Sam Barone Dawn of Empire

Dawn of Empire

Sam Barone

Morrow, Sep 2006, $25.95

ISBN 0060892447

In 2500 BC in Mesopotamia, a gigantic framing community Orak is formed; two thousand people reside there; staying in one place, which threatens the nomadic lifestyle of most of the tribes, who have forever hunted or gathered their sustenance by wandering the Fertile Crescent.

Alur Meriki warrior chieftain Thutmose-sin declares to his brutal pillaging followers that this village on the Tigris must be destroyed as it imposes on their lifestyle by defying the natural order. He expects these "dirt-eater" farmers to flee from his mighty tribe of warriors as they have always done when his raiders arrive. Instead village leader Nicar selects former barbaric warrior Eskkar to lead the defense. With the help of his enslaved mistress Trella, he starts with a wall as he rallies the citizens of Orak to band together to fight for their survival.

This terrific Early Bronze Age historical occurs at a pivotal moment in which lifestyles are at stake as a nomadic warrior tribe battles with the residents of the first established settlement for supremacy. A romantic subplot between Trella and Eskkar enhance the exciting plot, but it is the growing anticipation of the fight that grips the audience. Sam Barone provides a powerful insightful look at two cultures at war during the middle of the third millennium BC with the winner goes the future while the loser becomes a footnote.

Harriet Klausner