When I first read the synopsis on this one I was excited to dive in. Despite the author's warning of religious sensitivity issues, that had nothing to do with my dislike for this one.

I enjoy historical fiction and the setting of this book had me intrigued BUT the delivery of said story fell flat. I assume the rapes, violence, and sex scenes that take place are meant to somehow shock and make you uncomfortable. I also assume the whole 'be careful of the way religion is mentioned in the story' is also supposed to do the same.

Yes, to be sure, it was a tad shocking, then just boring and then over the top. I had the HARDEST time staying awake to even read this one. The story could have been cut by half and would probably still be too long. It's inundated with characters and dialogue that, to me, don't matter to the story itself and was seriously distracting. I had such high hopes for a well rounded historical fiction on this period in history and ended up sorely disappointed.

I appreciate NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Any opinions expressed herein are mine and mine alone.

I feel it’s a bit unfair to give this book a bad review, the writing style is intriguing and to be fair the author did give a warning in the introduction that this book might not be everyone’s cup of tea. Unfortunately I fell under that category. I am sure there are many people that would enjoy this book... this one just wasn’t for me I think.

The premise was good. The premise was exciting and intriguing. But... The delivery failed on all levels.
The story was too long, way too long. It took twists and turns, steps eighter side, stirred reader each and every way. Also, too much details, too much talking about acting. There were too much violence.
I understand that we are talking ancient times and way before political correctness and #MeToo movement. However, what was author aming for? Shocking, disgusting reader? He failed to achieve even that.
For the lover of history and ancient myths, this book was a disappointment. Author attitude in preface, afterword and in comments did not help. As one of the reviewers already mentioned, author's 'better-than-you' attitude failed to attract reader's attention and respect.
I am not strong believer but I respect religions and faith. What was author hoping to achieve opening the story with a very crude re-telling of the original religious myth? I have absolutely no idea.
Was author trying to show how weak humans are? How suseptible they are to evil? Was author trying to show the reader that he (author) is above religion, above humans, above law and order? I have absolutely no idea.
The book left me confused, disappointed and sorry for wasted time.

I contacted net galley but I didn't get a reply. I said I want to withdraw my request as I read the trigger warnings.
I'm sorry
Aanya

This is difficult because I don't like giving poor feedback. The premise intrigued me and although there was a warning that people strong in their faith might not want to read it, what should also have been mentioned was the amount of sex, sexual violence, and sadism in the content. Perhaps the ending was fabulous, but I don't know because I was unable to finish the book.
Two stars for a clever premise but the story was completely overshadowed by the above.

‘And that’s how it all started …’

Mesopotamia, 2300 BC.

The novel opens with Sargon, revelling in a casual banquet days before he is to be crowned king of kings. The court jester, Gaga, recites a song (a Sumerian version of Genesis) which the priest En-shakush, denounces as blasphemy. Sargon’s guard, Naplanam, must choose whether the jester or the priest dies.

What follows is a complex epic tale of bloodshed, conflict, rape, romance, sacrifice, terror, tragedy, treason, and violence. It is also sexually explicit and, for some readers, will be religiously controversial.

Is it worth reading?

I have mixed feelings. There are several different characters, and I found their stories interesting. I kept reading, wanting to find out what might happen next – cheering some characters on, while wishing others would receive their comeuppance.

And, in this particular cradle of civilisation, the author focusses on religious beliefs and systems which some may find disturbing. There are tales from the Epic of Gilgamesh and echoes from other religious stories: I recognise some and am aware of others.

Is it worth reading? If you enjoy historical fiction and can stand the violence, then you may find it intriguing. The author provides historical notes and comments at the end of the novel. Me, I’d like to know the name of the author behind the pseudonym.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Note: Received ARC from NetGalley

Firstly, let me start off by saying that I loved the book despite it being very long, it’s almost too long.

Each chapter focus on an individual character and often they don’t appear again until many chapters later where the characters paths cross – I actually loved this style and each character was unique enough that you don’t forget who is who.

The characters array was wide and included teenagers, kids, parents, soldiers, priests and nobles. Explains why its so long!

While I was reading I felt myself being transported to the 2300BC time and seeing what the people at the time would go through and what their view of their confined world was. The book had a strong focus on the religious system and their beliefs at the time and you can see how ridiculous their corresponding behaviour was – is it really so different now? I guess thats the point that the author was trying to make.

Some chapters are very touching and others are very gruesome either from violence or rape. This is not a book for everyone but it will keep you engaged especially if you love reading about religion and history.

I rate it 4 stars based on the enjoyment I had while reading the book - it might not be the most crisp writing style or the most thrilling book but I enjoyed it and it captivated me until the end. It made me think, it made me research historical characters and places and it made me talk about the book with friends.

Give it a go!

