Review will be published here on the 9th of August: http://www.nerds-feather.com/2023/08/review-inanna-by-emily-h-wilson.html

One of my favourite fun facts (because I am a hit at parties) is that the earliest recorded text for which we have a named author was written by a woman. Her name was Enheduanna, and she wrote several hymns to Inanna, and to other of the Sumerian gods, back in the 23rd century BCE. The myth of Inanna - a... complex goddess of both love and war - alongside the Epic of Gilgamesh, is thus one of our oldest attested mythological narratives, rich in variations as all stories are when they've been around long enough. In a literary environment full of feminist retellings of goddesses and mortal women girlbossing it up, it feels somewhat surprising that we haven't yet had a heavily marketed attempt at this story of a goddess who seemingly gets to have it all (so long as you define "all" is as being the ability to wield both violence and sensuality). But we haven't, and so Emily H. Wilson's upcoming debut novel gets to attack the problem from a relatively clean slate.

Somewhat belying the title, the novel is actually a retelling of both the Epic of Gilgamesh and the story of Inanna's descent to the underworld (is it spoilers if it's 44 centuries old? I feel like that may be past the statute of limitations on spoilers), linking the two via Inanna's interaction with Gilgamesh in his own story, but mostly holding them apart as two concurrent but mostly unconnected tales. They both take place in a historically authentic Mesopotamian setting, rich in details of how life is lived by people both within and without the structures of power. However, this is a setting where the gods live very literally among their people, in palaces and temples, exercising temporal power alongside their more numinous abilities. We see Inanna grow up here, the only child of the gods born after their fall from the heavens, learning what it is to be an immortal among the mortal, forever set apart by her blood and birth. Meanwhile, we watch Gilgamesh, born likewise in the mortal world to gods but without their immortality, reckoning with his own fragility in comparison to those he loves, and who love him, and how this affects his character and behaviour.

We also follow Ninshubar, born outside of the sphere of Sumerian society but drawn into it by forces beyond her control, and forced to learn how to deal with its power and its cruelties, before she finds herself allied with Inanna and her people. An interesting person, drawn from a much more minor mythological figure, she presents the outsider's perspective to everything, as well as just someone with a unique view of the world and how one interacts with it, as something of a balm in the face of the other two stories, as well as, sometimes, a strange sort of comic relief. She's such a fun person to inhabit the thoughts of, I always found myself glad when I got to one of her chapters, because the way she speaks, and thinks, was so specific to her and unlike most other characters I've read before.

In some ways, this is a heavily character driven story - it cares a lot with young Inanna's reckoning of watching those around her die, as well as Gilgamesh's various interpersonal relationships, and particularly that with Enkidu. It wants to humanise their emotional inner lives, and have us relate to them as people, first and foremost, even as they behave as gods and heroes.

However... there's a catch. And it's by far the most interesting choice Wilson has made in the novel.

From the moment we start, the prose, constantly, at both a sentence level and a broader structural level, has a ghost of reminiscence of the original Sumerian way of telling stories about it. It's not a full on pastiche, by any means, and it doesn't read like a bad translation at any point, but if you've ever engaged with one of those stories directly, whether in translation or original, you will begin to feel the kinship between the way they speak, and how Wilson has organised her prose.

One of the ways she does this is the use of repetition. On a sentence by sentence level, it looks something like this:

Take away water from a man, and he wilts. But you have given me water and I thank you for that water.

As an English sentence, devoid of context and relation to any other text, this reads as... somewhat artless. The repetition is strange, and very much unnatural to the usual way our literature is written. But, in the context of Mesopotamian myth, this is very very normal. Some of the texts we have that these stories come to us from are also hymns, rather than simple narratives, and we find this repetition especially common in those contexts. Wilson here is evoking very strongly the sort of phraseology you would see if you picked up a translation of Enheduanna's work, for instance.

But it's not just on the small scale. There's one phrase that Ninshubar uses in her first chapter - one step and then the next - that crops up from time to time in her own later ones, her way of approaching the seemingly insurmountable problems she faces. But as the story progresses, we find it repeated not just in her perspective but in the perspective of Inanna, who now travels with her, and even in that of Gilgamesh. It stops being a set phrase, repeated word for word, but becomes a sort of ideal that permeates how they all approach the problems of the later half of the book, and so this simple sentence sets off echoes that reverberate and change across the whole length of the story.

We also frequently see repeated motifs, like the following that comes in a Gilgamesh chapter when he meets strangers in the desert and is offered tea:

I drank it down, but at once he poured me another cup. Only when I had forced down three cups did Uptu hunt around for other cups, and hand them around to the other men. Finally, he sat down cross-legged in front of me, with his own tea, and sipped at it. Since he said nothing, I said nothing.

And then a few paragraphs later:

Uptu nodded at me, and then handed me a small plate.
"Thank you," I said. I heaped my plate high.

<gap of a few lines>

I ate a second plate, and then a third one.
After that, the other men came forwards to shovel meat and breads onto their own plates.

This type of repetition and formulaic, almost ritualistic expression, even of a relatively minor event, is incredibly common in Mesopotamian myth, and to see it here very strongly evokes them, to anyone familiar. And that particular type of repetition - and how it feels ritualistic - lends an air of the mythic to the story, even in those moments when we feel that its subject has become as mundane as drinking tea and eating meat. The prose feels constantly considered and laden with meaning.

