Twilight in Babylon
by Suzanne Frank
List Price: $7.99
Pages: 480
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 0446611654
Publisher: Warner Books
Separated from the man she loves, Chloe Kingsley finds herself alone in Mesopotamia, haunted by memories and driven to survive. Here, in a land where upheavals in the heavens and a flood on Earth portend catastrophe for mankind, the rulers demand an appeasement—a beautiful young woman to placate the gods. Determined to seek out his beloved, Cheftu finds himself trapped in a ruthless plot to shed Chloe's blood. Together they must deceive the gods and escape their enemies to save her life. Each path they've taken—from modern America to ancient Egypt to the Jerusalem of the Hebrews—has prepared them for the dangerous journey that lies ahead. Destiny foretold it, civilization requires it, but only human love can fulfill it.
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1. What is the known progression of civilizations and which culture has had the most effect on Western civilization?
2. Many cultures have a Noah-like myth. How do you explain that?
3. Chloe considers herself a professional time traveler. What skills did she use to survive in this time period and what skills might have helped her more?
4. Chloe chooses to go to school. What other options did she have?
5. When Chloe and Cheftu realized they could get the sought-after water of vitality, should they have gone back for it? Told Asshur its location? Given it to all the sick children? What would you have done?
6. At the end of the story, it seems Chloe and Cheftu are going to stay in Sumer. If you were to give them another adventure, where would they go, what would they do and why?
7. Ezzi and Ulu had unsaid expectations of each other. How could their relationship have been improved, and this disaster averted, if they had talked to each other?
8. How do Chloe and Cheftu's relationships with the Divine differ from one another? And how do those two relationships change in the course of the story?
9. What would be the concerns of a world without prejudice? Where would conflict come from, if not from the differences of color and/or creed?
10. Each of the "journey" stories starts with a Sumerian proverb or saying. What would be the proverb or saying that would define your place in time, history and location? Chloe and Cheftu continue to struggle through the issue of childlessness. How does Chloe come to terms with that? What other choices did she have in that time and place? (Remember the story of Isaac and Ishmael.)
11. What is the most important lesson Chloe learns in the course of this story? Is that a lesson you have had to learn in your own life?
12. The parallels between ancient Sumer and modern-day America are astounding to Chloe. What similarities did you see? Which were positive and which were negative?
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