The Roman, the Twelve and the King

Epic Order of the Seven #4

by Jenny L. Cote

Time-travel thrills, Dangerous Intrigue, Heartache and Humor, Exquisite Grace and Love, and Mind-Blowing Truth
The Roman, the Twelve, and the King is the second book in the Epic Order of the Seven series that picks up where The Amazing Tales of Max and Liz left off. The Maker created this team of animal friends to be his envoys for pivotal points of history. This will be their most important mission ever: to be with Jesus throughout his childhood, ministry, passion and resurrection. The story of Christ is told as a story within a story: as George F. Handel writes the greatest music to ever be written in London 1741—Messiah.
This action-packed adventure opens in 1735 London when famous composer George Friedric Handel is upsettingly passed over by the King of England for the most important musical post in the world. Little does Handel know that God has a far greater assignment - the writing of the most important piece of music of all time: Messiah. In order to fully inspire Handel, the Order of the Seven revisits the life of Christ, working behind the scenes from Jesus’ childhood to adulthood where he begins his ministry. The team follows Jesus and his twelve disciples through the joy and controversy of Jesus’ ministry leading up to the painful purpose of his coming: the Passion. The Enemy tried to prevent Messiah’s birth – now he will stop at nothing to ensure his death through the Pharisees, Herod, Pilate and Judas. But everything becomes clear as to why the Cross is the Divine Plan all along. Follow Jesus’ disciples and once again visit the Roman family of Antonius, all of whom play a pivotal role in the events of the greatest story ever told.
The animal team was with Isaiah when he wrote the words, now they will be with Handel as he writes the music. They must retrieve three items from their time with Jesus to bring back to 1741 London, crucial for Nigel to play his mouse-sized violin in Handel’s ear every night to inspire the music of Messiah. The climactic ending takes readers to the London premiere of Messiah where the King of England realizes that the King of Kings reigns supreme, and unbeknownst to him, is present at the premiere of Messiah as well.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Christian, Christian Fiction, Middle Grade, Fiction, Biblical Fiction, Fantasy

646 pages, Paperback

First published September 10, 2012

About the author

Award winning author, speaker and producer Jenny L. Cote developed an early passion for God, history and young people, and beautifully blends these passions together in her two fantasy fiction series, The Amazing Tales of Max and Liz® and Epic Order of the Seven®. Likened to C.S. Lewis by book reviewers and bloggers, Jenny L. Cote opens up the world of creative writing for students of all ages and reading levels through fun, highly interactive workshops. Jenny has appeared to over 30,000 students at lower, middle, high school and universities in the US and abroad. Jenny's passion for research has taken her to London (with unprecedented access to Handel House Museum to write in Handel's composing room), Oxford (to stay in the home of C.S. Lewis, 'the Kilns', and interview Lewis' secretary, Walter Hooper), Ireland, Paris, Normandy, Rome, Israel, and Egypt. Her books are available online and in stores around the world, as well as in multiple e-book formats (Kindle, Nook, etc.). Jenny holds two marketing degrees from the University of Georgia and Georgia State University. She lives in Roswell, Georgia, with her family.

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! While this book's genre is fantasy fiction, that is just the overlay for the TRUE story of the Messiah that is in this book. Jenny Cote has done an amazing job of walking the reader through the gospel events, using the animals as the eyewitnesses and the interpreters of the events. Because it is in a story format, it is an enjoyable read, but there is truth on almost every page. Truth that can change people's lives if they will let it. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I would say that she wrote for middle schoolers, but I am 45 and have been a Christian all my life and LOVED this book. For younger children it could easily be a read aloud as the crucifixion and flogging scenes are emotional. If you are struggling to understand the story of the Bible, read The Prophet, Shepherd and the Star, and then read this book. Together they combine the prophesies of the Old Testament with their fulfillment in Jesus the Messiah. Give these books to your children so they can understand for themselves the amazing plan of God and His love for us!

[Libby May]

My favorite of the whole series. I love getting to know Jesus on a more personal level. It was very interesting, despite the fact that there were a couple of details I didn't agree on.
Definitely recommended for ages 12 and up because of slightly graphic description of crucifixion.

[Pristine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary: The Roman, The Twelve, and The King is a retelling of the life of Jesus and the story of George F. Handel’s composing of Messiah all in one! It starts out with the Epic Order of the Seven in seventeenth century London, living in the home of famous composer Handel. Handel is struggling to create a new masterpiece, as the art of opera is slowly dying. One of the animals in the team is assigned to help Handel compose the oratorio Messiah, and to do that, he’ll need a violin. But just when they finish building it, the unhappy enemy decides it’s time to stop them. The animals have to travel back in time to experience the life of Jesus in a new way, and collect new materials for a divinely inspired violin in order to compose the music about Him. They have to help Handel overcome public scorn and opposition of his music, and at the same time make sure that he receives the right words for his music. Will they be up to the task? You’ll have to find out :)

Worldviews: Jenny L. Cote is a Christian author, and I found nothing theologically wrong or chronologically incorrect. I love the way she teaches the Bible as real history and not just a story. I loved the way she smushed Handel’s Messiah in there and connected all the dots.
I didn’t find any other prominent worldviews.

Foul Language: There was a mention of blasphemy here, and of course all the Pharisees accused Jesus of blasphemy, but there weren’t any specific examples of actual words given. That’s it.

