An Echo in the Darkness by Francine Rivers

A book review

The Mark of the Lion series has received a lot of praise over the years, praise that is absolutely deserved. This series should be considered apart of the gold standard for Christian fiction. It balances history, romance, action, Christian themes, and more incredibly well. If you enjoy just one of these, you’ll love this series.

In the first book, we see two parallel stories take place, the story of a young messianic jew in slavery to a wealthy family, and the story of a germanic warrior forced to become a gladiator in Rome. In this second book, an Echo in the Darkness, we see that second storyline be sidelined in favor of the first.

This book presents a powerful conversion story, a beautiful romance, a demonstration of self sacrifice, and lots of drama. But what it does best is display the long term affects of pursuing worldly pleasure. Because these books take place over such a long period of time, we get to vividly see an innocent young girl turned into a miserable, lonely woman as the consequences of her own actions. This tragic character arc is an essential reminder for today’s culture. And it is done so well that I had to give 2 bonus points for the character arc.

Main story:

10/12 points

Theme:

10/10 points

Protagonists:

9/10 points

Antagonists:

8/8 points

Character arc:

12/10 points

Side story:

2/4 points

Other points:

+7 for memorability

+5 for world building

+3 for great romance

Overall score: 85/100

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