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This book is based on what is known about
the legendary women warriors, the Amazons.
Myrina is a member of the nomadic Mazagardi tribe. When they are
thirteen the girls leave the tribe for seven years to join the
moon riders -- a band of warrior priestesses. They travel around
the lands bordering the eastern Mediterranean singing and performing
their sacred dances. For example, when they go to a fishing village
they perform the fishing dances to send the fish down the Bosphorus
to the fishing tribe.
Myrina spends far longer than the customary seven years with the
moon dancers. This is because the siege of Troy begins shortly
after she joins the priestesses. The Moon Riders become involved
in the struggle, partly because the Princess Cassandra serves
for a time with the Riders herself. And then the Greek Army needs
a constant supply of food and they get that by raiding and pillaging
the villages for miles around Troy. The camp of the Mazagardi
tribe is devastated and most of Myrina's family slaughtered. The
Moon Riders throw in their lot with the Trojans and join them
in the fight against the Greeks. There is a vivid picture of the
besieged city, and also of the fighting outside the walls. But
the actual fall of Troy is not shown as, by that time, Myrina
has ridden away with a new band of recruits to replace the Moon
Riders who have been killed in the struggle.
Despite the grimness of the background this is, in many ways,
a pleasant book. This particularly applies to the parts of the
book describing the wanderings of the Riders. For example there
is the almost idyllic picture of their winter camp on an island.
The reader can imagine the turquoise sea, the wild flowers and
the lush grass and the priestesses going about their work of gathering
herbs for medicines and potions. The relationship of the Riders
and their horses also adds another dimension. And throughout there
is always the power and mystery of the sacred dances.
Myrina herself is courageous, resilient and caring and it is easy
for readers to sympathise with her.
In The Moon Riders Theresa Tomlinson returns to, and further
develops, the theme she earlier explored in her The Forestwife
trilogy where she retold the Robin Hood legend from the point
of view of the women of Medieval England. The Moon Riders
also describes how war affects women -- both in the case of the
Moon Riders who played an active part in the fighting, and also
the patient suffering of the women of Troy.
This book has been meticulously researched. Theresa Tomlinson
certainly knows her Greek literature. She has also studied lesser
known works about the Amazon women. The description of the death
of Penethesilea is taken from a Greek poem. There are two sketch
maps of the countryside around Troy. These are useful but I would
also have liked a map showing a wider area.
A thrilling story with an authentic background. This book is aimed
at young adults but it could be enjoyed by adults too.
12 - adult
This is the sequel to The Moon Riders. At the end of the previous book Myrina, their leader, reforms the Moon Riders with the help of some former Trojan slaves.
They settle down in a village on the
southern shores of the Black Sea. But they are not to be left
in peace for long. The village is raided by the son of Achilles
and the women are taken prisoner. However they manage to free
themselves and take possession of the ships taking them to slavery.
They cross the Black Sea and land on its northern shores. Then
follows details of how they try to make a home in this new land.
They find a herd of wild horses and use their ancient skills to
tame them. They make contact with some local tribesmen who show
them how to survive a winter much harsher than any they have been
used to. Then Myrina learns that her friend Iphigenia, whom she
believed drowned when washed overboard, is still alive but in
danger. Myrina determines to save her and there follows an exciting
story of a rescue from ritual sacrifice.
The first part is exceptionally good. The reader really shares
in the landing on the northern shores of the Black Sea, in establishing
a camp and making contact with the other tribe. The part which
describes how they tame the wild horses is particularly interesting.
Theresa Tomlinson has researched this part very carefully but
what animal people will notice is that the methods of these ancient
riders are very much in tune with modern methods of animal training.
This section provides material to give the imagination some work.
This is a part to be lingered over, where the reader can stop
and imagine the Moon Riders and the tribesmen roving over the
Steppes.
This is something which is all too often lacking in modern books
with the editorial obsession with pace. Today books often have
too much pace.
In writing this book Theresa Tomlinson has done a great deal of
research -- both about the legendary Amazonian women and the Ancient
Greeks. But her deep knowledge of the facts does not stop the
book from being an exciting story.
