N. L. Holmes, The Moon that Fell from Heaven (Red Adept Publishing 2023)
1213 BCE Ehli-nikkalu, king’s wife of Ugarit, is miserable. Her mother-in-law Sharryelli has all the power in the palace, and her husband King Niqmaddu disrespects her. He drops a clay tablet—an overture to some foreign king, perhaps the Mizri (Egyptians), planning an invasion of her father the great king of Hatti. She swiftly moves to warn her father.
Amaya’s father is to take the message to Hattusha, but a murder intervenes. Chief scribe Ili-milku (real historical author of the Ba’al Cycle) brings the news to the queen. Amaya inherits her father’s mission and becomes involved in the effort to thwart the invasion. She and her siblings come to live at the palace.
It opens full of action, and the story is full of suspense and palace intrigue. The dialogue doesn’t seem out of place for the period—difficult to do for such an ancient age—and the metaphors are time- and place appropriate (e.g. couriers ‘sweeping into a collective bow like a field of wheat in a breeze’; treason is ‘an asp whose bite might well kill itself rather than its intended victim’).
The plot is already exciting by about Chapter 2, and the inter-relationships of the characters are interesting. Fear, pain, love, loss and remorse are expressed with great emotional depth. The portrayal of falling in love is wonderful—e.g. ‘her heart seemed to rise up her throat like a bird taking off’.
Ehli-nikkalu is especially interesting. I loved how she was finally able to find her tears in the scene with the dead bird. Ili-milku’s reaction is a lovely balance between compassion and comportment befitting a courtier.
It is clearly well-researched. Author’s Notes at the end of each chapter make the necessary factual and historical points, thus not clouding the spontaneity of the writing style in the narrative.
Other novels in the series precede this story, bringing to life the history of a fascinating period.
I received an ARC from the author.
Susie Helme 
Leave a comment