Kingdom of the Wicked Book One: Rules

author: Helen Dale
name: Kim
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2018/07/01
date added: 2018/10/05
shelves:
review:
I respect anyone that acknowledges their mistakes, apologises and moves on – Helen Dale (“nee” Helen Demidenko) is a good example. Her debut novel “The Hand that Signed the Paper” won the Miles Franklin but she was later heavily criticised for having falsely presented herself as of Ukrainian ancestry and that the story was based on interviews with relatives. She later apologised unreservedly.
The book was also criticised for being anti-semitic. In my opinion utter nonsense, instead it was a brilliant expose of how war has no winners, that those that partake in atrocities are all sinners and that what we like to see as black and white are just shades of grey in an utterly confusing world.
In “Kingdom of the Wicked” Dale may still be accused of anti-semitism by the Jewish dogmatics, but again she manages to navigate through the various shades of human failings and hypocrisy to great effect. A fascinating re-telling of the story of the well documented attack on the moneychangers in the Jerusalem Temple during the times of a historic character also known as Jesus. All four of the gospels tell the story of his participation in it, as do many historians. Dale uses it to recast the role of both Jesus and Judas in what is a very clever work of historical fiction and courtroom drama. The Romans are in charge, but not unlike Baz Luhrmann’s version of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet modernity is brought forward to add texture and intrigue.
The Romans are cast as the debauched elite, they drive cars, watch TV and use sophisticated electronic surveillance and high tech instruments of torture. They also adhere to a sophisticated code of conduct and the letter of the law is mostly adhered to. As such the book is also an interesting reminder of how much the legal constructs of today is based on the jurisprudence originally instituted by the Romans.
The characters are many and varied, some times hard to keep track of, but all well crafted in their nuances of conflicting loyalties and confused values. The depictions of the hyper-sexualised life may well be historically accurate, who knows, but at times both camp and overdone, and rarely titillating (if indeed that was the purpose).
But overall I found “Kingdom of the Wicked” a fascinating read, a very clever idea well executed. It is the first in a trilogy, I look forward to the next installment.