Gods and Kings Book Review.

Title: Gods and Kings.

Author: Lynn Austen.

Genre: Christian, Historical Fiction, Biblical Fiction.

Plot: Hezekiah was one of the few upright kings of Ancient Israel yet we know very little about his childhood and upbringing. This book takes a fictional though very convincing look into how his character might have been formed.

Born the second son of wicked King Ahaz, Hezekiah's young life was ripped apart when he was forced to watch his father sacrifice his elder brother to the pagan god Molech one horrifying night. His life became a living nightmare and he grew to hate his perverted father greatly. The one constant thing he could still love and trust was his mother, Abijah. While mourning the loss of her firstborn son and fearing for Hezekiah's sanity, Abijah vows to save him from his brother's fate and turns back to the God of her childhood, Yahweh. Risking her life with this new-found belief in Israel's one true God, Abijah secretly moves her aged father, Zechariah - a temple priest with guilt riddling his heart over a past failure - into Hezekiah's room in the palace in the hopes that Zechariah might be able to help her child. Brought to the lowest point in his life and suddenly aware that he doesn't want Hezekiah to have the same future as his father and grandfather before him, Zechariah begins to teach the boy about Yahweh.

But when his mother is taken away, his grandfather put under house arrest and Uriah, the power-hungry High Priest-turned-palace-administrator, running the country for the now constantly drunk King Ahaz, Hezekiah's youthful faith wanes. On top of that, his new tutor - an Egyptian named Shebna - doesn't believe in any gods at all. Hezekiah, not knowing any better, turns to weapons training as a means to save himself from Molech.

Fast forward about twenty years and Hezekiah is a grown man, ready for the task Yahweh has set for him. But how can he be ready when the faith of his childhood has grown to a vague memory?

Likes/Dislikes: I liked this book a good deal. It did seem to drag a little here and there but the climatic ending made up for that. Toward the beginning there are two or three kissing scenes between Ahaz and his wife Abijah but nothing beyond that. There is some violence; children being thrown into a pit of fire and a death scene at the end but these didn't effect me. This portrayal of what Hezekiah's childhood could have been like was highly interesting and very well researched. I didn't like the fact that the author used the New International Version of the Bible but I couldn't help that very much. In short, a very enjoyable read; I recommend it to older teens and adults.

Rating: PG-16 and up for content.

Date Report Written: October 29, 2011.

I received this book for free from the publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed in the above review are my own.

A Round of Interesting Blog Posts 19.

Yeah, not Tuesday but I've been so busy that my posting schedule will be very random from now on. :) And yeah, the following links are kinda disorganized and slapped together because I'm super tired right now and am gonna take a nap as soon as I post this. Enjoy nonetheless!

http://seasonsofhumility.blogspot.com/2011/10/my-review-of-asenath.html

http://shieldmaidenofgod.blogspot.com/2011/10/nanowrimo.html

http://awritingmaiden.blogspot.com/2011/10/in-only-dozen-days.html

http://reviewsbyjane.blogspot.com/2011/10/twilight-destroying-contentment-around.html

http://booktalkandmore.blogspot.com/2011/10/lets-talk-about-snow-white.html

http://booktalkandmore.blogspot.com/2011/10/review-beauty-by-robin-mckinley.html

http://booktalkandmore.blogspot.com/2011/10/avengers-first-trailer.html

http://shieldmaidenofgod.blogspot.com/2011/10/dr-who-meets-dr-seuss.html

Proverbs 10.

"The Proverbs of Solomon: A wise son makes a glad father, But a foolish son is the grief of his mother.

2 Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, But righteousness delivers from death. 3 The Lord will not allow the righteous soul to famish, But He casts away the desire of the wicked. 4 He who has a slack hand becomes poor, But the hand of the diligent makes rich. 5 He who gathers in summer is a wise son; He who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame. 6 Blessings are on the head of the righteous, But violence covers the mouth of the wicked. 7 The memory of the righteous is blessed, But the name of the wicked will rot. 8 The wise in heart will receive commands, But a prating fool will fall. 9 He who walks with integrity walks securely, But he who perverts his ways will become known. 10 He who winks with the eye causes trouble, But a prating fool will fall. 11 The mouth of the righteous is a well of life, But violence covers the mouth of the wicked. 12 Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all sins. 13 Wisdom is found on the lips of him who has understanding, But a rod is for the back of him who is devoid of understanding. 14 Wise people store up knowledge, But the mouth of the foolish is near destruction. 15 The rich man's wealth is his strong city; The destruction of the poor is their poverty. 16 The labor of the righteous leads to life, The wages of the wicked to sin. 17 He who keeps instruction is in the way of life, But he who refuses correction goes astray. 18 Whoever hides hatred has lying lips, And whoever spreads slander is a fool. 19 In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise. 20 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; The heart of the wicked is worth little. 21 The lips of the righteous feed many, But fools die for lack of wisdom. 22 The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it. 23 To do evil is like sport to a fool, But a man of understanding has wisdom. 24 The fear of the wicked will come upon him, And the desire of the righteous will be granted. 25 When the whirlwind passes by, the wicked is no more, But the righteous has an everlasting foundation. 26 As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, So is the lazy man to those who send him. 27 The fear of the Lord prolongs days, But the years of the wicked will be shortened. 28 The hope of the righteous will be gladness, But the expectation of the wicked will perish. 29 The way of the Lord is strength for the upright, But destruction will come to the workers of iniquity. 30 The righteous will never be removed, But the wicked will not inhabit the earth. 31 The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, But the perverse tongue will be cut out. 32 The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, But the mouth of the wicked what is perverse. "                             ~ Proverbs 10. NKJV

If by Rudyard Kipling.

