Book Review: Gods & Kings (Chronicles of the Kings #1)

Gods and Kings
by Lynn Austin
ISBN: 978-0764229893
Paperback, 320 pages
Publisher: Bethany House Publisher
Retail: $14.99

A Chronicles of the Kings book, this is the first of the series.

Admittedly, I put this book onto my Kindle because it was a free book. That and it is historical fiction, which I just love. At the moment I do not recall where I was able to get it from because I don’t see on Amazon that there is a Kindle version of the first book. 

At the start of the book in the Note to Reader, the author has directed us to the books of the Bible where she has taken her ‘story’ from. This book specifically deals with the reign of King Ahaz and his son, Hezekiah. You can find the chronicles of these two kings in 2 Kings 16, 18:1-3, 2 Chronicles 28:1-8, 16-27 and 29:1-14. You can also find more in 2 Chronicles 26:3-5, 16-23 and Jeremiah 26:18-19. She also suggests reading the books (prophecies) of Isaiah and Micah.

One of the neatest things I found about this book is that it is the account from the Bible, but with a few more possible details as well as much more modern language. I personally prefer the King James Version Bible but the New International Version is used in this book where scriptures are quoted.

I was spell bound with this book. I won’t say that I thought the writing was magnificent because I didn’t. It lacked feeling in a few parts but it made up for it in other scenes. By that sentence I mean that it seemed that in some parts it was necessary to include a scene or information in the story to be able to reference it at a later time in the story but those parts were less enthusiastically written, perhaps. The characters came to life in this book!

If you have read the account in the Bible then you know how it ends but if you want to read it in a different light, to bring it alive, then this may be a good book to read.

King Ahaz was a spoiled, fear-filled man that wanted nothing but his own glorification and sovereignty. He was rash, harsh and sometimes it appears not very smart. During his reign he had many concubines and worshiped idols. He even went so far as to sacrifice his own children to the god Molech! Jerusalem had been away from God for so long that it would seem that it would never turn to Him again. The Assyrians, however, make Jerusalem into a vassal nation (aka: slave nation), depleting Jerusalem’s store houses and treasury with its heavy tribute requirement- assuring that the Assyrians will not destroy Jerusalem as they had done so many other nations.

Much of the book is the stress of Jerusalem under the oppression of the Assyrians. We are given a glimpse into the daily lives of the King, his wife, his concubines, his children, the Levites and priests of the Temple, the worship of other gods as well as much of the teachings in the Old Testament to Hezekiah by Zechariah and also Hilkiah to his son Eliakim. But in the end, King Ahaz dies (ahem, he’s murdered- are you surprised??) and Hezekiah is pronounced King.

It does leave you hanging with at least one of the characters (King Hezekiah’s wife). It’s like watching a movie that says ‘to be continued’. I enjoyed it so much that I had to get the second one!