Authors Corner: "The Victor" by Marlayne Giron

There’s no better time to talk about The Victor than the week leading up to Easter. Marlayne Giron’s medieval fantasy is a beautiful biblical allegory of what Jesus Christ did for the world by loving us enough to give His own life.

The Victor’s fictional battle between good and evil parallels the battle in our real-life world. Giron exhibits a command of the Middle Age period with historical accuracies, authentic language, bloody battles, sumptuous royal feasts and more. She fleshes out man’s faults and feelings. But she also masterfully creates imaginative visions of things which seem impossible.

For those familiar with the Bible’s Gospel message, there is a clear parable in each character. For those who are not, this is still a novel not to be missed. The Victor succeeds in the strange combination of adventure, action, human misery, brotherly love and perfect romance all at once. It would make as spectacular a movie as any Lord of the Rings.

More parallels: The author and me.
Marlayne Giron and I were recently introduced over the Internet by a mutual friend. However, it wasn’t until after I read and reviewed The Victor that we really got to know each other. We may as well be sisters.

We are both Jewish believers in Jesus, with faith in Him as the Messiah who rose from the dead to bring the light of eternal life to both the Jews and Gentiles (Acts 26:23).

Our parents were all Jewish, but raised us in non-committal Jewish homes. That is, with an obligation to do the observances out of tradition rather than heart-felt devotion to God.

We were taught that it was the height of betrayal to our Jewish heritage to “convert to Christianity.” By our teen years, we both considered ourselves atheists.

Living states apart, we saw movies that sparked our interest in Jesus as the Messiah. For me, there was Spartacus and King of Kings. For Marlayne, there was The Exorcist and The Omen. But the clincher was the same for both of us - the 1977 TV miniseries, Franco Zeffirelli's Jesus of Nazareth.

Since accepting Jesus as Messiah, we both labored over our first books for many years. We each have a greater appreciation for our Jewish heritage, embracing rather than turning away from it. But we long to share through her fiction and my nonfiction about Jesus, the Jewish Carpenter, as the Ultimate Sacrifice for mankind:

“For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

The Victor is available at Giron’s website, thevictorbook.com and most online booksellers, including as a Kindle book on Amazon.com, or through Tate Publishing. For book signings, contact sunnie@tatepublishing.com or call 888-361 9473, ext. 24.

The author of this review and 20-20FaithSight blog, Sheryl Young, has written the book "What Every Christian Should Know about the Jewish People." See column at right for info.