After Yeshua was born in Beit-Lechem in the land of Y’hudah during the time when Herod was king, Magi from the east came to Yerushalayim and asked, “Where is the newborn King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”
Matthew 2:1-2, CJB
I discovered Patrick W. Carr quite by accident while browsing through my library’s catalog. The Shock of Night‘s back cover description promised to fulfill the vague “something different” I’d been looking for, and the story well-satisfied it’s promise.
I devoured the entire Darkwater Saga and followed it up with the Staff and the Sword series before I decided to research the author. To my delight, his website offered the opportunity to help promote his newest book, The End of the Magi. I jumped at the chance.
The End of the Magi is a different genre for Mr. Carr – historical fiction rather than fantasy – but it did not disappoint.
The book tells the story of a young club-footed Persian man, Myrad, whose adopted Jewish father is one of the magi in Ctesiphon, the ancient capital city of the Persian empire. Myrad dreams of a strange star and wakes to find his father has had the same dream.
On the very day Myrad’s father decides to seek the youth’s promotion from apprentice to full magus, Musa, the Roman concubine of King Phraates sets a bloody trap for the magi who oppose her aspirations to become queen.
In the resulting chaos, Myrad’s life is thrust into an unexpected trajectory, though he continues his father’s work on an ancient calendar marking the days until the fulfillment of ancient prophecies of the Jewish Messiah – a day that may occur during Myrad’s lifetime!
I love this book for many reasons. I thoroughly enjoy that the main character, Myrad, is not a typical, flawless storyland hero but a man with a club foot who overcomes obstacles through tenacity and determination. Mr. Carr touches nicely on the Biblical story of Jesus from an interesting perspective – that of the magi who the Bible tells us “saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”
Mr. Carr does a fantastic job speculating on what little is known about the magi and combining it with some historical facts that are known about the region and time period. It’s a unique look at some of the lesser-known empires and on what life may have been like in the midst of the constant conflict between Rome and those lands she had yet to conquer.
There are some wonderful twists in the story that kept me engaged. I want you to read it for yourself, so I won’t spoil them here! However, I would like to say that I also adore that this is not just another Christmas story ending with the birth of Yeshua (Jesus). Mr. Carr looks beyond that one extraordinary event to an even more extraordinary one which stretches the understanding of Myrad and the rest of the wise men.
The End of the Magi is one man’s search for truth and purpose in a world filled with conflict and competing worldviews. In a modern setting, it could be my story. It could even be yours.
Either way, like Myrad, we are all faced with the choice of what to do with the knowledge of Yeshua. Some will choose to reject it, scoffing. Others will acknowledge it but venture no further. Still others will embrace it and structure their lives around it.
Read this book to find out Myrad’s choice. Then give some thought to your own decision. What will you do about the Jewish Messiah?
Running the Race 