Helen of Troy

Helen of Troy by Margaret George

Genre: Historical-fiction, Romance, Adult, DNF

Published: 2007 by Pan Publishing

The Plot

Daughter of a god, wife of a king, prize of antiquitys bloodiest war, Helen of Troy has inspired artists for millennia. Now Margaret George, the highly acclaimed bestselling historical novelist, has turned her intelligent, perceptive eye to the myth that is Helen of Troy.

Margaret George breathes new life into the great Homeric tale by having Helen narrate her own story. Through her eyes and in her voice, we experience the young Helens discovery of her divine origin and her terrifying beauty. While hardly more than a girl, Helen married the remote Spartan king Menelaus and bore him a daughter. By the age of twenty, the worlds most beautiful woman was resigned to a passionless marriage until she encountered the handsome Trojan prince Paris. And once the lovers flee to Troy, war, murder, and tragedy become inevitable.

In Helen of Troy, Margaret George has captured a timeless legend in a mesmerizing tale of a woman whose life was destined to create strife and destroy civilizations.

The Review

Before we begin you may have noted I marked this book at DNF, but it stands at a crazy 700 pages and I have yet to finish such an epically long book. I am cursed, cursed I tell you. So I was trying to break it with this book and I made it past 400 pages. Unfortunately, Christmas, exams and lots of other things got in the way and I ran out of steam as well as renewal times for a library loaned book. So I can’t tell you whether I didn’t finish this one because I didn’t enjoy it because I did or if I’m lazy with big books or I just seem to have this fear of their sheer size and I cannot fathom how to finish such a book. Still, I must say Helen of Troy is not a book to dismiss just because I did not finish it.

Honestly, I don’t read that much historical-fiction for an avid history lover. I soak up all the facts and the figures and just revel in the world of the past, but I’m always a little wary of historical fiction and I just couldn’t tell you why… Maybe because I fear it will not capture the world or I just won’t get honest facts. However, Helen of Troy is about a world that may or may not have existed.  It’s about a woman who has been part of Greek legends for centuries and who is the claimed daughter of a God. So much of this ‘historical-fiction’ relies on Fantasy. There is evidence today that the sight of Troy that can be found in northwest Turkey in a place called Anatolia. Still, this is not certified exactly, which is what makes this story so fascinating and gives George a huge artistic license.

I enjoyed how George slowly drew us into the world of Greece and Sparta and Troy. I loved how she revealed the characters slowly and built upon them giving them fleshed out foundations and characteristics that made them real. I adored how the developed and changed over the storyline and they evoked anger and sadness and frustration in me. Truly, the characters of Helen and Menelaus particularly came to life. Honestly I felt like Paris is a naive, silly boy who is too weak to truly fight and understand the world and this is where I began to abhor Helen for her decisions.

I am sure you all know the story of Helen of Troy in how she ran away with Paris, the Trojan prince which led to the Spartans waging war on her. George takes lots of time to unravel the story in Sparta and Helen as a child and uncovering her true heritage. I liked this touch and the links we got to her father and Zeus because they really added to the tale. I even enjoyed the journey over to Troy. Nevertheless this story had to fall flat somewhere, it is when we reach Troy and she seems to be searching for time to fill the space. I never reached the huge, colossal battle that destroys a civilization, the great Achilles and all over a woman. NEVER did I reach that in OVER 400 pages. George didn’t leave us action less, but I felt like it was dragging too much to actually reach the battle which is where my interest lost.

In some ways I wish I had preserved because I feel the battle would have again stole my attention because George wrote in a fabulous detail that managed to encapsulate every essence of Ancient Greece but stopped before you became lost in every tiny detail.

Helen of Troy is far from being a bad book, I think George takes an inventive, new approach to the tale of the famed Helen of Troy who know felt like a real person and not some absolutely stunning woman on a pedestal that has been famed. She had thoughts and feelings and she wasn’t entirely stupid. I liked Helen for most of the story until she ran off for Troy. For that, I find it hard to forgive her. However George creates a story that gives a reason and adds flavour to the previously rather vague story of Helen of Troy. I think that if George had cut the story 200, even 100 pages shorter she would have managed to keep the story with a much tighter narrative and not lost us in the mundanely-ness and politics of Troy that first occur when Helen enters which I felt too much time was spent on.

