The Blood Star

I can't remember how many years it's been that I have read a book, 664 pages, cover to cover, hardly coming up for air. The author, Nicholas Guild, has stood aside, let his story flow, and you are swept along, grateful to be a participant in Tiglath Ashur's epic journeys in ancient Assyria, Egypt, and beyond.. It made me go to the internet to research names that I hadn't heard since High School: Sennacherib, Ashurbanipal, Nineveh, just to retain the flavor of the book a little longer. I would buy this book to place as a gem on the shelf among my very few all-time favorites. The publishers are blind not to reissue this book.

Like the other reader before me, I first came across these books in my local library (many many years ago in Jr. High) and they blew me away. I've always been a fan of historical fiction and these books are among my all time favorite. I don't know if they ever gained much popularity or critical acclaim and the fact that they are now both out of print lends me to believe that they probably didn't do so well when they came out in the 80's... but nevertheless, I hold them in the highest regard and I encourage any lover of historical fiction to read them. I just recently bought the Assyrian again, but Bloodstar is a little steep for me. Guess I'll hunt a copy down at a public library and keep paying the late charges :P

I can do nothing but gush and rave about this book! Where has this author gone, and will there be more? Nicholas Guild has an amazing mastery of storytelling and language, as in this sequel to the wonderful novel, The Assyrian, he brings to life an ancient and admirable hero in the land of Assyria, about 700 B.C. Tiglath Ashur, a prince who should have been king, detours through life at the whim and design of the god Ashur. Tiglath is noble, brave, wise, a disciplined commander of armies who can mete destruction or mercy as justice requires. His journey through life takes him to the heights of victory, and to the depths of banishment. He always looks to the god and his signs to guide him as he escapes assassins and takes deadly treks through scorching desert, labyrinthine swamps, and squares off with enemies who set traps for him in unexpected places. Tiglath has fascinating companions, too: Kephalos, his loyal and cunning servant; Enkidu, his mute giant of a bodyguard, and Selana, his feisty Greek wife. Not only does the plot of this book take you on a great ride of adventure and human emotion, but it is told eloquently, in language with rich metaphors and detail. Of course I had to find out more information about this historical period of Assyria, around the time of Tiglath's father, King Sennacherib. What I found online was sketchy compared to the novel, but with that skeleton of historical records, the author has built an incredibly imaginative and satisfying story, about 1400 pages between the two books. I greatly enjoyed the first: The Assyrian, but Blood Star was even better, and to cap it off, it ended perfectly.

I bought The Assyrian while I was living in Panama. Back then, I was a 17 year-old guy,with my head full of dreams of greatness and ambition. I read it and inmediately felt myself identified with Tiglath; I thought I was someone powerful, lucky and admired by women. I read it again a couple of years later. I felt the character grew up with me in responsability, awareness, etc. It was OK again, yet different. Last summer, I was on a bookstore just checking the latest History textbooks(I'm a History student), when a flashy cover appeared to me: The blood star.I picked it up and surprisingly it was the sequal to my all time favorite novel.As I was on vacatios i "devoured" it in 2 nights. I couln't stop!! I thik it's better than The Assyrian. I read it as a25 year old man, and I felt the same thing: I've been growing up with the character. I introduced this masterpieces to all my family, including my fiancee's, and they love it. Thanks Nicholas for also showing me the right career (historian, after a couple of years studying Law), and thank you for those dreams come true.

WOW, WHAT A BOOK, THE SEQUAL IS BETTER THAN THE FIRST BOOK THE ASSRYIAN, very seldom have I read any sequal that is better than the first book. I can't give Nicholas Guild enough praise for the detail and story lines that fill this book. I was carried away into the story. I found myself participating in all the events. It was as if I were living out my part in these HISTORIC EVENTS. I hated finishing the book, and decided to start with the Assyrian and read both books through again. SOME WHERE THERE MUST BE A MOVIE MAGNET WHO WOULD LIKE TO PUT TOGETHER A MOVIE that would put BEN HUR, EL CID, SPARTICUS, QUO VADIS AND OTHER GREAT MOVIES TO SHAME. Do the world a favor, pick up the rights to these two books and make a movie. Where are you Kirk Douglas?? Nicholas Guild, get back to your element. Your other novels don't even hold a candle to the Assyrian and Blood Star. Bring us other classic novels based on the classic historical periods of the past. Thank you for these two wonderful books.