Children of the Lion

Children of the Lion #1

by Peter Danielson

Across untamed lands they forged a legacy that time will never forget! Children of the Lion! Bold men of destiny, merked by the sign of the lion, and women of beauty and courage sprang from nameless oblivion to command the power of kings. A slave since birth... a man without a tribe... an innocent virgin sacrificed to the lusts of godless men. In a great and fabled age of treachery and debauchery, they rose above their searing shame to flee the firey destruction of Sodom and beget the Children of the Lion. A magnificient saga of romance and adventure in times long ago.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Religion, Historical, Biblical, Fantasy, Ancient

464 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

House pseudonym used by Franklin King, James Reasoner, George Warren, and Hugh Zachary

Reviews

[Lynn Dove · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have every one of the Children of the Lion series except the last book (and I'm still looking for it)! By far Book 1 captures the readers imagination and attention by being fast paced and thought provoking. Danielson mingles fiction with Biblical fact, which is an intriguing and provocative approach to all his books. Granted around the 8th book of the series there is definitely more fiction than fact!
For those readers who like historical fiction, this series will not disappoint.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

It seems I'm on a historical fiction kick. I discovered this title and series from some books I found in a local Salvation Army thrift store. I've managed to run down the entire series locally except for book seventeen The Death of Kings. Anyways, the story was wonderful. The pacing was good with a good measure of action and suspense. There were few 'villains', and their villainy seemed to stem from slavery and the mistreatment of slaves. In fact aside from Sodom, slavery might just be the 'villain'. After all Abram mentions at least twice his distaste for the practice and his intention to end it. The story begins with Abram leaving Egypt with his people to settle in Canaan and ends with the destruction of Sodom in an inferno. Many good and likeable characters die along the way. With an ending you know you wanted all along. Recommended.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting idea for a book series: it follows--from the outside--the development of the nation of Israel. The novel enjoyably paints some famous biblical characters with their ulterior motives for doing what they did. I found myself wanting to re-read the original stories to see who was a real character and who was added for the narative. Interesting plot, decent character development, but the writing was a bit to flowery for my tastes. I will likely read the next book in the series to see how the story develops.

Overall : 3 / 5

Plot: 4
Character Development: 6
Prose: 4
Story Arc: 7
JNSQ: 3

[Therese · Rating 5 out of 5]

I began reading this series as soon as it was published, which means it's been over 25 years, so the details aren't in my mind anymore, yet I do remember the feeling of absolute absorption and enjoyment I received in the reading. The fact that the Author's name and the book series title stayed with me for this long indicates how much I liked this series!!


If you can find copies of these books READ THEM!!

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book years ago, and recently rediscovered the series. I enjoy the retelling of supernatural oral tradition in a non-supernatural style. This book covers the story of Abraham and Lot, ending with the destruction of Sodom.

[Jodie Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite series. Although it is currently out of print, I remember waiting eagerly for the next installment to be released. I love the historicity of the storytelling, and the characters that are so memorable that I can still remember their actions and interactions, nearly 30 years later.

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one gets you hooked, you have to read the rest...

[Marilyn Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read 18 /19 books in this series then Peter Danielson the author seemed to fall off the radar and no bookstore seemed to know why??

[Mari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this series!

[Robert Whelan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Biblical historical fiction. Action packed and decently fast paced.

[CA Portnellus · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book begins a vast historical series spanning generations . I originally read it back in the 1980's and continued the series for the next six books then lost the series, when the author had a break. Last year going through my books I found those old paperbacks and wondered if there were more books in the series. I found them used and I think there are 22 of them. I will begin at the beginning to reacquaint myself with the clan again, and continue the remainder of the books.
Danielson has a beautiful, clean, descriptive writing style easily mixing history, the Bible and fiction! I Love his work.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an interesting take on the tribe of Cain and the story of Abraham & Lot. A fun read.

[Gary Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

24th book read in 2012.

Number 74 out of 256 on my all time book list.

