THE GOLDEN BULL

I think The Golden Bull is the only book I've ever read that was set in Mesopotamia, which is the entire reason I picked it up. Sadly, my copy does not have this awesome cover. it's just got the bull head image from it.

The story is about a boy from a farming family who is apprenticed to a goldsmith from Ur, because there's a drought going on and the family can't afford to feed everyone anymore. His younger sister is also sent along to fend for herself, because she has no apprenticeship, though she is a naturally gifted musician. They run into trouble on the road and the girl is declared a slave. They escape, but trouble follows them to Ur.

The story is fairly simple and unfortunately only 200 larger print pages long. I would have been happy if it had gone on for much longer! I'm going to have to see what other kinds of Mesopotamian historical fiction are out there now.