The dragon of the Ishtar gate

I will try to keep this short and factual, despite my enthusiasm for a book I have admired for over thirty years. This is one of a series of loosely-linked historical novels set mainly on the margins of the classical world (from India to the interior and coasts of Africa), and covering the period from the reign of Xerxes to late Hellenistic times. (Think in terms of the Battle of Salamis to the rise of Rome). They all share de Camp's meticulous detail, plausible characterization, and sense of the comic side of human nature. Readers familiar with de Camp as Robert E, Howard's posthumous editor and collaborator will find in them the same mix of exotic adventure and (to most of the participants) magic, but in de Camp's own urbane and quietly erudite voice. Those already familiar with his own fantasy and science fiction writing will not be surprised to see his characteristic virtues at work in a different genre. This, my favorite, concerns a journey from the heart of the Persian Empire to the sources of the Nile, in pursuit of an imaginary beast. A giant Persian nobleman, in serious trouble as a result of innocent involvement in a (real) court scandal, is sent off on a quest with his Greek tutor as advisor. They take turns playing Sancho to the other's Don Quixote, as their personal traits prove helpful or dangerous in changing circumstance. Along the way they acquire and lose companions, stumble into and out of trouble, and provide the reader a tour of the ancient world from western Asia to central Africa. The suggestions for the story came from the presence of a now-rare African animal on a Persian royal monument and an archaeologist's speculation on a possible priestly fraud in ancient Babylon. (The latter reflects the story of "Bel and the Dragon" in the Greek version of the Book of Daniel, found in the apocrypha of Protestant Bibles, and appended to Daniel in Catholic editions). Those interested in this background should seek out "Lands Beyond," by L. Sprague de Camp and Willy Ley (originally 1951). (It should be pointed out that the word "sirrush" in both books is now generally read as "mushhush"). Some of the Asian material is also covered in de Camp's "Great Cities of the Ancient World" (originally 1972). The African scenes are based on a combination of de Camp's travels and the best information available when he was writing. Those readers familiar with early European accounts will not need de Camp's acknowledgment of sources to spot the origin of several scenes. Those who are familiar with current studies of ancient Africa should bear in mind that no author, no matter how careful, can be expected to be in advance of the state of knowledge. (The solution to the "what is the most dangerous beast in Africa?" will now be apparent to far more readers than when the expedition's pygmy guide tried to answer it.) De Camp returned to Africa in his 1969 historical novel "The Golden Wind," set in Hellenistic times, this time from the point of view

I read and loved L. Sprague de Camp's "Honorable Barbarian", so when I saw this book cheap at a flea market, I thought I'd buy it. It took me a while to get around to reading it because I enjoy mainly the setting of fantasy and medieval books, and don't like books as much which are set in other times, including the reign of Xerxes. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the book - it had the same sort of honorable, getting-into-trouble main character I had grown to love in "Honorable Barbarian" and others, and the same great humor. This book is one of those ones that will have you laughing hysterically while everyone around you stares. It is also one of those ones that you start reading and cannot stop. This is a must-read for de Camp fans and those that just enjoy a good laugh. This is also one of those books that I just happened to pick up at a flea market while others are searching frantically for a copy. I hope others find a copy - although hopefully not a tattered 60's edition! Happy reading.

When Xerxes, the Persian King of Kings, fearing the onset of decrepitude and old age, turns to his personal alchemist and sorcerer Ostanas, for a magical solution, the game (as Holmes used to say) is afoot. Reprieved from an untimely death (decreed for his unknowing complicity in the rape of a young noble woman), Bessas of Zariaspa (a big hulking, mother-loving, heroic lug, formerly of the King's own troops) is saved at the eleventh hour from an untimely seat on the royal stake and charged with two tasks: bring back to Xerxes the ear of a king; and find and capture a live dragon (said to dwell at the headwaters of the Nile, deep in unknown Africa). His companion on this mission is to be his former Greek tutor, Myron of Miletos, who just happens to also be the man who brought Bessas to the attention of the King, in time to save the big warrior's life. What neither of these adventurers knows, however, is that the King's sorcerer needs a third item as well: the heart of a hero, which presumably will be readily available -- once Bessas returns from his labors with the two items he has been sent to retrieve. Myron, a simple scholar with philosophical pretensions, sees their excursion as an opportunity to explore the world and create some grand theory out of the knowledge he garners, to make a name for himself among the Greek philosophers back home. Bessas, on the other hand, has other concerns since Xerxes has placed his mother in protective custody -- as a guarantor of the hero's ultimate return. These two set out on a fascinating journey which takes them through many of the lands of the old Persian Empire. In the process, they pick up a tubby local boy whose chief claim to fame seems to be his voracious sexual appetite, a Syrian mystic of dubious talents and loyalties, and a Judean of Philistine ancestry with the skills of a metal smith. Fleeing numerous attacks on their persons by the minions of the raped girl's family (who begrudge the King's decision to free Bessas), this motley company finds its way to Egypt. There they become involved in a little grave robbing, before heading farther south to the barbarous country of Kush, where the local ruler adds a further task to their assignments as a fee for letting them pass deeper into the African interior. Having linked up with a bandit Arab clan, headed by an old shaykh and his clever and beautiful daughter, the whole gang proceeds south along the Nile into "pestilential plains," the abode of unfamiliar and savage peoples. How the tale ends up is worth the read, as is the fascinating protrayal of this time and its inhabitants. Suffice it to say they have a number of rather close encounters, not least of which with a kingdom of local cannibals, and generally squeak by -- though not without a good deal of bloodshed and mayhem. The tale is not the usual sword and sorcery fare (though its author was known for writing that stuff) since, while there is a great deal of talk about wizards and magic, ther