Comes with a historical note and a rough sketch map.
Thrilling, authentic, imaginative, original -- very highly recommended
12 to adult
This novel shows the Trojan War from the point of view of the women of Troy. It also shows the grim reality behind the well known stories.
Much of the book centres around Xanthe - gentle, caring Xanthe. She is nursemaid to the baby son of Andromache and Hector , the son of King Priam. When not looking after the baby Astyanax Xanthe helps in the Blood Room which is where the wounded are taken after a battle. The sensitive Xanthe cannot bear to watch the battles from the walls of Troy as most other people do. Her sister, Marpessa, lives in Helen's house.
True to the spirit of the literature of Ancient Greece the gods make fleeting appearances - although Marpessa is the only one who can really see them. Aphrodite, the goddess of love is bored and her attempts to alleviate this boredom cause trouble. Together with Eros she causes Xanthe and Marpessa to both fall in love with the same man, the rich young Alastor who, feverish and writhing with pain, is brought into the Blood Room.
These romantic entanglements are shown in contrast to the brutality and severity of the war. The description of the death of Hector should make a profound impression on any reader. We hear the sighs, sobs and groans, and then the shrieks and screams of the watchers on the walls when Hector is killed and share their utter horror when Achilles ties his body to his chariot and pulls him three times round the walls of Troy. Bloodstained earth fills Hector's mouth and his long, black hair is yellow with matted sand. His mother, Hecuba, is writhing on the ground and his father, King Priam is roaring.
The story moves on to what every reader knows will be the climax - the wooden horse and the destruction of Troy. But this is very different from the stories we all know from childhood. We are shown the relentless cruelty as Troy is set on fire and people are burnt to death, the men all slaughtered and the women taken prisoner and led away to become slaves. The infant prince Astyanax cannot be allowed to live and there is a heartrending scene where the baby is taken and hurled from the walls and smashed against the stones at the foot. As one of the watching Greeks says, "The little body flying through the air. Flying and flying and its arms and legs flapping and waving. A baby smashed to pulp against the stones. How to forget? A baby."
Yet despite all the devastation the book ends on a note of hope. This can be summed up in the words of one old woman as she is led away to slavery. "I mean to survive."
Xanthe and Marpessa are lucky because they have the protection of Helen. As for Alastor, he has an incredible, ingenious plan to survive and win the love of Marpessa.
When the Greeks finally sail away there are some survivors among the ruins of Troy and they are determined to rebuild their lives. "Soon... would take two of the horses and ride out of the city and into the mountains, and the greener lands beyond the walls to search for grain and fruit and anything that could be planted."
"Troy" is a powerfully written novel about the Trojan War but its theme is timeless and universal. The misery, cruelty and futility of war - in any age.
Young adult
This is the story of Alexander the Great as told by his warhorse, Bucephalus. It begins with the twelve-year-old Alexander’s first ride on the great stallion and ends with the death of Bucephalus nearly thirty years later. It is also the story of Bucephalus’s devoted groom Charmides –– or Charm when she is pretending to be a boy –– and the special bond between them.
Although told in the first person by Bucephalus humanisation is kept to a very minimum and much of the narrative is taken up with things which really matter to a horse –– such as a stallion dominating other horses and his feelings for his mares. And Bucephalus describes what he sees without giving any analytical explanations. After each battle there is a list of the numbers of horses and people killed or enslaved but there is no attempt to answer the questions which most readers would inevitably ask as to what was all this about? What was the reason for all this bloodshed?
The gentle Charm cannot answer these questions either but she is quietly shocked by all the cruelty and carnage. She also fears for the safety of her beloved charge and on several occasions tries to prevent him being sent into battle –– on one occasion with disastrous results. (Here she mirrors the actual experiences of the author who worked for ten years as a groom in a racing stables and knows well what it is like to send a horse you have cared for into danger.)
The characters of Charm and Bucephalus are very sympathetically drawn but it is a different matter with Alexander. He comes across as a perfect monster. Massacring prisoners, torturing them and having their hands cut off, and sometimes even crucifying them. Enslaving whole populations of towns and then having them razed to the ground.
