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The Trojan War

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Margaret
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The Trojan War

Post by Margaret » Sat February 13th, 2010, 8:50 pm

There are a ton of novels revolving around the Trojan War. A recent one of literary value is David Malouf's Ransom. I wrote a review of this for my own website, as well as a longer review for the U.K. archaeology website Heritage-Key. I had to chuckle when I discovered they had edited me into a Brit - the funniest part is that I didn't even notice until halfway through my reread of the review.
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info

SCW
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Post by SCW » Tue February 15th, 2011, 10:38 am

Don't read the firebrand, unless you have insomnia.

Russ Whitfield
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Post by Russ Whitfield » Tue February 15th, 2011, 12:14 pm

The Mouse God by Susan Curran is my favorite Trojan War story. Written from Bresesis's POV, its more a story of the women in the war than the guys. Its fabulous, I could probably quote it verbatim I've read it so many times!

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sweetpotatoboy
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Post by sweetpotatoboy » Tue February 15th, 2011, 1:10 pm

[quote=""SCW""]Don't read the firebrand, unless you have insomnia.[/quote]

Hey, I like The Firebrand. Re-read it recently after a long gap and think I enjoyed it more second time round, after recalling feeling underwhelmed first time. It has flaws, sure, but I didn't find it boring.

And, yes, so many novels on the Trojan War!

annis
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Post by annis » Thu February 17th, 2011, 4:25 am

Gosh, I haven't read Firebrand since it first came out and it still had the freshness of epic historical fantasy written from the female POV, not that common until MZB burst onto the scene with Mists of Avalon. I suspect that if I read it again it would reflect some of the feminist perspectives of the time which might seem rather dated now.

Possibly my favourite Trojan War novels are George Shipway's Men of Bronze and King in Splendour, a two-part fictional biography of Agamemnon, depicted as a cunning ruthless bastard who lets nothing get in the way of his climb to the pinnacle of power. Shipway adds a touch of black humour in his little reminders about hubris, when Agamemnon gets a creepy feeling every now and then about a certain bath in his palace at Mycenae---
Last edited by annis on Thu February 17th, 2011, 4:43 am, edited 5 times in total.

Russ Whitfield
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Post by Russ Whitfield » Thu February 17th, 2011, 11:21 am

I loved Men of Bronze - I must get the sequel, I've never read it.

That's so weird - I remember that line about the bath too - classic!

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wendy
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Post by wendy » Thu February 17th, 2011, 12:55 pm

[quote=""Margaret""]There are a ton of novels revolving around the Trojan War. A recent one of literary value is David Malouf's Ransom. I wrote a review of this for my own website, as well as a longer review for the U.K. archaeology website Heritage-Key. I had to chuckle when I discovered they had edited me into a Brit - the funniest part is that I didn't even notice until halfway through my reread of the review.[/quote]

Nice review, Margaret. You make the book sound like an intriguing read, even though it's not a period I usually gravitate toward.
Wendy K. Perriman
Fire on Dark Water (Penguin, 2011)
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http://www.FireOnDarkWater.com

annis
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Post by annis » Fri February 18th, 2011, 5:12 pm

I haven't read The Mouse God, Russ, but it sounds good- I've just tracked down a copy. Thanks for the tip :)

Briseis also features in Colleen McCullough's Song of Troy which I enjoyed, though I know some people feel ambivalent about it.

SCW
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Post by SCW » Sun February 20th, 2011, 11:00 am

The best accounts of the Trojan War are The Iliad and The Odyssey. I though The Firebrand would be a great read (seeing as it was by the author of the Mists of Avalon) but I fell asleep reading it!

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Margaret
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Interest in HF: I can't answer this in 100 characters. Sorry.
Favourite HF book: Checkmate, the final novel in the Lymond series
Preferred HF: Literary novels. Late medieval and Renaissance.
Location: Catskill, New York, USA
Contact:

Post by Margaret » Mon February 21st, 2011, 2:44 am

Nice review, Margaret. You make the book sound like an intriguing read, even though it's not a period I usually gravitate toward.
Thanks. If you like highly poetic novels, you'd probably enjoy it. It's quite short.
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info

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