Inanna - (The Sumerians Trilogy) by Emily H Wilson (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

An enthralling and lyrical fantasy debut, and the first in an incredible new trilogy re-telling The Epic of Gilgamesh, perfect for readers of Madeline Miller's Circe and Jennifer Saint's Ariadne.

A tale brimming with warring gods, rebellious humans, and the goddess of love caught between them whose destiny has the power to transform the shape of the world.

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 realises she has been placed in terrible danger.

Gilgamesh, a mortal human son of the Anunnaki, and notorious womaniser, 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 realise that together, they may have the power to change to face of the world forever.

The first novel in the stunning Sumerians Trilogy, this is a gorgeous, epic retelling of one of the oldest surviving works of literature.

BONUS FEATURE
An exclusive preview of Book Two of The Sumerians trilogy, book club discussion questions and more!

Review Quotes

"I love it! Spectacular storytelling, vibrant prose, wonderful handling of multiple narrators, and genuinely gripping. I haven't read a historical novel this good for years: it's reminiscent of Rosemary Sutcliff at her peak." Joanne Harris

"The kind of original, exciting, sexy, funny, ambitious storytelling that the world simply needs more of." Caroline O'Donoghue, New York Times bestselling author of All Our Hidden Gifts

"Inanna may take Gilgamesh as its source material, but it is wholly its own creation. In this richly rendered world of gods, mortals and monsters, the pace never falters, and neither does the sense of an epic being constructed - like the temple to a new divinity - before your eyes. The most enjoyable novel I have read this year." Lucy Holland, author of Sistersong

"Beautifully crafted and elegantly told, I was carried away to a world both familiar and unknown - Inanna has an enthralling magic all of its own" Claire North, World Fantasy Award winner and author of Ithaca

"I devoured this divine, dazzlingly witty retelling of Sumerian myths. Wilson brings the world's most ancient texts to life as never before in this joyful, slick, and effortlessly funny novel. Her gods and heroes are heartbreakingly human, fabulously brave, teeth-gnashingly wicked and loin-stirringly sexy. I was awed by Wilson's achievement in creating a fresh, but eternally meaningful, modern epic, while staying true to the tone, language and themes of the ancient poems. This is a glittering gem of a book: rare and exhilarating; a sensation!" Nikki Marmery, author of Lilith

"Inanna is a deft, mesmerising novel, with a cadence true to its epic roots and an entrancing blend of historic depth, intoxicating imagination and sheer heart. Emily H. Wilson is an author to watch, and Inanna is a gorgeous myth retelling with a very timely message about power and empowerment, and who gets to set our cultural narratives." Lorraine Wilson, British Fantasy Award winning author

"A brutal and powerful story...Emily H. Wilson is an author to watch" Grimdark Magazine

"Inanna is an epic fantasy, with wars and high-born people competing for high stakes with incredible skills, but set in a world recognisably ours, a world you could imagine yourself living in if you squint a little. It will appeal to fans of any retelling, especially those who have feasted on the recent glut of retellings from Ancient Greek mythology and can't get enough of gods behaving badly and what that tells us about ourselves." British Fantasy Society

"In Emily H. Wilson's Inanna, the author makes the Gods flawed and interesting, but also otherwordly." SFBook Reviews

About the Author

Emily H. Wilson is a full-time writer based in Dorset, in the south of England. Emily was previously a journalist, working as a reporter at the Mirror and Daily Mail, a senior editor at the Guardian and, most recently, as editor-in-chief of New Scientist magazine. You can follow her on X (formerly known as Twitter) @emilyhwilson or on Instagram @emilyhwilson1, and you can find her website at emilyhwilson.com.