Author Bryan Lufkin shares a sweeping tale of the early church and the Roman Empire during the 4th century. There are multiple characters, unending action, and a romance between a Christian nun and a Roman who was demoted from his service as a royal bodyguard. Every Knee Shall Bow is a well-written historical fiction novel that's flavored with Christian beliefs and historical details, but I was never able to become fully invested in this story. I am giving it 3.5 stars.

I won a copy through LibraryThing Early Reviewers. There was no obligation for a positive review. ( )

I received this ARC (Advanded Reading Copy) from the author and LibraryThing. The comments are my own.
The date is AD 316 and druing the reign of Constantine the Great, a Roman emperor and the first to accept Christianity.
The main charcaters of the book are Flavia, a Christian maiden, and Rex, a pagan warrior.
The book has a map of ancient places, historical notes, the dynasty of Constantine, ancient historical names, a glossary and progogue. The characters in the book are ficion and non-fiction. many non-fiction.
This is the second book of the series and I plan to read the first book.
Not a fast read with so many historical events and names but a great read espcially for readers interested in ancient Roman history and Christian history.
The author, Brian Litfin is a former professor of theology at the Moody Bible Institute. He has written nonfiction and fiction books.
I have bookmarked (with slips of paper) and I plan to re-read.
A 5 star rating. ( )

Overall, this story was very good. Historical fiction is my favorite genre. That said, I found this story to be fairly realistic in it's description of things. It reminded me a bit of Francine Rivers' Mark of the Lion series minus the gladiators. Of course it had that special voice that is unique to Bryan Litfin. If you read any of his Chiveis trilogy books you'll know what I mean. I can still picture one of the heroes gouging out someone's eyes while underwater. Just sayin'... it was that descriptive in a previous that I can still see the scene in my mind's eye. Most of the books that I've read are no longer in my mind. But Bryan's writing is still there.

This novel was set in the earliest days of the church (300s AD) as it established itself in Rome. I found the mysticism interesting, especially the baptism ritual. Good thing for us it changed over time or we would have much fewer baptisms these days. Also, unlike many novels in Christian fiction, this was more realistic in regards to human struggles and sin. I found that especially intriguing and it showed how there are ripple effects to every decision we make.

There were battle scenes in this book written to show the power struggle between the two Caesars. Of course, I was rooting for Constantine despite knowing the ins and outs of his policies. I finished this story and found myself talking about it with others. That's the sign of a good book, to me anyway. Plus, I enjoyed learning a bit more about how the early church kept things moving forward (and protected from destruction) and how they guarded the early writings of the apostles that later became the New Testament. If you love fiction from that era, you will enjoy this book. ( )

I requested to read and review this book through Netgalley.com. This review is my honest opinion.

This book was not what I was expecting. I do not like to leave negative reviews but my honest opinion was this is not the book for me. The book was hard to get started and then it was hard to keep going. I have to admit to skim reading in parts.

Another thing that bothered me was his use of the term Holy for people was bothersome, only God is Holy, we are called to be holy as He is.

The book overall was a long read and too jumpy for me, jumping from one place to another, one speaker/character to another. It did not flow well for me. It seemed that a lot could have been cut and the book would have been more enjoyable to me.

I give this book a 2-star rating. ( )

I received this book free from Library Thing to review.
It's A sprawling, swashbuckling adventure tale with a side order of romance and a few interesting conversations about Christianity (celibacy, Gnosticism, the canon, etc.) woven in. No preaching.

In 316 A.D., Rex is a disgraced Roman “speculator,” a highly trained elite warrior. In the previous book, he served Emperor Constantine as a trusted member of the royal bodyguard unit. But during an important battle, he deserted the action to rescue his lady in distress. Constantine was furious and sentenced him to a lifetime as a lowly rower in the Imperial Navy.

As this book opens, Rex is leading the ship's rowers in a mutiny. Throughout the story, he is hunted, captured, and imprisoned over and over; but he escapes over and over. Flavia, his beloved, is a wealthy aristocratic Christian nun. They are sent on a dangerous mission for the church. As his sidekick, she suffers a similar series of tragedies but Rex always manages to rescue her.

With a huge cast of characters and lots of action spread over Italy, Germany and Egypt, this is a challenging read. But the writing is good and the pacing is excellent. If political intrigue, treachery, murder and adventure on the high seas is your cup of tea, you will love this book. I* did not.