Follow the link below to see my video review:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjzSfu...

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the first 4 books or so of this series back in the 80’s when they were originally published. I found the whole series on Ebay and bought it for nostalgia. Rereading the books I remembered, and then trying to continue the series, has been an interesting experience, to say the least. I gave up in disgust after about book 7, because the books got increasingly shallow, repetitive, and boring. That is in addition to the issues, which I’ll now discuss.

What I realize now in late middle age is that these books were incredibly sexist, and that this author has a disturbing preoccupation with nudity, with rape, and the idea of women as slaves. Of course, slavery was a thing in Biblical times, and slaves and concubines abound in the Old Testament. And, it is true that the ancient Egyptians did not wear many clothes. However, the idea that Hagar and Shepset had to march across the desert topless was absolutely ridiculous—they would get burned to a crisp. Desert peoples (like Bedouins) wear layers of light-colored clothing to protect their bodies from the sun. The author describes the women as topless with their bare breasts exposed to the elements, purely for titillation—the idea of nude, or mostly nude, women meekly taking care of men, in an attitude of submission, is clearly something he finds sexy. And this preoccupation with nudity and sexual violence is evident in every book in the series.

Women in these books are either sweet, sexy victims (like Hagar or Shepset) or shrill, mean-spirited harridans (like Abraham’s wife Sarai/Sarah or Lot’s wife Zillah). There are a few women later in the series who show signs of sassiness, like Tuya in The Lion in Egypt, but they usually devolve later into hand-wringing weepy fools who need men to make their decisions for them. As far as men are concerned, the author values men who are big, strong, and “manly” (whatever that means). The only exception was my favorite character, Hadad (in the second book The Shepherd Kings), who is lauded for his gentleness, kindness, and artistic ability, but unfortunately he dies at the end of that book, and it’s downhill from there.

The author’s hostility to homosexuality is obvious too. Homosexuals, whether male or female, are villains in this book, and throughout the series.

Yeah, if you’re looking for bible-based historical novels, look elsewhere. This series is readable—at least the first few books are—but they are shallow—and morally problematic at best.

[Brian Macdara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A historical work of fiction that seeks to add some irl to the stories of the Bible, Danielson's 'Children of the Lion' has a good pace, engaging characters, well-detailed storytelling and enough historical points to satisfy the standards of its genre. Danielson weaves multiple stories of people's lives through the events of the Abrahamic Bible, inserting a kind of ancient tradition of hypnosis to account for 'magic.'
Honestly, I don't know why this series is so under the radar of so many people?

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a (very) fictionalized account of the biblical events from Abraham settling in Canaan to the birth of Isaac. There are a LOT of fictional characters added in to make the story more readable. It's pretty fast paced, for the most part, and was an enjoyable read. The character development was good and the plot was interesting. The writing was a little too flowery with lots of extra fluff and descriptions (particularly of landscapes) thrown in for my personal tastes so 3 stars instead of 4. If you enjoy epic historical fiction, definitely give this book a try!

[Michael Laflamme · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this series in the 80s. It has captivated me ever since. To this day, I will dig out this series, oh, perhaps every 3 years or so, and read my way through all 19 books. Love, ancient history, mystery, adventure, human characters at their best and worst, and The Bible. They really don't make them like this anymore. Highly recommended.

[Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. If you are interested in ancient biblical events and times this series is for you. Great characters and easy to read. This series follows a chronological time line of important events in the bible.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. Bible characters and fictional sub-characters. It was a little too nakedy with some cursing for some church ladies (sort of for me, but I realize it was probably an accurate depiction of slave life). I will try the next one.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoy sweeping adventures in historical settings, and aren't too particular about strict Biblical accuracy, then you might want to give this one a try.

[Ann Robichaud · Rating 5 out of 5]

Took me years finding every book in the series. Show how much I enjoyed the stories.

[Michael Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

[Vana]

DNF for some reason.

