TITLE: Daughter of Troy AUTHOR: Sarah B. Franklin
STARTED: December 24, 2009
FINISHED: December 28, 2009
PAGES: 530
GENRE: Fiction
FIRST SENTENCE: Nothing remained of the day except a red wound between earth and sky.
SUMMARY: [From barnesandnoble.com] The rightful-born queen of Lyrnessos, Briseis watched helplessly from the battlements as her husband and brothers were crushed by the invincible army of King Agamemnon. Taken into slavery, the proud, beautiful seer became the prize of Prince Achilles, the conquering Greeks' mightiest hero. But passion forged chains stronger than any iron, binding the hearts of captive and captor with a love that knew no equal, and when Troy fell, great Achilles promised his beloved Briseis would reign at his side as queen of Thessaly. Yet the jealousy of a ruthless king and the whims of the capricious deities would deny the lovers their happiness. As the flames of war rose higher around them, the prophetess vowed to save the beloved warrior for whom her dark gift foretold doom — even if it meant defying the gods themselves.
THOUGHTS: If you wanted to read the romance side of Troy (the Brad Pitt) movie, this is a book for you. In fact, I think that may be the reason why I tracked it down. It seemed like it took forever for me to read this book, which is weird because I liked it. I think I'm going to place the blame on the fact that the text in my copy was really really tiny.
I've never read the Iliad or any of the other famous Greek works, but my guess is that the history covered in this book is rather fudged and/or made up. I'm sure I would be going nuts if I actually knew the works this text spins out of. Luckily, I knew only the vaguest of details so I could enjoy the romance of the story. Perhaps the reason I didn't mind this book going on and on and on is because I love the era. Ancient setting? I am so there. Romance focus? Huzzah! Hints of war and strife? Yeah, I like that too.
The Trojan war takes a backseat the to back-story and romance of Briseis and Achilles. What's interesting is that said romance takes a backseat to the politics of the romance. The love is doomed, we all know it from the start, but that does not make the book any less enjoyable. It's fun to see how the two came together, struggled to stay together, and how Everything Else acted on their relationship.
There was nothing to make this book OMG fantastic or even a keeper, but it was just right for my holiday vacation. I could cozy up in the big chair next the fire and settle into a story about a long ago era with people I wanted to read about.
RATING: 7/10 [Very Good]
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