If
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;
 
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";
 
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!
                                                       ~ Rudyard Kipling.

A Round of Interesting Blog Posts 18.

Yo people, what have you all been blogging about this week? *grins* Let's do the round then, shall we?

Casey over at Writing for Christ ~ The Audience of One has a fun book review up first.

Charles over at Strictly Speaking shares a call to arms on a touchy topic here in California.

Ruth over at Booktalk and More has a fun review of a pilot for a new show.

Carrie over at The Blog of a Writing Maiden shares an interesting set of facts with us.

Jody over at The Corner Book Blog has a sweet book review up.

Amber over at Seasons of Humility has a fun book review up. This book is doing the rounds so be sure to check it out. *wink*

Ashley over at The Epic Reader has a grand book review up as well.

Holly over at In the Bookshelf shares a fun book review too.

Sierra over at Whispers of the Wind is overjoyed that Autumn is here. Check it out; her blog is all decked out in style.

Kathleen over at ShieldMaiden of God shares some fun things she learned from Noah's Ark.

Till next week, keep blogging folks! 

Monday Blurbs ~ Ninth Edition.

Hi all; it's Monday again! *rubs hands together and grins* Ooh, I wonder what my family and I watched this weekend?

Okay, on Friday we watched a couple re-run episodes of Psych which was tons of fun {sorta} although they weren't my favorite episodes. One of them was the episode where Shawn and Gus get a mysterious email inviting them to a cinnamon festival in a dinky little creepy town no one's ever heard of before. Needless to say, someone turns up dead and in between eating plenty of cinnamon pie, the goofy duo bounce around town trying to solve the case and end up uncovering several dirty secrets and almost becoming toast when someone predictably locks them in the library and sets it on fire. still, it was quite entertaining and the whole cell phone reception bit was hilarious!

On Saturday or, at least, I think it was Saturday, we watched a re-run of the pilot for the new show Terra Nova since I'd missed the first twenty minutes when it first aired. That show is interesting, certainly. In a futuristic opening scene {it's suppose to be 2149 or something like that and the air is all unbreathable, etc. etc. think Star Wars} we are introduced to the Shannon family. Jim Shannon is a cop, Elisabeth is a highly educated doctor, their firstborn Josh is a rebel teen with a chip on his shoulder and a tender heart, Maddy is a teenage genius with a thing for math, and Zoe is the illegal third child and sweetheart of the family. When they are caught with the illegal third child, Jim gets thrown in jail. Not too surprisingly, his wife gets him out and they hightail it through a time crack with a bunch of other people to prehistoric times where a colony {Terra Nova} is starting to set down roots and start over again. It has potential but the previews for the next episode have me wary; I'll probably have to keep the remote handy.

And yesterday on Sunday my Dad, sister and I watched a couple episodes of The Legend of the Seeker. A Tv series much too overrated for what it is that originally aired between 2008 and 2010; there is nothing unpredictable about it. A mysterious woman {who is actually a witch with the most absurd wardrobe} crosses the magical ancient boundary and enters Richard Cypher's world with shattering results. Everything he ever knew or believed gets turned upside down when he is told he is a legendary seeker dude who will take out the demonic {red flag warning right there} evil dude. With his father dead and his brother {along with a deal of other nasty characters} out to get him, Richard teams up with a crazy wizard guy and the mysterious witch girl before crossing the boundary and setting out on his quest to change the world and defeat the villain. I was not at all impressed by the wizard, the girl {every time she ran through the woods, I kept wondering if she'd pop out of her dress *rolls eyes*} or all the magic and silly looking CGI effects but I did like Richard's character; he genuinely wants to make a difference in his world. He just teamed up with the wrong side.

And that is what we watched over the weekend. Not much. Anyway, catch ya later!

Psalm 56.

“Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up;

              Fighting all day he oppresses me.

My enemies would hound me all day;

For there are many who fight against me,

             Oh Most High.

Whenever I am afraid,

I will trust in You.

In God (I will praise His word),

In God I have put my trust;

I will not fear:

What can flesh do to me?

All day they twist my words;

All their thoughts are against me for evil.

They gather together,

They hide, they mark my steps,

When they lie in wait for my life.

Shall they escape by iniquity?

In anger cast down the peoples, O God!

You number my wanderings;

Put my tears into Your bottle;

Are they not in Your book?

When I cry out to You,

Then my enemies will turn back;

This I know, because God is for me.

In God (I will praise His word),

In the Lord (I will praise His word),

In God I have put my trust;

I will not be afraid.

What can man do to me?

Vows made to You are binding upon me,

           O God;

I will render praises to You,

For You have delivered my soul from death.

Have You not kept my feet from falling,

That I may walk before God

In the light of the living?

                          ~ Psalm 56. NKJV