And I love this, I love how there's such a persistent thread of commonality with the source texts running through it, meaning you can never forget where this story comes from. Wilson has done an impeccable job making it palpable and present, but without ever letting it become overbearing - you never stop feeling like you're still reading a modern novel... it's just one that evokes something much older. I think it took a great deal of skill to manage, and it's something I think we see less in retellings, even ones that do a lot to heavily set their story in an authentic historical place.

However, and to loop back to where this all started, this approach has a downside. Where repetition can feel ritualistic, ponderous, laden with weight and meaning, giving the whole text the air of the numinous and potent... it also very much undercuts the more intimate, human moments, precisely because it conveys their opposite. For Inanna in the underworld, numinous is amazing. For Gilgamesh's newly budding feelings for a travelling companion, for his grief at the death of a beloved, it robs us of our intimacy and our sympathy. By elevating the events of the story above the mortal plane, Wilson unfortunately loses some of the grasp on those same events' humanity, and this is a terrible shame. There are some incredibly potent moments across the story that even through the prose were heartfelt, but because they felt stilted and formal, never quite reached the level of sob-inducing and gut-wrenching they might have done in a story told differently.

On balance, I think this is a price worth paying. If I want my heart ripped out by touching moments of intimate emotion, there are other authors and can go to, other stories I can find. There are very few that do what Wilson has chosen here with her prose, and I think that should be treasured. But I have to admit, I wish she could magically have done both, even as I don't see how - I think if you applied the prose techniques more inconsistently, it would ruin the atmosphere she's so painstakingly created, and so succeed at neither part at all.

On a more structural level, she also harks back to Mesopotamian myth narratives in the way her story is arranged - especially toward the end it begins to feel rather like one event and then the next, rather than a cohesive plot with coherent underpinnings. But again, I find I don't mind it. Does it feel like a modern novel? Mostly, but not entirely. Does it once again evoke the feeling of reading an ancient myth? Absolutely. Gilgamesh's story particularly is full of twists and turns of things just sort of... happening... and him going along with them, and there's a shadow of something very similar haunting all of his chapters, and everyone's chapters in the last quarter of the story.

But the joy isn't purely in the story's authenticity. In little hints that I hope point to much more significant developments in the sequels (because this is the first in a trilogy), Wilson starts to suggest that maybe the power and backstory of the gods isn't quite as... magical or mythological... as we might assume. It's never made explicit, but the hints build and build until a point where you cannot quite ignore them, and you start to wonder if maybe this one needs to be shelved as SF rather than F. Again, in the landscape of myth retellings, this is a nice twist to set this one apart from the many others, and one I really want to read the sequels for, simply to find out where it leads. To have something like that, a surprise and a mystery, in a story 44 centuries old, is incredibly refreshing.

You will note that at no point since my opening paragraph have I talked about this in the context of a feminist retelling... because it's not one. It's not anti-feminist. It just has other themes and threads its interested in, and in a literary context where girl-boss Inanna feels depressingly plausible, I am incredibly glad to see she has not materialised here. Is she powerful? Yes, undoubtedly. But her power and her focus is unconnected to her gender (though she is deeply aware of how her gender influences her situation), and so it just never becomes the point... which again, is refreshing. It is a gender-aware story, without needing to hit the reader over the head with its points.

On the whole, that level of subtlety and care is exactly what exemplifies all the good parts of the story. It's an incredibly thoughtful retelling, and one that sets itself apart by how it ties itself close and pushes itself away from the myths it exists in conversation with. You have no doubt that the author is deeply familiar with them, but also wants to make her own story, not just put us through the same events in a different voice. It does let itself down in how it portrays the emotional lives of its characters, and I do feel like there was something of an opportunity miss in the way Gilgamesh and Enkidu was rushed a little through, but on the whole, this feels like a price worth paying for a story choosing to do something unusual in both ideas and form.

Oh! So it's about ancient aliens? - my husband excitingly asked. Well, quite not. The author evidently did their research before diving into the retelling. It can be easily determined not only from the text of the book itself but also from the afterword. The story of Gilgamesh is the oldest written text known to us. Inanna on the other hand know also as Ishtar or Aphrodite would be the longest worship deity in history. In this book, we have the interpretation of events that ancient Sumerians consider as true. I loved how closely the language represented the mythology writing. Simple sentences, different style of talking, and conversations always add something to the world-building. I appreciated the three points of view, of characters that intertwined their paths due to decisions in the face of events out of their control. Inanna's arc shows how she grew to be wiser in her pain. Gilgamesh had his own coming-of-age story... Ninshubar challenges women's stereotypes and inspires them with her strength. Many times, I caught myself thinking I am reading real mythology instead a fictional story. I had to make a conscious effort to bring myself back and keep my distance for objectivity’s sake. It was hard. It is not a romance tho there is a romantic element. I could, similarly to the author, make an argument about what this book is not. One thing I know for sure, it was a refreshing read, and it will stay with me for long. Strongly recommended!

Inanna is my most recent rabbit hole trigger into Mesopotemian Gods and Goddesses and I am loving it.

Inanna is the Mesopotemian goddess of love and war, is the precurser to the Greek goddess Aphrodite and the subject of possibly one of the oldest epic poems in literature (The Descent of Inanna)! If you know the Epic of Gilgamesh, then you might be interested in Inannas' story, too.

