Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow

Cover to cover I enjoyed this book. I figured I would, the Praise For David Gemmell page included a comment from Anne McCaffery who said, “He’s several rungs above the good-right into the fabulous.” I completely agree with her after reading this book. There are many things I could gush about Gemmell doing in this book-but I’ll stick with the three things I liked the most. 1) Characters, I don’t think there was a character presented I was not drawn to know more about or invested in and was cheering on. Ladi-dadi-everybody Gemmel had me meet I wanted to know more about. Even the Egyptian Eunuch who made garments for trade. Reading his chapter I was laughing to myself thinking, “I even like this guy. Gemmel you are a freaking genius!” You learn about the character you are following while also learning about the characters they are interacting with. Gemmel divvied up chapters into scenes where you follow one of his various characters. The story moves forward, but you view it from the different character points of views. A brave risk, and thankfully taken up by an experienced author. This style of writing can loose the interest of the reader due to lack of empathy for certain characters, or the failure of the author to move the story forward. Readers will skip over scenes involving the characters they don’t like, or put the book down all together. I never once felt the urge to do either of these. We get to view the protagonist through many character points of view and all of them have different opinions of the man and his actions. Just like in real life, I loved being able to form my own opinion of Helikaon. Born with a natural leadership talent we get to see how he was nurtured out of it, and then developed back into it. We get to see the mentors who influenced the young prince, and watch the drama of them confronting Helikaon over different actions he took in the book. These chapters offered some beautiful conversations about grief, how a monarch influences his people, and how we recover from haunting sorrows of the past. When he introduced Andromache I was holding my breath. Can he do this, will he do this? Can he pull off a strong female without making her a non-relatable psychopath, whore, or worse someone we might believe to be strong-but never get to see in action? Oh he pulled it off-and I’d say he knocked the strong female character right out of the park. She was defiant, brave, and a woman who knew her own mind, and limitations. She also displayed heart and compassion. I loved how Gemmell portrayed Odysseus. Brilliant-especially how he brought to life the theory that Odysseus was most likely a form of early drama and not just an example of oral history. 2. I enjoyed how Gemmell created a solid balance of non-fiction elements into the story. The Greco-Roman world came to life, but we were not subjected to pages upon pages describing buildings, clothing, furniture and food. It was relevant and aided the action and drama. 3. Gemmell knows how to write a battle scene. He’s not afraid to take on the task of writing the horrors of battle. In my opinion there are many fiction authors to chicken to try. They skim over the battles-because its hard to write them and you can easily fail trying for a laundry list of reasons. Kudos to an author who cares enough to get the details right, but not douse us in each sword stroke of every soldier on the field. The weapons were right, the use of the weapons was right, the strategies were correct-and as someone who cares about these historical realities it was blissful to read. The battles were awesome. My favorite scenes being Blue Owl Bay, and then the culminating battle at the end. “Death is coming!” I ended the book wondering where Gemmell’s books have been all my life and looking forward to discovering his other works.

If you're a fan of David Gemmell and enjoy reading about his epic heroes, then you'll love this book, too. Keep in mind that this book contains some of the characters from the Iliad, but not all of them. It mostly focuses on the Trojans. Story The story and pacing are the book's weakest point. At times, it skips around and seems disjointed. It mainly focuses on Helikaon (Aeneas) and how he grew from a traumatized child to a powerful merchant and warrior under the tutelage of Odysseus. Although the story skips around quite a bit, it is made up of unforgettable scenes of friendship, loyalty, and honor. Characters The characters are a strong point of Lord of the Silver Bow. Helikaon's transformation is inspirational and he faces many challenges. Andromache is a strong female character with courage, skill, and wit, who is sent to marry Trojan Hero Hector, but falls in love with someone else. Argurious is an honorable Mykene warrior set to avenge his former king by killing Helikaon. Odysseus is a wise mentor that guides the characters along their journey. King Priam is a ruthless king at war trying to defend Troy against its enemies. Gershom, an Egyptian who flees his country, and seeks refuge with Helikaon. World Although, David Gemmell is known for his fantasy and his books have featured demons, astral projection, and spirits, this is more of a historic book. There is nothing supernatural. The gods like Zeus, Poseidon, and Aphrodite are mentioned, but they are not characters. Action As you can expect, the book is action packed. There are brawls, skirmishes, assassinations, tactical battles, and naval combat. The battles are exciting and they have dire consequences. Maturity There's violence, death, torture, some sexual scenes. It's similar to a rated R movie, but doesn't go over the top. Overall 4.5 Stars The disjointed story prevents this from being a page turner, but so many of the scenes are full of strong themes of honor, loyalty, respect, honor, it wins you over. In the end, Lord of the Silver Bow is very exciting and inspirational. It's definitely one of David Gemmell's better books. If you enjoyed this book, check out The Lion of Macedon, also written by David Gemmell. If you enjoy his style of writing, you're sure to enjoy Blood Song by Anthony Ryan as well.

