Lion's Blood

This is the first book by Steven Barnes that I have read. I was very impressed by his handling of the subject. ( )

An alternative history novel.......
What if America had been colonialized by people of African descent? What if the Mayan Empire would have flourished? What if Europeans were enslaved by the Africans? What if Islam was the dominant religion of the world’s superpowers?

Lion's Blood is a satire of race relations in this country in the latter half of the 19th century. On one hand, it is an exercise in polemics and rhetoric, but on the other, it tells an engrossing story of two boys who have a complex master-slave relationship. In many ways, it resembles an inverted Roots.
In ancient times, many Greeks, including Socrates, were attracted to Egypt, especially after a wounded Alexander claimed the throne of the Pharaoh. Alexandrian Egypt, allied with Kush, established trade routes up the Nile and into southern Africa. When Rome became a commercial and military threat, Egypt and Kush allied with Carthage and defeated Rome, which sank in obscurity. When Islam arose, Bilal, a former Abyssinian slave, saved Muhammad's daughter, Fatima, from the Prophet's enemies, carried her to Abyssinia, and married her. Fatima become an impassioned leader, second only to the Prophet himself, leading her followers on the jihad that established Islam throughout Africa.
When a plague swept through the Egyptian royalty, an Abyssinian gained the throne, giving both empires a black royalty. The plague also swept Europe, killing the bulk of the population, and leaving only small villages and scattered barbarian tribes. In 1863, the Egyptian and Abyssinian empires are the two superpowers. Egypt has colonies in Bilalistan, corresponding to the Gulf states from Alabama to southeastern Texas, but most colonists are Abyssinian or Zulu. It's just a matter of time before the colonists declare their own independence.
This novel explores slavery in a dascinating what if scenario. I liked the plausability of the alternate reality. That history fascinated me as much as the story itself. The story focuses on Bilal and Aidan-friends when they were kids before thier roles as master and slave became so real. I also like the Zulu's in this novel.
Lion's Blood by Steven Barnes has a sequel-Zulu Heart which I have not yet read. ( )

ZB5

An AU where Africa became the major world power, enslaving white Europeans on their plantations in the American South. It read to me like an inverse Roots.

I don't know what to say about this book. There were just so many good things about it. I don't have one negative to say. I

The character were well done. I cared about what happened to all the main characters, even if I did not like their role in the story. I wanted to know what happened to them. The two main characters Aiden (the white slave) and Kai (the black master) were very believable for the time period that the story took place in. Barnes developed the characters (all of them) nicely and seemed to put a lot of thought in what role they played in the story.

I also like how Barnes included references to historical figures in the story (Shaka Zulu, Mozart, Da Vinic) and what their role would have been in his alternative history where Islam dominates.

Another plus is that Barnes did not sugar coat the possibility of Islamic slavery. He did not make it seem that slavery in an Islamic America would have been better and more humane. In fact Lion's Blood illustrates that it would have been the same but religious orientation different.

At the end I could not put this book down and basically read the last 200 or so pages in one sitting. I even shed a tear at the end. It's a great story of friendship and slavery. I am going to put the sequel on my wish list. ( )