This book mesmerised me from page 1. Loved the portrayal of Ancient Greece and myriads of nearby kingdoms. Being book 1 of Troy series, the main characters are just being introduced here. This book outlines the various tiny as well as major kingdoms, their people, their proclivities, and the sociopolitical tensions undergone. The characters who emerge are [not in that particular order]:1. Aeneas/Helikaon - a Dardanian Prince who forsakes the throne in favour of his younger step brother, a brave, principled man who practically was moulded into a hero by Odysseus (who surprisingly is portrayed here as an ugly rotund man with a golden heart). Aeneas suffered the trauma of seeing his mother jump herself to death (though initially he believed that she being a demi Goddess had just flown to the clouds), moreover being shown her dead body and cruelly taunted by his wicked father. The timid young man is send to Odysseus to help him out with his ship, and his fortunes are reversed.2. Priam - King of Troy portrayed as another wicked person, who has nearly 50 children [in and out of wedlock] and whose chief game is testing the patience and enduring capacity of his sons. He doesn't hesitate to put down and mock anyone in public. He is a womanizer to boot, who likes to approach his various daughters in law. I was shocked at this persona, because I supposed Priam to be a venerable king3. Andromache - one of the best characters, and one which I liked the most - tough, self confident, kind, regal. She is the daughter of a minor king, who sells her to King Priam as a bride to his son Hektor. She is actually a replacement bride to her initially promised, charming timid younger sister, who succumbs to some illness and was initially pledged to the temple of Thera, where princess female priests used to worship her, as well as cavort with each other. So she acquires a taste for feminine flesh too. But she is staunch and loyal to her friends, and plays a major role in the story , after her introduction somewhere in the middle of the book4. Gershom, the exiled prince, brother to Rameses[? IV], who is put to death as he tried to help a Eunuch slave, but who somehow escapes and lives incognito is another strong character, who aids Helikaon in his battle5.Khalkeus, the madman from Miletos, the builder of the massive Xanthos, Helikaon's ship of Death, which conforms to the name, but in a different way.6. The crew of Xanthos, where a traitor or two lurks7. The gruff seeming but later proven to be golden hearted Argurios, who is a Mykene warrior, and Mykenes are notorious for their cruelty, plundering and raping. I initially hated him, later started admiring him for his mental strength, attitude and morals. I rejoiced when he fell in love with Paodike, King Priam's neglected, considered not to be beautiful daughter, who of course reciprocated. 8. Xander the boy, who is taken in as a crew of Helikaon's ship Xanthos, and is a valuable supporting character8. Various various other characters, whom if I start describing I will end up writing a mini book myself [Khalkaus, Spyros, Phaeda, Phaea, Zidantas the Ox- who is actually a man, Alektruon, various kings, nobles, princes, traitors, the list is endless]Description of Troy was awesome. Felt like I was there. Had to close my eyes for a moment or two just to visualize it. So wish for a SAFE time travelling capsule to visit the various places of my fantasy, and Troy would be one of the foremost.Things which baffled1. My weak mental geographic map of the area. I knew of Greece and Troy. Other places are new, and however much I try I tend to forget their names and locations.2. Helen - was a major letdown beauty wise. She is there only as a brief mention, but is shown as chubby, ordinary looking, studious. I kept on thinking about the face that launched 1000 ships into battle3. Priam as a cruel king4. His queen as a cruel lady (forgot her name) I would recommend this one to all mythology buffs, who like their characters to be vincible humans, rather than invincible Gods/Goddesses
WOW!! I love this book!!!!!!I love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love this book!!I love this book, I love this book, I love this book, I love this book!!Can I say it again? I LOVE THIS BOOK!!If the above wasn’t clear enough I want to say that I love this book!! This is like the best book I’ve ever read, it’s just so Amazing!. It’s my favorite book of the year, probably my favorite book of all time!I have an urge to go immediately to the library and borrow the second one right now, or better yet go to a b&n and buy it, and don’t wait any second longer!! It’s too bad I already checked out 2 books, and have to read them first… boo… Guess I’ll have to read them faster to get to the second book sooner.How can I begin…This book, Lord of the Silver Bow, is an outstanding retelling of Troy. It tells you the story of the Trojan war, but differently, I’m not really sure how to explain that without spoiling anything. This story covers many different events from many different characters, but even though they are a lot, I didn’t have trouble memorizing the names, and who did what, what happened to who and so on, and that’s very strange for me. For example, when I was reading A Game of Thrones I suffered a lot, I enjoyed the book, I’m not gonna lie, but it was just so slow and had a hard time remembering the names and what was happening to all the characters. This book, on the contrary, was fast paced, and the way David Gemmell tells the story is just absolutely EPIC!! he makes it easy for you to remember.I seriously say, I enjoyed and appreciated every single page I read, I never felt something was unnecessary, and never thought for a tiny moment that the story was becoming dull or slowing down.The characters are ALL great, all of them, not just the main. They were so brave, and some of them were the worst f*ing cowards, traitors I’ve ever read (view spoiler)[ that mainly meaning Kolanos… I was so mad when I thought Priam was going to spare his life and slaughter the rest of the Mykene soldiers (hide spoiler)]
Do You like book Lord Of The Silver Bow (2006)?