So, despite not finishing Helen of Troy for those mythology lovers and those much more ready and with much more spare time ready to take on a 700 page novel, I utterly recommend Helen of Troy. For those, like me, cursed never to finish such a long book, I’d say maybe try an audio of this book or just skip it and wallow in annoyance that you cannot finish a darn book beyond 600 pages.

~ 2.5 / 5 Books ~

The Trojan War is depicted in the Iliad written by Homer which was written quite a while after the events and is unknown whether to be truthful or largely fiction.

Heinrich Schliemann is the German man who claimed his fame in finding Troy, but in actual fact the city remains he uncovered were not Troy and whilst the place in Anatolia, Turkey, is where the city is. It was actual several layers of earth below this in which more city remains were found which are now believed to be Troy.

Poison Study

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Young-Adult

Series: Study #1

Publication: March 1st 2007 by Mira Books

Choose: A quick death…Or slow poison…

About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She’ll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.

And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly’s Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.
As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can’t control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren’t so clear…

My Review:

This is what good fantasy should be and this is clearly why I adore the fantasy genre. A quick witted, tenacious and determined heroine and an undeniably exciting, engaging and intricate plot. I think the only thing that could have made this novel better is for it to have been an adult book rather than young-adult. I felt that the market Snyder was aiming this book at slipped from being an adult into being a young-adult only in the relationship of Yelena and Valek. Despite this, I still fell in love with this book.

“He probably held a couple of poisons in reserve just in case he decided to replace the taster. Glancing over my shoulder, I imagined Valek coming into the kitchen to poison my breakfast. I couldn’t even enjoy talking with a chatty cook without being reminded that tasting potentially poisoned food wasn’t the only danger of my new job. “

The novel drew me in from the very first moment and kept me on my toes from start to finish. I found I was always waiting for a new turn, a new development and this really excited me. I like the uniqueness of the idea that Snyder created. The position of food taster is such an old tradition for positions of power and Snyder really moulds it into her own and entwines it with the fantastic world she creates with so many different elements that all build up. The particular strength of the novel being the poison and whilst this isn’t a strong “fantasy” element on it’s own, the world that Snyder creates around and the use of the poisons and then the magic and the power it holds all entwine to connect so many strands of a plot that interweave so perfectly. 

Valek is a character I liked from the first moment I met him. He didn’t have this astounding physical presence of a love interest to fall madly in love with him, but his character was that which drew me in. Snyder did seem to focus more of the personality than the aesthetics which pleased me because sometimes I feel too much time is spent on the descriptions of features and the romance was very subtle. I didn’t feel like there was any insta-love and it really didn’t evolve at the centre of the novel. It was hidden deep and it bloomed slowly until it was just there and unveiled and it really worked. Valek is one of my favourite love interests and I can’t wait to see him in the next novel.

“You look stunning,” I blurted.

Mortified, I blushed as a rush of heat spread through my body. I must have swallowed more brandy than I’d realized.

Yelena was a fantastic character. She was stubborn and hard-working and I valued her all the more for learning to stand up for herself and trying really hard. At first she seemed a little wet and easily pushed over, but actually she matured and grew as a character as she began to settle into the castle more and acquaint herself with the other characters. The fact that she was smart and intuitive only added to my liking of her character as well as the physical ability to defend herself and not be afraid of herself whilst not being emotionless. Snyder crafted a well thought out heroine and made her likeable. Not only was Yelena a strong, likeable character, but she didn’t attempt to struggle through on her own and shun other people. I feel sometimes heroines have to have this dependency that mean other people are not needed, but Yelena sought help to aid her growth when she needed it, but that didn’t mean she was incapable of solving problems all on her own.

“We owe you one. Anytime you need help, just let us know.” Ari said. His words gave me a bold idea. Brazell might be gone, but he was still a threat. I thought fast, searching for reasons why my plan wouldn’t be to my benefit.

“I need help,” I said.”