Having read the Legend books and the complete saga of Druss the legend it was only a matter of time before I bought this book. I felt that this book started off a bit slow and dragged on for a bit during the beginning but after reading on for a bit the story definitely picks up and becomes more entertaining. One of the things I've always liked about DG was that his main characters were always very likeable and entertaining and you always found yourself becoming attached to them. In this book the main character I would say was on par with other DG main characters such as Druss and Waylander. As the book progressed and I got into the story I saw myself begin to like the supporting cast of characters more and more as well. Overall it was a good read and if you are a fan of David Gemmell or a fan of anything that has to do with Trojan times you should give this series a try.

This book was extremely well written with such well developed characters you found yourself laughing and crying with them. The author was able to take a story that was old and played out and turned it into this magical tale that had me reading non stop until the end. The struggles and successes of these individuals really puts our modern day struggles into perspective. It gives the reader an in depth look at the day to day life of a soldier and their leaders. It really shows how when its all said and done, it only takes 1 man to change the course of history, 1 bad decision unbalanced the scales of justice that could lead to the downfall of an empire. After this book I started looking for other historically based fictions. Not only was I learning about that time period in the history of the world, I felt a kinship to the men of that time. I was rooting for them, crying at their losses, cheering at their successes! It was all tied back together in the end with great closure for all your favorite characters. Battles=YES Love=YES Betrayal=YES Comedy=YES (his name is Banokles:) Heroes =YES Villains=YES Pirates=YES The whole trilogy is so well written I plan to read all of David Gemmell's books!

This is one of the finest books I have ever had the pleasure to read. Indeed, I loved the entire series. For people who are hung up on the story as it has been passed down this book will not suffice, but for anyone who is interested in a vast, and sweeping story that sucks the reader in from word one this is the book. The characters are deep and you can feel what they are feeling. They are complicated and live in the grey messiness that is our world between the black and the white that we would like for it to be. The story is well crafted and the plot is compelling. Gemmell shows you what is happening to the point where you feel as if you are standing on the ship with the characters. When they are crying, you are feeling their pain. You can see the sun reflecting off the golden rooftops of Troy. This book is well worth your time and money. Be warned, you will want to buy the rest of the trilogy immediately.

*First reviewed on Goodreads* Dear Sir, Words are powerless to express my gratitude for this amazing piece of work. Amazing, but one that causes so much distress. Every word is like a drop of wine. By the end of it, I was drunk and giddy with fear for the coming war. You were cruel; you stood by and watch me fall deeply in love with Helikaon the Golden One, Andromache, Argurios, and Laodike; only to take them away from me. Argurios said what was in my heart, "I had not realised until then that my life had been lived in the darkness of a perpetual winter night. When I saw her, it was as if the sun had rise." You gave me the perfect love stories, only to shred them into pieces. You gave me courageous and cunning warriors who fought valiantly - till the end. You were ruthless; I was whimpering as I read 'The Swan's Promise'. Did you not know how much it hurt me? Drawing back her hand, she said"May the gods grant you great happiness, my love." "In letting me know you they already have. More than I have deserved" Only Queen Halysia knew the pain you've caused me. But as how Helikaon intend to be her shield, despite his broken heart from losing Andromache, I know you will be my Shield of Thunder. Please promise me that it will get better from here. People talked of broken hearts, but they were wrong. Broken was somehow complete, finished, over. The real sensation was of continual breaking, an everlasting wound, sharp and jagged, like claw of bronze biting into the soft tissue of the heart. Love, twelvejan Conclusion: A great book makes you smile, cry, whimper, entranced - LotSB does exactly that. Helikaon King, I love thee.

I came across this book as a recommendation to fans of Steven Pressfield. With Mr. Pressfield's recommendation, I had no reservations and dove head first into this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it and compare it favorably to Mr. Pressfield's "Last of the Amazons." I am fascinated when an author like Mr. Pressfield or the late Mr. Gemmell can take a handful of historical facts as related by ancient authors like Homer, Plutarch or Plato and create a complete world around those facts that expand and challenge our perceptions of what life might have been like all those thousands of years ago. Mr. Gemmell's characters are memorable and the mentorship of Helikaon/Aneas by the familiar Odysseus is as clever as it is appealing and effective. Mr. Gemmell has created characters "larger than life" that the reader identifies very closely with. His story is very engaging and the book becomes a real 'page-turner.' Bravo to Mr. Gemmell and I look forward to the remainder of his Troy Trilogy.

Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow was recommended to me when I posted a "what to read next" note on a bulletin board. I love stories based on mythology (Mary Renault, Margaret George's Helen of Troy) etc. This book is sort of a man's book in the sense that it is filled with battle tactics for fights large and small. The main characters are men, except for the beautiful Andromache, who is to be taken to Troy to marry Hector. The author provides excellent details about ancient life and the sea-going dangers of sailors, merchants, and pirates. The visions of Troy in its shining magnificence are memorable. I would have enjoyed a little more romance and a more direct as opposed to circuitous route to the story of Priam and his son, Aeneas. Nevertheless, it is a good read, and certainly filled the bill of my request.