Slaves of the Shinar [Hardcover]

Justin Allen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 19, 2007

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.

Slaves of the Shinar is the story of a land consumed by war, of a people trying to survive, and of two men in the middle of it all, redefining themselves and their futures. Set against the chaotic and bloody backdrop of the Middle East's first great war, this fantasy epic--part Homer, part Tolkein, 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.

Editorial Reviews

From 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. (July)
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From Booklist

Allen's high-quality first novel depicts a fictional war in ancient Sumer from the perspectives of wandering thief Uruk, from the jungles south of the Sahara, and Ander, an escaped slave of the Nephilim. Uruk leaves the great city Ur for Pan-Kuran, city of thieves, where he meets the king of thieves and winds up owing him a life-debt. Ander reaches Pan-Kuran just before the Nephilim army arrives. Uruk's debt keeps him in town, and Ander is determined to fly no further. Moreover, their knowledge and wits may keep the Nephilim from rolling over Pan-Kuran. The Nephilim are a historical mystery, said in Genesis to be giants descended from the sons of God and the daughters of men. Allen makes them proto-Spartans, who enslave anyone they can to work at providing their necessities, including mining the metal for their superior weapons. The plot is quite plausible, the characters are well drawn, the setting is credible, and what is known of Sumer isn't contradicted, but the pacing is a bit awkward, as in many lesser first novels. Murray, Frieda

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Overlook Hardcover (July 19, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158567916X
• ISBN-13: 978-1585679164
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #571,346 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Justin was born in Boise, Idaho in 1974. He graduated from Boise State University with a degree in philosophy, and from Columbia University with an MFA in fiction. Justin can also be found at www.facebook.com/JustinAllenauthor, and loves to hear from interesting readers.
While at Columbia, Justin was first introduced to Uruk, a prehistoric hunter from the jungles of sub-Saharan Africa, and the hero of his first novel, "Slaves of the Shinar." Nisi Shawl, in the Seattle Times, wrote the following about the book: "With a driving plot and an excellent eye for living, breathing, tactile detail, author Allen brings immediacy to this modern version of the Gilgamesh legend while keeping it in context with the rest of the not-necessarily-white world of thousands of years ago."
Building on that success, Justin wrote "Year of the Horse," an all-ages fantasy cowboy-western slated for publication in October 2009. "Year of the Horse" tells the story of sixteen-year-old Yen Tzu-lu, the child of Chinese immigrants and one of a band of treasure hunters brought together from every corner of the continent to recapture a stolen gold mine. Leading Tzu-Lu and his gang is the gunslinger Jack Straw, a figure who is as much legend as reality, as much magic as lead. Ultimately, this band of outsiders finds it must learn to live together, trust and care for one another. If they make it across a wild continent, they'll be rich; if they don't, they'll surely be dead.
Justin is also an active dancer, having performed with such companies as Dances Patrelle, Eidolon Ballet, and Idaho Dance Theatre. In 2009, his work in writing and dance came together in the form of a new ballet, "Murder at the Masque: The Casebook of Edgar Allan Poe," with choreography by Francis Patrelle, music by Patrick Soluri, and all based upon an original story by Justin Allen.
He is roughly six feet tall, weighs somewhere around 185 pounds (often more, to his chagrin), has dark-brown hair and eyes, and suffers from near-sightedness, motion-sickness, and a tendency to get angry at airport personnel. His wife, Day Mitchell, a licensed master social worker, is trying to help him overcome this last item, but finds the going hard.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Far beyond genre, August 25, 2007

By 

K. Pirnie (Montgomery, Alabama) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Slaves of the Shinar (Hardcover)

Justin Allen's first novel bears the same relation to fantasy as Robert Heinlein's books do to science fiction. While there's plenty of adventure and imagination to satisfy fantasy lovers, the prose, plotting and theme development add depth comparable to any literary fiction. Unlike many a popular genre novel, Allen's book is devoid of cliches. Every simile and metaphor adds relevant color and meaning to the story. A dust cloud "black as barley smut" tells us about agriculture in Allen's imginary world. Darkness falling like "a sheet of sackcloth" reminds us that death is near. Allen masterfully controls allusion as well. The slums of his city are called simply "dust," the dust from which the city had come before "to dust it would return."

