King of Gold and Blood

King of Gold and Blood plunges the reader into a fascinating, important era in the history of the eastern Mediterranean basin, laying out before us the  days of the reign of Herod the Great, the King of Judea who built the Second Temple in Jerusalem and the amphitheater in Caesarea. Herod was a monarch knew how to get along smoothly with his masters in imperial Rome, but who treated subjects who he thought were threatening his reign with great cruelty, including members of his own family. The book begins in the turbulent times that followed the death of Herod, delves back into the period of his monarchy, and ends with the marriage of his offspring and the murder of John the Baptist. In so doing, it highlights historic events that affected the future of Christianity and the entire western world.

Gavriella Avigur-Rotem has constructed an extravagantly dramatic plot for the most significant historical novel written in Hebrew in recent decades. With a plot steeped in intrigue and conspiracy, it is reminiscent of the labyrinthine political world of works such as the “Game of Thrones.” It is narrated by Herod’s scholarly counselor and advocate, Nicolaus of Damascus, who became a major figure in the historical events of his times. After tutoring the children of Anthony and Cleopatra, Nicolaus performed the same role for Herod’s children.

The author succeeds impressively in blending into her prose the language of the Hebrew Sages as well as words and phrases in Latin and Greek, in order to evoke the unique 2,000-year-old style of Nicolaus. She has written a historical novel that deals with societal issues but also probes the nooks and crannies of the individual soul. She depicts, credibly and convincingly, a bygone world, rich in detail, in a manner that makes it relevant to our own times.

King of Gold and Blood is Gavriella Avigur-Rotem’s fifth book.