Lough Eske based novelist Melissa Riordan is the writer of ‘Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon’, a novel which maps a powerful romance between historical arch enemies, the King of Babylon and the Daughter of Jerusalem.
The novel sweeps us back to a time of kings and prophets, supernatural miracles, judgments and redemptions. However the novel remains central in contemporary times, depicting the great sleeping giant, China, waiting to be awakened; the continuing battle between Babylon and Israel, and the overruling presence of God in history past, present and future.
The novel has received a five star rating on Amazon.
One reviewer writes; “‘Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon’ is one of those rare novels that takes the reader on an epic journey.
“At the glowing heart of this novel is the fiery furnace which both failed to consume the Hebrews and foreshadowed Nebuchadnezzar’s madness and eventual conversion.
“While the furnace story will be familiar to many readers, less well known will be the details of Nebuchadnezzar’s life—his rise, his fall, and the eventual restoration of his kingdom. Fascinating historical details are woven throughout and are further enriched by beautiful writing and the use of magical realism.
“This is neither a light read nor a forgettable one. But one with rich rewards for the reader.
Another reader who awarded the novel five stars says; “Very fine writing, a powerfully told story of one of the greatest warriors and empire-builders of ancient Mesopotamia.
“Generally I don’t read historical fiction but stick with factual history books or original sources, yet there are too many must-reads in this category not to be ignored, such as I, Claudius; Les Miserables; Death Comes for the Archbishop; The Grapes of Wrath and the Cromwell stories by Hilary Mantel. Everyone has their favorites, now I’m adding “Nebuchadnezzar” to mine.
There’s a lot to relate in this story of Babylon, including diplomatic missions to China and the defeat of Egypt, which the author handles intelligently and with skillful restraint.
“The storytelling rises and falls in epic-like cadences all the way to the end. There are quiet moments — “ancient evenings” — along with gory scenes of battle and sieges. The city of Babylon, which set the standard for decadent living that continues on in our modern cities, is resurrected in these pages.
Moving on from ‘Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon’, she is hard at work in their stone cottage near Lough Eske, converting another of her screenplays into a second novel, which her publisher Timothy Maschler hopes to publish in Ireland by summer, 2017.
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