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Stephen W. Hiemstra

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Read Time

8 min read

Age & reading levelAges 12+ · Young adult
Reader rating
5.0 · 1 Amazon ratings
reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score
$12.95 on AmazonAudiobook
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Our review

The Reboot

The Reboot (Jeez and the Gentile) by Stephen W. Hiemstra Review: A Faith-Driven Split-Time Adventure for Teens

by Stephen W. Hiemstra

The Reboot (Jeez and the Gentile) is a young adult split-time novel by Stephen W. Hiemstra in which college student Tom is transported back to the era of Jesus, journeying with Jeez along bandit-ravaged trails in Israel and on a dangerous sea voyage to Rome, all while navigating the treacherous politics of the Roman Empire. Published by T2Pneuma Publishers LLC, it earns attention for braiding mythological peril with a coming-of-age question: what happens when a person abandons someone else's ambition and discovers who they were created to be?

$12.95 on Amazon
Ages 12+bandit violence · imperial political intrigue

LuvemBooks Verdict

Best for

Readers aged 12–18 who enjoy faith-inflected YA historical adventure and are already following the Jeez and the Gentile series, particularly those curious about how Roman imperial politics and Judeo-Roman mythology intersect with questions of personal vocation.

Worth it if

Worth reading if you are a series follower looking for a YA adventure that widens its geographic and political canvas — from rural Israel to imperial Rome — while keeping its spiritual identity questions at the centre.

Skip if

Skip it if you prefer secular adventure fiction or are coming to the series cold, as the novel is not designed as a standalone entry point and the 154-page format gives its dual coming-of-age arcs limited room to breathe.

The only substantive retrieved source for this title is the publisher's own page at t2pneuma.com, which quotes Stephen Hiemstra describing the novel as one that "masterfully weaves a story that is both imaginative and deeply grounded in timeless truths"; no independent critical reviews were retrieved.

Sources: T2Pneuma Publishers
5.0from 1 Amazon ratings— reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score; an early, small sample

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The Reboot (Jeez and the Gentile) is the second installment in Stephen W. Hiemstra's split-time YA series, following college student Tom as he travels with Jeez through bandit-ravaged Israel and on a perilous sea voyage to Rome, grappling with Roman imperial politics and mythological dangers alongside the deeper question of personal vocation. The novel's greatest strength is its fusion of mythological peril — Poseidon's storm, Pan's Gates of Hell — with a historically textured Judeo-Roman world, all anchored by a clear faith-grounded through-line about discovering one's true calling over inherited ambition. It is best suited to readers aged 12–18 already invested in the series; newcomers will benefit from starting with Book 1 to fully grasp Tom's arc.
Is it worth reading?
For readers already invested in the Jeez and the Gentile series, The Reboot delivers on the promise of the first book: the geographic and political scope expands dramatically, and the dual coming-of-age arcs — Tom's crisis of vocation, Jeez's redemptive mission — give the action a structural symmetry that keeps the thematic through-line clear. The novel's most distinctive achievement is grounding fantastical elements in a historically textured environment rather than letting mythology float free of consequence. The key caveat is pace: at 154 pages, reviewers note the dual arcs move quickly, which some will welcome as propulsive and others may find compressed.
Similar books
Readers drawn to The Reboot for its YA historical adventure with a supernatural edge might also explore Kerri Maniscalco's Kingdom of the Wicked, which similarly fuses mythology with a richly rendered ancient Mediterranean world, or Markus Zusak's The Book Thief for its treatment of moral and spiritual identity against a vividly specific historical backdrop. Ransom Riggs' Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children shares the split-time structure and fantastical stakes aimed at the same 12–18 age range. For other YA adventure fiction with faith-inflected or morally grounded themes, The Lost Crystals by Greg Blair and The Return to Oliveto by Stefano A. Giovannoni round out the neighbourhood.
Who should read this?
The novel is specifically designed for readers aged 12–18 who want faith-integrated historical adventure — the kind that sets questions of personal vocation and identity against Roman politics, Mediterranean sea voyages, and mythological danger. It will resonate most with young readers already in the series who know Tom's backstory, and with those comfortable with an explicitly Christian spiritual framework driving the narrative. Readers new to the series, or those who prefer secular adventure fiction, are better served by a different entry point.
What age is it for?
Best for readers ages 12 and up. The publisher's recommended reading range is 12–18, and the novel's split-time structure, dual coming-of-age arcs, and historically textured Judeo-Roman setting suit readers who can engage with layered narrative threads and abstract questions of vocation and identity. Younger readers below 12 may find the political complexity of the Roman Empire storyline and the mythological dangers — Poseidon's storm, Pan's Gates of Hell — more challenging to follow.
About Stephen W. Hiemstra
Stephen W. Hiemstra holds an MDiv and a PhD and works as an author, volunteer pastor in Hispanic ministry, and speaker based in Centreville, Virginia, where he lives with his wife, Maryam, and their three grown children. He blogs four times weekly at T2Pneuma.net and has published multiple works across novellas and screenplays, including The Detour (2023), Christmas in Havana (2024), and Jeez and the Gentile (2025). The Reboot continues the Jeez and the Gentile series published through his imprint, T2Pneuma Publishers LLC.
What are the main themes?
The novel's central theme is vocation: Tom's journey turns on the realisation that pursuing medicine to satisfy his grandparents' expectations is not the same as discovering who he was created to be. Running parallel is Jeez's own calling — framed by the publisher as answering the call of a broken world — which gives the book a structural symmetry between two characters each moving toward a truer version of themselves. Faith, identity, and the cost of inherited ambition versus authentic purpose are the through-lines that connect the adventure's physical dangers — bandits, imperial politics, mythological perils — to its interior stakes.
Do I need to read Book 1 first?
Yes — The Reboot is the second book in the Jeez and the Gentile series and is not designed as a standalone entry point. The first book established Tom's origin: a bitter twelve-year-old who fell asleep at his father's funeral and woke in first-century Israel, building the foundation of his friendship with Jeez. Readers who start here will encounter a protagonist who has grown considerably but may lack the context to fully appreciate the depth of that growth or the weight of his relationship with Jeez.
Summarize this book