[Stuart Mansfield]

This Book. Everyone Should Read At Least Once In Their Lives. I read this at least twenty years ago. I really wish. This was in kindle format.

[Tiger Hebert · Rating 3 out of 5]

My grandmother had this entire collection. I don't remember much about the book, but I did enjoy it when I read it some 20 years ago.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Children of the Lion is the first in a series that mixes biblical themes with fiction and tells an in-depth story of some of its characters. What am I doing reading a book like this you ask? When it is so obvious that it's not something that I would normally seek out. Well, it was sitting on my shelf, I don't know where it came from, but I decided to read it anyway.

Children of the Lion tells the story of Hagar, concubine of Abraham, and her trip from slavery to having the son of one of the most powerful men in the world at the time. It also tells of her slave friend Shepset, who was part of the household of Lot, and the shame and depravity she had to endure there. There is also Zakir, a blacksmith who takes in Ahuni, a boy who may be able to trace his lineage back to that of Cain himself. Because of what Abraham's God has told him, he runs his family with an iron fist, and plans to hold the land that God has given him.

Abraham was not a likable character in this book. He was so focused on his visions that he didn't manage his family well and allowed horrible things to happen because he wouldn't pay attention. His wife Sarah was just a horrible person (in my opinion) and her treatment of those under her reflects this. Lot and his family were able to make your eyebrows go to your hairline at their depravity, and poor Shepset was just a victim of their excesses. On her own, she didn't really have any personality though. She was kind of just a scapegoat for every sort of injustice you could imagine. Hagar was also kind of a flat character. Maybe this is the fault of her actually not getting a ton of time in the book, but while we see little glimpses of her feelings about everything that is going on, she seems easily distracted. Probably the best developed characters were Ahuni and Zakir. They had an interesting trade and a kind relationship and they were the characters you could feel the most emotion from.

Despite this book being over four-hundred pages long, it was way too rushed and I think the author tried to tell too much story in its pages. It seemed like things were constantly jumping about and not as fully developed as it could be. While I think the story of Ahuni was done real well, it seemed like that of Hagar and Abraham suffered because so much detail was given elsewhere. Considering they should have been powerful characters in this book, it seemed odd that the other story would have more precedence. Because it is biblical in nature, there are strong biblical themes that may not agree with everybody. I kind of knew that getting into the book after reading the description on the back. After all, when you have a fairly religious book talking about the events of Sodom, you know it's not going to take a light stand on things. So while not to my normal range of beliefs on a book, I can respect that it contains its authors views, but still warn the reader that they may not like the content. Also a warning, there is quite a bit of violence and reference to unconventional sex in this book.

I think more time and care could have been taken with a lot of this book. It was averagely good, but with a little more detail added and the characters fully developed, it could have been great. As it is, people interested in biblical history might like it and the rest of the series. Personally, I don't really have a need to read past this book.

Children of the Lion
Copyright 1980
464 pages

Review by M. Reynard 2013

More of my reviews can be found at www.ifithaswords.blogspot.com

[Robert Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is the first of a long series of books and is an enjoyable tale that takes place in biblical times and follows a line of armorers through multiple generations. A rousing tale full of heroic deeds and evil sneering villains. This is grand story telling on a large scale that is a joy to read even after all these years. (Originally read in 1980 and then again in the early 1990's)

4 out of 5 stars

[Grandma · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was interesting and gripping, at times. However, there was a bit too much fiction and license taken with Biblical accounts, along with what seemed to be an excessive use of gore and brutality. Yet, it provided much food for thought regarding life in those times.

[Jeff Dickison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty fair sword and sandal epic. Tells of Abraham coming into Canaan and establishing himself up to the time of the destruction of Sodom. If you like historical biblical fiction you will probably enjoy this. If not, avoid it like one of the plagues of Egypt.

[Tami · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know that the point is to get me to read the other 2 books but I really feel like the screen should say to be continued. it didn't end so much as stop. not going to look for the next book. was not impressed with this one.