GODS BEFORE KINGS

What if you could walk the streets of the world’s first city at the exact moment civilisation was invented?

Gods Before Kings plunges readers into ancient Uruk, where industry is exploding, writing is being born, and the first power struggle between temple and king is about to ignite.

Through the intertwined lives of a gifted farm boy, a rising demagogue, and a refugee family caught in the crossfire, the novel reveals how humanity’s earliest breakthroughs—and earliest mistakes—shaped everything that followed.

It’s historical fiction at its most immersive: raw, relevant, and astonishingly modern.



Reviews

‘Part fable, part historical fact, part treatise on religions, community, science, and political structures….. (read more)’ Philip Ryan

Brightly descriptive, lively imagery, classic storyline of conflict and
resolution. Plausible unfolding of generative events in the life of
Uruk… (read more)’ Anne Cooper

‘Thoroughly enjoyed the realistic setting in an ancient civilisation in which humanity shifted into a more complex society. I read this in 2 days because the pace of the plot kept me rapt!’ Michelle Brock

Sample Chapters

Ebook Sample Chapters

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Audiobook Sample Chapter

Chapter 10 – Nigmah – son of the middle classes

Available in Paperback, Ebook and Audiobook

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Book Club Questions

A selection of suggested questions for Book Clubs covered themes and issues in Gods Before Kings. Read…

Deleted Chapters

The Astrologer

The Crow

Meet the Author

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‘Uruk’s gods formed overhead like clouds gathering under a low pressure system

B. A. Mcleod

Author