It is 526 B.C. and the empire of the Pharaohs is dying, crushed by the weight of its own antiquity. Decay riddles its cities, infects its aristocracy, and weakens its armies. While across the expanse of Sinai, like jackals drawn to carrion, the forces of the King of Persia watch and wait. Leading the fight to preserve the soul of Egypt is Hasdrabal Barca, Pharaoh’s deadliest killer. Possessed of a rage few men can fathom and fewer can withstand, Barca struggles each day to preserve the last sliver of his humanity. But, when one of Egypt’s most celebrated generals, a Greek mercenary called Phanes, defects to the Persians, it triggers a savage war that will tax Barca’s skills, and his humanity, to the limit. From the political wasteland of Palestine, to the searing deserts east of the Nile, to the streets of ancient Memphis, Barca and Phanes play a desperate game of cat-and-mouse — a game culminating in the bloodiest battle of Egypt’s history. Caught in the midst of this violence is Jauharah, a slave in the House of Life. She is Arabian, dark-haired and proud — a healer with gifts her blood, her station, and her gender overshadow. Though her hands tend to Barca’s countless wounds, it is her spirit that heals and changes him. Once a fearsome demigod of war, Hasdrabal Barca becomes human again. A man now motivated as much by love as anger. Nevertheless honor and duty have bound Barca to the fate of Egypt. A final conflict remains, a reckoning set to unfold in the dusty hills east of Pelusium. There, over the dead of two nations, Hasdrabal Barca will face the same choice as the heroes of old: Death and eternal fame or obscurity and long life.
"Scott Oden was born in Columbus, Indiana, in 1967. The youngest of five, he was raised in rural North Alabama, near Huntsville, where he still resides. Scott's fascination with Egypt and the ancient world began in 1976, when his third-grade teacher showed the class slides from the traveling Tutankhamen exhibit. He studied history and English at Calhoun College and the University of Alabama before pursuing the usual variety of odd jobs--from delivering pizza to working in the bindery of a printing company to clerking at a video store. Men of Bronze is his first novel."
That's me in less than a hundred words. It's pretty concise, and it covers all the basics. But, it doesn't say anything, does it? Since you've been kind enough to visit my website, and hopefully to read one of my books, I feel I should tell you something more . . .
Did you know that, if you write a book set in the ancient world, people for whatever reason assume you're some kind of genius? The most common refrain I hear is this: "All that research! I don't know how you do it!" That skews the meaning of 'genius', if you ask me. An interest in Antiquity is no different from any other hobby or passion. The ability to breakdown and rebuild a carburetor appears as arcane to my eyes as a passion for recalling what happened in Egypt in 525 BCE might seem to others. We could argue which is the more useful skill . . .
I'm often asked why I write. The answer is simple, really. I write because I love to read. Nothing surpasses that feeling you get when you go into a bookstore and find that perfect piece of literature. Not technically perfect, mind you. But that one book that speaks to you, that tugs at your soul and draws you in with promises of warmth, love, adventure, whatever your heart's desire. Then, as you come to the end, you realize the author has kept those promises he made you. It's that connection I strive for in my own books.
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