This here my review begins with a question. What do you get when you update to a more contemporary narration style Homer’s Iliad, add and subtract characters, massively edit the plot, and demythologize the myth? A long, convoluted question begets a short answer 😀. You get “Troy”, David Gemmell’s reimagined three volume work of the original epos. This is a review of the first book “Lord of the Silver Bow”. Within all the familiarities that remind you on Homer’s hexameter verses, David Gemmell managed to be innovative, even original. There is the setting, the names of locations we so intimately know but he also expands on Homer’s geography.
There are (most) of the familiar characters (Agamemnon, Paris, Hector, Priam Odysseus)and there are many new ones. As of this first volume Achilles is notably missing, however, one of the main characters, the eponymous Lord of the Silver Bow or simply Helikaon seems to be a close match. He also reminds me, to a certain degree, on Homer’s Aeneas and interestingly enough that is another of the names this important player goes by.
The characters are not of the black and white kind, they are complex real life characters which entails that we love them as much as we may hate them other times. As we read on we hunger for the introduction of characters we so intimately know from the Iliad and wonder what re-inventive literary magic the author is able to apply to them. Noteworthy is also the mention of the Trojan Horse which does not refer to the mystical wooden horse but in a witty wordplay is, in fact, Hector’s elite cavalry force.
There is the well-known plot but there are many twists and additions to it. His narration adds dimension and explanatory depth as he often has two very different characters tell of the same event. His narration never feels divided. There are no seemingly lost strands of events, nor does the author gets carried introducing too many characters and their stories. At all times newly introduced events, characters and their flashbacks dovetail seamlessly into the storyline. Yes, and of course, to continue the deserved praise, the end of this first volume is both touching and ingenious. It ties all that happened neatly together and at the same time beautifully opens the conflict and suspense for what is sure to follow in volume two.

On a final note, David Gemmel knows his Greek mythology and the ancient Greeks overall. He shows great imagination in his writing but bases it on some very educated guesses of what could have given rise to the manufactured myth. Whether you have read the Iliad or not, this should be a great read for anybody. - very recommendable. 😀 ( )

I obtained this book as it had good reviews, and I am reading quite a few retellings of the Trojan War and Greek mythology in general. Unfortunately I found it a bit disappointing. The characters are for the most part not well delineated. The male heroes are rugged men of action, dark and brooding etc, apart from Hektor who appears at the end of the story and is a giant of a man, unbeatable in battle, and coming across more as a 'hale fellow well-met' type but just as cliched. The only surprise is Priam: much more physically vigorous than usually portrayed and a sexual predator, who not only forces himself on slaves but insists on a kind of droit du seigneur with the wives of his sons. He also enjoys humiliating people in other ways, especially family members, and has various members of his family executed.

The character I liked best was Odysseus who is interestingly portrayed as a larger than life raconteur - the various iconic stories of the Odyssey are tall tales he invented - although with a lethal edge underneath the bonhomie. I also liked Andromache, who is a crack shot with the more powerful Phyrgian bow, having spent a few years as a priestess of Thera before her sister died, and who is sent to Troy to marry Hektor in her place. She is the only one with the guts to stand up to Priam. But both characters play a relatively minor part.

The story veers around a lot, taking up some characters which the reader might be justified in thinking would be a main part of the story and then dropping them. For example, it starts with Gershom, shipwrecked at sea, but although his real identity is later revealed, he remains a bit part in the story so it's an odd choice to spend so much time in his viewpoint early on. Another character is deftly sketched but is soon horribly killed off, and it seems was only there to act as a catalyst for Helikaon, the main male character, to go off the rails and commit an atrocity to avenge him. Similarly, a bedfellow of Helikaon (for some reason the alternative name for Aeneas) appears early on in the book but is then dropped because she lives in Kypros which is not the setting for the rest of the novel.

The author developed the Mediterranean culture quite well, though with the focus always on the warlike aspects. I wasn't convinced by the side references to Ancient Egypt though: if the version of Troy is the one that fell in 1300 BC (I consulted the Wikipedia article after finishing the novel), since the later ones showed gradual decline and no indication of a prestigious ruling class etc, the Prince Rameses mentioned must be Rameses II otherwise known as Rameses the Great. Despite the references to killing slaves to bury them with Egyptian Kings, that practice had ceased centuries before, and the workmen who built the royal tombs were respected craftspeople who had their own village which has been excavated. Similarly, Ancient Egypt granted more legal and social freedoms to women than most other Middle Eastern countries of the period so I found the references in Gershom's backstory to be anachronistic.

The title is a bit odd: I think it stems from a child mistaking Helikaon for Apollo early on. At some point, he is called that but I can't remember if he ever fires a bow and the title almost fits Andromache, who does something heroic using her bow, much better.

For me this was a slow read: I would read a chapter then set it aside to read something else. It took me a lot longer to get through than any other book during the period and left me with no desire to read the rest of the trilogy. So for all these reasons, for me this was only an OK 2 stars. ( )

This book is amazing. I feel like I know the characters, and I can picture every scene. Moving on to book two because I can't stop thinking about how this is all going to end. A must read! ( )

I read so many glowing reviews here on Goodreads, I had to pick up this book. It should be right up my (historical fiction) alley.

And it is.

This is the story of the Trojan War. As a child, I read a lot of the Trojan War cheering on the valiant Greeks. This story has none of the gods and goddesses intervening. However, it does have some amazing characters.

There were parts of the book that made me go WOW. Particularly, I loved how Odysseus befriended Helikaon and admired how the author didn't particularly draw the heroines possessing epic beauty. They're all beautiful in their own way but often described as plain.

Well-crafted story. I'm looking forward to picking up the sequel. ( )

Excellent first book in epic saga of Troy. Vivid characters. Prince Aeneas (Helikaon) battles the evil Mykenes, and enlists the help of an unlikely ally (Argurius) pitting him against his own people. Love and betrayal. Something for everyone here. ( )