Though this particular book is not the true stories of Inanna and Gilgamesh it takes huge inspiration from both epic poems and actual history and merges them into a clear story. Otherworldly and strange this book takes you on multiple journies through Ancient Mesopotemia and turns a couple of people, gods and goddesses on their head.

If you enjoy books like Ithaca by Claire North, Hall of Smoke by HM Long and Ariadne by Jennifer Saint, you might just enjoy this too!

Thanks Titan Books for this eARC

Mythology is filled with amazing stories, tales that have existed for thousands of years across multiple cultures. Because of this, mythology often gets used as an inspiration for other tales. Whether that's simply taking mythological figures and slapping a new coat of paint on them, such as comic book characters like Thor, or changing things that much that folks don't even realise it's a mythological retelling, like O Brother, Where Art Thou? (an adaptation of Homer's Odyssey), myths and legends are everywhere in modern storytelling. Inanna by Emily H. Wilson, draws upon an area that most people would probably be less familiar with though; Sumerian mythology.

Inanna tells three interweaving narratives, each drawn from mythological figures and stories. The first of these is the titular one, Inanna. Inanna is the first Anunnaki child born on earth, a child with the same powers as and abilities as the twelve Anunnaki gods that rule over man. Other Anunnaki have had children whilst ruling on earth, but these have resulted in demi-gods, and mortal children; making Inanna something special and new. Crowned as the Goddess of Love, she grows up wanting to be friends with other children, not understanding why her being a god means that she can't. Her parents try to impart lessons about detachment on her, grooming her for her adult role of Goddess. Part of this is them arranging a marriage for her with the demi-god son of another Anunnaki, an arrangement that will change the course of her young life forever.

The second character is Gilgamesh, the great warrior of legend, mortal son of the gods. However, the Gilgamesh we meet here is less of a great hero, and more of a drunken womaniser. It's his whorish behaviour that gets him in trouble when held captive by King Akka, an enemy in the war he's fighting in. Forced to flee in the night with the help of his faithful friend, Gilgamesh finds that the favour of the Anunnaki is waning, and that he has one last chance in which to prove himself. Luckily for him, he has the wild warrior Enkidu by his side.

The third narrative focuses on Ninshubar, a powerful and skilled young warrior woman from a distant land. Elected to take over for her father upon his death, an act of kindness on her part brings her mothers wrath down upon her, and she's cast out and hunted by her former people. Ninshubar is forced to flee her homeland, and searches out a new place to call home where she might be accepted.

One of the issues that can plague a book based upon mythology is that people can know the source material, and your work will get compared to other adaptations, and be picked apart by folks who think it's not going the right way. Even I've come across stories based upon myths and legends that have failed to excite me because little has surprised me in them. Fortuantely for me, I have practically no familiarity with Sumerian myths, and have only heard of two of the characters featured here in passing (any Trekkie worth their salt will remember the names of Gilgamesh and Enkidu - thanks Jean-Luc). This resulted in a reading experience that felt incredibly fresh and new.

But this isn't just down to lack of familarity that makes Inanna such an engaging read, Wilson makes these ancient stories feel new thanks to the focus on the characters and their experiences. A lot of mythological stories were focused on the big events, the spectacle, but in Inanna every moment is told through the eyes of one of these characters, and every moment is personal to them. It grounds the events in their experiences, their emotions, and it ends up drawing you in more than you expect. Wilson also does fun and unexpected things, such as introducing the legendary hero Gilgamesh on his back on the ground, being poked in the chest with a spear. He doesn't rouse himself and beat his foe, but runs away in a very undignified manner. It's these moments of subversion that help to build out more rounded and believable characters.

Despite all this praise, the book did take me a while to get into. The beginning felt kind of slow, despite giving the reader a lot of world building and characters. Once I reached a certain part of the book my interest was definitely grabbed and I found that it became a book that was hard to put down; but it took me a while to get there. There are also some parts of the story that are incredibly unsavoury, and I'm quite disappointed that the book (or the advanced copy I read anyway) didn't include trigger warnings. This may start that 'you don't need trigger warnings' debate, but when a book includes rape, incest, child grooming, and child abuse it should contain some degree of warning as these are incredibly difficult topics that some readers may have had to deal with in their life.

Inanna is an interesting and well written book, one that's taking ancient stories and making them feel fresh and interesting thanks to the skill of the author. The characters are engaging, and you enjoy spending time with them. Whilst this is the start of a new series (Sumerians) it doesn't end on too much of a cliffhanger, so you can easily give the first book a try without having to worry about massive unresolved story lines. Definitely worth a read for fantasy and mythology fans.

I had such a high hopes for this given it’s a myth retelling and those are some of my favourite types of books to read. I was especially excited to read it as I have no knowledge of Sumerian myth, so was interested to learning the stories. However, I feel very on the fence as to whether I enjoyed it or not, so it’s been difficult to rate.

I really wasn’t enjoying it at the start of the book. I thought it was quite boring, the writing style didn’t flow all to well and it was quite unclear where the story was going.

I also found that any time there’s even a small chance of conflict or a fight or any type if issue, it was very conveniently resolved before anything happens, so we don’t actually see much action despite this being a tale full of adventures.

However, once the characters did finally go off on adventures (around 50% in), I did find the book more enjoyable to read. I mainly found myself picking up the book more once the characters began realising how much of what they thought they knew was false and they begin to uncover the truth. And as the author didn’t reveal the full truth in this book I’m not tempted to carry on with the series.

