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Title: An execrable book: how not to write historical fiction
Review: I only finished this book because each page was a new revelation in how *not* to write a book. Turgid, redundant prose; cardboard characters; plodding plot -- Caldwell has them all. Most risible is the way she interlards her wooly-headed pseudo-philosophizing throughout. Wait, no; most risible is the way she feels it necessary to cast her hero as some sort of proto-Christian devoutly inquiring after the prophesies of the Jews and awaiting the coming messiah. Even the history of the period is perverted, glossed-over, and twisted to suit her desire for eschatological analogy. There is absolutely nothing of value in this book.
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