Patrick W. Carr

Myrad is the adopted son of one of the Hebrew magi in ancient Persia. After having a dream of a star in the sky that didn't move throughout the night, Myrad is brought into the order of the magi, just in time for a massacre. Barely escaping, Myrad now must outrun his pursuers while also attempting to discover the meaning of his dreams about the star and the prophecy of the Hebrews Messiah that his father taught him about.

With Christmas looming, I loved the idea of reading a book about the advent of Christ from the perspective of the magi that visited Him not long after his birth. This book really hit the spot, easing me into the season. With great characters and some fun relationships, following the star with Myrad was an adventure that highlighted some important Biblical truths.

Myrad himself is a decent protagonist, young and inexperienced, learning everything around him along with us. He has a clubfoot, which gets in his way quite often. Walagash is now one of my favorite characters ever. And the relationships between Myrad and Walagash, Roshan, and Aban are enjoyable to watch develop along the way.

One of the main reasons for 4 stars, instead of 5, is that there was a lot of politics in the book, which is the main thing that caused the story to drag in parts. It does make sense, given the state of the empires in that region at the time. But it wasn't terribly interesting to read the characters discussing it.

What I loved most about the book, though, was that it went past the birth of Christ to the real root of Christianity--His death and resurrection. We see the rift form between those Hebrews who believe that Jesus is the Messiah and those who don't, because he didn't conquer the Romans like they thought he should (or because he died and they left before his resurrection). And when the magi who stayed in Jerusalem even after the resurrection because they felt there was more for them there got exactly what they were looking for, they left changed.

For me in particular, the book really drove home the importance of trusting that God's way is the best way, even when we can't see what He's doing. It's a reminder that He can and does use anyone He chooses for his plans, even those people who think that they are worthless--even those people who don't follow Him. We can only do our part and accept His will in our lives, and in this, we can have peace in stressful times. This has been really important for me lately.

While this book could easily be pigeon-holed as a Christmas book, it is so much more than that. I recommend it for all fans of Biblical fiction. In truth, I think it should be read by anyone who enjoys historical fiction or quest-driven stories, because the message contained within is important and should be heard by everyone.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bethany House for providing me a copy of this book to review.… (altro)

This is the second book in The Staff and the Sword series, and continues without any time lost from the first novel. This book finds Errol under compulsion from the church, once again, to seek out and stop the rogue Reader in Merakhi. On this journey, he discovers more of the truth of what Martin and Luis had not told him, as well as more inner convictions. The religious tones of the story also come out more, though not overwhelming the reader.

As with the first book, I enjoyed reading this one through to the end to find out what happens to our main character. Though the plot is an often told one, there is enough twists in the plot, and the different kind of "magic" (Readers casting lots moreso than just discovering you can do more sorcerer-like magic)keeps me wondering how this may change with time as our main character has developed it so fast, as well as having a rare form of Reading ability. nothing stopping me from the third book, which I received free through Netgalley and the publisher, Bethany House Publishers, in exchange for a review.… (altro)