The King Who Refused to Die
The Anunnaki and the Search for Immortality
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- $17.99
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
Zecharia Sitchin’s secret allegorical novel that brings to life the key concepts of his bestselling book The 12th Planet
• Reimagines the Epic of Gilgamesh in the context of Sitchin’s discoveries
• Details ancient Sumerian sex rituals, the Anunnaki lineage of the gods who lived in Sumer, Anunnaki spacecraft technology, the workings of the Oracle of Anu, and Gilgamesh’s relationship with the goddess Ishtar
Written in secret so as not to incite criticism about his controversial discoveries, this novel from the late Zecharia Sitchin brings to life the key themes of his bestseller The 12th Planet. The story begins in London as Astra arrives at the British Museum’s opening for their new Gilgamesh exhibit. There she meets a handsome stranger who knows secrets about her that no stranger should know, including the source of the unusual scar on her hand. Taking her to his apartment, he reveals that she is descended from the goddess Ishtar and that he is the modern-day avatar of Gilgamesh seeking to claim the eternal life Ishtar denied him so long ago. Reenacting their sacred sex ritual from eons ago, they find themselves transported to ancient Sumer as Gilgamesh and Ishtar, where he is at last able to continue his quest for immortality.
But as Gilgamesh fulfills his sacred duties with Ishtar, something goes awry and the Oracle of Anu will not renew its blessing upon his kingship. Following the direction of his mother, the Anunnaki goddess Ninsun--the source of his partial divinity--Gilgamesh flees the city for the Anunnaki forbidden zone in search of a way to the planet Nibiru and eternal life. Travel alongside Gilgamesh and his immortal companion Enkidu as they escape the fate pronounced by the oracle, discover a Tablet of Destiny meant for Ishtar, fight off Marduk’s raiders, and foil the plot of the high priest, Gilgamesh’s half-brother who is seeking Gilgamesh’s crown for himself.
Retelling the Epic of Gilgamesh in the context of his discoveries about the Anunnaki, Zecharia Sitchin weaves a tale of ancient ceremony, accidental betrayal, gods among men, interplanetary travel, and a quest for immortality spanning millennia.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This awkward quasi-novel, completed (it's not clear by whom) from an unfinished manuscript by the late ancient civilization scholar Sitchin (1920 2010), is largely a regurgitated version of the Epic of Gilgamesh, with an insignificant framing device and excessive insertions of the author's belief that Earth was settled by extraterrestrials. Former flight attendant Astra Kouri encounters a strange man at a special Gilgamesh exhibit at the British Museum, and spends the evening with him on the basis of their shared trait of a sixth finger. Citing his heritage and possession of certain artifacts, Adam "Eli" Helios manipulates the passively cooperative Astra into increasingly bizarre interactions, convinced they are the incarnations of Gilgamesh and goddess Ishtar (ignoring all the homoerotic subtext between Gilgamesh and Enkidu). Wooden characters, stilted language ("Words were uttered to me") perhaps intended to convey a sense of ancient Sumerian dialect, and excruciatingly bad sex scenes will significantly limit the potential audience.
