A love story in Mesopotamia at the dawn of civilization between a barbarian and a slave who will rise to become the saviors of their village. The author captures your attention through skillful descriptions of the time before Christ and the human relationships that were as valid then as they are today. (Beate) ( )

A plausible historical novel, even though events and characters are a little too apt to have everything they attempt turn out perfectly. A small town needs help to prevent the nomadic, warrior tribe from burning the city down again. They ask an exiled warrior to take charge and soon Eskkar has developed leadership skills he didn’t know he had and is getting a wall built and training the citizens to defend their town. Lots of action, killings, and some torture. The citizens win but the nomads vow to return—in the next book. ( )

Dawn of Empire presents one possible story explaining the development of walled cities. There is lots of actions, lots of fighting and political scheming, some brutal torture. Eskkar—a barbarian driven from his tribe—is asked by the Noble Families of Orak to figure out a way to defend their village, They were burned out 10 years before and do not want this disaster repeated. To sweeten the deal they give Eskkar the slave, Trella—a very bright 14 year old girl. Eskkar and Trella—soon to become husband and wife—make a great team. In six months they design and implement a way to defend the city. Change is always hard and leads to splinter groups who weaken the defense effort. The author provides lots of action, killing, political scheming, and some brutal torture. In the end the city folk hold off the invading barbarians. But—the barbarians promise to return. Trella and Eskkar will have more to do especially since they want to provide for their son—Sargon. Look for a sequel. The only weakness—Trella and Eskkar win too success almost too easily. ( )

For years barbarian tribes have harassed the villagers and farmers in what we know as Mesopotamia, killing, slaving and destroying settlements periodically. However, times are changing and now a young warrior, Eskkar, is given the task to fight back.

From this setting, the book tells three intertwining stories of building the first walls and defenses around the town later known as Akkad, the love growing between Eskkar and his newly acquired slave and also his social advancement.

At parts the story is a bit naive and predictable and frankly, I'm not sure I like the fact that the main characters are inventing just about everything invented in this historical era (which reminds me strongly of Jean Auel). However, at times the historical background - and for some reason especially building the walls - were able to capture my attention, and as a whole, the book was fairly entertaining. I think there will be a sequel, so I guess I'll have to look out for that. ( )