Troy:Lord of the Silver Bow
I just finished reading Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow by David Gemmell. As always, Mr. Gemmell delivers a fine read. The book is fairly large, weighing in at about 450 pages for the paperback. I haven’t read the other books in this series.
This story follows the viewpoints of a number of characters. The primary character is Helikaon, Lord of the Silver Bow (aka Prince Aeneas). However, we also see the world through the eyes of Odysseus, Gershom, Andromache, Argurios, and a number of others. This is managed very skillfully so that I was never confused as to what was going on.
A book this size can easily get caught up in tedious details and infodumps. Mr. Gemmell’s approach is more to weave together numerous little stories into telling one huge story (that still isn’t nearing completion by the end of the book). Thus rather than waiting for the final resolution, you get to see little stories begin and end everywhere, each of which moves you on to the next one and each of which forms a part of the greater whole.
Another thing I like about this book is that the heroes make mistakes, the villains are capable of nobility, and the characters’ actions make sense. There is victory even in defeat, and even the greatest victory is not without cost. It’s a story that tries to show what might have happened. The only traces of the supernatural are seers who truly see the future.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys retellings of classic stories.