by Scott Forbes Crawford

A Historical Fiction, 2023 by Camphor Press, 448 Pages

What I Didn’t Like:

There are spots that are a little slow. The intention is likely to show time passing or healing for the main character, but it changes the pacing of the book.
A bit more on the historical details like food might have been nice. Of course, I don’t think the book was worse for not having those. It’s just a note.
The small romance storyline was unnecessary and didn’t add anything to the story. I don’t think it needed it at all.

The entire chapter on focusing on another’s language to absorb it and communicate was brilliant. Well written, intriguing, and a demonstration of both the intelligence and the caring nature of the main character.
The healing and aspects of Tao are well researched and well presented. In fact, the entire discussions about the differences between China and Rome in culture and practice were well written into the story. You learn but without feeling like you just attended a history lecture.
The action sequences are well written. It’s easy to understand what is happening and be able to picture it in your mind.

Historical fiction fans, this one is EXCELLENT. I would say it’s not a common era to get historical fiction from so that works in its favor. Good storyline, great characters, and lessons about that time period in history embedded throughout.