Allen's writing reveals a sensibility far beyond his skill with words. This young American writer knows somehow that camp followers "tended wounds no priest could ever reach." His book can be read as an epic battle between good and evil, and happily the good prevails. But Allen's conclusion, like every page of his book, is never that simple. Shortly before dying in the final battle, one of the heroes warns us not to oversimplify: "No one deserves anything," he says. "Whenever possible, we can try to be good neighbors and friends--good fathers and mothers. Of all things, these are the most important." This despite the fact that "Nothing in this world is fair."

"Slaves of the Shinar" offers values to live by. It's rich enough for readers to find parallels with contemporary history among the allusions to ancient myth. Read it.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Adventure and characters you'll love, August 6, 2007

By 

Don Needham "Adventurer" (ca) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Slaves of the Shinar (Hardcover)

This is a great first effort. I'm usually pretty leary of trying new authors but was very glad I picked up this one. There is a touch of history, a touch of fantasy, a smattering of war and battle and blood. Most importantly though are the vivid characterizations; people you'll care about and a dog you'll love. I strongly incourage readers of Gemmel and Cromwell to give this a try. I found it in the new releases area of Sci-fi but it does not really conform to that genre. It's a tale of heroes and anti-heroes. I was hoping it would be the first in a series - maybe it still will be. You'll hope for the same.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars New myths from old bottles, December 18, 2007

By 

A Reader (Philadelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Slaves of the Shinar (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed this book. In this book Justin Allen tells the story behind many famous myths. It can be read as a sort of back-story to the Gilgamesh story, for example. What he does is take old stories and provides "realistic" back-stories for them in a way that is very well thought out and original. In some ways it reminds of me how Neil Gaiman used mythical characters in many of his stories, in particular the Sandman books, and wrote new stories for them in a way that both built on earlier myths and also deepened them and expanded them. Allen does much the same thing here for the ancient middle-east, building stories that will serve as back-ground for Gilgamesh and the bible stories, among others. This is a hard task but he does it well. He also reminded me of Gaiman to some degree with his great attention to detail in the story and his desire to get the details of his setting and characters right but without becoming such a slave to background that a new and original story cannot be told. This is one of the real strengths of the book. I also enjoyed very much the pacing of the book, the way that it built up tension and moved me through the story. This made the book a very enjoyable read.

The book does have a few drawbacks. First, it attempts something very unusual in that it sits on the border of fantasy and historical fiction. It is not quite in either genre, not being "fantastical" in the sense of having magical or mythical beings (people worship gods but they never appear, for example) though not quite being historical fiction since it does not purport to tell the true story of any known person. And yet, the story is fantastic in that it tells a true story that never happened, and historical in that it fits well into what we know (little though that is) of the actual time. Allen pulls this off as well as we might hope a first-time novelist to do, but still sometimes the story pulls at the bounds of genre in a way that is a bit uncomfortable. This is a minor flaw and one I expect Allen will over-come as he writes more. Secondly, the copy-editing of the book is poor. This is obviously not Allen's fault though it sometimes detracts from the experience. I hope that Overlook will correct this for the paperback edition and for any future works of Allen's it might publish as it was sad to see an otherwise carefully worked out book marred in this way. These small flaws keep me from giving the review 5 stars, as I otherwise would. (I would give it 4 and 1/2 if that were possible on amazon.)

Over all I highly recommend this book. It is likely to appeal to anyone who enjoys fantasy or historical fiction and perhaps especially to readers who enjoy such works as Gaiman's Sandman books and LeGuin's Earthsea books.