This book has been very carefully researched and there is a comprehensive bibliography. There is also a historical note and a map of Alexander’s campaigns.
Clearly illustrates the cruelty of the age. Shows that while Bucephalus was certainly a great horse Alexander himself does nor deserve his title of ‘great.’
Young adult
This book is written around a little known fact of history. In The Histories Book VI Herodotus says that at the Battle of Marathon a shield was used to make a signal. But Herodotus did not know who the signaller was.
But Alice Leader has used her imagination about both the signaller and the reason for the signal.
Nyresa lives with her grandmother on the Island of Thira in the Sea of Crete. Her grandmother is a priestess and decides to go on a pilgrimage. While she is away Nyresa will go and stay with her aunt and uncle and cousin in Athens. Nyresa does not want to leave the quiet island where she has lived all her life but she has to go. She is amazed at the size and bustle of Athens but she begins to settle down and she gets on well with her crippled cousin Rhode.
But always in the background is the threat of the Persian attack.
Nyresa makes other friends in Athens -- friends who know of treachery. There are actually those who would welcome a Persian victory. Nyresa's new friends learn about their plan and work out how it can be thwarted. And the one person who can do this is Nyresa. Is she brave enough to hide out in the hills and raise the signal shield at the proper time?
This is a well told story which moves at a fast pace. There are many strands to it. There is the position of women in Ancient Greece and the restricted lives wealthy Athenian women had to lead. Along with this is the fact that childhood was short. Nyresa is twelve at the beginning of the book and she is fourteen at the end -- fourteen, old enough to marry.
Above all there is the timeless theme of the cruelty and futility of war. If the Persians conquer Athens they will kill the men and the women will be made slaves. The old and the infirm -- like crippled Rhode -- will be killed. And while Greece is under threat from Persia Athens and Sparta are still fighting. Nyresa has a friend from one of the Greek islands which is overrun by the Spartans -- with much cruelty and savagery which is not usually connected with Greece.
Along with this is the theme of ordinary people being caught up in war. As Klio tells Nyresa about her fiance, He's for staying alive...He and his family have no wish to side with anyone.
These themes are worked out against a detailed and authentic background. Nyresa's quiet island is contrasted with the sheer size of Athens. There is the crowded agora or marketplace which Nyresa finds overwhelming at first. Later Nyresa is taken to Acropolis. And the characters consist of a wide sweep of Athenian society.
This background would have been even better if maps, plans and diagrams had been included. Alice Leader paints splendid word pictures but plans of both Athens and the agora would have added so much more.
Nevertheless this is an exciting story which still manages to teach much about Ancient Greek society. Well worth reading.
11+
An original retelling of the story of Perseus and Andromeda.
Perseus first meets the young refugee in Naxos market when he was there with his mother. The refugee tells him her name is Kore –– which is simply the Greek for girl. When he embarks on the ship to take him back to his own island of Serifos she is on the same ship and she gets off there too. She comes to stay with his family and help his grandfather Papa Dicty in his restaurant.
Then after some time Perseus finds out the truth about Kore. She is actually a princess and her name is Andromeda. She was to be a sacrifice but she had run away. Now she has decided to return and accept her destiny. Round about the same time the king of Serifos gives Perseus the task of going to behead the Gorgon Medusa and bring back her head –– the head which will turn anyone who looks at it to stone. Perseus and Andromeda leave Serifos together.
This is a new and imaginative retelling of the old story. The Greek gods and goddesses make occasional appearances and Hermes plays an important part. There is an interesting portrayal of Jason and the Argonauts. They are pictured as pirates. Rural Greek life is brought to life and there is a suggestion of the origins of the Greek city state at the end.
There is a historical note referring to the ancient sources and the history of the Mediterranean. This mentions the alphabetic writing of the Phoenicians and the Great Disaster.
It is not essential but it would be better if the reader were to know about the original story of Perseus and Andromeda before reading this book –– something which can no longer be taken for granted with young people today.
