“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” -Charles Dickens
Star of Wonder by Tracy Higley
Published by Stonewater Press on May 29th, 2015
Genres: Ancient World, Biblical Fiction, Historical, Religious
Pages: 107
Series: The Incense Road
An epic quest across the sands of Arabia
In the exotic land of the east, a group of scholars studies the night sky for generations, until finally a star bursts onto the scene, signaling the birth of a new world leader.
But when an ancient document surfaces, whispering of an artifact of immense power, the temptation to seek out its power infiltrates their caravan.The soldier, the mage and the Egyptian princess each has a secret to protect. But if they are going to survive the dark forces battling for their prize, they must learn to trust each other—in what will surely be the journey of a lifetime.
Note: Kristin reads and reviews both Christian and secular fiction on A Simply Enchanted Life. Out of respect for my readers, I am including a content review. This content review will help you decide whether this book is suitable for you.
Christian or Secular: Christian
ASEL Rating: Mild language&violence. (Safe for most audiences. See full content review)
Content to be aware of: Profanity: Mild. Two occasions in this book used the word “damnable” or “damned” in a manner that didn’t feel “Biblical” and much more like mild profanity. Violence: Mild (no detailed description)
Star of Wonder is book #1 in The Incense Road series by Tracy Higley. Other books in the series include Star of Night (#2) and Royal Beauty (#3)
Who were the magi? We often think of a nativity with three wise men on camels but the truth is, the Bible never says that there were only three magi. It only makes sense that this was an order of scholars who devoted their time to studying the stars.
Tracy Higley always does such a wonderful job with her research that I just had to pick up this book to learn more.
Though I’m a long time fan of Tracy’s, I did find it harder to get into this book. It had a slow start and relics were mentioned that I had to use kindle hover on to find a Wikipedia entry to know what I was reading about. Though I have read the Bible through multiple times; I couldn’t recall that the serpent in the wilderness was called Nehushtan.
He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. 2 Kings 18:4
My lack of Biblical knowledge isn’t the author’s problem but I can’t help but wonder how many others couldn’t remember this. Maybe prefacing a chapter with this verse or a description earlier in the book would have cleared my confusion. There is a description near the end of the book but I would have appreciated it earlier in the story.
There are several plot lines going on. Misha’s quest for the Nehushtan, his mother’s illness, his heritage, a possible love interest and rivalry with fellow magi. This book had a lot going on.
I would like to love this story but I’m feeling a bit indifferent. I think that I should have picked up the 3-in-1 collection and read this as a book rather than as three separate novellas.
My interest is piqued and I will continue the series but it’s entirely too early to know what I will think of the story as a whole.
About Tracy Higley
I’ve been writing adventure stories since the time I first picked up a pencil. I still have my first “real” novel–the story I began at the age of eight during a family trip to New York City.
Through my childhood I wrote short stories, plays for my friends to perform (sometimes I had to bribe them), and even started a school newspaper (OK, I was the editor, journalist and photographer since no one took that bribe to join me). Then there were the “drama years” of junior high, when I filled a blank journal with romance and poetry. Sigh.
In my adult years I finally got serious about publishing suspense fiction, and have since authored twelve novels in twelve years.
When I’m not writing, life is full of other adventures–running a business, raising kids, and my favorite pastime: traveling the world.
I started traveling to research my novels and fell in love with experiencing other cultures. It’s my greatest hope that you’ll feel like you’ve gotten to travel to the settings of my books, through the sights, sounds, smells, colors, and textures I try to bring back from my travels and weave into my stories.
To experience my travel journals and see the romantic settings of my books, I hope you’ll visit my website at TracyHigley.com or meet up with me on Facebook at facebook.com/tracyhigley.
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