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40x40

David McK (3422 KP) rated King of Ithaca (Adventures of Odysseus, #1) in Books

Jan 30, 2019  
KO
King of Ithaca (Adventures of Odysseus, #1)
Glyn Iliffe | 2011
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
While, reading the synopsis, this seems like the type of book I would enjoy, I have to say: I actually found this to be quite a dry read.

The first in a planned series of books ('The Adventures of Odysseus'), this one deals with the pre Trojan-war days, with (at the start of the novel) Odysseus not yet King of Ithaca. Centring primarily on one of Odysseus companions rather than Odysseus himself, this does have plenty of intrigue and action, but I (unfortunately) found none of those to be that stirring.

Not a patch on David Gemmell's Troy series ('Lord of the Silver Bow', Shield of Thunder' and 'Fall of Kings') of books.
  
40x40

ClareR (5721 KP) rated A Thousand Ships in Books

Sep 13, 2020  
A Thousand Ships
A Thousand Ships
Natalie Haynes | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics, Science Fiction/Fantasy
10
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
How could it be anything other than ‘Epic’ when it’s Greek Mythology involved?
A Thousand Ships is the story of the Trojan War as experienced by the women. Greek mythology is always centred around the men - after all, it was men who original myths down (The Iliad and The Odyssey both having been written by Homer). Women are side characters who have things done to them, rather than them being the ones doing things - unless they’re a goddess or a witch. Although witches and nymphs don’t seem to come out of these stories particularly well either 🤷🏼‍♀️

I’ve always loved reading Greek myths and legends, and I’m really enjoying the resurgence of these tales. Told with a modern eye, they can tell us something about ourselves today. We still experience war and loss (there has clearly been no learning experience over the time span between Troy and the modern era), and women are still the ones who shoulder the worst outcomes during and after a war.

It was fascinating to learn about these women, and I particularly liked Penelope’s letters to her husband Odysseus, relaying information about his unbelievable voyage and rather circuitous route home: all information gleaned from bards and their songs. A sensible person would want to know how the singer got the information to write the songs!

The Trojan women sections were really where the true heroes were. These were the women who had lived through a ten year siege, lost their husbands, brothers, sons and families, and were shared as slaves amongst the conquering Greeks. And that includes the poorest as well as the richest of women - Hecabe, Queen of Troy, amongst them.

This book was on the shortlist for the Women’s Prize 2020, and it deserved to be there. I loved reading this, and I now need to read the book written before this (The Children of Jocasta - it has sat patiently waiting on my bookshelf!) to get ready for Haynes’ book about Pandora and her jar!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.