Excellent retelling.

This was a fantastic story based on the biblical story of Esther of Susa. I have read several books on her and love the movie One Night with the King but this goes more deeply into the politics behind the story as well. Really loved it. Kevin Free's narration was perfect as always.

21 people found this helpful

Riveting

I liked the story very much. It was interesting to hear it from two different perspectives. Not to mention how utterly surprised I was when I recognized parts of the movie "300" and the sequel thereof in the story of Ester. I t made me stop and think how many of the other mythological stories might not be entwined with some of our Biblical stories.. Fascinating!!

12 people found this helpful

Historically interesting and mildly inspiring

Good descriptions of royalty In Ancient Persia. Could feel and taste what it might have been like. Explored the role of women - where they could extend some power while still being prisoners of men. In the time of crisis, the character of Esther lacked the deep and abiding Spirit of God inside of her empowering her heroic actions.

10 people found this helpful

a story for the ages

First time author for me, the author has a Doctorate in Biblical Studies. This story is set in Persia, an old empire with this story taking place in an area called Susa which lies on what is now the border of Iran and Iraq.

The story is based on the life of a Jewish woman growing up after the Persians captured Jerusalem, destroyed the Jewish temple built by King Solomon, resulting in the Jews of Israel being sent out all over the known world. This woman, who changed her name from her Jewish one to Esther so she wouldn't be readily identified as a Jew, against her will is chosen as Queen of Persia. After some years an evil man seeking power comes to be second in command in Persia only answering to the King, her husband. The bad guy hates the Jews and issues an edict that will end in the destruction of all Jews in Persia. Esther shows courage in standing up to do the right thing in spite of not knowing how it will end up for her people and her.

9 people found this helpful

Esther

I have heard many great fictional accounts of Esther, all with differing characterizations of Hamon. This one does not disappoint.

8 people found this helpful

Wonderful! I wanted to listen all day!

This wonderful story kept my interest the entire time! Can't wait to read the other books.

7 people found this helpful

Loved it!!

Suspenseful, loved hearing the story unfold. The narration was great. Even though I already knew the ending I couldn't wait to listen to the story unfold.

7 people found this helpful

Disappointed

Excellent story telling, and intriguing way of behind scenes. Disappointed, wished it was more factual.

6 people found this helpful

A 6th grade version of a classic Bible story

Would you try another book from Angela Hunt and/or Rachel Botchan and Kevin R. Free ?

No, I would have liked this version of historical fiction, if I was in grade school. Rachel Botchan was a terrible narrator and did a poor job of portraying Esther. She had difficulty with simple pronounciations of English words and repeatedly inserted "pregnant pauses" into all of her sentences, which made listening very difficult. Keven Free actually did a fair job of protraying the eunuch.

Would you ever listen to anything by Angela Hunt again?

No, probably not.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

There were two narrators--a female (for Hadassah/Esther) and then a male (for the Eunuch). The male narrator was fairly good. The female narrator was not well cast. Her voice had a grating quality to it, which did not fit the "legendary beauty" Esther was rumored to be--furthermore, the narrator had all these distracting pauses throughout her reading--there would just be abrupt breaks in the middle of a sentence, not really to take a breath, but almost like she felt there should be a break, but it was very annoying and broke up the narration. She also pronounced many English words incorrectly, which was odd, since again, I felt the writing was at about a 6th grade level. None of the mispronounced words were particularly exotic; I just don't think the narrator was cut out to do this.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

mildly entertaining but could have been so much better.some credit should be given for trying to incorporate some true historical events into the story

Any additional comments?

Character development was poor. The way Angela Hunt wrote about Esther, I had no particular liking or sympathy for her or any other character in the story. She attempted to make it seem like there was some abrupt transition from naive girl to clever queen-to-be, but this was clumsily-done and too obvious.

6 people found this helpful

Excellent!

The story was brought to life as never before! Characters were rich and you felt like you were watching it right with them.

6 people found this helpful