Zulu Heart

by Steven Barnes

Book Overview

Barnes delivers the explosive follow-up to his groundbreaking alternate history novel "Lion's Blood"--in which African nationals colonized the New World--in this tale of a reimagined America circa... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0446531227
• ISBN13: 9780446531221
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: Aspect
• Length: 463 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.3" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Voluminous book

This novel was not quite what I expected. It centers Islam and the Islamic part of Africa. If the intent was to decolonize Africa and imagine an alternate Africa, then this was not successfully done. Islam is as much a colonial religion as Christianity is. This novel had potential but did not meet my expectation.

Another Masterpiece

Again, I was floored by the sheer magnitude of research and imagination that it took for Steve Barnes to write this sequel to LION'S BLOOD. The intricately woven story of an alternate universe where Africans were the slaveowners of European Americans is mindboggling in its presentation. Through the stories of the young Kai and his slave/friend, Aidan, the reader is emersed into a saga that is both enlightening and unforgettable in its portrayal of the "what if" factor.Barnes attempts the impossible and more than surpasses all expectations I had for the epic. LION'S BLOOD and ZULA HEART are two must haves for any Barnes/Sci-Fi fans.

Beyond Excellent Adventure with Kai & Aidan

ZULU HEART continues the saga begun in Steven Barnes's LION'S BLOOD. Now Kai is Wakil and married to his late brother's fiancée, Lamiya and engaged to marry the Zulu princess, Nandi. But knowing that he killed Nandi's uncle, the great warrior, Shaka, can he trust the Zulu woman with his life? Aidan O'Dere is now free and living in a free village with Sophia and his child. But these two childhood friends, the slave owner and the slave must come together again to combat danger and intrigue. There is a war brewing between Egypt and Ethiopia and the New World colonies will be set against each other: North and South. There is a lot of intrigue, plots and danger in this novel. Enough to make the reader read the whole book in one sitting. Some things are still left open, perhaps for the next novel? This was a wonderful book with well-rounded believable characters in a fully realized alternate world. I look forward to the next novel in this series. It doesn't get better than this.

1859 Revisited

As a long time SF and alternative history fan, the variations on themes never cease to amaze me. Before reading this one, read "Lion's Blood," which sets the stage... an "America" of Black colonies from the empires of Africa and the near east in charge and white/other slaves. In "Zulu Heart" we get to the crux of the matter... the plots and stage setting of "Lion's Blood" fullfilled. There are wheels within wheels as empires and colonists work "through" war or peace: Kai, the slaveholder apparently wanting peace and perhaps freed slaves; his wives with possibly different views and agendas; Aidan, his close friend, ex-Irish slave, now reenslaved as part of a plot to prepare for (or stop) war, and intrigue piled on intrigue. Yet, the words are familiar too, the words of the 1850's US Congress and Steven Douglas, among others as the pro-slavery/abolitionist's words ring out in a haunting manner. We even have industrialized northern colonies (NE/SE US to us), against the slave south...(in our central south). Even a naval battle with a "Monitor" (perhaps Hampton Roads or Mobile Bay revisited in an alternate era's forms). Fascinating play on US history (in both books). Well worth reading -- and test your knowledge of zen, American/Central American Indian, Zulu and Egyptian battle tactics, among others, along the way. Enjoy !!!

Bravo

Zulu Heart is a wonderful read. Steven Barnes has created a world in which the roles of African's and European's circa 1800 America have switched places. This book like Lion's Blood, really gets to the heart of slavery and racism. In both of these books, it's power that is the real culprit. Like our own history, it is economic expedience that helps the power elite justify their views on other races; justification for seeing a fellow human as somehow sub-human. The book is the continuing story of Aiden and Kai, a former slave and his former master that continue their relationship well into adulthood. The book not only further develops the two friends relationship with each other, it also delves into the difficulties of being powerless and powerful. Both have their pitfalls in Zulu Heart, just like they do in real life.Even the language used in the book is interesting. Negative thoughts are described as: 'Pale' as apposed to 'Dark'. Barnes seems to suggest that the very language that we use today is subtely racist. I am not schooled enough in the history of the language to know if that's true or not, but it does make for an interesting read and it makes the reader really think.Barnes is a master story teller that continues to develop and flesh out his characters from the previous book. He's done a wonderful job of maturing both Kai and Aiden as well as adding some new exciting characters. As always, Barnes descriptions of Martial Arts and training are second to none. He has blended an interesting amalgam of Indonesian martial arts, African knife fighting and Fillipino Kali with a smattering of Sufi philosophy. Wow. This is certainly a series that he could continue for some time and still remain fresh and exciting to readers. ...

An Even Closer Mirror

Zulu Heart is the second novel in the In'shallah series, following Lion's Blood. In the previous volume, Kai's father has been killed in a slave uprising. Also, his brother, Ali, has been killed by General Shaka, the Zulu Commander of the Bilalistan forces at the Mosque of the Fathers, and Kai then has killed Shaka and taken command of these forces. However, the Zulus have withdraw with Shaka's body to their homeland. Kai sends his friend Fodjour for help before other Aztec forces trap the Balalistanis within the Mosque. Kai's soldiers hold out for days; morale is good, particularly since Kai offers to free any of the slave soldiers that stay and fight with them. When one soldier finds a back way out, Kai evacuates the compound and lures the Aztecs inside, then sets off most of their stored powder, killing or wounding the entire Aztec force. When their relief arrives, Kai takes his men back to their towns and plantations, providing money to the men and buying the freedom of the slaves. He also offers land and jobs to his survivors and provides assistance to the widows and orphans. Many proclaim Kai as a hero, but other, more conservative, Muslims blame him for destroying the Mosque compound. When Kai and Aiden come to the castle of Kai's fraternal uncle, Malik, they find that his uncle's wife is dead and Malik has taken Aiden's sweetheart, Sophia, as his bed slave. Aiden tries to challenge Malik for Sophia, but does not have the skill, so Kai is forced, by his love and obligations toward Aiden and Sophia, to kill his uncle in single combat; actually, even Kai is unable to penetrate Malik's defense, but Malik also cannot force himself to kill Kai, so Malik commits suicide by leaving himself open to Kai's sword. Kai provides a wedding for Aiden and Sophia, giving them money and land in the Wichita territory as a gift. Since Ali is dead, Kai marries his brother's betrothed, Lamiya, niece of the Immortal Empress of Abyssinia. In this novel, three years have passed in which Kai has taken on his father's responsibilities at Dar Kush, the plantation, and in the Territorial Senate. He obtains secret papers sent by the Caliph of Bilalistan to the Pharaoh of Egypt, but the papers are encrypted. Kai asks Babatunde to try to decrypt them, but the Sufi determines that this is impossible without the original encrypting machine. Since Kai believes the papers to contain vital information on the role of Bilalistan in the forthcoming conflict between Egypt and Abyssinian, Kai travels to Wichita territory to ask Aiden to undertake a dangerous mission to obtain this machine. When he arrives, Aiden and his neighbors have just fought off a vigilante group trying to capture and crucify Aiden. Kai backs the local Constable in clearing up the matter and warns the town that Aiden is under his protection. Then Kai explains the problem to Aiden and shows him a light-drawing of a strawberry blonde slave that Aiden recognizes as his long lost sister,