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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Biographical Novel of the great Hittite King, Suppiluliumas,
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This review is from: I the Sun (Paperback)
I've always been interested in the Hittites but really, there's very little available other than a very few textbooks on the subject. For those who know nothing about the Hittites, this is a really really really (you get the idea) good historical novel that manages to get you well and truely under the skin of Suppiluliumas ("Pure Spring"), King of Hatti and gives you a good in depth exposure to Hittite culture and the Hittite people while at the same time giving you a good history lesson. As the previous reviewer has noted, the book is liberally laced with quotes from Suppiluliumas' own Annals. Every character in the novel bar one is based on real people who are historically documented (there are a lot of Hittite clay tablets that have survived) - fascinating in itself, and the author includes a short bibilography at the end.In all honesty, this is one of the best historical novels I've read and I wish I'd come across it sooner, I'd rate it up there with Mary Renault's Alexander Trilogy (Fire from Heaven, The Persian Boy and Funeral Games), Wallace Breem's Eagle in the Snow or Rosemary Sutcliff's Sword at Sunset as far as historical novels go. For those more or less unaware of the Hittites, they were an Indo-Aryan people who set up a kingdom centered at Hattusa on the Central Anatolian plateau around the 18th century BC. The Hittite empire reached its height around the 14th century BC, encompassing a large part of Anatolia, north-western Syria about as far south as the mouth of the Litani River (a territory known as Amqu), and eastward into upper Mesopotamia. Under Suppiluliumas and his immediate successor, the Empire was extended to most of Anatolia and parts of Syria and Canaan, so that by 1300 BC the Hittites were bordering on the Egyptian sphere of influence. After approx. 1180 BC, the empire disintegrated into several independent "Neo-Hittite" city-states, some surviving until as late as the 8th century BC. Although established in the Bronze Age, the Hittites were forerunners of the Iron Age, developing the manufacture of iron artifacts from as early as the 14th century BC. Recent excavations have discovered evidence of iron tool production dating back at least as far as the 20th century BC. Hittite weapons were generally made from bronze though as iron was rare and precious. The Hittites were famous for their skill in building and using chariots, a skill which gave them a military advantage. In fact, the first battle recorded in any real detail is the great chariot battle of Kadesh (read (Qadesh 1300 BC: Clash of the Warrior Kings (Osprey Military Campaign Series)), fought between the Hittities (commanded by the grandson of the subject of this book, Suppiluliumas, and the Eqyptians in 1274 BC. For more light reading on this subject for the casual reader, I'd recommend the following: Hittite Warrior Hittite Fortifications c.1650-700 BC (Fortress) Bronze Age War Chariots (New Vanguard) For other works of fiction set in Hatti, you might like to try the following The Hittite (the main character is a Hittite, but the real story is about the Fall of Troy using an outsider to give a different viewpoint) Hittite Must Die by Moshe Shamir Hittite Warrior (Living History Library) The Hittite by Noel Gerson - An age of violent splendor... sensual paganism... barbaric cruelty...At the head of the onrushing Hittite legions was Lord Marduk. He was young, he had great wealth, high rank and his wife, Arinna was the most beautiful woman in the empire, but her warped passions drove him to seek another woman's arms... OK, you get the idea, and the cover picture looks more Roman than Hittite to me. It's trash, and quite laughable as far as historical accuracy goes..... Like I said, "I, the Sun" is the best fictional treatment of the Hittites you're going to find. Read and enjoy. Personally, I didn't put it down until I'd finished it. And then I reread it.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Get inside the mind of the Hittite King who changed history,
By polemarch "lokhos" (USA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: I the Sun (Paperback)
'Suppil-uli-umas' is how you say it. The subject of this biographical novel is Suppiluliumas II of Hatti, the king to whom Tutankhamen's widow wrote when her husband was murdered, asking him to send her a son to be her husband because she wouldn't marry one of her subjects. The book is liberally laced with quotes from Suppiluliumas II's own Annals. He opened by saying, "I, the Sun, Great King, King of Hatti, Favorite of the Storm God, the Valiant." Who wouldn't want to read the first-person biographical novel of that man? His voice rings loud throughout this novel. Published as an original paperback, but never mind that: this is a book worth having, and keeping. The pageantry of Amarna under the reign of Egyptian pharaoh Akhnaten, the Heretic, and his wife Nefertiti; the politics and battles that tore the region and the ruling families apart; the internecine warfare, treachery and tragedy: they're all there. But this is, best of all, the personal account of a great warrior-king who comes to life in these pages, in every battle and every love affair. The decisions of this man changed history; his grandson fought Rameses II at the Battle of Kadesh. Read the book and find out why and how history unfolded as it did in that storied time. Exhaustively researched and correct in every detail of Hittite culture.
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