I enjoy getting to review books - especially if I learn something from them. I definitely learned a lot of history from a new novel I got to review, Blood in the Desert. Set in 294 AD, this book uses fictional characters as a lens for the struggles of early Christianity.
I already knew quite a bit about the historical aspects of Bible times (although I do like learning more), and I've picked up quite a bit about religious history from medieval times on. But somewhere in the middle, I honestly don't know much, except little tidbits of how it interacted with the Roman empire.
This book sets the tone well. Early Christians had no set meeting spaces, book of Scripture (besides the Jewish books), or set patterns. They lived in a time that was quite different than what we have now, and countless people were martyred for their faith. This sets the stage for Miriam, a young believer who is orphaned and enslaved to a Roman officer. As she and her son get separated and follow their own paths, readers encounter real events and figures that were influential in the survival of early Christianity.
Blood in the Desert is clearly well-researched. The author uses his business management experience to write a detail-oriented novel to honor the memory of his older brother's deep faith. There's a second novel in progress, The Twelve Coins, and I'm really looking forward to its publishing date. I've learned a lot from this book, and it's really helped me get a feel of what early Christianity must have been like.
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