I do wish we got see more character’s POVs, like Ningals and Ereshkigal’s as I’m more intrigued by their stories - but maybe we’ll see more of that later in the series.

CHARACTERS
🔲 mary-sue party
🔲 mostly 2D
🔲 great main cast, forgettable side characters
✅ well-written
🔲 complex and fascinating
🔲 hard to believe they are fictional

PLOT
🔲 you've already heard this exact story a thousand times
🔲 nothing memorable
✅ gripping
🔲 exceptional
🔲 mind=blown

WORLDBUILDING
🔲 takes place in our world
🔲 incoherent
🔲 OK
✅ nicely detailed
🔲 meticulous
🔲 even the last tree in the forest has its own story

ATMOSPHERE
🔲 nonexistent
🔲 fine
🔲 immersive
✅ you forget you are reading a book

PACING
🔲 dragging
🔲 inconsistent
🔲 picks up with time
✅ page-turner
🔲 impossible to put down

My favourite mythology-inspired story in a while!

Such a pleasant surprise of a story!

Inanna is another entry in the trend of mythology retellings with fantasy elements but this time instead of going for the safe and well-known pick of Greek stories the author decided to tackle Sumerian legends. I loved this choice as I was always fascinated by different cultures and times in history, and also because I haven't seen much in the genre inspired by this ancient period.

The book read like a modern adventure fantasy with a diverse cast, fascinating and sometimes conflicting heroes, and rather fast pacing. I had an easy time getting into this book from the very first page, which I really appreciated. The prose felt effortless but not too plain, and the worldbuilding had enough details to keep me interested as the story went on.

I couldn't give it full five stars though as I never felt really emotionally invested, and while I enjoyed reading about the characters, I couldn't quite connect to them. However, I think this series has great potential and I would love to see where the author decides to take it in the sequel!

Inanna is gonna be out on the 1st of August, so if you are looking for your next venture into mythology-inspired fantasy, you are right on time to get this novel 😊

Book Name: Inanna
Author: Emily H. Wilson

ARC
Thank you to Titan Books for an ARC of Inanna by Emily H. Wilson

Stars: 2.75
Spice: 3.75



- First Book in the Sumerians Trilogy
- Cliffhanger-ish
- Multi-POV:
- Mythological Retelling of The Epic of Gilgamesh and Various Sumerians Myths
- **ADULT (SO MANY TRIGGER WARNINGS) - most of which w did not move the story along whatsoever**
- **Non-Con**
- **Ritual Sex**
- **Ritual Murder/Suicide**
- **Abuse**
- **Child Abuse**
- **Pedophilia**
- **Grooming**
- **Incest**
- **Torture Murder Ect.**
- **Affairs**

- Topic:
- A Retelling of Sumerian Mythology
- Identity (IE being two things at once)
- Sci-Fi (Anunnaki)
- Thoughts.
- Part 1… Fantastic Loving the Vibes Pacing and Characters -
- Part 2 … WTF (without trigger warnings this was a sucker punch to the reader)
- Part 3 … Characters Feel Disingenuous (IE no longer feel to be giving natural responses) but I’m along for this ride and I am fully identifying with Ninshubar these people be crazy… also did everybody get a lobotomy am I even reading the same book… what happened all the characters
- Part 4…… wait …. am I watching ancient aliens now.. should have led with this would have been a better book. LOL

Where Madeline Miller takes the dark side of ancient mythology and explores the trauma and experiences of her charters with delicate touch and empathy Inanann by Emily H Wilson does not. One cannot hold current ideals against myths of the ancient world. Yes, this is true. however, the atrocities experienced by Inanna and her responses feel disingenuous and without context and do nothing to move the plot ( spoiler she is groomed at 13 by a pedophilic grandfather and then becomes some sex-positive girl boss goddess as if it hadn't happened was a… choice… I guess). I am also reasonably shocked that seeing as these myths are not well known as their Greek counterparts a trigger warning page was not included nor was the term “dark” present in any of the synopsis/marketing blurbs …

This being said this book again is not for the reader looking for a feminist retelling of some Athena/Aphrodite mythology as marketed. This book highly engaging but for the wrong reasons as I eventually went from entertained to rage reading the whole thing SO …. I will not be continuing the series.

I look forward to more mythological retellings though especially from lesser-known cultures and hope we see more books in this vein published but this one was not it.

Save yourself time and money and read something else.

I got this ARC for free from the publisher for the purpose of review. I enjoyed my time reading this, and knocked it off in about an afternoon. If I were to describe this, this book is a retelling of the legends of Inanna, Gilgamesh and Ninshubar in a single book, winding together three storylines in a holistic and well-written combination.

WHAT IS THE TARGET AUDIENCE? WHAT GENRES? WHAT MAJOR TROPES?

Mythological reinterpretation
Retelling the Epic of Gilgamesh and Inanna’s descent into the Underworld
Historical Fiction/Historical Fantasy
Adult. This book has ritual sex and rape.
Stone Age, Bronze Age tech level. Characters use both stone weapons, and bronze armor.
MY EMOTIONAL RESPONSE/ FUN FACTOR

I read this book in basically a single afternoon, so it’s safe to say I enjoyed it. This is a competently written tale about Sumerian myth, a particular mythology you don’t see very often in modern Fantasy genre literature. It had a few flaws, which I’ll discuss later, but overall I am overjoyed to have read it and can easily suggest you read it too if it sounds interesting to you.