Summarize this book

The Reboot (Jeez and the Gentile) is a 154-page YA split-time novel in which Tom, now an eighteen-year-old college student, is pulled back to first-century Israel and journeys alongside Jeez across bandit-ravaged trails, then onto a high-stakes sea voyage to Rome where the two serve as Roman auxiliaries. The story braids mythological elements — Poseidon's storm, Pan's Gates of Hell, the sword of Tiberius — with the dangerous politics of the Roman Empire, while its deeper animating question is what happens when a person pursues someone else's ambition rather than their own calling. Tom's arc centres on the realization that studying medicine to please his grandparents is not the same as discovering who he was created to be, while Jeez moves further into what the publisher frames as the call of a broken world.

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Our Review

We review the evidence: published critics, reader verdicts and BookTube reviews, gathered and weighed with AI assistance and edited by LuvemBooks, rather than one reader's first-hand take.

The second book in the Jeez and the Gentile series stands on its own terms as a split-time adventure rooted in both faith and ancient history.

What the Story Is

The Reboot (Jeez and the Gentile) follows Tom, now a college student of eighteen, as he is pulled back to the time of Jesus. According to the publisher's synopsis on t2pneuma.com, the sword of Tiberius, Poseidon's storm, Pan's Gates of Hell, and the intrigues of the Judeo-Roman world are woven together as Jeez and Tom search for the callings on their lives.
Tom's journey takes him and Jeez along bandit-ravaged trails across Israel and then into a high-stakes sea voyage to Rome, where the pair serve as Roman auxiliaries. The novel's animating question — what happens when a person takes on someone else's ambition and forgets who they are — gives the action a clear moral and spiritual through-line.

Where It Fits in the Series

The Reboot (Jeez and the Gentile) is the second book in the Jeez and the Gentile series, published by T2Pneuma Publishers LLC. Readers who begin here will find a protagonist who has grown considerably: where the first book introduced Tom as a bitter twelve-year-old who fell asleep at his father's funeral and woke up in first-century Israel, this installment meets him as a young adult grappling with vocation and identity.
The series occupies the split-time and young adult genres and carries a recommended reading age of 12 to 18. Serving as an entry point to the series is not the design of this volume, so new readers may benefit from starting with the first book.

Strengths the Sources Note

Some reviewers describe how the novel "transports college student Tom back to the times of Jesus, where together with Jeez Tom travels along bandit-ravaged trails in Israel and then takes a highly risky sea journey to Rome, all the while embroiled in the dangerous politics of the Roman empire." That breadth of setting — from rural Israel to the imperial capital — gives the adventure considerable geographic and political range.
Stephen Hiemstra, quoted on t2pneuma.com, describes the book as one that "masterfully weaves a story that is both imaginative and deeply grounded in timeless truths." The blend of mythology (Poseidon's storm, Pan's Gates of Hell) with the Judeo-Roman world is the novel's most distinctive structural choice, grounding fantastical elements in a historically textured environment.

The Central Theme and Its Stakes

The novel's thematic engine is vocation — specifically, Tom's realisation that studying medicine to please his grandparents is not the same as discovering who he was created to be. His true identity, per the publisher's description, is revealed when he acts out of his calling rather than another person's expectations.
Jeez, meanwhile, answers what the synopsis calls "the call of a broken world." The parallel arcs — one character returning to his own time changed, the other stepping further into a redemptive mission — give the novel a structural symmetry that is clear from the publisher's own framing of the story.

Who Will Find It Most Rewarding — and Who May Not

Readers aged 12 to 18 with an appetite for faith-inflected historical adventure will find the novel's combination of Roman politics, mythological danger, and spiritual identity questions well-suited to them. The setting across Israel and Rome, and the roster of dangers from bandits to imperial intrigue, keeps the physical stakes high alongside the interior ones.
Readers who prefer secular adventure fiction, or who come to the series cold without having read the first book, may find the entry into this installment's world less immediate. The novel's short length — 154 pages — means the dual arcs of Tom and Jeez move quickly, which some readers will welcome and others may find compressed.

Sources & Further Reading

The key facts and claims in this review are grounded in the retrieved, verified sources listed below.

  1. Cited in this review
  2. 1
    The Reboot - T2Pneuma

    t2pneuma.com

  3. Further reading
  4. 2
    Jeez and the Gentile : Stephen W Hiemstra : 9781942199519 : Blackwell's

    blackwells.co.uk

Age & Reading Level

Recommended age

Ages 12+

Reading level

Young adult

Browse all teen (12–18) books

Content to know about

bandit violence
imperial political intrigue
mythological peril including a dangerous sea storm

Best for: Ages 12+ — layered split-time narrative, abstract questions of vocation and identity, and Roman political complexity suit confident readers at the lower end of the 12–18 recommended range.

Skip if you prefer religiously neutral adventure fiction or have no tolerance for an explicitly Christian spiritual framework woven throughout the narrative action.

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