Ari and Janco really added to my enjoyment. I find that there always has to be two happy go lucky lads there to mess around and be serious enough to be there is a crisis. They kind of reminded me of Fred and George from Harry Potter because they were incredibly loyal, but at the same time willing to have a joke and tease with Yelena. Synder created a dynamic that I hope to see in the next two novels even though Yelena will be moving in a different directio, the loss of their characters would be a real shame for me. It also goes to show that Synder could build up a real background of secondary characters that added to the story enjoyment and I think every character had an individuality and story that came across to me as a reader which drew me into the world of poisons and food tasting.

To balance out all the action and excitement, Synder had some really touching and emotional moments built from the friendship bonds that Yelena made with the other characters and this really rounded the story to touch on elements of sadness, pain and sorrow with the light heartedness really touched me and made me keep turning the pages to see the character development. I also think the pain and anguish in the novel which sometimes led to anger and vengeance made the characters realistically human and relatable.

“Everyone makes choices in life. Some bad, some good. It’s called living, and if you want to bow out, then go right ahead. But don’t do it halfway. Don’t linger in whiner’s limbo.”

Synder also built up a good world and there were lots of levels to the world. I think a little more description of the surroundings would have helped me visualise the setting a little more, but I think that Synder didn’t overload us with the information. She also had lots of poisons to learn and seem to have spent time and thought into working out the names which made the whole novel more realistic.

Overall, ‘Poison Study’ has to be one of my favourite fantasy novels of this year. It’s a shame I haven’t read it sooner, but I intend to read the next couple of books soon. And I heard there are plans to write three more after the ones, so there is even more to come. Yelena is everything a heroine should be, Synder has a world that is the basic foundations for fantasy and a plot that whilst might have elements of predictability is ultimately something contrived in uniqueness and only leaving me wanting more!

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Dark Lover

Dark Lover by J.R. Ward

Genre: Paranormal-Romance, Vampires, Adult

Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood #1

Publication: 2007 by Piatkus Books

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there’s a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing more than Wrath, the leader of The Black Dagger Brotherhood.

The only purebred vampire left on earth, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But, when one of his most trusted fighters is killed-leaving his half-breed daughter unaware of his existence or her fate-Wrath must usher her into the world of the undead-a world of sensuality beyond her wildest dreams.

Review:

Well, this is my second reading of the book and I loved it just as much as when I first picked up the series. I find that J.R. Ward is a refreshing addition to paranormal-romance when she brings in a multi-perspective third person view of the story and we delve into multiple plots with the romance at the forefront, it’s truly thrilling.

For our female protagonist we have Beth, but due to the multi-perspective Ward writes from, we feature Wrath as a strong male protagonist to balance the novel out and give us a level of both male and female time that can appeal to either gender. Not only do we feature these two, but then we have the Lesser society who feature strongly as the enemy and being able to track both sides of the field only adds to our anticipation and excitement.

Beth is stuck in the human world, unaware of her vampire heritage and longing for something she doesn’t realise. Whilst some of you may be a little perturbed by her throwing herself straight at Wrath and the high sexual energy and sex that enters the story early on, the romance develops across the story and unfolds to represent a strong relationship. I felt that the sex really gave a zing to the early plot whilst things were just starting to build and really kept you hooked for how the relationship between Beth and Wrath could pan out. As a character, her personality and profile are relatable and you just can’t help but root for her character. She’s strong and doesn’t allow the dominant male aspect of Wrath’s character to push her around and she represents a strong female counterpart which I like to see in romance.

“Woah. Fangs. She had fangs.

She leaned in, prodded them a little. Eating with those puppies was going to take some getting used to, she thought.”

Beth’s thought patterns were certainly amusing and watching her move towards a new direction in life and grow as a character was really entertaining.

The plot is pacey and intermingled with lots of different aspects that make it enjoyable. I find that we get humour, soppy moments, sexy moments and raw action that really keep you turning the pages and gritting your teeth.

I found that Ward gave us lots of twists and turns and that we were never at any moment expecting the direction. Whilst certain points of the plot could be called “predictable” we were always guessing as to what was going to happen in large for the thrill side of the plot. In amongst the tenser side, the humour lightened things up and I think the male characters of the Brotherhood have a really dry, entertaining humour.

“I’m going to talk to her.”

“And how’s that going to go? You’re just going to walk up to her and say, “Hey, I know you’ve never seen me before, but I’m your dad. Oh, and guess what? You’ve won the evolutionary lottery: You’re a vampire. Let’s go to Disneyland.”

