Like Mayflies in a Stream by Shauna Roberts
June 2, 2011 
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The setup for Shauna Robert’s Like Mayflies in a Stream, is a compelling one: an archaeologically-accurate retelling of The Epic of Gilgamesh. Hearing that alone was enough to make me order a copy immediately. But while the book is excellently written in many regards, I didn’t connect very well with the characters.
Focusing on the city-state of Uruk during the early reign of King Gilgamesh, it opens with a land oppressed by a juvenile tyrant. The king is restless, which results in men left broken after Gilgamesh wrestles them and brides brutally raped on their wedding days. Shamhat, a priestess of Inanna, is sent out by Gilgamesh to find the wild man Enkidu. The king’s prophetic dream implied that Enkidu will be the peer that will soothe the king’s restless heart. But Nanna-Ur-Sag, high priest of Inanna, has also had a prophetic dream. In the high priest’s dream, Enkidu will be the man that humbles the king and brings justice back to Uruk.
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