City of Tears

City of Tears is set on the Central Asian steppes in the years prior to the rise of Genghiz Khan. It's an action-adventure story that gets into the heads of the Turco-Mongol nomads, showing how difficult it was for a leader to unite the tribes, but how explosive that force could be when united. And, specifically, how a lack of cross-cultural empathy can result in terrible massacres. Then as now.

The story revolves around the Kaskirs, a small nomadic clan caught between the would-be conqueror Turan Khan and the wealthy city of D'nar. Turan believes he is the fulfillment of the prophecy that there will come one who will command all those who live in felt tents. In this, he is encouraged by his shaman, Eeren, who has his own agenda. Turan's first target, D'nar, has not encountered anything like the eastern nomads before. The nomads, with their advantages in weapons, horses, training, and tactics, look to overwhelm business-as-usual D'nar and create a totally new empire -- with D'nar as an object lesson for anyone who resists Turan Khan.

"I against my brothers, my brothers and I against the clan, the clan against the tribe, the tribe against the world." (Old nomad saying.)

Non-fiction by Eric Balkan: "Why Liberalism? How our Sense of Empathy and Fairness Determines our Political Orientation"