Sword and Serpent

This is a great adventure and coming-of-age story for tweens and young teens. I think even adults who enjoy YA historical fantasy that isn't too challenging to read will also enjoy it. It isn't Dostoevsky or Melville, but it isn't trying to be. It accomplishes its goals brilliantly. If you are looking for YA fiction that will ennoble your child while also giving a few hours of literary adventure, I think you could hardly find a better book. While it is easier to stand tall when you stand on the shoulders of giants, I will recklessly say that this book is even better than several of C.S. Lewis' Narnia books. Set in the time of the Emperor Diocletian, the two protagonists (a young Cyrenian priestess of Moloch [or something like it] and a young Roman citizen who aspires to join the Legion though his father has died, leaving the family much reduced) are swept into political and supernatural events that take them on epic journeys which eventually collide in Rome The two young heroes slowly realize that their fates, and the fate of the world, depend on them helping each other to overcome the demons of their troubled pasts. Along the way they encounter giants, rogues, and wonder-workers, all of whom Marshall uses to present a vision of the ancient world that both absorbs and renews the greatest legends of that time. The prose is delightfully fluent and almost always compelling, with hardly a false note through the whole book (and I have very high standards). Nothing is perfect in this life, but the book is -- mirabile dictu! -- nearly free from grammatical and typographical errors. So much YA fantasy these days is sloppily edited and hastily produced. I can only imagine that it is eroding the writing instincts even of the best readers among our children. This one, however, is a well-polished gem that you can trust not to harm your child's instincts for good English. I don't often give five stars to things, but this is a rare case of a book that really sets the bar higher for everything else that comes after. If there is any justice in the world of literature, this book will be recognized as the best YA fantasy of the year. Marshall deserves rather more acclaim than Rowling received for her first several books. I look forward to seeing where Marshall goes from here. He shows great promise in this book. I hope the muses continue to visit him.

I received this as a Christmas gift from my mom. This book sucks you in from the beginning, and it has many amazing Catholic characters. I couldn’t put the book down, and I was stunned at the storyline. The ending of the book left my wanting more, which luckily, there was. I definitely recommend this book, it’s a rollercoaster of emotions! Mother’s review: Being familiar with and enjoying Dr Marshall’s work, I was glad to learn of this book and so bought it as a gift for my daughter. After she finished the book she hounded me to read it, convinced I would love it. She wasn’t wrong. I expected this book to be juvenile and aimed for my daughter’s age group (14). I was was not prepared to be so enthralled in it myself. This book has so many edifying and beautiful elements that simultaneously inspire, ignite, teach, entertain, and encourage. I loved it. My daughter loved it and recommends to anyone with eyes to read and ears to hear. Read this book. Thank you Dr. Taylor Marshall. Please write more books like these!

It is hard to put into words the happiness that I felt when I read The Sward and Serpent, it is the best book I read this year. The series of events are so harmoniously written. One of the many reasons I love St George is because he is my favourite saint and because he is well honored in our Middle Eastern Churches. It is a book that has everything and I urge those who have enjoyed reading it to adapt the incidents especially to children who used to have things for granted because it gives them good lessons about sacrifices and self-denial which our children so much in need to learn. Another reason is driving me to reread the book again is also, there’s is so much to be learned from the life of this GREAT saint. Well-written, well-researched, informative and the interesting use of nouns and descriptive language makes you to reread the line or the sentence over again. Its, characterization, charisma and the language are impeccable, as for me the narrator has a distinct voice of expression. In all, a highly recommended, thoroughly enjoyable exploration, keeping the reader guessing throughout. It’s sweeping yet I love to call it fantasy will touch the hearts especially the young and old alike. A magnificent achievement dear Dr Taylor you depicted the intimate friendship, love and heroism this saint has for the Lord in a best way I ever could imagine!

I would give this book 3.5 stars but I decided to round up as this story has me interested enough to read the next. It is engaging and good especially for thoughtful pre-teens and up. SPOILER ALERT: Casca scene with Jurian’s sister towards the end of the book felt rushed and unrealistic. A woman of this era would not go into this place and endanger her brother IMHO. I also think her beauty would’ve caused the others to stop Casca until she was “tried”. Scene with Flavvia at the end of the story was unnecessary and could’ve been easily remedied with divine help. Why was this “punishment” necessary? Why did Sabra need a GIRK to accompany her? Her slave or even Alissa’s mother would’ve made more sense instead of yet another girl. This would be even more punishment for Sabra who was already giving her life for her village. Otherwise a solid story and I did like the epilogue with Nikolaus (spelling?).

The author, a former Episcopalian priest in the US with a PhD in philosophy, is a highly intelligent and perceptive man. He is also one of the most widely followed Catholic podcasters in the English-speaking world, some of his videos drawing audiences of over a million people across different platforms. I wondered how his fiction would shape up. Very well is the answer. This is an attempt to write fiction with explicitly Christian themes and an explicitly Christian message. I think perhaps it's the most ambitious attempt to do that since the days of C. S. Lewis and Charles Williams. (I don't include Tolkien here, since his imagination is thoroughly Christian but his fiction intentionally not explicitly so on the surface.) In Dr Marshall's books it's done in the form of historical fiction set in the days of a waning Roman Empire. I've yet to read the next two volumes of the trilogy, so don't know how it will develop, but there's plenty to like here. It's lively; the characters are believable; the historical detail seems accurate and I'm sure was very well researched. The tendency of much modern historical fiction is to present a "demythologized" version of the past. One could cite works like Rosemary Sutcliffe's Arthurian "Sword at Sunset" or, more recently, any of Bernard Cornwell's historical novels. So I should perhaps say the historical detail in the world evoked in the pages is accurate, but this is not an attempt to present what would be regarded as an accurate historical picture in the eyes of a secular materialist, or even a modernist believer. St Nicholas bilocates; miraculous healing comes through St Blaise's prayer; relics have effects in the material world. Again, it makes one think of the fiction of Lewis who described himself as "a thoroughgoing supernaturalist" and of Charles Williams for whom the unseen world is as real as the seen and but a hair's-breadth away. "Sword and Serpent" was definitely worth reading, and I'm looking forward to the next two volumes in the trilogy. I may buy the third volume as an audiobook, because the print copy of that one costs a fair bit more.

Just a thankyou for the writer Dr Taylor. ✔👏

Super Buch. Kann es jedem empfehlen.

The story is interesting indeed, and the author has quite some skill in writing narratives that find a way to always keep you wondering about something. That being said, I think that future works and writing experience will help the author reach a writing level that goes beyond "maintaining your wonder" right to a "can't take your eyes off the novel" game. The topics explored are interesting as well, and I would have loved to see them explored with more depth.

Sword and Serpent - romance histórico, baseado na tradição cristã católica, muito bom. Personagens vívidos e situações que prendem a atenção, em um enredo consistente e envolvente.