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Outstanding
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Publishers Weekly
A story of faith and survival... this debut is a winner.
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Outstanding
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Library Journal Patrick Sullivan
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Favorable
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Los Angeles Times Mark Rozzo
Maine's storytelling is as human as it is divine, a sensitive overhaul of one of literature's greatest adventures, one that young Japheth presciently calls "a Hell of a story to tell the grandkids."
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Favorable
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Booklist Michele Leber
Using just a few chapters from Genesis as his base, Maine fleshes out the story of Noah and his ark, making it both realistic--with touches of wry humor--and wondrous. [July 2004, p. 1609]
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Favorable
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Christian Science Monitor Ron Charles
I can't say I was ever on the edge of my seat - Will the Ark float? Will humanity be saved? - but the real pleasure of this novel flows from its sensitive portrayal of how different members of a family respond to the patriarch's blaring faith. [20 July 2004, p. 16]
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Favorable
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Entertainment Weekly Jennifer Reese
It's not a profound novel, nor a memorable one, but Maine has spun a fun, irreverent tale from one of the oldest stories in the world.
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Favorable
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Kirkus Reviews
Neither satire nor hagiography, but an idiomatic modern rendering of the biblical tale in accord both with contemporary sensibilities and historical accounts.
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Favorable
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The New York Times Janet Maslin
"The Preservationist" is poised somewhere in the gap between holy visions and practical details. It is an elegant, inventive book and in no way a cynical one, despite the author's keen appreciation of the incongruous.
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Favorable
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The Onion A.V. Club Donna Bowman
In the end, this is a family story, maybe the family story. God orders Noe's spawn to repopulate the earth, and that makes all of humanity part of this extended, diverse, resentful, bickering, grudging family.
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Favorable
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Village Voice Lenora Todaro
First-time novelist David Maine, an American who lives in Pakistan, intrepidly imagines the details of ordinary life on the ark.
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Favorable
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Washington Post Melvin Jules Bukiet
The Preservationist's realism surprises us, although the book portrays extraordinary prophecy as common. By inverting norms, Maine avoids tedium and longueurs during the 40 days and nights of rain.
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Favorable
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The Guardian Josh Lacey
[Maine] has written an elegant retelling of an ancient narrative, using the Biblical story of the flood to craft a moving meditation on families, faith and how people cope with global catastrophe.
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Favorable
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The Independent Murrough O'Brien
The dynamics of a family in terrible adversity are depicted with warmth and wit, and the book shows how faith can gallop without the reins of reverence.
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Favorable
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The Independent Marianne Brace
This is a fluid and fluent book, easily read in one sitting. Pulsing with energy, it gives us an earth where everything seems rudely alive.
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Favorable
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The Spectator Sophie Lewis
Maine's skill lies in the combination of faithfulness to the familiar authorised version... and imaginative exploration of the various characters as they suffer in the throes of God's devastating miracle.
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Favorable
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Daily Telegraph Patrick Ness
Other contemporary writers, including Julian Barnes and Jeanette Winterson, have given the Noah story a whirl, but David Maine's novel performs fresh wonders.
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