Michael Biggins Book order (chronological)

The story of Hasan Sabbah, the Castle of Alamut, the assassins, and the paradise gardens unfolds in 11th century Iran. Sabbah, who declares himself a prophet, devises a cunning plan to establish dominance by transforming a select group of individuals into suicide assassins. Within the paradise he creates, beautiful slaves encounter a new reality that alters their lives unexpectedly. Sabbah constructs a virtual heaven filled with beautiful women, lush gardens, wine, and hashish, convincing his young warriors that they can enter this paradise if they obey his commands. This small army, dedicated to his cause and willing to embrace death and kill for it, aims to intimidate the ruling class. Sabbah manipulates the purity of his followers, using their devotion to religion for his political ambitions. The doors to power are now wide open for him.

Tomaž Šalamun was one of the most influential and prolific poets in Central Europe over the past few decades. Thanks to the translation of his work, he also received wide international acclaim. A number of volumes of his poetry have been published in English, yet A Ballad for Metka Krašovec, originally published in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in 1981 at the mid-point of Šalamun’s career, is considered to be seminal in his oeuvre, not least for the influence it has had on younger poets both in his home country and abroad. The first time a complete single volume of Šalamun’s poetry was published in English translation, it is characterized by often striking imagery and a sexual turmoil that is pervasive, offering readers a unique opportunity to glimpse the author at a particular stage in his life and creative development. A Ballad for Metka Krašovec ranges from the incantatory and gnomic to reflections on Šalamun's lovers, family, and country to narrative-style recollections of stays in Mexico and the United States.