But the defection of one of Egypt's most celebrated generals, the Greek mercenary Phanes, to the Persians triggers a savage war that will test Barca's military skills and his humanity to the limit. For leading the fiight to preserve the soul of Egypt is the Phoenician warrior, Hasdrabal Barca, the pharaoh's deadliest killer - possessor of a rage few men can fathom and fewer can withstand. Corruption and decay cripple its cities, infects its leaders and cripples its armies, while across the great expanse of Sinai, like jackals drawn to carrion, the forces of the omnipotent king of Persia watch and wait.But all is not quite lost. 526 BC and the empire of the Pharaohs is dying, crumbling under the weight of its own antiquity. Awesome, action-packed ancient historical novel set during the final years of the once-mighty Egypt of the Pharaohs.Now, it's off to Skyrim to beat down a few Nords. I look forward to answering your questions!ĮDIT: I'll be here for a couple more hours, if there are any more questions!ĮDIT 2: This was a blast, my good Redditors! Thanks for the questions and for the conversation! I'll check back in over the next few days, in case there are any stragglers with questions.

I do not necessarily enjoy my day-job, which paints me as a confidential courier of Italian-American delicacies (“pizza delivery guy” in the less grandiose world outside my own head). When not writing, reading, dog walking, or being a doting husband, I enjoy pen-and-paper RPGs, video games, and armchair archaeology. I live in North Alabama with my wife, Shannon, and our two dogs. Howard style action and fantasy with the history of Fatimid Egypt and the forthcoming A GATHERING OF RAVENS, which takes Orcs out of created-world fantasy and sets them down in Norse, Anglo-Saxon, and Irish myth. I am the author of MEN OF BRONZE, an epic war novel set in Egypt, circa 525 BCE the biographical novel MEMNON, about a Greek general in Persian service, Memnon of Rhodes – the only man Alexander the Great feared the Arabian Nights tale THE LION OF CAIRO, which blends Robert E. I work primarily in ancient historical fiction, a genre often indistinguishable from low-magic fantasy, though in recent years I have branched out into true and proper historical fantasy. Hi, Reddit! My name is Scott Oden, and I’m another writer from that Golden Horde of Wordsmiths that periodically comes trampling through your halls, dangling their participles and splitting every infinitive they can find.

Men of Bronze by Scott Oden