Title: We Three

Author: Kerry D. Ames

Genre: Historical Fiction/Religious Fiction

Publisher: Show Up Press, 2023.

Length: 386 pages.

Reviewed by Joan Bauer

We know only a little from the Bible about the three Magi who come from the east in anticipation of the birth of a great king. They arrive; they speak with Herod; they see the child and are warned in a dream to go home by another route. But in We Three, Kerry Ames dexterously reinvents the backstory while preserving the whole. In his version, careful scholarship vies with kingly ambition; a bereaved father must overcome his despair; young people search out their vocations; and the wounded are healed—all under the menacing eye of the Roman Empire. Ames gives us the sights and smells and riches of the bazaar, the bracelets on the arms of a wise and faithful wife, the curious neighbors, the windswept dunes, the oxcarts bumping under the weight of the tent poles of traveling royalty, and the treacheries of their route.

And, oddly enough, there are only two kings.

The third member of the triumvirate is Topur, a trader just returned from a journey who longs to rest for a while with his educated wife Atarah and their four daughters, whom she is quietly teaching to read. Atarah convinces Topur, against his own better judgment, that God is calling him to accompany these men as their guide. But Topur has seen much in his travels; he knows that the world is becoming a dangerous place. And he is expected to balance the aims of two kings who could not be more different. The reckless King Xaratuk believes he can successfully negotiate with the notorious Herod. But King Mithrias, a gracious and sensitive man, is weighed down by a terrible sorrow. And while Topur can seem almost cynical, we will learn of the great compassion he has shown to the boy Najiir who accompanies and serves him. 

Herod, when he appears, is somehow vain, decayed and menacing all at once:

Herod took the short, uncertain steps of an aged man as he shuffled behind, flanked by an attendant at either elbow. His watery eyes were yellowed and dull and sat upon large puffy bags of dark skin. The remnants of earlier meals stained his royal robes. His long, mostly gray beard harbored crumbs, seeds, and other indistigushables.

And yet King Xaratuk is deeply impressed, not only by the splendor of Herod’s palace and temple, but by his success in partnering with the Roman empire. Xaratuk is a powerful skeptic in regard to the star; he hopes to find a great warrior king, and he cannot understand how this humble child can exert such a powerful influence. The closer he gets to the place where Jesus lies, the angrier he becomes—to the point where he nearly does violence. And yet we hope that even Xaratuk can be saved.

Ames plays with the details of the biblical story to great effect. As the strange caravan approaches Bethlehem, the shepherds guarding the Christ Child drop from the trees like ninjas; instead of a choir of angels, they have “heard voices.” As one shepherd describes it, “[all] were wide awake—everyone—bathed in brilliant light. It was fearsome. It was more of an opening—a rip in the night sky, and behind it, a bright room….” And while Ames takes certain liberties with the story, all our expectations are fulfilled by the end. One way or another, the visitors present their gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And Topur comes to realize that, although he remains an integral part of God’s plan, the journey he undertook with such trepidation was not about him. As the Holy Family flees into Egypt, we end fittingly with Mary, pondering these things.