Slaves of the Shinar
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
The storied land of Shinar can be both brutal and forgiving. For two men making their way under its harsh sun, it is a land of fate, blood, and strife. Uruk is a nomadic thief from the jungles of sub-Saharan Africa braving the hard walk across the desert. His destination is nothing less than the fabled city of Ur, its temples swollen with riches. Ander is a slave, and has been since youth. But when a chance at freedom presents itself, he strikes, vowing to destroy his captors by whatever means necessary. As these two men navigate the world they share—an ancient world, which first-time author Justin Allen has painstakingly researched—their stories converge in a tale of destiny, triumph, and death. Set against the chaotic and bloody backdrop of the Middle East’s first great war, this fantasy epic—part Homer, part Tolkien, part R. Scott Bakker—brings us into a gritty, realistic world where destiny is foretold by gods, and death is never more than a sword-stroke away.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Ancient Mesopotamian civilizations clash in Allen's promising debut. Uruk, a thief and warrior from the jungles of Africa, and Ander, a slave escaped from the brutal Niphilim people, cross paths in the megalopolis of Kan-Puram, where Uruk has gone seeking a friendlier place to ply his trade and where Ander has gone to rally opposition to the coming Niphilim onslaught. The "fantasy" label is perhaps misapplied; Uruk and Ander fight their battles brutal enough for an Erikson set piece with mundane weapons, brawn and brains, and only the wholly fictional Niphilim society prevents it from being legitimate historical fiction. No part of the story involves any significant supernatural element. Yet despite the lack of wizardry, gods or strange beasts, something in Allen's writing raises the mundane to the level of the fantastic, and the feel of magic crackles through the pages, even if it's nowhere to be found in the words.
