View source for Gilgamesh the King

{{short description|Novel by Robert Silverberg}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox book | 
| name          = Gilgamesh the King
| title_orig    = 
| translator    = 
| image         = GilgameshTheKing(1stEd).jpg
| image_size = 
| caption = Cover of first edition (hardcover)
| author        = [[Robert Silverberg]]
| illustrator   = 
| cover_artist  = Loretta Trezzo
| country       = [[United States]]
| language      = [[English language|English]]
| series        = 
| genre         = [[Historical novel|Historical]]
| publisher     = [[Arbor House]]
| release_date  = 1984
| english_release_date =
| media_type    = Print ([[Hardcover]] & [[Paperback]])
| pages         = 320 pp
| isbn          = 0-87795-599-9
| dewey= 813/.54 19
| congress= PS3569.I472 G5 1984
| oclc= 10849752
| preceded_by   = 
| followed_by   = 
}} 
'''''Gilgamesh the King''''' is a 1984 [[historical novel]] by American writer [[Robert Silverberg]], presenting the ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'' as a novel. In the afterword the author wrote "at all times I have attempted to interpret the fanciful and fantastic events of these poems in a realistic way, that is, to tell the story of Gilgamesh as though he were writing his own memoirs, and to that end I have introduced many interpretations of my own devising which for better or for worse are in no way to be ascribed to the scholars".

== Plot introduction ==
The novel is told from the point of view of Gilgamesh, and is primarily ambivalent about the supernatural elements of the epic. But the events are portrayed in a fairly realistic manner.
Gilgamesh is a giant among men and an amazing warrior, even since he was very young. When the king of [[Uruk]] (his father) dies, Gilgamesh is exiled by the recently crowned Dumuzi, jealous of his skills and power. When in time Dumuzi dies, Gilgamesh comes back to the kingdom to be proclaimed.

Silverberg afterwards wrote a number of stories for the [[fantasy]] anthology series ''[[Heroes in Hell]]'' describing [[Gilgamesh]]'s posthumous adventures in the [[underworld]], including the award-winning novella ''[[Gilgamesh in the Outback]]''.

==Reception==
[[Neil Gaiman]] reviewed ''Gilgamesh the King'' for ''[[Imagine (game magazine)|Imagine]]'' magazine, describing the work as "A fascinating look at a long-gone culture, with a magnificent [[Jim Burns]] cover."<ref name="Imagine29">{{cite journal | last = Gaiman|first = Neil |author-link=Neil Gaiman| title =Fantasy Media  | type = review | journal = [[Imagine (AD&D magazine)|Imagine]] | issue = 29| pages =45 | publisher = TSR Hobbies (UK), Ltd. |date=August 1985| issn = }}</ref>

[[David Langford|Dave Langford]] reviewed ''Gilgamesh the King'' for ''[[White Dwarf (magazine)|White Dwarf]]'' #69, and stated that "Silverberg's version is laudable, essential reading [...] but his realistic approach weakens (I think) the theme of immortality. Compare his amazing fantasy ''[[The Book of Skulls]]''."<ref name="WD69">{{cite magazine  | last =Langford | first =Dave | author-link =David Langford | title =Critical Mass  | magazine =[[White Dwarf (magazine)|White Dwarf]]  | issue =69  | pages =16  | publisher =[[Games Workshop]]  | date = September 1985  }}</ref>

==Reviews==
*Review by Faren Miller (1984) in ''[[Locus (magazine)|Locus]]'', #287 December 1984<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1875 | title=Title: Gilgamesh the King }}</ref>
*Review by Lynn F. Williams (1985) in ''[[Fantasy Review]]'', January 1985
*Review by Baird Searles (1985) in ''[[Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine]]'', February 1985
*Review by Doc Kennedy (1985) in ''[[Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone Magazine]]'', July–August 1985
*Review by [[Thomas A. Easton]] [as by Tom Easton] (1985) in ''[[Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact]]'', July 1985
*Review by Sue Thomason (1985) in ''[[Vector (journal)|Vector]]'' 127
*Review by Alma Jo Williams (1986) in ''[[Science Fiction Review]]'', Winter 1986
*Review [German] by Detlef Hedderich (1988) in ''Das Science Fiction Jahr Ausgabe 1988''

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{ISFDB title|id=1875|title=Gilgamesh the King}}
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=opocgCreLVAC&q=Gilgamesh+the+King Google Books]

{{Works of Robert Silverberg}}
{{Epic of Gilgamesh}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilgamesh The King}}
[[Category:1984 American novels]]
[[Category:American historical novels]]
[[Category:Novels by Robert Silverberg]]
[[Category:Novels set in ancient Assyria]]
[[Category:Works based on the Epic of Gilgamesh]]


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