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Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Monmouth Public Library | Fic (sf) Graham, Jo 2008 | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Haunting and bittersweet, lush and vivid, this extraordinary story has lived with me since I first read it. --Naomi Novik, author of His Majesty's Dragon The world is ending. One by one the mighty cities are falling, to earthquakes, to flood, to raiders on both land and sea. In a time of war and doubt, Gull is an oracle. Daughter of a slave taken from fallen Troy, chosen at the age of seven to be the voice of the Lady of the Dead, it is her destiny to counsel kings. When nine black ships appear, captained by an exiled Trojan prince, Gull must decide between the life she has been destined for and the most perilous adventure -- to join the remnant of her mother's people in their desperate flight. From the doomed bastions of the City of Pirates to the temples of Byblos, from the intrigues of the Egyptian court to the haunted caves beneath Mount Vesuvius, only Gull can guide Prince Aeneas on his quest, and only she can dare the gates of the Underworld itself to lead him to his destiny. In the last shadowed days of the Age of Bronze, one woman dreams of the world beginning anew. This is her story.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Graham's exquisite and bleak debut views the events of The Aeneid through the oracle Gull, a disciple of the Lady of the Dead. Taken to the Lady's temple after being lamed in a chariot accident, Gull quickly displays her power to see the future. Her first vision-black ships fleeing a burning city-lets her recognize Aeneas when he arrives after the fall of Wilusa (the Hittite name for Troy), hoping to save those sold into slavery. Gull joins Aeneas, and they take the few remaining people of Wilusa on a glorious journey to find their scattered brethren and a site where they can found a new city. Historians will admire Graham's deft blending of Virgil's epic story and historical fact, most notably the creation of Egyptian princess Basetamon to take the place of magnificently anachronistic Dido. Graham's spare style focuses on action, but fraught meaning and smoldering emotional resonance overlay her deceptively simple words. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
This debut fantasy enters Marion Zimmer Bradley and Diana Paxson territory with a retelling of The Aeneid from the perspective of Prince Aeneas's personal oracle. Daughter of a slave taken as spoils after the sacking of Troy (called Wilusa here), Gull grows up in the Achaian (aka Greek) kingdom of Pylos. A crippling leg injury and visions of the future mark the six-year-old girl for service at the Shrine of the Lady of the Dead. At 17, her destiny is sealed when the remaining free people of Wilusa sail into port, led by the last of the royal line, Prince Aeneas. Prompted by her goddess, Gull, now known as Pythia, accepts a position as Sybil, priestess and seeress to the prince. As the Wilusans move across the seas in search of a new land to call their own, they face many hazards, including pursuit by Achilles' son Neoptolemos and the more subtle blandishments of the Egyptian Princess Basetamon, who plays the tragic role traditionally attributed to Carthage's Queen Dido, before reaching their goal and founding the city that will one day be known as Rome. The structure of this story isn't anything readers of feminist historical fantasy haven't seen before; in fact, it's so familiar that despite the perils studding the plotline, there's never any genuine dramatic tension. But although the novel lacks surprises, it compensates with sympathetic characters and emotional truth. A lyrically written, if pedestrian-plotted, addition to the canon. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* In Graham's exceptional retelling of the Aeneid, the narrator is Gull, daughter of a Trojan captive and chosen when a child to be the voice of the Lady of the Dead, oracle and counselor to kings, in the city of Pylos. When nine black ships manned by Trojan exiles appear at Pylos, Gull must choose between remaining with the oracle or joining the remnant of her mother's people. She chooses to sail, and from the city of pirates to the temples of Byblos, from the cities of the Black Land (Egypt) to the caverns beneath Vesuvius, Gull guides Prince Aeneas on his quest to find a land where his people can start anew. The history behind the Iliad has been disputed since the days of Homer. Graham places her version at the end of the Bronze Age, when some catastrophe (still disputed by archaeologists) destroyed all Mediterrean civilizations save Egypt's and ushered in a dark age. A plausible premise, superb characters, a plot that originally extrapolates from classical literature, history, and mythology all make for a first-class, very readable first novel.--Murray, Frieda Copyright 2008 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Born to a slave taken at the fall of Troy, the child named Gull is chosen by the oracle Pythia to succeed her in service to the Lady of Death because of her prophetic visions. When survivors of a later assault on Troy, called Wilusa by its inhabitants, free their enslaved people, Gull accompanies the captain of the seven black ships, the Trojan Prince Aeneas, as they search for a place to call home. Drawing her inspiration from Virgil's The Aeneid, debut author Graham re-creates a vivid picture of the ancient world, a mysterious place in which gods and goddesses speak to their chosen. Recent interest in Troy, the ancient Greek city-states, and the foundations of Western civilization may increase demand for this historically based fantasy and make it a strong addition to any library. [The author wowed librarians at an Orbit luncheon at last summer's ALA convention in Washington, DC.-Ed.] (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.