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Every Good Thing
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Every Good Thing by M. Jules Aedin
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I too was surprised how much I liked this book. I've been awaiting a sequel to the tale but there's been no development on that front from the author - the ending left the door open on a few narrative threads!Those who are familiar with the Biblical New Testament will find many familiar 'storylines' between the two.
Well, I can only hope they'll return to writing, because I enjoyed the two books that I had read by this author very much. I felt sure I had reviewed them here, but a quick glance at the forum didn't turn anything up, so I'm going to re-post this old review I had written on the now-defunct AfterElton site---here you go then:
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Turns out I just couldn't resist starting another novel last night, even though I had already spent much of my time that evening reading. Perhaps not the smartest move, since I simply couldn't put the book down---kept reading on into the "wee sma' hours" without taking my eyes from the page. The book in question was M. Jules Aedin's Every Good Thing :
Raised in a strict religion that forbids association with foreigners as well as love between men, Arieh Sef'ea cannot imagine a worse fate than to be sold as a love-slave to a Keshen soldier. Both men must learn that bodies may be purchased, but hearts must be won.
Okay, that description is a bit of a groaner; sounds like a rather seedy romance. But this novel (and it is a full-length novel, not yet another of the shorter novellas that are so popular) is so much more than that. The story is completely different in style and tone than Windows in Time , which I had previously mentioned enjoying and which is what led me to this book in the first place. Despite the very different tone, in the end I would say that this is perhaps an even better story than the aforementioned time-slip mystery.
Every Good Thing is in fact a fantasy, not a historical. But the magical elements are muted, and in many ways it reads like a historical as it's set in a world very similar to what one would find at the heart of the Roman Empire at its peak. Arieh's culture and religion have more than a few elements in common with the Judaism of 2000 years ago, but in addition to this there are also echoes of a few New Testament stories. (Some examples would be the story of the centurion and the slave, and Zacchaeus in the tree. Okay, perhaps not quite so much the Zacchaeus story, just a few elements of it.)
I suppose this could almost have been written as a straightforward historical by removing the magical elements, but I'm glad it wasn't; I'm not quite sure the story could have played out as it did and still have been perfectly "in period." I personally always enjoy reading fantasy novels which go into a little detail regarding the religious structure of the imagined world, and this was no different; I liked the way the varying systems were presented.
When describing the relationship between the two men, the book doesn't reach the depth or detail of a fantasy like The Archer's Heart ---but then, that book is a personal favourite of mine and there's not much that is quite equal to it, in my opinion! Overall, however, I was quite pleased with this story---as I said, I couldn't put it down---and I was rather captivated by it. The tale ends most satisfactorily, but there are a few small loose threads that aren't quite entirely tied up, and I can't help but hope that the author has another story in the works regarding these two fellows. I would love to read more about them.
I did think of AE readers Ulysses and PaperMoon when reading this---I thought it was something that both of them might enjoy---but I'll happily recommend it to everyone who frequents the book threads here. If anyone else reads it, I'd love to hear what you think of it!
The cover perhaps isn't particularly professional by today's e-book standards, but I do like it. It's a bit different than the usual type of design---though I can't say that the model looks exactly like how I pictured the main character----he's far too pale!