Sad to say Inanna was a huge let down for me. I absolutely fell in love with the cover and was excited to explore Sumerian mythology which is something I admittedly know little about, but this book was just so bland. Only Inanna’s POV sparks any interest, Ninshubar’s felt out of place and Gilgamesh was entirely unlikeable. The writing was super stilted, very ‘I did this, then I did this.’ It lacked any flow or finesse. It was almost childish at times. Not a single piece of dialogue felt natural. The characters and their relationships were so undeveloped it was laughable. It genuinely felt like: ‘They hate each other. Actually, now they love each other more than anyone else in the world.’ There was zero effort or nuance at play.

It was a real slog to get through, even when packed with some pretty taboo topics. I know applying modern societal and moral norms onto any historical circumstances, especially one as archaic as this, is just asking for trouble and it would be silly to do so. That being said, having a heavily abused 13-14 year old being a sex-positive girl boss is not a good take. It’s also quite difficult to root for an epic hero when said epic hero is a nonce.

Safe to say I won’t be continuing with this trilogy. Thank you to Titan Books and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC. All opinions are my own.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I was really intrigued that it is based on Sumerian mythology because that is rarely done. However the book was pretty forgettable. I dont know if I will purchase it for my library or continue the series but I have a sense that the series will get better.

I received an advanced reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. This novel is particularly interesting, it merges mythology, early literature, and a historically inspired storyline featuring characters from another realm, whether you read that as gods, or aliens, is entirely up to you. I really enjoyed this novel, it sometimes had a slower pace, but that can also be attributed to world building for this novel, as it is only the first installment in a series. I strongly recommend this novel for any readers who are fans of Madeline Miller or revised Trojan war novels featuring strong female characters. It is definitely a feminist take on Gilgamesh, but nonetheless I found this story riveting and full of unique details. Definitely 4 out of 5 stars!

I understand what Wilson is trying to do here, to tell the story of Inanna and the gods and demi-gods of Mesopotamia, like Gilgamesh. But the characters mostly don't have a lot of personality, andthe ones who do aren't written to be very deep. Their dramatic reversals of emotion and loyalty and action are a clunky, and the book drags and drags. How can you make Gilgamesh and Enkidu's relationship boring? Well, write it like it is in this book. For the truly determined reader, there are a few payoffs: Ninshubar grows from a character who is just a collection of proud statements into someone with personality. But overall, the moments of enjoyment were few and far between for me.

HIGHLIGHTS
~what are gods anyway?
~where are the stories coming from?
~fake wings

Mythological retellings are always a risk, especially when it’s a myth – or mythological figure – you particularly care about. Everyone has a slightly different take on an ancient goddess, and sometimes whether or not the book is any good is irrelevant, if the author’s take differs too much from yours.

That’s not the problem here, though. Inanna just isn’t a very good book.

Inanna switches between three PoVs; Inanna herself, a newborn goddess when the book opens; Gilgamesh, the mortal son of a god, who is really just out to have a good time; and Ninshubar, a runner and huntress from a tribal society far, far away from Sumer, the book’s main setting. If you happen to have a special interest in the mythology of the goddess Inanna, Ninshubar’s inclusion will probably make you sit up and pay attention – I wasn’t expecting to see her here, and was pleased to be wrong.

If you don’t know much about ancient Sumer and its myths, then…this may be a bumpy road for you. Because something I noticed almost at once was how little Wilson explained, or even described, the world and characters she created here. For example, the gods – known as the Anunnaki – seem to be divided up into ‘water gods’ and ‘moon gods’ and so on – but what that signifies is never explained. Are their powers sourced differently? Is it like a political party kind of thing? Are they different families or bloodlines? I have no clue.

Or we can talk about the famous and Very Impressive elephant gates, to which we are introduced thusly

<Enkidu walked towards the elephant gates with his head craned backwards, and his mouth open. “Is it all one piece of stone?” he said.

“No, three pieces,” I said. “Each elephant is carved from one whole lump of granite, and then the centrepiece from a third.”>

…Hi, I have no idea what I’m supposed to be picturing right now. How are these three (?) elephants positioned so that they make a gate? Is one standing on top of the two others to make the top arch of the gate? Are the elephants on all fours or rearing? Or are there only two elephants, and the centrepiece is something else, not another elephant? If this is supposed to be a big impressive thing, why are you not describing it at all???

Alternately, sometimes we do get descriptions, but they make no sense

<When the ancient throne was empty, Inanna took her place on it, her feet dangling. She looked very small and plain, in her old white dress. And yet she looked like she belonged there.>

…No, now you’re contradicting yourself. If she looks small and plain, she cannot look like she belongs in a throne. If she looks like she belongs in a throne, then she must not look small and plain, even if only by force of charisma or presence or whatever. Make up your mind which!

