Research Paper on:
Lion's Blood by Steven Barnes

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
on his own. With the publication of "Lions Blood" (2002), Barnes has crossed the invisible line between fantasy and "what if?" In "Lions Blood" he creates a world in which  it is Africans who colonize North America and bring slaves with them. Their slaves are white Europeans. The timeframe is the mid-19th century in the terms that "real" Americans place  on it and the year 1279 in "Higira time." The possibilities and outcomes are limitless and offer the reader a new perspective for considering issues related to imperialist greed, colonization,  and the nature of slavery. And throughout the novel, one has to wonder . . . "what if?" Islamic and Irish The two primary characters are an aristocrat named Kai  ibn Jallaleddin ibn Rashid who is an African Muslim and who is also the owner of Aidan ODere, an Irish Christian. Each is an intelligent and determined young man and  each is uncomfortable with the role that fate and heritage has them playing. Barnes accomplishes a number of impressive things with the way he establishes the parameters of the novel  and the social structures it depicts. For example, the reader gains a great deal of insight into the differences and similarities between Muslim and Christian moral principles and beliefs. In  and of itself, that information is fascinating and, considering the state of the post-September 11th, 2001, world, particularly topical. Barnes also provides a certain measure of balance and perspective in  term of the realities faced by each of the men and how they struggle with their beliefs as they find themselves moving toward an odd sort of friendship. There are  countless similarities between the exploitation of Africans by Europeans as Barnes has greedy and ruthless "Northmen" murder ODeres father capture and sell Aidan and the rest of his family into