Violence: There was the whole brutal Roman scourging and crucifixion, but I can tell Cote tried to give just enough detail so that we can grasp exactly what Jesus went through for us, but not too much so that we’d be passing out from all the blood. She does give a parental warning in the beginning, saying that yes, the crucifixion scene is not the prettiest. That was very good. There were also some other minor scenes like when the Pharisees wanted to stone an adulterous woman but then Jesus stopped them.

Romance: Practically very little. The only things I could find was the scene with the adulterous woman who was about to be stoned, and the Samaritan woman that was a prostitute and had had five husbands, and then of course Jesus dined with the tax collectors and prostitutes. That’s it, there weren’t any super detailed scenes or stuff, I don’t know. *shrugs*

Alcohol: There was some drinking of wine, but that’s it.

Rating and recommended age level: I’m going to rate this 5 stars! I love The Roman, the Twelve, and The King. It’s my favourite in the series. The portrayal of Jesus’s life is just amazing. His personality was kind, gentle, loving, and yet also righteously just and furious when he needed to be. The sacrifice that he ultimately came for literally brought tears to my eyes. His selfless love was displayed so well, and the way they only mourned for three days, and yet he rose again. I love it so so so so much. For my age level, I’m going to say 10-11+ again, but parents use discretion based on what I’ve said. I highly recommend this.

[Alissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing Christan Historical book.

[Christy Gould]

I stopped reading aloud when we got into the crucifixion scenes. I don’t limit my kids’ Bible reading, but read like a story, this was pretty intense for my little people. My middle-schoolers will finish the book on their own.

While I get nervous about authors putting words into the mouth of God, I felt like this author did a decent job of sticking to the gospels when Jesus was speaking, at least as an adult. (More so in this book than previous books in the series, in which God spoke — I skipped those parts reading aloud.)

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh so very good! I’m so grateful for Jenny L. Cote’s books. I learn so much about the scriptures and history, and in this one it brought Jesus to life. And so fun to read with my children! We laugh as much as I cry 😊. It’s very long, my youngest is almost 11, so I don’t think I’ll be able to read them aloud to my children again, but I look forward to reading them maybe to “me wee grrrrrand lads and lasses”! And I’m sure my children will read then to their children 💕

[Megan M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love love this series. It was hard for the boys to follow the Handel story line but I also wanted to raise their awareness of it. We almost did the crucifixion part at Easter but we just missed it.

Of course, there were times that I cried reading this book. Esp when Handel writes the Hallelujah chorus. Such a great read aloud!

[Jose Ricardo · Rating 2 out of 5]

great stories, adventures, and a catching writing style. However, it is a shame finding facts like Mary has four kids! which is a protestant interpretation due to misunderstanding the meaning of “brother” word. It is OK creating characters and stories for fun, but it is very unprofessional using a personal interpretation of the Bible and causing confusion in little ones

[Kaitlyn N · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful story. Sensitive readers should beware that the crucifixion is described in detail. It is good to read to understand the severity of what Jesus did for each of us, but if someone already knows what Jesus has done and doesn't want the gruesome details, I would suggest stopping at the chapter titled "Denied" and picking up again at "Part the Fifth".

[Aleena Grosjean · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW!!! I've had this in my TBR stack forever and just "happened" to be reading her series this year during Lent!?! My favorite in the series, so far. I love traveling back in time and being a part of HIStory. HIGHLY recommend this series!!!

[Laurissa Metz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I apologize for the relatively low rating, but some things didn't seem quite right to me. Although Miss Cote did an excellent job portraying the love and sacrifice of Jesus as much as humanly possible, I personally feel that she took a tad to many creative liberties.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laughed and cried through all 600+ pages of this mesmerizing book...thank you, Jenny Cote!! King of Kings and Lord of Lords and He shall reign for ever and ever!! Hallelujah!

[Sue Zschokke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read!

These books are written very well and make you stop and think. I love the journey the author takes you on.

[Janey Wilksch · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite of this series so far.
Loved the juxtaposition of combining the events of Jesus' life to Handel's writing of Messiah.

[Samantha Deppe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely love these books! The kids can easily understand the historical details in the life of Jesus

[Ellie Hollows · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mrs. Cote is an amazing author who makes the life of Jesus come alive right before your very eyes.

[gabby 💗 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rtc 🩷

[Samuel F · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened on Audible! Loved the voices?

[brooke1994 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Jenny's latest book. I like how she incorporates animals and Biblical truths in her stories. This ome is enjoyable because she wrote about the life and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I highly recommend this book to families and youth groups :)

[Ezabella P · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was awesome. It was so descriptive of the events of Jesus' life. It was like I was their myself when Jesus died. Jenny outdid herself again! I hope that she keeps writting these books because they help me learn many things about the Bible.

[Erin Glenn]

Best book by far!! I was crying when she described the crucifixion of our LORD. This is a must read for EVERYONE. It will change your life. I will never look at Good Friday the same way. (Actually, I finished it 2 days beforehand.)

[Bella Raine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!! I loved this book! Super thought-provoking and emotional. Definitely made me nearly tear up. I read this book over Holy Week, and it was such a powerful accompaniment! I look forward to reading it over and over!

[Madelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing, as usual.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 STARS

[Braden]

Very good book