Zutra

ISBN-13: 9780994255907 / Angielski / Miękka / 2015 / 690 str.

Allen E. Goldenthal

Opis

There was a time when one man could possess the power to change the course of history. When determinations over life and death revolved around the whims of despots and tyrants. When vengeance was synonymous with justice and to which all turned a blind eye. This was not the time of myths and fables, but a time when one man could stand above the rest and become a legend. Such a man was called Zutra and he dared to challenge the world controlled by three vast Empires and for a period of seven years he carved out a kingdom that stood at the pinnacle of convergence of all three. A kingdom built on freedom and equality, challenging the very essence of medieval society. A man that during his short lifespan inspired such fear in the hearts of his enemies, not because of what he achieved but because of what he stood for, that they felt compelled to make every effort to erase his existence from any historical reference afterwards. A task with which they almost succeeded but fortunately they had overlooked the anguished heart of the woman that loved him most, whom painted a history of that love on the cave walls of Dan-Dan-Uiliq in Western China and which still can be seen today. Fortunately, even though those of his own people that maintained the annals of their time and cursed his name, swearing to blot him from existence, still feared his family's hereditary reputation enough that they failed to eradicate the court records that preserved the legend and might of the man called Zutra. This is his story. This is our story, because of what he achieved impacted directly on the world we now live in. The belief that all men were created equal originated with Zutra and had he succeeded, much of the terror, the darkness and the genocides that plagued the fifteen centuries after his death may never have occurred. Tormented by the tragedies of his youth, witnessing the crucifixion of his father, his marriage to his first love whom also happened to be his stepmother, this real-life Oedipus battled his own demons, despising himself for loving a woman that not only despised him but was responsible for his father's execution, Facing this insurmountable self-torment, Zutra still managed to carve a kingdom out of the decaying Sassanid-Persian Empire, where the nobles plotted against the Great Shah Kavad, their emperor that had gone mad with his lust for limitless power. But he was able to do so, not through an inexhaustible inner strength but because miraculously one day, an exotic beauty from the East, a Princess of Northern Wei, entered his palace and at the same time entered his heart. Theirs was the eternal love painted by the Princess Ti-Ping on the cave walls as she fled back to her homeland after Zutra's fall. A love that inspired a young man to rise from obscurity and for the briefest of moments, to become the most powerful warlord the world had seen at that time. This is his story. This is the forgotten truth. A story of love, betrayal but most of all about freedom