God King: A Story in the Days of King Hezekiah (Living History Library) [Paperback]

Joanne Williamson (Author), Daria M. Sockey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2002 | Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up | Series: Living History Library

A never-before published tale by the author of the best-selling Hittite Warrior, carries the reader back to Ancient Egypt and biblical Jerusalem. It is 701 B.C-rule of the Kushite dynasty in ancient Egypt. Young Prince Taharka, a very minor royal son, succeeds unexpectedly to the throne of Kush and Egypt-a divine rulership.
It's not long, however, before a treacherous plot pushes him into sudden exile and into the hands of Amos, an emissary of King Hezekiah seeking help against the Assyrians. Posing as a medical assistant, Taharka journeys with Amos to Judea where he encounters two kings in conflict. His true identity suddenly uncovered, he must choose with whom he will fight-the mighty Assyrian, Sennacherib, promising alliance or Hezekiah, the Jew who trusts in Yahweh.
A novel inspired by research on the historical King Taharka and his period.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

JOANNE S. WILLIAMSON was born in 1926, in Arlington, Massachusetts. Though she had interests in both writing and music, and attended Barnard College and Diller Quaile School of Music, it was writing which became the primary focus for her car¬eer after college. She was a feature writer for Con¬necticut newspapers until 1965, when she moved to Kennebunkport, Maine and began to write historical fiction for young people.
In each of Miss Williamson's novels, now totaling eight with God King, she explores unusual historical slants of well-known events. In her first book, Jacobins Daughter, she tells a true story of the French Revolution; in The Eagles Have Flown, she presents a picture of Julius Caesar's time and gives a sympa¬thetic portrayal of Brutus. She has a remarkable knack for using her fictional characters and plot to make connections between real historical persons and events. In a time when history is often taught in bits and pieces these connections are a great help, not only to the younger reader, but to the older one as well. Her third book, Hittite Warrior, has been well received in its recent reprinting for just this facility in showing the inter-relatedness of the ancient Hittite, Hebrew, Canaanite and Greek peoples in the 12th century before Christ. In God King, written some years ago, but now published for the first time, similar fascinat¬ing connections are made for a later period in Israel's history.
Before God King (and the reprinting of Hittite Warrior), Joanne Williamson's last book to be pub¬lished had been To Dream Upon a Crown in 1967. The issue of this retelling of Shakespeare's Henry VI trilogy coincided with the unfortunate decline in America of interest in intelligent historical fiction for young people. At that time, she returned to her second calling and taught music until her retirement in 1990. Now interest has been rekindled in her books and in those of other writers of historical fiction. This renewal should be a great source of sat¬isfaction to the many readers, young and old, who are discovering again the fasci¬nation of man's story throughout the ages.
Joanne Williamson died July 5, 2002.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 206 pages
• Publisher: Bethlehem Books (January 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1883937736
• ISBN-13: 978-1883937737
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #93,566 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #39 in Books > Children's Books > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction > Ancient Civilizations

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent historical fiction, October 4, 2007

By 

Florentius (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: God King: A Story in the Days of King Hezekiah (Living History Library) (Paperback)

"God King" is a very enjoyable and readable historical fiction account of the early reign of Taharka, Pharaoh of Egypt whose dynasty originated in the kingdom of Kush in present-day Sudan. Young Tarharka is one of the many sons of Shabaka, God King of Egypt. He is neither the eldest nor the most accomplished, but the succession falls to him nonetheless. However, there are schemers in Egypt keen to take advantage of a young king's inexperience. Worse, the mighty Assyrian Sennacherib is gathering his power to the north. Only the Hebrew king Hezekiah holds out against the Assyrians.

In Taharka, the unwilling Pharaoh, Joanne Williamson has created a very sympathetic character. He is naive and trusting at first, yet learns to be strong, resourceful, and merciful. The melding of the scant historical record of the time with the Biblical account of King Hezekiah is skillfully done and the reader truly does get a feel for the time and place.

Overall, this book is a good read for young folks (say, 10 and up) and adults as well. I particularly liked the fact that the book was set in a historical period that is not well studied by your typical 12 year old. Hopefully, it will spur some interest in ancient history among the young. The book is also notable because though Taharka is Black, race never becomes an issue as it often so tediously does in more contemporary fiction for young people. For this reason, I almost hesitate to bring up the subject at all. Let it suffice to say that if more fiction were written from this perspective--where a Black main character is portrayed positively and the other characters are good or evil not based on their race but on their actions--race relations in the real world might actually improve.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good book, July 13, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: God King: A Story in the Days of King Hezekiah (Living History Library) (Paperback)

This is a very good book. It is informative and realistic. It starts out with a young, lesser prince of Kush named Taharka. Then in a dramatic turn of events he was made the King of Egypt - and a god. But his scheming brother, Shabataka, suddenly takes over the kingdom; and Taharka flees to Canaan. There he meets King Hezakiah who is hopelessly fighting Sennecharib and his vast host.

It is sometimes a bit rough, though. The ending, however, is unexpected and surprising. Taharka's mercy, and Sennacharib's might against Hezekiah's God add up to a powerful children's story, and an interesting young adult story.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Historical Fiction for Parents and Children, August 10, 2006

By 

Emily Stuver "HSMom of 5" (Tennessee) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: God King: A Story in the Days of King Hezekiah (Living History Library) (Paperback)

God King is a wonderfully exciting and educational book. I and both my two children (a boy,12 and a girl, 10) enjoyed the plot-line. We have enjoyed several of Joanne Williamson's novels and have never been disappointed. Sometimes the history of the Old Testament can get a little dry, but Williamson really brought it to life. My children and I came away with a better context and knowledge of the times of Hezekiah and the culture of the Israelites.