4.5 stars. This was awesome! Unexpectedly so, in fact. I've always loved Greek mythology, ever since I was little. Especially stories about Troy and the Trojan War. I read the blurb to this one, and it sounded great. I also like historical fiction, so it was intriguing to pick up a rendering of the Homeric period that was based more on a real (or possible) history of the region. In short, a tale about the people rather than the Gods and magic stuff.So why was I hesitant and not expecting a great read? Well, I'd recently read Legend, by the same author. I'd found it to be written in a rather juvenile manner, with thin characterizations and weak plotting. The battle scenes were pretty good, but the story didn't do much for me. Plus, the ending was horrible. Well, that's the book that Gemmell's known for; it's what the Gemmell Legend award is named after, matter of fact. If that was an example of his work, I was turned off.But my friend Emma had recommended this trilogy, and the premise of it still intrigued me. So I gave it a go, and I was very pleased. It was very close to being 5-star material, though the pace did slow down a little through the middle. The writing was great, the characters were memorable and very sympathetic, even some of the antagonists. The ending was heartfelt and struck home too. I had to admit, I wondered if this was really written by the same guy. Of course, since it was published some 20 years after Legend, it's quite possible that Gemmell's style simply improved. I'm definitely looking forward to the other two books in the series.
—Chris
Originally gave this four stars but I've stewed a bit on this one and it's more a three. The first thing I have to get out of the way is that I'll always like Gemmell's writing. You can tell he really enjoyed his work and I love that. I really doubt he ever wrote a book that I wouldn't like, despite his prolific nature. That said, this was a relative comedown after my first encounter with Gemmell with Legend. The reasons for this are really hard for me to really pick out, but a big reason that I write and read reviews of books is that it helps me learn why I like why like and vice versa. I don't know if this sounds pretentious or not but I really do think reading and writing about books makes you a "better" reader. The insight I've gleaned from others' reviews always, always inspires me to have a deeper experience with books, even if I don't share their opinion. Goodreads fanboyism aside it's a difficult one, on paper this should have been a five-star book for me.Several of my friends have commented on this, and I think they're onto something; the balance and pacing of this book is off. In the first half you're hanging out with the complex protagonist Helikaon (Gemmell's reimagining of Aeneas) fuckin' sailing around the Great Green chopping pirates' heads off and basking in this lush, vibrant world Gemmell's re-created and in the second half you're kinda just sitting around with minor characters watching Gemmell set up the rest of the series. I burnt through the first half of the book in a couple days and spent the rest of however long on the second. I mean, the intrigue and love story stuff was well-done I just thought it wasn't nearly as gripping as Helikaon's scenes. Even his presence in the climax of the book didn't really help things much for me.So in total a bit of a difficult experience for me. I liked this book, but I really was expecting more. Maybe I just vibe better with the Drenai stuff? I bought and will certainly read The King Beyond the Gate but I'm uncertain about the Troy stuff at this point, especially considering he didn't even finish it. It may not have helped that I remember next to nothing from The Iliad as I was WAY too young, dumb and impatient to really get it...my current impressions of the poem are just faded scenes of totally cryptic violence. Maybe I'll re-read that and then come back to this series.
—Nate
For a while now I haven't read a book which managed to truly get to me. This book did.First and foremost, this is a book about human nature – what motivates a person, the nature of every person's beliefs, and what brings them to insanity.Each and every character in the book was realistic and touching, you couldn't help but to identify with most of them, and come to appreciate the rest. Although some tend to be too good to be true, while others can be a little too close to pure evil, they are all written in such a manner that makes you believe them still.Throw in the mix epic battle scenes, ancient superstitions, prophecies, and heart breaking love affairs that usually end in a tragedy, and you get a gripping book you won't be able to put down - not due to cheap writing tricks, but thanks to genuine interest.This book was one of the few which actually made me stare for a while after finishing it, in order to let everything sink in. It was that good.Need I say more?
—Emma
