Every Knee Shall Bow, written by Bryan Litfin, follows main characters Rex and Flavia on an epic journey throughout the Roman Empire. Set in AD 316, this Christian historical fiction includes a liturgy of real — and fictitious — characters. The plot is fast-paced, with plenty of adventure and intrigue in its nearly 500 pages. Although Every Knee is the second book in the Constantine’s Empire trilogy, it can still be read as a stand-alone novel. Litfin includes maps, a historical note, and glossary to help readers orient themselves. Every Knee Shall Bow is incredibly detailed and delves deep into Christian history and theology. While some of the dialogue feels unnatural for the time period, the story will fascinate fans of drama and history.
Review of Advanced Reading Copy from the Publisher
Content Analysis
Profanity/Language: 2 religious exclamations.
Violence/Gore: A few verbal threats and implied occurrences of violence; frequent secondhand reports of violence including battle, murder, physical punishment and a violent yet faked suicide; a few non-life threatening injuries; frequent brief scenes of violence including physical fighting, war, slapping, stabbing, cutting off an arm; a few extended scenes of violence involving battle; several non-detailed scenes of violent death; a few brief scenes of blood and gore include head and other battle injuries; a few scenes with intense violence, both brief and extended (2 pages).
Sex/Nudity: Several incidents of kissing; several sexual references regarding rape, concubines, and prostitution; frequent implied or reported incidents of sexual activity including prostitution, rape, pimps, virgins and pregnancy out-of-wedlock; a few mature discussion regarding sex involving Christian beliefs.
Mature Subject Matter:
Murder, war, slavery, Christian persecution, idol worship, slave/prostitution ring, rape & concubines, alluding to a man being a child molester, kidnapping, miscarriage, attempted assassination.
Alcohol/Drug Use:
Characters drink wine frequently; a character confesses to sneaking down and drinking wine as a child.
