Seven escaped mental patients—including reincarnations of Genghis Khan, Cleopatra, and Alexander the Great—trudge across a nameless landscape, pursued by an omnipresent snake and haunted by their past lives’ brutal transgressions. Led by a mysterious Emperor who promises deliverance to the Holy Land, these travelers are actually pilgrims of their own fractured histories, each confronting the violent, sensual, and deeply human moments that have defined their existence.Blending eleme...

A novel from the acclaimed author of The Tiger Queens, for readers looking for “strong and determined female protagonists” (Historical Novel Society) and “a sprawling historical saga” (Renee Rosen)...We are the women who loved Alexander the Great. We were lovers and murderers, innocents and soldiers.And without us, Alexander would have been only a man.Instead he was a god.330s, B.C.E., Greece: Alexander, a handsome young warri...

"Simply gorgeous! The prose flows as smoothly as the waters of the Nile, rich in sensory detail . . . . Solomons pulls back the layers of history to show us the true Cleopatra in all of her pride and glory."—Luna McNamara, author of Psyche & Eros"Wonderful . . . . A fresh and lively take on a well-known tale."—The TimesFrom the internationally bestselling author of Fair Rosaline comes a captivating histori...

A novice assassin is on the hunt for someone killing their own in K. A. Doore's The Perfect Assassin, a breakout high fantasy beginning the Chronicles of Ghadid series.Divine justice is written in blood.Or so Amastan has been taught. As a new assassin in the Basbowen family, he's already having second thoughts about taking a life. A scarcity of contracts ends up being just what he needs.Until, unexpectedly, Amastan finds the body of a very im...

Among the great works of world literature, perhaps one of the least familiar to English readers is the Shahnameh: ThePersian Book of Kings, the national epic of Persia. This prodigious narrative, composed by the poet Ferdowsi between the years 980 and 1010, tells the story of pre- Islamic Iran, beginning in the mythic time of Creation and continuing forward to the Arab invasion in the seventh century.As a window on the world, Shahnameh belongs in the company of su...

AD 273.Obsessed by the solar religions of the east, the emperor Aurelian sets out to obtain every sacred object within his realm. But one - a mysterious rock said to channel the power of the sun god - lies beyond his reach. Warrior-priest Ilaha has captured the legendary stone and is using it to raise an army against Rome.For Imperial agent Cassius Corbulo and ex-gladiator bodyguard Indavara, stopping him constitutes their greatest challenge yet. Assisted by a squad of unde...

A double murder and a robbery threaten the tentative peace of Ancient Egypt...The third mystery to feature Paul Doherty's engaging Judge Amerotke, The Anubis Slayings is a thrilling novel of murder, intrigue and sleuthing. Perfect for fans of Christian Jacqs and Wilbur Smith.'Doherty evokes atmospherically the sounds, smells and texture of ancient Egypt. But he does not simply rely on an apparently encyclopaedic familiarity with li...

The definitive translation by Dick Davis of the great national epic of Iran—now newly revised and expanded to be the most complete English-language editionA Penguin ClassicDick Davis—“our pre-eminent translator from the Persian” (The Washington Post)—has revised and expanded his acclaimed translation of Ferdowsi’s masterpiece, adding more than 100 pages of newly translated text. Davis’s elegant combination of prose and verse allows...

The brilliant follow up to Diary Of Dorkius Maximus. When Dorkius is invited by Julius Caesar on a trip to Egypt he's in for one big adventure. In a hilarious string of events, Dorkius encounters the 13-year-old King Ptolemy (that spoilt brat) and his not-so-beautiful sister Cleopatra, whom he introduces to Caesar and thus brings about one of the greatest love stories of all time (it involves a carpet), and ultimately the defeat of the pharaoh...

Ancient Egypt, 51 B.C. Sisters Arsinoe and Cleopatra face a devastating choice: to allow Rome's army to siphon power from their ailing father, or to take matters-and the dynasty-into their own handsIt's the dawn of a new era for Egypt as Cleopatra and her brother, Ptolemy, are welcomed to the throne after their father's death. But joint rule breeds its own conflicts: can the Nile be shared? Long overlooked by his father in favor of the beguiling Cleopatra, Ptolemy is determined to p...

Alexander the Great's soldier, Lydias of Miletus, has survived the final campaigns of the king's life. He now has to deal with the chaos surrounding his death. Lydias throws his lot in with Ptolemy, one of Alexander's generals who has grabbed Egypt as his personal territory. Aided by the eunuch Bagoas, the Persian archer Artashir, and the Athenian courtesan Thais, Ptolemy and Lydias must take on all the contenders in a desperate adventure whose prize is the fate of a white city by the sea,...

In 336 B.C., Egypt lies under the yoke of Persia. But a spirit of fire has risen to blaze across the world. His name is Alexander, and he is the destined conqueror of the Persian Empire--and the king foretold of Egypt.Meriamon, daughter of the last Pharaoh, journeys out of the Two Lands to find him and bring him home. From the battlefield of Issus to the siege of Tyre, from the founding of Alexandria to the divine revelations of Siwah, Meriamon both leads and follows her divine cha...