by CD Damitio
Hasan i-Sabah: The Founding of the Sultanate of Baboob Before he became the Old Man of the Mountain. Before the assassins. Before the legend. Hasan i-Sabah was a bloodthirsty madman who changed the world — or a visionary who built a new one from the ruins of the old. Depends who you ask. This is the story of how a brilliant, ruthless, and deeply philosophical young man from Persia forged something the world had never seen: a hidden kingdom built not on armies or gold, but on loyalty, knowledge, and the willingness to die for an idea. Set against the sweeping backdrop of the medieval Islamic world — the Seljuk Empire at its peak, the Fatimid Caliphate in decay, the Crusades reshaping the west — Hasan navigates courts, betrayals, and battles of faith to carve out a place that answers to no sultan, no caliph, no god but his own vision. The Sultanate of Baboob isn't just a fortress. It's a philosophy made real. A utopia built on a mountain. A dystopia depending on where you're standing. For readers of Guy Gavriel Kay, Conn Iggulden, and anyone who ever wondered what history looks like from the losing side that actually won.
