Cheap Silk Roads and Shadows (Book) (Susan Shwartz) Price

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Customer Reviews of Silk Roads and Shadows

emphasis on the fantastical
Given the title, the natural question for fans of Silk Road history and geography will be whether the book has anything to offer for their tastes. Regrettably the answer must be mostly in the negative. Although the author seems to have made some attempts at research, the results seem rather cursory as there is relative little historical and geographical information and some of it incorrect, even beyond the errors admitted in the introductory note. No year or name of the the Chinese emperor is ever given, but it is probably intended to be set in the reign of Tang emperor Wuzong (ruled 840-6), one of the late rulers of the dynasty. But as by this time silk had long since left China for places like Khotan and points east, the premise of traveling all the way to Chang An to acquire silkworks makes little sense, as does the idea that the worms were kept only in the palace. It is doubtful that worms could be transported as described either -- eggs would be a much more likely proposition. But these are minor matters for the historical reader when constantly the caravan party is being attacked by magical, fantastical beings with no basis in reality. It could have been quite interesting if the tale was a mostly historical one with occasional magic to move the plot along, but here clearly the author's interest is almost totally on monsters and magic. At least there is a mostly correct map of the region from Constantinople to Chang An and some of the sites visited along the way are described with a bit of detail.

An excellent, enjoyable read.
I put off reading this book for a long time after I purchased it. I regret that a lot. This book had a very fast moving and in depth storyline. But most interesting of all was the similarities between many different religions of ancient Earth. i.e. A Buddhist sect that has a belief in a Valhalla like place. If you are an aspiring theologist, this is a must read for those reasons alone. If you are anyone else, read it for the story. I loved this book, I can almost guarantee you will too.