Creation

Creation is an epic historical fiction novel by Gore Vidal which was published in 1981. In 2002, he published a restored version, adding four chapters that a previous editor had cut. He also added a brief 2002 foreword explaining what had happened to the book in its original version and why he restored the cut chapters. The story follows the adventures of a fictional "Cyrus Spitama", an Achaemenid Persian diplomat of the 5th century BC who travels the known world comparing the political and religious beliefs of various nation states of the time. Over the course of his life, he meets many... influential philosophical figures of his time, including Zoroaster, Socrates, the Buddha, Mahavira, Lao Tsu, and Confucius. Cyrus, who is the grandson of Zoroaster and who survives his murder, grows up at the Achaemenid court as a quasi-noble, and becomes a close friend of his schoolmate Xerxes. Because of Cyrus' talent for languages, the Achaemenid King, Darius I, sends him as an ambassador to certain kingdoms in India, but Cyrus is more interested in the many religious theories he encounters there than in establishing profitable trade relations for Darius.
more