Told partly in the first person by Perseus and partly in the third person.
A good story which holds the attention and written with an easy style.
Young adult
This book was first published in 1992. It is a fantasy adventure set in Ancient Greece.
"Uncle" Phelops is a slave and chief cook to the King of Ceos. He is a kind man and he adopted Phaidon and Cleo when their parents were killed when their village was destroyed by pirates. Phaidon has a talent for singing and is being trained to play the lyre by the court musician.
News comes that the Lord Perseus is on his way back at last after having killed the gorgon, Medusa. In due course Perseus arrives and enters the banqueting hall. The king and his courtiers laugh at Perseus and make fun of him. Perseus takes Medusa's head out of the its bag. He holds it up and the King and everyone else in the hall is turned to stone - including Phaidon's sister Cleo.
When a distraught Phaidon begs him to change Cleo back Perseus is very offhand. He says he can't as she is dead. He advises Phaidon to run away before the fighting starts. Fighting always follows the death of a king.
Phaidon and Uncle Phelops decide to take this piece of advice. They are joined by Gordius, a kitchen boy and Dorian, a groom who was attracted to Cleo. Phaidon insists on taking Cleo, who is now a beautiful marble statue. They manage to get places on a trading ship and so escape from the island. But once at sea there is a storm. Phaidon promises that if they are saved he will make a song in the honour of Poseidon, the god of the sea and the ship is cast ashore on a small island. The crew now believe that Phaidon is unlucky and, when they have repaired the ship, they sail away leaving Phaidon and the others stranded. The captain of the ship takes the statue of Cleo with him.
Phaidon finds that there is only one other person on the island - Iris. She is the adopted daughter of a pirate. She had been in the bottom of a boat when the rowers were attacked and eaten by a six-headed monster. Iris was saved because her father had pushed her down into the bottom of the boat. Later the boat was washed up on the shore of a bay on the island.
If they are ever to escape from the island they will have to find a way of getting past the monster's lair. Phaidon has an ingenious plan and they eventually get to the mainland and to the palace of Anaktaron. There Phaidon is believed to have come to fulfil the terms of an obscurely worded oracle. The queen is ill and the people believe that Phaidon is the one mentioned in the oracle who will save her with his singing. But if he cannot cure the queen there is trouble ahead for all of them because the king has a terrible temper and if anyone angers him he sometimes orders them to be hurled from the battlements of the castle down into a deep ravine.
Does Phaidon save the queen and find security for his little party? Is he able to continue his search for Cleo? Does he find her and does he find some way of freeing her spirit from the stone which encases it?
This story moves at a good pace and holds the reader's interest. With its references to Medusa, sea monsters and oracles it certainly gives a flavour and atmosphere of the old tales and legends of Ancient Greece. It could act as a complement to a study of Greek mythology but it does not give a detailed picture of Ancient Greece as a whole.
Teenage
This is one of the Flashbacks series for children of seven to eleven. Each novel is about 20,000 words long.
Philip lives in Athens. He is the youngest son of Lycon, the sculptor. The Persians under their great King Darius, are trying to conquer Greece. A good landing place for the Persian troops would be the flat plain of the Bay of Marathon. But Philip's grandmother lives in Marathon with his aunt and uncle and their family. They will have to be warned. Philip is the only person who can go as his elder brothers have to be ready for military service.
It is twenty five miles across the mountains. Philip has made the journey before - but never alone. This is the story of his journey to Marathon and of what happens when he gets there.
This is an interesting story written around the Battle of Marathon. It is very clear. The main historical points are brought out and explained but the facts never become confusing. Much detail about Ancient Greece is worked into the story. But this detail occurs quite naturally. It is not dragged in purely for the sake of giving the reader information. We learn about Greek sculpture, the wild countryside between Athens and Marathon, Philip's uncle's farm, and the armour worn by Philip's brothers. Finally there is a dramatic description of the Battle itself. There is also a useful map at the front.
An enjoyable and instructive read.
This is a novel about the famous Greek sculptor Phidias when he was a boy.
