This was solid Christian historical fiction with a heavy helping of romance. You’ll like this book if you enjoy Francine Rivers.
This book is titled The Pesant King, referring to Cyrus, the historical leader. But the book isn’t about him as much as it’s about a young Jewish woman and a half-Jewish, half-Gentile young man and the people associated with them. They find themselves wrapped up in the warring of nations, and they do great deeds to influence the outcomes. Not in the background but very much in the forefront, they fall in love.
Like I said, this was solid. I enjoyed it, and there was plenty of action. I wasn’t crazy about it. I feel like it might’ve been a good book at the wrong time for me. I did feel like the book needed one more editing pass. Just a few nuances of wording, repeated words, etc. that jarred me.
How big of a role does the romance play? Big. It’s not spicy or distasteful at all, but it’s the driving force behind the story for sure. The good news is that there’s a lot going on in the background behind the romance—plenty to keep things interesting!
Reading this at night as a fabulous yet decidedly middle-aged mommy who is worn-out tired by the end of the day…I will admit that I found myself nodding off during the first half of this book.
But the second half is worth it!
It’s been a long time since I’ve read a kids’ book with such a grand payoff at the end. I almost don’t want to write anything more so that you can enter this book as blindly as I did.
Now, I will say that the first line of this book is a knockout, but after that, I was a little disoriented and unsure where it was all going. It took me a few chapters to get my bearings and figure out which characters were important. This book isn’t nearly as disjointed as Everything Sad Is Untrue, Nayeri’s debut. It’s much more cohesive with a linear plot and all that. It just took me a bit to sink in.
The plot picks up greatly after we learn that Samir, who is not the protagonist, is being pursued by several colorful bounty hunters. What could be a tense chase is rendered by Nayeri into a thumping frolic along the Silk Road.
I’m a sucker for a solid theme, and this book has one. Friendship and family—what are they, and is life worth living if you have none? What are friendship and family worth, and what would you trade them for? The worldview is not overtly Christian, but there is good moral soil here.
HOWEVER, this book does not shy away from the truth that people are complex. For example, Samir is kind and loyal, but he’s the folkloric version of a used car salesman, exaggerating and outright lying on the regular. Most characters are a mix of good and bad, which makes them interesting, but some young readers will need guidance here.
Content warnings: Samir is almost assassinated six times, but these encounters are not overly gruesome or graphic. As long as your kids are mature enough to understand what a bounty hunter is, then they’ll be fine. Some parents will want to know that a mix of faiths are shown here, and none with great reverence. Samir often lies that he belongs to a certain religion so he can butter up a customer. I find this good material for age-appropriate discussion with kids.
