I absolutely adore a good historical novel - the older the time period, the better. Throw in some mythos, weave in some legends, and I am in heaven, which is pretty close to how I felt while reading Black Ships, by Jo Graham.Black Ships is the Bronze Age story of Gull, a young slave girl who, having been lamed in an accident, is given as an acolyte to the temple of the Lady of the Dead. Her ability to see the future earns her a place as an oracle to her people, and when nine black ships appear, captained by Aeneas, a prince from the fallen city of Troy, she follows her destiny, aiding him in his journey to find the rest of their scattered tribe, and establish not only a new city, but a whole new era.
Based on Virgil's Aenead, the story is a deft blend of fact and fiction, taking the reader on a glorious Mediterranean voyage through the islands and harbors of ancient Greece, into the shadowy temples of Byblos, the watery world of Atlantis, and down the Nile into the mysterious land of Egypt. I was completely caught up in Gull's journey, very happy to find such a beautifully crafted story set in an age of heroes, and pleasantly surprised by the author's take on what we already know of history. I've already moved on to reading Graham's next novel, The Hand of Isis, which I'm sure will not disappoint. 5 Stars
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Terri Garey is a Supernatural Underground author who writes award-winning and critically-acclaimed urban fantasy. Even though she's a big scaredy-cat who can't watch horror movies or visit haunted houses, she loves moonlit graveyards, moss-covered headstones and the idea that life goes on even after it's over. Her latest release is WHISTLING PAST THE GRAVEYARD, and you can visit her on the web at TGarey.com, or friend her on Facebook.
2 comments:
Your review has just reinforced what already knew, Terri--that this book has been on my TBR radar for far too long and I need to just read it already!
I very much enjoyed it, Helen!
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