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Andrew Levkoff grew up on Long Island, New York, got a BA in English from Stanford, then put that hard-earned degree to dubious use in the family packaging business. After a decade of trying to convince himself to think 'inside' the box (lots of them), he fled to Vermont where he attempted to regain his sanity by chopping wood and shoveling snow off his roof for 8 years. Like a fine cocktail, he was by then thoroughly chilled; what could be better after this than no sunshine for 13 years. That's right - Seattle.
Since 2006 he has been taking the cure in Arizona, where his skin has darkened to a rich shade of pallid. Here it was that he finally realized, under the heading of hopefully-better-late-than-never, that he needed to return to his first love - writing. Andrew lives in Phoenix with Stephany and their daughter, Allison, crowded into close proximity by hundreds of mineral specimens they have collected while rockhounding. "They're just a bunch of rocks," says Allison. Ouch."
You can find Andrew at his website and blog: andrewlevkoff.com.
Reviewed by Ruffina Oserio for Readers' Favorite
Set in Parthia, in the period of the Roman invasion, Little Gods, A Tale of Ancient Wonders by Andrew Levkoff takes readers into the heart of ancient history, with a culture that is woven around superstitious beliefs, the gods, and conflict. In a quiet desert village, the reader is introduced to two young boys, Scolotes and Melyakhat. These two are unique, each with his own blessings and curses, but they express a mortal hatred for each other. What happens when they both want the same girl? What happens when one of them comes across as the blessed one and the other as a renegade? And what happens when they invoke their gods?
This is a story that has so much of what readers would be looking for in a historical novel — great and believable characters, powerful historical references, a distinct culture, and conflict that gives life and depth to the characters. The reader is transported into a little hamlet in ancient Mesopotamia, a setting where everyone knows each other, and the author introduces readers to characters that are as real as they are genuinely flawed, characters that easily grab the reader’s attention and irresistibly compel the reader to follow them. The writing has a magical feel to it; it is lyrical and loaded with descriptions that are at the same time vivid and humorous. Little Gods, A Tale of Ancient Wonders is one of the best historical novels I have read for a long time and the first with a setting that completely blows my mind away. Andrew Levkoff’s novel is a well-researched, brilliantly plotted, and expertly written story that will keep any reader focused from the first to the last page.