Phidias and his sister Ariadne both have their own problems. Their father is Charmides who is rich, highly respected in Athens and highly thought of as a clever politician. Coming from such a wealthy family means that they are both restricted. Phidias is told by his father that he is going to be a statesman and take part in running Athens. But Phidias wants to be a craftsman. He sneaks out of the house and gets a smith to show him how to cast bronze statues. As for Ariadne things are much worse. She is not allowed to leave the house herself and she feels a prisoner. She would like more freedom. She wishes she could train in the Gymnasium and take part in the games. But of course this is only for men and boys.
But there is someone who has worse problems than either of them. This is Naxa, their nurse. Theo, one of the servants, a rough, ugly man, wants to marry her and when she refuses he tries to cause trouble for her. He tells her she is going to be sold and she runs away. If caught she could be could be put in chains, whipped, branded and sold. Charmides sends the cruel Theo to look for her.
Phidias and Ariadne both know where Naxa will have gone - to her sister who has a sick child. That night they climb out of a window and cross the city to the sister's house to warn Naxa. From then on the pace of the story is fast and furious and involves the children being chased by Theo and being lost in a great cave under the Acropolis hill.
Although short, this is an exciting story with characters which really come alive. Also much information is trickled into the story:- the position of women, sculpture, the Gymnasium and discus and javelin throwing, the Greek gods and legends.
This is the kind of book which should really help to get young children interested in history.
7-11
This book is for children aged seven to eleven. It is about 10,000 words long.
Milo and Demetrius are friends -- although
their family circumstances are very different. Their fathers are
both farmers but Demetrius' father is the wealthy owner of many
farms while Milo's father is struggling to make his single farm
pay. But Milo is luckier in one respect. His father treats him
kindly while Demetrius father is a brutal bully who beats his
sons. He is desperate that his son should win the boys' race at
the Olympics for the sake of the family honour and he is even
prepared to resort to bribery and threats.
He approaches both Milo and his father. He offers Milo's father
money but to Milo himself he says something even worse. He makes
a vague threat that harm will come to his father if he wins the
race. This really worries Milo. What is he to do?
This book gives a good impression of
Ancient Greece at the time of the Olympic Games. The darker side
of Greek life is not shirked. There is the dangerous aspect of
the Games where competitors risk serious injury as in the chariot
races and the wrestling. Then there is the sacrifice to Zeus when
the air is thick with the burning flesh of one hundred bulls.
The position of women is also made clear. They are treated almost
like property. Milo's mother has to stay at home because married
women are not allowed to go to the Games. Hera, Milo's sister,
is told she will soon be married to a man chosen by her parents.
This means that she will have to spend most of her time indoors.
Worst of all is the custom by which a father can reject a new
born baby if he thinks it does not look well. But it is girl babies
who are usually disposed of in this way. Demetrius lost a sister
because of this custom.
Comes with notes on Ancient Greece and the Olympics.
A good story which is also informative and thought provoking.
7-11
This is one of the Sparks series
for readers of seven upwards. It is about 5,000 words long.
Simonides goes with his father to see the Greek Olympics. His
elder brother Glaucus is taking part in the boxing.
This little book gives quite a comprehensive picture of the Olympics.
First there is the journey to Olympia with most of the spectators
going on foot. Then there are the descriptions of Olympia itself
with all its grand buildings and the temple to Zeus -- all something
for the country boy Simonides to wonder at. This is followed by
the procession of trumpeters, judges and athletes.
The Games begin. There is a brief mention of the other events
and then a detailed account of Glaucus' in the boxing. Will he
manage to defeat an older and stronger opponent?
This book certainly gives a good elementary picture of the Games,
but it must be said that the story line could be stronger -- even
for young children. There is hardly anything in the way of a plot.
The more unpleasant aspects of the Games -- such as the ritual
sacrifice of three hundred oxen -- are mentioned but glossed over
but the same cannot be said for Glaucus boxing matches. The reader
is told, "His right eye was swollen, his lips were puffy
and blood had dried from a dozen cuts around his face."
Comes with historical notes.
7+
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