The Book Adventures of Emily: Book Review: As the Sun Rises by Nathan Smith

As the Sun Rises

By Nathan Smith

Genre: Magical Realism, historical fiction, literary fiction

Book Description:

A dying man pulls himself across the Sahara Desert. His only company is a talking macaw. And his only reason to continue is love. Somewhere across the desert is the girl who is worth everything to him.

Flash back to the man’s childhood. He and his parents live in Guatemala City during the 1980s: a dark era for Guatemala. People talk of a communist rebellion in the jungle and the whispers have reached the United States. A communist rebellion so close to home wasn’t going to be allowed during the Cold War, so the U.S. gave the Guatemalan government everything needed to destroy the rebels. With this new found power, the Guatemalan government enacts a genocide of the Mayan people to smoke out the rebels living in the jungle.

Events force the boy and his mother to return to their ancestral home, a Mayan village deep in the jungle where rebels hide. During this time, the boy grows into a young man and falls in love with a girl whom he would cross deserts for, but then genocides find their village.

He and the girl are the only two survivors. Homeless and desperate to take care of the girl, he unknowingly sells himself into slavery on the other side of the world, but the relentless love he has for the girl refuses to let him die a slave.

Book Review:

As the Sun Rises tells the story of how José about how he crossed the desert and manged to get back to Guatemala to the girl he loved. The rebels started war with politicians leading to the tragic end of his village. José became a slave and only escaped from the help with the god of the sun.

As the Sun Rises is fantastic. It is such a heart warming and beautiful story. I really felt like I was in José's shoes. His passion and love for his true love is truly breathtaking. As the Sun Rises is well-written! I read it in one sitting because I was so captivated. The story has so much depth.

I loved learning about the gods who lived in the jungle. Lupe is a hoot. At the beginning of the story he did make me laugh a handful times. Emotion poured from each page in waves. An awesome read, great job Mr. Smith! As the Sun Rises is five stars!

Author Bio:

Nathan started writing back in high school when a friend convinced him to write a zombie survival story. From that moment he was hooked. He moved on from the zombie genre and became fascinated with Latin American literature and authors like Paulo Coelho and poets like Pablo Neruda. Their literary style was his first major influence. His second was his faith. When he was seventeen, Nathan encountered Jesus in an unfinished church in Brazil. Since then, Nathan has sought to serve Jesus in his writing and his vocation. Nathan and his wife Jessica live in North Carolina with their dog Riah.