5,200 years ago, in this 5th book of the Raising Up Pharaoh epic, scouts reconnoiter the King of Bhator, who sent assassins to kill their king. They encounter refugee horsemen living in a fishing village, whose king was told in a dream to ally with their nation. The families can’t cross the desert with their horsemen and the scouts, but depart in 100 fishing boats with their king and captains, defended by a scout leader and 48 Bedus. Their numbers double at the Sindu delta. They repulse Bhator warships, then encounter pirates. Should the scouts risk everything so the horsemen king can settle an old score?

Meanwhile, the other scouts and horsemen cross the desert, while the King of Bhator prepares his fleet and army to attack again. This continues the six-novel romantic adventure chronicling the origins of the city-states in the Fertile Crescent at the dawn of written history, and the planting of the longest lasting civilization and cultural roots of today’s world.

The series is written for readers of all ages. The tone is controlled by zooming back to avoid close-ups of violence or sexuality, yet without stripping its intensity. The story unfolds through the viewpoints of the teenagers, the couple, others drawn to them, and their foes. The setting of this fifth book, using modern nations and borders for convenience, extends from the Iraqi desert south to the Delta, through the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea to the Indus River Delta in Pakistan, through the Gulf of Aden into the Red Sea, as-well-as west from Iraq through Saudi Arabia to Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, and Israel. In later books, the setting expands across the Middle East and North Africa. Each book has its own maps. The diverse cast speak a pidgin of proto-Indo-European and proto-Afro-Semitic, which is presented in U.S. English.

See also Maati: Raising Up Pharaoh.