In this alternate world where the center of culture and power shifted to Africa, white slaves work for black masters. Set in the mid nineteenth century in a primarily Islamic America, LION’S BLOOD tells of a bond between Kai, son of a powerful leader and plantation owner, and Aidan, brought from the British Isles by slave traders to work on the planation. As both grow to manhood, conflicts arise, and both are caught up in a war with invading Aztecs to the South. Kai’s conflicted feelings and Aidan’s longing for freedom are part of the broad canvas in this fascinating story of an alternate America. “LION’S BLOOD is Barnes’ masterwork as a solo flight.”- Larry Niven

author bio:
Steven Barnes has published twenty-three novels and over three million words of science fiction and fantasy. He has been nominated for Hugo, Nebula, and Cable Ace awards. His television work includes Twilight Zone, Stargate and Andromeda; his “A Stitch In Time” episode of The Outer Limits won the Emmy Award; and his alternate history novel LION’S BLOOD (a tale of Islamic Africans colonizing the Americas prior to Europe) won the 2003 Endeavor. GREAT SKY WOMAN and SHADOW VALLEY, adventures set 30,000 years ago in East Africa, were published by Ballentine/One World Books. He lives in Atlanta with his wife Tananarive Due and son Jason. www.lifewrite.com

Amazon.com Review

In the year 1863, a primitive village is raided, the men killed, and the women and children captured. The survivors find themselves chained in the dark, filthy hold of a ship crossing the ocean to the New World, where they are sold into slavery. The powerful master of a vast Southern plantation purchases the 11-year-old Irish lad Aidan O'Dere. Yes, you read that right--in this alternate America, the South was colonized by black Africans, and the North by Vikings, who sell abducted Celts and Franks to the Southerners. Through his brilliant inversion of our history, author Steven Barnes examines the complex evils of slavery in a new light with Lion's Blood , an intelligent and exciting novel of freedom and bondage, battle and intrigue, sex and love, set in an America threatened by total war as Aztecs, Zulus, Moors, and whites clash.

A Hugo Award and Cable Ace Award nominee, Steven Barnes has written 15 novels and 15 teleplays. --Cynthia Ward

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Steven Barnes, author of 15 novels and as many teleplays, has been nominated for Hugo and Cable Ace Awards, and lives in Longview, Washington, with his novelist wife, Tananarive Due, and his daughter Nicki. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Barnes' big book is set in an alternate nineteenth century, shaped by the crucial facts that, long before, Alexander of Macedon became pharaoh of Egypt, and a Graeco-Egyptian alliance defeated Rome. Thereafter Europe never became civilized, the Western Hemisphere was settled from Africa, and in 1863 a young Celtic boy sees his father slaughtered, and he and the rest of his family are sold into slavery in Bilalistan, across the western ocean. Characterizations are excellent, as is the skillful realization of rebellion and war in Bilalistan. Barnes builds a world full of convincing details, far beyond a simple reversal of the roles of master and slave. The assumption that Islam would have developed almost exactly as it has without the influence of Christianity and northern European civilization, however, is pushing the limits of plausibility as hard as any alternate-history novel ever has. Still, Barnes' most ambitious work to date deserves reading, regardless of how well its depiction of a triumphant Islam goes over just now. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"...best book Steven Barnes has ever written... imaginative, well researched, well written, and devastating." -- Octavia E. Butler, author of Parable of the Talents

"...goes to the heart of the human condition...one of the important novels of the year, and not to be missed." -- Harry Turtledove, author of American Empire: Blood and Iron

"...magnificent, exciting and beautifully crafted...a passionate and compelling story..." -- Greg Bear, author of The Forge of God

"...takes you to another place and shows you that things didn't have to be this way...a gripping and thought-provoking tale." -- David Brin, author of The Kiln People

"An epic, daring alternate universe novel...page-turning...a work that raises the stakes for speculative fiction." -- Charles Johnson, National Book Award-winning author of Middle Passage

"History turned upside-down-a bold, daring speculation." -- Robert Silverberg, author of The King of Dreams

"LION'S BLOOD is [Steven Barne's] masterwork as a solo flight." -- Larry Niven, author of Ringworld --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

"If you would not fear the lion, you must be a lion yourself," notes an old Swahili proverb, and it's that fearlessness that gives Barnes's moving epic its strength and power. What if the captives on those long ago slave ships had been predominantly white and the slave owners predominantly black and brown? This alternative historical novel dares to dissect the differences and similarities between Muslim and Christian ethics, no easy task in these troubling times. By focusing on two engaging main characters, Irish Christian Aidan O'Dere, unwilling slave, and African Muslim, Kai ibn Jallaleddin ibn Rashid, uneasy master, Barnes manages to achieve extraordinary balance and insight into both worlds with unflinching honesty as these two become friends against the odds. Greedy white Northmen catch and sell into slavery the young O'Dere and his family, who arrive in the New World in 1863 (or 1279 Higira time). But instead of the United States, they encounter a divided Bilalstan, ruled by Zulus, Arabs, Aztecs, Vikings and Indians still unable to choose peace over war. As O'Dere strives to find his way to freedom and Rashid strives to figure out whether freedom is just a dream, their lives connect on a battlefield both metaphorical and physical. Interwoven subplots enhance the vivid characterizations, adding romance, Sufi mysticism and philosophical musings regarding martial arts, religion, family and power. This is a dazzling accomplishment, perfectly timed for Black History Month. Agent, Eleanor Wood. (Feb. 13)Forecast: Previously known for his collaborative work with Larry Niven (Saturn's Race, etc.) and his SF detective novels (Blood Brothers, etc.), Barnes may generate controversy with this ambitious alternative look at race relations, especially if critics take aspersions attributed to certain characters out of context. Either way, Barnes seems destined to be a major player in the field.

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--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.