Dawn of Empire: A Novel - Hardcover

Barone, Sam

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060892447 ISBN 13: 9780060892449

Publisher: William Morrow, 2006

Synopsis

The leader of a band of marauding barbarians, Thutmose-sin is a warrior gifted by the gods with extraordinary perception and cunning. To survive, he and his people plunder and pillage, killing and enslaving the dirt-eaters who dwell in villages across the plains. But Thutmose-sin also secretly fears these enemies, for they possess a weapon far deadlier than any bow or lance: the food they coax from the ground that allows them to multiply. Someday, he worries, there might be so many of them that even his warriors will not be able to kill them all. And in a prosperous settlement near the headwaters of the Tigris, his suspicions are about to come true . . .

Determined to preserve their way of life, the peaceful people of Orak refuse to flee the oncoming barbarians. Instead, they devise a bold, untested plan of defense: build a wall around the village high and strong enough to repel the invaders. Under the guidance of an outcast barbarian named Eskkar and his true love, an enchanting and wise slave girl named Trella, the villagers begin the wall's construction and await the epic battle that will pit them against the unstoppable barbarians—a battle whose outcome will change the world forever.

An enthralling historical novel of war, passionate love, courage, and savagery, Dawn of Empire tells in sweeping prose and with heroic, unforgettable characters the story of an ancient people's triumph—an amazing feat that marked the building of the first walled city and the beginning of an era that gave rise to some of history's greatest civilizations.

About this title

About the Author:

Sam Barone was born and raised in New York City. He spent thirty years designing and developing software, and began writing seriously after his retirement. He lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.

From Publishers Weekly:

Former software designer Barone sets his entertaining debut novel in Mesopotamia at the dawn of civilization. The nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes, who in 2500 B.C.E. still dominate the fertile valley between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, are agitated at encroaching gentrification. Barbarian chieftain Thutmose-sin announces that Orak, the agricultural "great village" of 2,000 people nestled along the banks of the Tigris, "defies our way of life" and must be destroyed. Instead of fleeing the fearsome barbarian warriors who have never been defeated by "dirt eaters," the citizens of Orak stay and fight. They're led by a former barbarian, Eskkar, and his young slave mistress, Trella, who is wise beyond her years and station. The apocalyptic battle that ensues will determine which culture—that of the nomad or the villager—will prevail. Barone's characters are engaging enough, if not fully realized, and the action is fast-paced, if sometimes predictable. The combat scenes, gritty and bloody, are especially vivid. Equal parts history lesson, love story and war saga, Barone's first historical will have readers turning pages. (On sale Aug. 29)
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About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0060892447
• ISBN 13: 9780060892449
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 496