The Discovery

Rating:
Summary: the book would be a good read
Review: Konor is a Celtic Warrior, just barely wed to his soul mate and tending to his herds when Julius Cesar attacks the homeland and takes hundreds of prisoners captive. Konor is taken as a ship's rower and on another ship his wife, Brenna, is taken to be sold into slavery. This is just the beginning of the dramatic events that unfold in Stephen Newman's, "The Discovery."

Konor faces starvation, pirates, and storms, being shipwrecked and near death before he is found and nursed back to health. In a land, new to him, he learns the language and the ways of the people including their religion. But the land is fraught with dangerous gangs of criminals and Konor, along with his adopted family face many trials and tribulations. Konor's life is riddled with tragedy and fateful events. He is a character you will cheer for and cry for.

Stephen Newman has taken a bold step in exploring what life may have been like for those who were taken hostage under Roman regime. He examines what may have been the course for the spread of Christianity. However, his work is a slap in the face to anyone who is not Christian. Every one of the criminals, evildoers and general "bad guys" in the book is a person who does not believe in one god. This leads the reader to assume that because they do not believe in one god, they are evildoers. Newman's lack of respect for his main character's Celtic religious background (Konor gives little if any thought to leaving behind his ancestral beliefs for the righteous "truth" of the one god of his adopted family) is appalling. This take on history is just another example of Christians whitewashing the truth of barbaric missionary brainwashing that was inflicted upon the Celtic peoples.

Aside from the blatant attempt to "share the gospel" through prophetic characters, the book would be a good read. The novel possesses romance, suspense, adventure, exploration and historic events. The dialogue is well placed and the writing is descriptive. Head hopping paragraph to paragraph can get a bit tedious and lack of chapter breaks added to this feeling. The last thing that bothered me was that we don't have a conclusion to the story. Apparently this is the first in a trilogy, which is fine and good, except that the main character's greatest problem is unresolved in this book. It was a disappointing ending to what could have been a decent story, save the propaganda.

Review by Heather Froeschl of BookReview.com.

Rating:
Summary: Great book by great author
Review: This book is the first in a trilogy. The plot was so exciting and intricately crafted, that I was screaming out for the next book by the time I finished it. You fall in love with the characters, you get a real feel for how it would have felt to live in that time and place. It's full of adventure, romance, you name it! But most importantly the historical and spiritual message of the story is what I loved. Give it a chance! You'll be screaming for more, too!