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.
Book one of the Mark of the Lion series displays two parallel storylines, the second being about a germanic man being forced to fight as a gladiator in Rome. In book two, this storyline is completely dropped in favor of the larger story about Hadassah. Book three however, picks that story up and follows his journey. Sadly, this split does not make for a smooth reading experience. The jump back to Atretes feels abrupt and the new characters introduced feel like knockoffs of Hadassah and others.
This has caused many to ignore the third book completely which is a shame. While As Sure as the Dawn struggles with pacing more than the other two books, the story really shines once the characters arrive at the germanic tribe.
Main story:
10/12 points
Theme:
6/10 points
Protagonists:
8/10 points
Antagonists:
8/8 points
Character arc:
10/10 points
Other points:
+3 for vivid action
+5 for world building
+5 for great action
As Sure as the Dawn by Francine Rivers