I think without this humour, the Black Dagger Brotherhood series would be much darker and overshadowed by the darkness that surrounds the world of Caldwell with murder, violence and death. However, with the humour the tone of the novel is much lighter and it makes it easy to lap up the words that Ward feeds us.

In addition, we get some fantastic secondary characters that make up the brotherhood, with Rhage, Torhment, Vishous, Zsadist and Phury. The introduction to these characters is just the tip of the iceberg. Be prepared to meet a tonne of characters all with their own backstory which are slowly unveiled across the series.

Two negatives I have of the novel are the acronyms Ward uses, such as SOB. It took me several books to realise this meant Son of a Bitch and then there was another which I still haven’t worked out. I wish she’d just write it out because although it’s part of the character traits of the brothers and their rugged edges, I don’t quite understand the acronyms and it’s annoying to try and work them out.

Ward does have her own terms from the vampire world, but she gives us a dictionary at the start for these words which is really useful and I enjoy reading through to discover all the vampire words and culture they have.

Leelan: Aterm for a female bride of a male vampire, term of endearment roughly meaning “Beloved”.

The other point I have is at times I get bored of the lesser society interludes and I have to admit in my re-read I did skip a couple. However, they do add to the novel and are interesting. It’s just sometimes I find that I really hate the lesser society that I can’t bring myself to read about them.

Other than that, I think the novel is really good solid addition the paranormal-romance genre.

I’d suggest to everybody male or female to give this series a try and even if you don’t quite appreciate the first book of the series, move on to the second because once again the tone changes and things really start to move along with the world building and character developing of all the characters we’ve recently met in this one. So give the Black Dagger Brotherhood a try if you haven’t already!

My Rating:

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Sebastian

Sebastian by Anne Bishop Genre: Romance, Fantasy, Adult Series: Ephemera #1 Published:March 6th 2007 by Roc Long ago, Ephemera was split into a dizzying number of magical lands-connected only by bridges that may take you where you truly belong, rather than where you had intended to go. In one such land, where night reigns and demons dwell, the half-incubus Sebastian revels in dark delights. But in dreams she calls to him: a woman who wants only to be safe and loved-a woman he hungers for while knowing he may destroy her. And an even more devastating destiny awaits him, for an ancient evil is stirring-and Sebastian’s realm may be the first to fall.

Review:

There is a tale to accompany this story because I don’t think believe I’d have ever picked it up willingly if I’d have seen it. One day I may have read it, but I couldn’t say definitively that I would. Anyway… the story. I was wandering around my library browsing for books to see if they had anything interesting in, then my librarian came up to me and asked if I read paranormal-romance. I nodded, and she scurried off and brought back this book. She shoved it into my hand and told me it was one of her favourite books. I nodded again and took it to the desk to take it out.

So I’m not really sure what I expected from this book. It turned out to be more fantasy than paranormal-romance, but that didn’t change a thing for me because it was still a very enjoyable read.

This book took a while to get into and I wouldn’t class it as a short read at over 400 pages long, it was quite a hefty paperback to carry around. Then it took around 100 pages to get into and I really had to focus on reading this book because there was lots of complex ideas and multiple plots threading through the story. This made for an intriguing read and I found myself being constantly buffered around the world into a new place. Bishop didn’t like to keep things dull and dismal. However it did take me at least a week to get through the first one hundred pages. I suggest you don’t allow that to deter you because once past those first hundred pages I began to eat up the novel.

For me, I’d probably lay blame to finding the first one hundred pages slightly drab because it was background building and setting the scene very much. We didn’t witness much action, but more of an introduction to the characters and their life. I found this important to the story because with the idea of multiple landscapes to make up Ephemera and the many leading characters it worked to make the later chapters easier to understand. However at times I found it to be a slightly information overload that could lead to confusion. Even when I’d finished the book, I found aspects of the novel extremely confusing and secrets not really unravelled. I shall have to hope that in the sequel to this two part series everything is explained.

