christ rose from the dead. Agios also felt like he let several people down throughout his life: his wife, unborn child, Philos, Krampus, Christ, and young Nicholas. He felt like he never did enough and that some of their deaths were his fault because he was unable to take care of them. Everything always happens for a reason, and Beck does an amazing job demonstrating selflessness, charity, belief, faith, and most of all, love. Beck took an idea and expanded upon it. Many Christians would probably disagree with the teachings in the book, but if they looked closely, the whole story revolves around Christ and God. Nothing is possible without them, and all that we do in the world is rewarded by God in heaven. It all comes down to the basics, and Beck shows that, even with the whole Santa Claus story that he ended with. He wanted to shows readers that all gifts come from God, and the true meaning of Christmas is from our Savior’s birth and nothing more. Not only should everyone read this book, it should be read with families, especially with children who grow up believing that Santa Claus and presents are the true meaning of Christmas.
• 
  Heidi-Marie

  Christmas season 2015 I made a sudden trip with little thought to packing (and I wouldn't have my smartphone for another 4 months). So I sat around my brother's house, waiting for another brother's events of the day, with nothing with me. So brother suggested I read a book his father-in-law had brought by. I have been intrigued by some of the things I have heard from Glenn Beck, and I was extremely intrigued to see how he would tie in the myth/history of Santa Claus to the religious origins of the Christmas holiday. I was immediately taken with the story, but of course had to leave it behind when I headed home--about 50 pages in.
  
  So I waited for this Christmas season to continue reading. And since only audio format was getting read lately, I found that. Thank goodness, too--made the names so much easier since I hadn't any idea how to pronounce them with the print. A very enjoyable read during the holiday season. I loved seeing how the two stories intertwined. Much more religious than I expected, which was a pleasant surprise. The writing isn't always the most brilliant thing, but the storytelling was enough to hook me and I enjoyed it more than I expected.
• 
  Katherine

  2021 - this is my second time reading it and while I don't think it had quite the magic of my initial reading it (when I didn't know how it was going to unfold), it was still a nice "Christmas season" book. And I also feel compelled to add that I think people can enjoy this independent of their feelings surrounding Glenn Beck. I also personally enjoy books that help me view the life of Jesus and other historical events from a different perspective, though that might not be your cup of tea.
• 
  Madeline

  Glenn Beck doesn't have to use to too much of the right hemisphere of his brain for this story. I somehow feel like this has been told before.....hmmmm
  
  Well, that's the way it seems to be today. One takes a historical event or an old classic, throws in some fancy new characters, some big words, blend, and viola.....new story.
  
  Gregory Maguire comes to mind.
  
  But, I still liked it; new, or not so new.
  
  
• 
  Carol

  This was a sweet book that was a pretty fast read. It wasn't especially fine literature with lines like "when they were all talked out....," but a nice little story about love, Jesus, and the story of the beginnings of Saint Nicholas. Recommended, if you'd like to revisit the story of Christmas in a unique and moving way.
• 
  Taylor

  This book was so good that I could not put it down. My wife and I are at the point where we have been debating the whole Santa thing for our children. The issue is that we don’t want the excitement of Santa to overshadow the true meaning of Christmas. This book has given us a beautiful way to use the tradition of Santa Clause to teach about Christ during the Christmas season.
• 
  Krista

  By the title, I thought this book would focus heavily on Saint Nicholas' life and works. I was sadly mistaken as it revolved around one fictionalized character and Saint Nicholas only appears near the very end.
• 
  Courtney Harrington

  I didn't know this was a Christian book. The story wasn't particularly interesting, it was just strange. I only finished it because I wanted to put it in my reading list challenge. Skip it for sure, unless you just need to be reassured that Jesus loves you.