Oh la la, non merci. C'est à peine un roman, une espèce de traité sur les religions. C'est écrit sans grâce, sans talent, c'est long comme l'éternité. J'ai été incapable de le terminer.

I was really interested in this book, as I am from Anatolia, and a bit familiar with the Mesopotamian history.

Pros:
1. The book is not boring by any means, it keeps the reader engaged.
2. Even though there are multiple perspectives, the characters are fairly easy to distinguish from each other, they all have a unique voice.
3. I enjoyed the world building and the historical basis of the story. I also enjoyed reading about the historical facts at the end of the book.

Cons:
1. I felt uncomfortable reading this book. I imagine this is what the author was aiming for, but instead of making me question my beliefs. everything came off as very "edgy".
2. There were far too many rape scenes. be it thinking about rape or actual rape. I really do not think it was to convey to the reader that an old man was thinking about wanting to `fill every orifice in the young princess's body with his semen". I get that the characters are supposed to be unlikable and that their moral values are different than us, but this style of writing came off as misogynistic.
3. In the forward and afterword of the book. the author has a very condescending and "better-thank-you" attitude. I do not think it is necessary for me to read about what religion the author believes in and how they think religious values are getting corrupted but they're still a Christian damn it and there's nothing you can do about it. I literally do not care. This revelation does not add anything to the story itself.
4. I did not like the reason the way the author decided to reveal why they changed some characters' names. Perhaps it is too hard for them to pronounce, but it really came of as if they're trying to dumb down the character's names because they cannot be bothered to learn how to read them.
5. Perhaps this is a nitpick, but in the afterword part of the book, the author mentions how Abraham and Isaac are only referred in the old testament but this is not true. The story is clearly recited in the Qu'ran as well.

Maybe if I were a 15 year old teenager with a "I'm so cool and all the religions are dumb, suck on that!!" attitude, I would have liked this book more. If you want some more edge in your life go ahead and pick up this book, but be aware that undertaking this huge book does not come off with a great payoff.

This ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

By the Gods of Babylon has an interesting premise, being a work of historical fiction set during 2300 BC in Mesopotamia. The author even takes his pen name from the supposed compiler of the Epic of Gilgamesh, a story touched upon within this one. The tale centers around the coronation of Sargon, but includes a whole slew of characters, most of whom are extraneous, tied in to pull the tale along.

Unfortunately for this novel, an interesting premise does not a good story make. I tried to like this one, but could not find many redeeming qualities. It was a read of epic proportions in terms of its actual length. It was WAY too long to the point that it could have had about 75% cut out. There were too many characters that served no purpose, the dialogue was unbearable both in its content and its length, and much of the story overall just felt unnecessary. This book really could have benefited from a more assertive and attentive editor.

It takes a long while to get started and despite this, never actually pulls the reader in. I would venture to say it is nearly impossible to be excited by these characters, as flat and dull as they are. Characters aside, the actual events of the novel are not of any interest either due to the way in which they are written. The writing is soulless with far too much time spent on banal dialogue, lengthy story-telling by the characters, and trivial events that do not serve to advance the overall plot in a meaningful way. This is without even mentioning the gratuitous sex scenes that are written in the most un-sexy, juvenile manner to the point that it is laughable.

While I appreciate the opportunity to have read it for free, I unfortunately cannot find a reason to praise this novel or recommend it to others.

I got By the Gods of Babylon by Sin Leqi Unninni for a fair and honest review

Trigger warnings for, violence and sex

By the Gods of Babylon, takes the reader back to Mesopotamia, around the year 3200BC, a few days before Sargon is to become king, and his Jester tells a story of Genesis, Sumerian style. The high priest present claims this is blasphemes, which leads to a death the will affect his reign.

These leads to events spiraling out of control, into a series of bloody events and city states rebelling against his rule, in addition to a number of his close allies.

In addition to this political intrigue by unsavory characters, who add to the problems.

By the Gods of Babylon, is told through a number of multiple perspectives which gives the reader a wide range of perspective. However the writer does a good make it very easy for you the reader, to tell the difference as it swaps form one perspective to the other.

The individuals in this book while very easily distinguished, from each other, in the writing, there is the minimum of individual development of them in the book, however there is enough of a change in them as the story advances not to distract from the book.

By the Gods of Babylon, is not one of those books that grabs you immediately at the start, and I would say it may have even taken about an hour of reading to start to make sense of the book, but has the story took about 17 hours to read and by the end I was drawn in by the end this is a minor niggle.

Another aspect of the story is the way that religion forms a major part of the story, both the religion, both the main one of the state and how the king becomes the gods representatives on earth and the stories and customs and the start of a religion with just one God.

This was a really good book that reminded me of I Claudius, set in ancient Babylon, with the poetical intrigue and sex and violence in the the book. So If this is the style of book you like or Historical fiction set in the ancient world rather than world war II then Sin Leqi Unninni’s book, By the Gods of Babylon is the boo for you.