Story-wise, I was not impressed. Inanna feels like a series of things Happening Just Because, with too many random side-quests that go nowhere and make no sense. (If An thought the super important extra-special thing was in location x, why didn’t he go himself, or send someone he trusted, decades or centuries ago, instead of waiting all this time and then handing off the quest to Gilgamesh? Etc.) Ninshubar’s arc was the most interesting from beginning to end – it certainly didn’t hurt that, coming from another culture, she’s extremely sceptical of the Sumerians and Anunnaki, and doesn’t buy into what they’re selling; for much of the book, she was the only sensible character, annoyed and frustrated with the passivity of the rest of the cast. It was easy to identify with her, because I, too, wanted to grab Inanna and shake her. (More on that in a minute.) As a retelling of the Epic of Gilgamesh, I think Inanna fails pretty hard, not least because I didn’t once feel the deep, all-consuming love that’s supposed to be there between Gilgamesh, one of our protagonists, and Enkidu, a man whose life he saves. Whether you interpret it as romantic or platonic, that intense passion is the defining quality of the Epic, and it just isn’t here. You could have cut Enkidu from this book completely, and it would have made very little difference to anything. His part in Inanna, and thus Gilgamesh’s relationship with him, is a blip, there and then gone.

What on earth was the point?

Gilgamesh and Inanna both come across as very passive characters; Gilgamesh is moved around the political board by higher powers, going from one place to another and back again to very little purpose, and Inanna…

Dear gods, how do I talk about Inanna in this book?

Inanna, the goddess, is the goddess of love and war. She is the Queen of Heaven. She made a huge mark historically – you can see iterations of her all across the Fertile Crescent, and can make a very strong argument that even later goddesses like Aphrodite and Venus were heavily influenced by her. So she is slash was, a big deal.

Wilson…makes some very weird choices regarding Inanna’s powers and personality and overall arc that I did not like, and that I think made for objectively bad storytelling. For example, despite being told, while still an infant, by the king of the gods that she will be a goddess of love and war – something she remembers perfectly, because fair enough, I guess gods don’t lose those early memories – despite being specifically told not to forget the war part… Inanna absolutely forgets the war part. And never tells anyone about it. We later find out why the king never tells anyone – sorta – but it remains absolutely inexplicable to me that as a young, proud goddess, Inanna would never mention it, never boast about it, never even think about it. Inanna also has no powers – the object that is supposed to give or be her power, called a me, does not work. No one thinks to ask the king, who gave it to her, what it does or how to activate it, apparently. That would make too much sense, I guess.

The point is, Wilson takes this immensely powerful goddess, and makes her powerless. Which I strongly feel defeats the entire purpose in writing about Inanna. Arguably worse: Inanna has no curiosity about anything. She asks no questions. She doesn’t think about things. She has no drive and no passion. Sure, her mother tells her to submit to her husband’s family, when she goes and gets married – but Inanna isn’t emotional or curious or anything underneath that submission. The submission could have been written as a mask, with A Lot going on underneath; instead, Inanna feels flat and two-dimensional, bizarrely shallow. She’s either passively moved by the plot, or she acts on a whim that comes out of nowhere; she never has any thoughtful agency. Her Big Moment, when she defies her husband’s family and goes questing, is…her getting up and walking out of the city. Walking. With no supplies, no map, no allies, no plan. She just gets up and walks, naive as a flower fairy, handwaving all the ways in which this is completely irrational.

But she is wearing the fake wings made of eagle feathers the Anunnaki wear for special occasions, so there’s that, I guess.

What?

Then there’s the sexual abuse. For the record, it happens off-page, but it’s there, so if that’s a trigger for you, well, now you know.

I really, really struggled with this. I don’t want to read about molestation and paedophiles, I find it deeply unpleasant, but that’s a personal taste thing and doesn’t actually make the book bad. What I think does make the book really, really fucking bad is how appallingly it’s handled, by the characters and the narrative. I don’t know why you would write Inanna as a victim of sexual abuse, but maybe it could be empowering for other survivors, if they saw Inanna go through this and still rise to become Queen of Heaven. That could be a thing. I could buy that.

I cannot buy how nonchalant Inanna is about what happens to her. I cannot buy how it has zero effect on her personality, on her outlook, even on her views on or approach to sex. Inanna thinks it’s no big deal – and the narrative doesn’t contradict her. It’s irrelevant. It means nothing. It affects nothing. And I can’t help thinking that’s a hugely ignorant, stupid, and disrespectful way to write about a very painful, difficult topic. What in the actual fuck.

(Also? You did not have to write her as getting married at 13. This is spec fic. If you have gods, you can make the age of consent whatever you want it to be. Alternatively, you could choose to not have her grandfather be a disgusting groomer paedophile. That sure was a Choice That Was Made. Fucking yikes.)

I mean, it goes down like this, a passage which made me throw up in my mouth.

<“I’ve got a new game I would like to play with you,” he said.

“What is it, Grandfather?” I kept my hands soft in my lap.

“Come into my bedroom and I will show you,” he said.

For some long moments, we looked at each other.

“What are you thinking?” he said, his leopard eyes gleaming in the firelight.

“That I am a goddess of love,” I said.

I lifted my chin to him, to show that I was not afraid.

“Come and love me, then,” he said, and put out his hand to me.>

What did I just read, and why did you make me read it, when the entire book goes on like it never happened?

If I haven’t made it clear yet, I think the prose here is blunt and plain and…unalive is the best way I can think to describe it. And this is a very bad style in which to rewrite myths. Possibly the best-known myth about Inanna is the Descent, wherein Inanna goes down into the underworld and, later, manages to return. It’s always given me goosebumps. But here, it is stripped of its magic, stripped of the ritual, the hypnotising insistence that Inanna must remove or leave behind an item of power – a tie to the living world – as she passes through each of the seven gates. Inanna takes the grand, spine-shivery story of the Descent and reduces it to banality, quick and rushed, and gods it made me miss Vellum, which did the Descent properly. I’m going to have to reread it, to wash this mess out of my memory.

