Inanna

Sumerians Trilogy, Book 1

By: Emily H. Wilson

Narrated by: Zehra Jane Naqvi

Stories are sly things...they can be hard to catch and kill.

Inanna is an impossibility. The first full Anunnaki born on Earth in Ancient Mesopotamia. Crowned the goddess of love by the twelve immortal Anunnaki who are worshipped across Sumer, she is destined for greatness.

But Inanna is born into a time of war. The Anunnaki have split into warring factions, threatening to tear the world apart. Forced into a marriage to negotiate a peace, she soon realizes she has been placed in terrible danger.

Gilgamesh, a mortal human son of the Anunnaki, and notorious womanizer, finds himself captured and imprisoned. His captor, King Akka, seeks to distance himself and his people from the gods. Arrogant and selfish, Gilgamesh is given one final chance to prove himself.

Ninshubar, a powerful warrior woman, is cast out of her tribe after an act of kindness. Hunted by her own people, she escapes across the country, searching for acceptance and a new place in the world.

As their journeys push them closer together, and their fates intertwine, they come to realize that together, they may have the power to change to face of the world forever.

©2023 Emily H. Wilson (P)2024 Tantor

fantastic story telling

I really appreciate a good retelling of beloved ancient stories. There is just enough gaps in the stories about Inanna and Gilgamesh for Emily to craft a truly beautiful story about friendship and destiny. Book 1 is a treasure!

Ancient science fiction- clever!

Left with the impression this was both well-researched and creatively reimagined into something totally new.

Fantastic Mythological Fiction

Loved the story, writing and character development! I do recommend looking up content/trigger warnings as there are a lot of heavy topics such as animal death, graphic violence and sexual assault. The narrator just wasn’t for me. I wish there had been at least two narrators to cover POVs. Especially for Gilgamesh’s storyline.

Harrowing & inspiring

An awesome take on the most ancient myths out there. The ending was phenomenal, leaving you wanting more but also completely satisfying.

Great retelling of the myth, bad narrator

I appreciated this interpretation of the myth of Inanna. However, I believe the narrator could have done a more effective job of distinguishing between different voices in the story. I frequently checked the chapter headers on my phone to identify the speaker when the point of view shifted. Perhaps adding a second narrator specifically for Gilgamesh's chapters would have mitigated this confusion.