Welcome to this week’s post. I actually managed to read two books over the past week. One was the final book in a trilogy and the other was a new book by my favourite author!
My first book of the week was David Gemmell’s Fall of Kings, Troy #03. As this was his last book, his wife, Stella Gemmell, also worked on it. This is the blurb…
Darkness falls on the Great Green, and the Ancient World is fiercely divided.On the killing fields outside the golden city of Troy, forces loyal to the Mykene King mass. Among them is Odysseus, fabled storyteller and reluctant ally to the Mykene, who knows that he must soon face his former friends in deadly combat.Within the city, the Trojan king waits. Ailing and bitter, his hope is pinned on two his favourite son Hektor, and the dread Helikaon who will wreak terrible vengeance for the death of his wife at Mykene hands.War has been declared.As enemies, who are also kinsmen, are filled with bloodlust, they know that many of them will die, and that some will become heroes who will live for ever in a story that will echo down the centuries.
And here is my response on Goodreads…
Fall of Kings by David GemmellMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This final part of the trilogy covers the siege of Troy and its aftermath. It was really interesting to see how Gemmell dealt with Homer’s tale. Things like the Trojan Horse, the battle between Achilles and Hector, the fate of Andromache and her son and, of course, events in the wider Mediterranean. I really loved Gemmell’s version of these famous tales, the Iliad and the Odyssey, and am so pleased that I decided to re read the trilogy. These are excellent books and well worth reading.
View all my reviews
It was interesting to read these books at a time when the new Odyssey film was coming out. Younger Son has seen it but I will have to wait until I can watch it on my iPad or on TV!
My second book of the week was one by my favourite author, Guy Gavriel Kaye. I bought it months ago when it first came out but didn’t feel that I was in the right frame of mind to read it until now. The title is Written on the Dark, #08 Sarantine Universe, and here is the blurb…
Thierry Villar is a well-known — even notorious — tavern poet, intimately familiar with the rogues and shadows of that world, but not at all with courts and power. He is an unlikely person, despite his quickness, to be swept into the deadly contests of ambitious royals, assassins, and invading armies.
But he is indeed drawn into all these things on a savagely cold night in his beloved city of Orane. And so Thierry must use all the intelligence and charm he can muster as power struggles merge with a decades-long war to bring his country to the brink of destruction.
As he does, he meets his poetic equal in an aristocratic woman and is drawn to more than one unsettling person with a connection to the world beyond this one. He also crosses paths with an extraordinary young woman driven by voices within to try to heal the ailing king – and help his forces in war. A wide and varied set of people from all walks of life take their places in the rich tapestry of this story.
Both sweeping and intimate, Written on the Dark is an elegant tour de force about power and ambition playing out amid the equally intense human need for art and beauty, and memories to be left behind.
And this is my review…
Written on the Dark by Guy Gavriel KayMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
If I were to describe my favourite kind of books, I would say that they have exciting plots with unexpected twists, colourful characters and well drawn settings. I must admit that I am not always concerned about the beauty of the writing. Perhaps my reading became stuck at an adolescent level?
But that sentence about the writing is completely overturned when it comes to my love of GGK’s work. I adore his books and have read every one, most of them several times. I own them in both paper form and ebook format. So, you can imagine my excitement when I saw that he had published a new book recently.
For a number of reasons it has taken me a while to get around to reading Written on the Dark. GGK weaves a strand of melancholy into his work and I thought that I wouldn’t be able to cope with that in my present struggle with depression. However, I did really enjoy the book and became very attached to several characters and their journeys through the plot. The final pages were particularly brilliant but also poignant and the touches of “real” history were memorable. I will definitely read this again very soon.
View all my reviews
I have struggled to choose a book to follow on after the brilliance of Kay’s writing. I did begin one, but it was so badly written that even I couldn’t carry on with it and I don’t think I will ever try to finish it. So, I have returned to the world of David Gemmell and will write about that book next week.
Happy Reading!
Love and best wishes,
Anne
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