But it’s all like that. There’s no magic here. There’s no awe and no wonder. And sometimes that’s because the writing isn’t up to the task of creating it, but sometimes it’s due to narrative choices – like making the Descent a simple matter of passing through doors. In both cases, it makes for a majorly disappointing reading experience.

And maybe it’s appropriate that the magic and wonder is not present in the prose, because Wilson’s gotcha! backstory for the gods involves no magic, but honestly, the signs were so subtle that I’m not convinced readers not already aware of the Ancient Aliens conspiracy theory will pick up on it. Which is perhaps why she makes it explicit in the author’s note at the end.

There are so many other bits and pieces I want to talk about, things that make no sense or contradict other things, but they’re all spoilers and this rant review is already very long. I am Tired of talking about this book. Inanna is not entirely without merit – there’s some sneaky stuff going on in the background that is horrifying but very clever, and will no doubt be a much bigger deal in the sequel. And that was one hell of a le gasp!!! ending. But this is not a book I would recommend to anyone who loves Inanna-the-goddess, and I would definitely not want it to be anyone’s introduction to her. Irrespective of that, I genuinely think this is an objectively boring, poorly-written novel – perfectly fine on a technical writing level, but soulless, and packed full of things that happen, or are the way they are, Just Because, regardless of whether they make sense or not.

Borrow it from the library if you must, but I cancelled my preorder. Inanna isn’t worth your time, and certainly not your money.

What happens when we set ourselves up as gods?

This beautifully, brutally rendered fantasy breathes new life into some of literature’s oldest characters. Though many times unpleasant to read, Wilson’s adult content never strays into the gratuitous; rather, her descriptions give us a blunt look at life and values in ancient Sumeria. Inanna serves to remind us of several important truths and how ancient Sumerian society and its people (Annunaki or no) are not so different from the selfishness of society today. What happens to the world, to civilization and society, when we set personal desires as the pinnacle of life? When we believe our attributes are worthy of worship? Inanna gives us a grim glimpse—adulteration, ritualized sex (which bears a startling resemblance to the modern porn industry), the disintegration of the family unity, and the disregard for anything outside of your own whims. In short, it crumbles.

ENGLISH

I love mythology retellings. There is something about this stories being told from another perspective that makes me want to read more and more. Specially when there are LGBTQ+ characters, which to be honest was not that weird in a lot of ancient cultures.

Now, this one felt a lot like Circe. Not in the sense that there is a goddess who is abused by her own family and has to somewhat fight by herself and find her own strength, plus falling in love with a hero. Yes, it is very similar to that account. Honestly, most myths are quite similar between cultures, we are all human, and we are worried about almost the same problems. But what it felt like Circe to me was more the pace, the rhythm and even the style of the author. I do not know if this happens in other mythology retellings, but even if it took me a lot to read it, I really did enjoy it. Still, Circe is my favourite.

There were so many aspects of this myth that I don't know. For starters, I only recognize the name of the hero: Gilgamesh. And that is thanks to having talked about it in a class in high school. In other words, I knew nothing. So I was a bit lost, specially at the beginning, but it is very friendly towards people like me who know nothing but want to.

The main characters were very complex. There is a fight between duty and emotion in all of them, even if their context is different. Almost as if they were a reflection of human worries: love, power, family, strength, fame… This is the best part of the book, on my opinion.

However, I could not rate it a 5 since it felt really slow and even when it was around 300 pages it felt like it was almost double. The writing was great, there is action and there is always something happening. Still, it was too slow for me. And the ending resolved itself too fast in comparison. I do not know exactly why I felt that way because I really did enjoy the writing.

Like I said, I loved this book. I want to read the next book(s?) and something more from the author. I have a feeling that Emily H. Wilson is going to be a big name in the not so distant future. Not only that, but I hope there are more myths Emily writes about, specially different from the Greek ones. This book made me want to learn about other cultures.

SPANISH

Me encantan los retellings mitológicos. Hay algo en estas historias contadas desde otra perspectiva que me hace querer leer más y más. Especialmente cuando hay personajes LGBTQ+, que para ser sincera nuestra existencia no era tan rara en la mayoría de culturas antiguas.

Ahora bien, este se parecía mucho a Circe. No en el sentido de que hay una diosa que es maltratada por su propia familia y tiene que luchar un poco por sí misma y encontrar su propia fuerza, además de enamorarse de un héroe. Sí, esto también es muy similar a ese libro. Sinceramente, la mayoría de los mitos son bastante parecidos entre culturas, todos somos humanos y nos preocupan casi los mismos problemas. Pero lo que me ha parecido más a Circe ha sido el ritmo, el ritmo e incluso el estilo. No sé si esto pasa en otros relatos de mitología, pero aunque me costó mucho leerlo, realmente lo disfruté. Aun así, Circe es mi favorito.

Hay tantos aspectos de este mito que desconozco... Para empezar, sólo reconozco el nombre del héroe: Gilgamesh. Y eso gracias a que me hablaron de él en una clase en el instituto. En otras palabras, no sabía nada. Así que estaba un poco perdida, sobre todo al principio, pero es muy fácil para la gente que, como yo, no sabe nada pero quiere adentrarse en la historia.

