Review: Slaves of the Shinar
Editorial Review - Kirkus ReviewsHistorical fantasy, something like a long-range prequel to the ancient Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, from newcomer Allen. The Shinar lies between two rivers, the Tiger and the Ibex, and is surrounded by harsh desert and unforgiving mountains. Its dark-haired inhabitants, with their Bronze Age technology, face invasion by blond warrior Niphilim from northerly Dagonor. The Niphilim, among whom females are the dominant fighters, stole the secret of iron-making from defeated Kenanites. Huge, powerful, black-skinned adventurer Uruk, from jungles of sub-Saharan Africa, reaches the city Ur, where he acquires a faithful companion, Dog, and steals a huge carnelian from a child-sacrificing Niphilim priestess; exchanging the jewel for a magnificent iron sword, he heads for the much larger city Kan-Puram. Pale-skinned Ander, escaping brutal enslavement in the Niphilim mines, heads south to Kan-Puram, where he attempts to rally the city's powerful priesthoods against the imminent Niphilim invasion. As Uruk makes contact with Jared, Kan-Puram's king of thieves, Ander encounters an immovable obstacle: Kilimon, the pacifist high priest of Moloch's cult, who refuses to countenance preparations for war. Kilimon's deputy, Shamash, contacts Jared and arranges to have Kilimon assassinated. Uruk instead arranges to kidnap the recalcitrant priest, and escapes with the help of Jared and Dog. So, as Ander attempts to weld a pitchfork-waving rabble into an army, Uruk and Jared organize the thieves. Still to come: gory battles, daring rescues, dreadful diseases and desperate deeds. An evocative, tenacious, often arresting series of incidents with no real center; worth a try for sheer spectacle but don't expect too much involvement.
Review: Slaves of the Shinar
User Review - Sumayyah - GoodreadsInteresting premise and story but WAAAY too much focus on the black-skinned people versus the pale/white-skinned people. Read full review
Review: Slaves of the Shinar
User Review - Ben - GoodreadsI found this to be a fantastic book. Gory at times, the plot was fun, as well as the character development. Critics found credibility of the time period not likely, but I really enjoyed the book as an entertaining read. Read full review
Review: Slaves of the Shinar
User Review - Michael - GoodreadsThis was an imaginative and relevant book. A fiction set in Mesopotamia around 2500BC. (Between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. In the general area of mythical Eden and the real Babylon.) There was a city there called Uruk that was ruled by Gilgamesh, and this book imagines it's founding. Read full review
Review: Slaves of the Shinar
User Review - Brady - GoodreadsFor a debut novel, the book was surprisingly easy to read and kept me interested throughout. The story did not captivate, but did hold my attention. However, I was constantly reminded that the novel ... Read full review
Review: Slaves of the Shinar
User Review - Sdwolfpup - GoodreadsA book that suffered from a misleading book jacket summary. I spent the entire book expecting it to conform to what the summary hinted at but it never came together. Even without that summary, the ... Read full review
Review: Slaves of the Shinar
User Review - Janice - Goodreadsactually I want to read Year of the Horse by this author. It was reviewed in the kdl sci fi and fansty newletter but I could only find a error record and it's not listed here...strange Read full review
Review: Slaves of the Shinar
User Review - Avery Burns - GoodreadsHistorical Fiction. First novel. Fictional account of early cities and wars in Mesopotamia. Read full review
Review: Slaves of the Shinar
User Review - Susan - GoodreadsI didn't finish this. I just could not get into it- I didn't find a character I really connected or empathized with and that's a big negative for me. Read full review
Review: Slaves of the Shinar
User Review - Jane Henriksen Baird - Library Journal vol. 132 iss. 11 p. 61Long before the rule of Gilgamesh, king of the Sumarian city of Uruk near the Euphrates River (present-day Iraq), people told stories of the land of Shinar. From this harsh and inhospitable land rose ... Read full review
