Review: A breath-taking masterpiece
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 18, 2013
Sensually provocative, visually breath-taking, and relentlessly suspenseful, N.K. Read’s ‘Children of Saba’ is that kind of book that only comes so rarely. From the first page, it sweeps you off your feet not only into a white-knuckled rollercoaster of a ride, but also into the magnificence of the African culture and landscape. This book dropped my jaws.Think Nicolas Cage’s National Treasure’, but set in Africa and is actually written well (sans the comic absurdities of the Cage Hollywood starrer) and you get the spiritual essence of Read’s ‘Children of Saba’. Like many suspense thrillers, it is a race against time and through time to save the world from an impending cataclysm. The twins Kendi and Mwenda Munene’s lives are in danger—an unidentified enemy has taken their parents apparently because of a vital family secret, and when they seek asylum in their grandmother’s farm, they chanced upon a mysterious goat herder who causes them to travel back in time to the ancient Kingdom of Sheba. There they discover that even its Queen is under the threat of an enemy seeking the same powerful secret, and realizing their common ground, the Queen and her loyal elite warriors work with the twins to confront this dark, ancient enemy—they stand to lose everything in the event of failure. From here on, the ensuring battles and mind games are simply epic, breath-taking, and ultimately jaws-dropping.The amazing feat here is how Read describes the Kingdom of Sheba, at the center of power of which is its Queen. It is not easy to “paint” a solid, vivid picture of things that happened three thousand years ago, but Read has achieved not only to make everything as realistic as today’s headlines, but also emotionally resonate so that even the most jaded reader would be able to feel for and relate with historical figures.Born and raised in Kenya, author Read is in that unique vantage position not only to appreciate his own culture’s significance in world history, but also the literary gift to flesh it all out and “package” it into a compelling, incredibly entertaining yarn. In fact, this is perhaps the only book from Kenya that I’ve read that can stand its own against established American fantasy suspense thrillers.Overall, I can’t recommend ‘Children of Saba’ too highly. It is a huge literary achievement that I believe is not only set to become a classic that will be enjoyed by generations of readers, but it should also be optioned for the big screen—here’s hoping someone from Hollywood stumbles into this book and recognizes it for its immense Hollywood potential. The visuals in ‘Children of Saba’ are begging—begging!—to be put on the silver screen, in high definition, preferably in 3D. I’m crossing my fingers. Meanwhile, enjoy this book—order today and send it as a gift to close friends—you won’t be disappointed. Fully deserving of the five-star ratings it gets.