I read this more or less at the end of a temporary reading list about ancient Mesopotamian and related cultures. My criticism therefore focuses primarily on the historical representation, rather than on the story or the literary quality. And that also explains why this became a turnoff for me. The story is set in the Hittite Empire (present day Anatolia in Turkey) around 1300 BCE. Doherty immediately starts with a huge historical mistake: on a map with the great powers of that time also Greece is represented (the Greeks never were a nation, and as a more or less homogenic ethnic unity they didn’t exist in 1300 BCE). In the story itself, a Trojan king is staged, an Doherty suggests – oh so predictably – that he might get into trouble with the Greeks. And a few moments later, at a ceremony in the Hittite capital, Sumerian is actually spoken, a language that by that time had been dead for almost 700 years. That was the last straw for me. I didn’t finish this. Moral of the story: if you want to, feel free to enjoy the story, but this novel really not is historically correct. ( )

Four sons. One throne. A world on the precipice.

1315 BC: Tensions soar between the great powers of the Late Bronze Age. The Hittites stand toe-to-toe with Egypt, Assyria and Mycenaean Ahhiyawa, and war seems inevitable. More, the fierce Kaskan tribes – age-old enemies of the Hittites – amass at the northern borders.

When Prince Hattu is born, it should be a rare joyous moment for all the Hittite people. But when the Goddess Ishtar comes to King Mursili in a dream, she warns that the boy is no blessing, telling of a dark future where he will stain Mursili’s throne with blood and bring destruction upon the world.

Thus, Hattu endures a solitary boyhood in the shadow of his siblings, spurned by his father and shunned by the Hittite people. But when the Kaskans invade, Hattu is drawn into the fray. It is a savage journey in which he strives to show his worth and valour. Yet with his every step, the shadow of Ishtar’s prophecy darkens…

Praise for Empires of Bronze: Son of Ishtar:
"A meticulously researched and vivid reimagining of an almost forgotten civilisation" - Douglas Jackson, bestselling author of the celebrated Gaius Valerius Verrens series
"Vivid, immersive...wondrous!" - SJA Turney, bestselling author of Marius' Mules and The Damned Emperors.
"An action-packed epic" - Matthew Harffy, bestselling author of the acclaimed Bernicia Chronicles.

About the Hittites & the Bronze Age:
Over three thousand years ago, before iron had been tamed, before Rome had risen, before the ashes from which Classical Greece would emerge had even been scattered, the world was forged in bronze. It was an age when Great Kings ruled, when vast armies clashed for glory, riches and the favour of their strange gods.
Until the late 19th century, historians thought that they had identified the major powers who held sway in the last stretch of the Bronze Age: Egypt, Assyria… Ahhiyawa (Homer’s Achaean Greece) even. But there was another – a fourth great power, all but lost to the dust of history: the Hittites.
Hardy, fierce masters of Anatolia, utterly devout to their myriad gods, the scale and wonder of their world is only now shedding its dusty cloak thanks to the tireless work of archaeologists. The Hittites ruled from the high, rugged plateau at the heart of modern-day Turkey, commanding a ring of vassal states (most notably Troy) and boasting a dauntless army that struck fear into the hearts of their rivals. Their Great King, titled Labarna and revered as the Sun itself, was every bit the equal of Egypt’s Pharaoh, of the trade-rich King of Assyria, and of the brash lords of Ahhiyawa.
The Hittites were there when the Bronze Age collapsed. They bore the brunt of the cataclysmic events that destroyed the great powers, threw the Near East into a centuries-long dark age and changed the world forever.
This is their story…