The Eagle and the Dragon--An Original and Multicultural Historical Fiction Novel

It was a total surprise when I won The Eagle and the Dragon by Lewis McIntyre from one of  author Stephanie Dray's monthly giveaways for her list members.  McIntyre's novel is about an ancient Roman diplomatic mission to China which makes it very unusual. So when I was gifted with a copy by the author via Amazon, I looked forward to reading it.  Yet at 682 pages, I wasn't sure where I could fit it into my schedule.   I ended up having to start it and put it aside while I dealt with books that I had committed myself to review.   I finally finished The Eagle and the Dragon recently, and this is my honest review.

                         

I wondered about whether this book had any historical basis.  I found a 2004 article in The Economist  called "They Came, Saw and Settled: The Romans in China" here.   Judging from the content of that article, I would say that it's possible that the events described in The Eagle and the Dragon could have happened.  McIntyre definitely did his research.

While browsing reviews, I encountered one on Goodreads which claimed that The Eagle and the Dragon becomes a preachy Christian novel at some point.   This didn't seem to be in keeping with what I'd seen of the book.  I also didn't think that Stephanie Dray would have failed to mention that in her description of The Eagle and The Dragon.  A giveaway is a promotion, so she would have wanted the book to find its audience.  There are readers who prefer Christian inspirational fiction, and there are readers that avoid it.  I sometimes read in this category.  When I do, they are usually books about the Amish.  See my recent review of Her Fear by Shelley Shephard Gray here .The only reason why I thought it was possible that the review might be accurate is because McIntyre did write what seems to be a Christian short story that appeared before this novel called "Come Follow Me".

After finishing the book, I have to say that I don't consider this a Christian inspirational novel.   There are characters who represent a variety of spiritual traditions in this book.  They are all presented sympathetically.  I believe that the reviewer was referring to a character who went through a Christian conversion experience.   A Christian inspirational novel would follow that up by primarily focusing on that character's perspective.  Yet after the section about the Christian conversion experience, the focus of The Eagle and the Dragon remained on central characters who were non-Christians practicing their religions and being shown in a positive light.   I believe that this book reflects the spiritual pluralism in the ancient world by including within its pages characters who were Roman, Mongolian and Bactrian polytheists as well as Jews, Buddhists and Christians.

My favorite character in The Eagle and the Dragon was Marcia, a Chinese woman who was also of Roman descent.  Since she knew Latin as well as (probably Mandarin) Chinese, she functioned as a translator who could speak to both Chinese and Romans.   As the narrative progresses she learns fighting skills and becomes even more extraordinary.

For me, The Eagle and the Dragon is five star fiction because its narrative trajectory is original. I also found it to be a gripping novel of adventure that was also culturally inclusive.