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...

Perfect for fans of Conn Iggulden, Wilbur Smith and Robert Harris, this is vivid and fascinating historical murder mystery set in Ancient Egypt from bestselling author Nick Drake."Full of surprises, twists and turns, this is a glorious, riveting historical thriller" -- TESS GERRITSEN"Rahotep, like C. J, Sansom's Shardlake, is a detective at the very heart of his historical era" -- DAILY EXPRESS

An Archias the Exile-Hunter short storyArchias, struggling actor, quick on his feet and even faster with his words, is at the end of his luck. Having escaped to Rhosos, on the edge of Macedon's territory, to evade the threat of the debt collectors, he has been prevented from going any further by the arrival of Alexander the Great's mighty army. And with it, those very same debt collectors.So when the chance is given to him to earn enough money to be rid of ...

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...

It's the dawning of a new era for Alexandria and Cleopatra and her younger brother, Ptolemy are established on the throne. Long overlooked by his father in favor of his beguiling sister, eleven-year-old Ptolemy is desperate to assert himself as a man and as a king. But he and his advisors are no match for Queen Cleopatra, who's quick to establish her primacy throughout the land, from Alexandria to Upper Egypt.When, a year later, Cleopatra alienates Rome's remaining legions and flee...