Los personajes principales eran muy complejos. Hay una lucha entre el deber y la emoción en todos ellos, aunque su contexto sea diferente. Casi como si fueran un reflejo de las preocupaciones humanas: el amor, el poder, la familia, la fuerza, la fama incluso quizás algo de venganza... Esta es la mejor parte del libro, en mi opinión.

Sin embargo, no puedo calificarlo con un 5 ya que me pareció muy lento y aunque tenía alrededor de 300 páginas parecía como si fuera casi el doble. La redacción es muy buena, hay acción y siempre pasa algo. Sin embargo, fue demasiado lento para mí. Y el final se resolvió demasiado rápido en comparación. No sé exactamente por qué me sentí así, porque realmente disfruté de la escritura.

Como he dicho, me encantó este libro. Quiero leer los próximos libros y algo más de la autora. Tengo la sensación de que Emily H. Wilson va a ser un gran nombre en un futuro no muy lejano. No sólo eso, sino que espero que Emily escriba sobre más mitos, especialmente diferentes de los griegos. Este libro me hizo querer aprender sobre otras culturas.

LINKS TO BE POSTED

God-tier level mythology retelling. A must-read for Greek mythology and folklore lovers.

This book is a retelling of the Epic of Gilgamesh, which is often said to be the oldest piece of literature in existence. However, this is not just Gilgamesh's story, this is also a retelling of two other myths which include the goddess Inanna (who is said to have morphed into/inspired Aphrodite then Venus).

While this book is based on text and characters that are thousands of years old, Emily H. Wilson has written a story that reads as fresh and relevant as if it were written today. The pacing surprised me in how fast we moved, which was a great way to reveal each character's motivations and moral compass.

We follow three major characters, although the book introduces us to many more along the way. We're introduced to the titular Inanna in the moment she is born, the first new god since time out of mind. Although Inanna is young and sheltered, we follow her through the book as she grows into her power (both literal and figurative).

Next we're introduced in the hero Gilgamesh in the most unheroly way, which I LOVED. He's just lost a fight, he's on the ground being poked between his chest armour by a soldier holding a spear, he escapes by rolling into the raging Tigris, only to start drowning because his armour is so heavy. This character is so fun and interesting and Emily H. Wilson skillfully circumvents our collective idea of 'hero', only to piece by piece, build Gilgamesh back up in a way that is vulnerable and heartbreaking, but ultimately better than we started.

Lastly we're introduced to Ninshubar, a young woman who is a proven warrior and hunter among her people. I don't want to give too much away because he story is full of so many unexpected adventures, but she's the ride-or-die best friend we all wish we had.

All three of these characters' adventure start separately then weave together seamlessly as they cross paths and support each other along their individual journeys.

The story doesn't end on a cliff hanger, but there are some unanswered questions. The ARC I received from NetGalley and Titan Books included Chapter 1 from the next book in this series, and let me tell you my jaw dropped! I can't wait for book number two.

This book is best read under a tree, by the beach with your pet tigers on either side of you, while you eat figs, honey cakes and cheese. Remember to keep your sword or slingshot close by, because these parts are dangerous, even for a goddess like you.

This book was difficult to get into at first (I think I started really caring about the plot around 40% but the fault may lie with me) because of the many names and POVs, but once I got used to it, the payoff was so worth it. The characterization was superb and each character had some truly funny moments that made me chuckle. I read that Emily H Wilson is a journalist and somehow this makes sense with the understated, organic humor embedded throughout the book. This is mythological fantasy woven together so well I felt like every aspect was founded in meticulously researched, verifiable history. I loved the queer representation. There were so many good lines; I highlighted numerous passages. Booktok is going to love this one. I can’t wait to read the next in the series!! I would recommend to anyone who enjoys a mythology retelling like Circe, The Song of Achilles, or Ariadne.

I really wanted to enjoy this book more but unfortunately for me it did not deliver. The writing style was poor, the character for me were under developed and the world building was mediocre. For me I found this book hard going and I will not be posting a review.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the Arc in return for an honest review.

The first part of this book held my attention very well; it seemed to be written in the same style as other books I've read centering on mythological figures. I'm not incredibly familiar with the Epic of Gilgamesh, so I can't speak to the original Gilgamesh, but I didn't like him. I enjoyed reading about the two female characters, though, and I might continue on with the series.

This gorgeous spin on Mesopotamian mythology reminds me somewhat of Children of gods and fighting men - another historical fantasy I greatly enjoyed, with strong narrative voices. The prose is robust, in fairly short sentences, descriptive without being lyrical.

We follow three characters: Inanna, protected daughter of the moon gods, proclaimed goddess of love: and secretly, of war. Gilgamesh, with divine heritage but born mortal - a warrior nominally, but really a drunk and a playboy only just kept in check by long-suffering Harga. And Ninshubar: a huntress whose spirit rebels against the rules of her tribe.

How their stories will intersect is yet to be revealed, but all three of them are walking into danger. Whom can you trust when even your family can act against you?

The scenery is built skilfully: the world comes alive around you and Wilson punches hard both with humour and emotional impacts. Also, she writes a great food description: something I always love to see in a book! A truly absorbing story of gods and mortals, politics, and of course: love and war.