The characters were certainly interesting. Sebastian was a tormented man and the protagonist of the tale who grew into a strong character with a heart of gold, in my opinion. We witnessed a journey for his character and this held strongly throughout the novel. This certainly added strength to Bishop’s story. He’s an incubus with morals and certainly not quite what I was expecting. Then we meet the love interest Lyenna, who he calls his “little rabbit” and I found that irresistibly cute. I think in many novels we lay names to women as “babe”, “baby”, “sweetheart” they all seem to follow the same thread of thought, but Bishop fit the name to the character. This also brought a smile to my face every time I read it. Not only did we witness Sebastian’s journey, but Lyenna developed from rather a push-over character into a strong, independent and wilful character. I like to see a strong women and I think a journey is incredibly important, so this was great to witness.

Besides our two ‘lovers’ we witness family with Nadia, Lee, Belladonna and Teaser. Then we have the background characters to those of the Wizards and the men of the Den of Iniquity. I felt like Bishop had really put a lot of work into creating her characters and they are defining aspects of the novel.

The world… what can I say? It’s just a fabulous idea. The building of different landscapes particularly the School of landscapes, the wizards domain and the Den of Iniquity, along with all the other little landscapes. The Den of Iniquity is a fabulous place and I really felt the essence of it being built up into the novel and that I could visualise the place. This was certainly important and I felt like Bishop didn’t neglect her world building at all. For those of you that like particularly strong visual worlds and characters, Bishop has got to be an author for you.

I was pleasantly surprised by the romance, if not a tad disappointed too. The front cover declared this a “erotic romance” but I don’t think it really fits into that category for me. This certainly isn’t a young-adult novel, but we didn’t go into depth of their intimate relations. However, I don’t think we really lost anything because of that, I just felt that with Sebastian as an incubus, I kind of expected it. Otherwise there was no insta-love, overdone soppiness to the romance, it all fit perfectly into place.

Overall, I found this an enjoyable read, but it took a little too long for me to get into it and at times it was a tad confusing. I’d recommend this to fantasy and romance lovers alike because it’s certainly a different book to what I usually read.

My Rating:

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Ophelia

Title: Ophelia

Author: Lisa Klein

Genre: Young-Adult, Historical Fiction, Romance

Publication: December 26th 2007 by Bloomsbury USA

Plot:

In this re-imagining of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy, it is Ophelia who takes center stage. A rowdy, motherless girl, she grows up at Elsinore Castle to become the queen’s most trusted lady-in-waiting. She catches the attention of the captivating, dark-haired Prince Hamlet, and their love blossoms in secret. But bloody deeds soon turn Denmark into a place of madness, and ultimately, Ophelia must choose between her love for Hamlet and her own life. In desperation, Ophelia devises a treacherous plan to escape from Elsinore forever . . . with one very dangerous secret, she is pregnant with Hamlet’s child. Sharp and literary, dark and romantic, this dramatic story holds readers in its grip until the final, heartrending scene.

Review:

To start with the book was well written, engaging at times, but for me, probably a hundred pages too long. By the end it began to drag and I was happy to have it over with. By far this book wasn’t bad, it just lacked any form of juice and excitement.

What happened to Ophelia? She leaves me in utter despair to how the author has ruined such an iconic Shakespeare character. Klein took a mysterious, alluring young girl in my opinion, who held a great deal about herself in inner strength and made her a watered down pansy. She was fluttering around in panic, always looking to Hamlet for advice, she supposedly had a hideous pig of a man after her who she continually pushed away. This led to her being ‘saved’ by Hamlet to start their romance. She just lacked any form of sustenance. To me, Klein’s portrayal of Ophelia damaged by impression that I gained from Shakespeare.

The idea behind the story I thought was interesting and it did offer an alternate theory which is plausible. After all, we only viewed surface matters in Hamlet. I don’t think this was over the top or too fanciful. It fit well with the story being of mediocre interest.

The middle of the story is where everything becomes rather dry. The story seems to plod along at a slow pace and I found myself wanting to skip parts. I did read it all, but only because I felt like I would miss on something vital. Here the story could have done with more action or an introduction of a lively character to brighten the story and engage my attention.

The piece of work may be sharp and well written, but I wouldn’t call it dark and romantic! The romance is there, but it’s all rather artful and embellished as was the style in the Elizabethan era, but with this novel being aimed at a modern society, I felt the romance needed toning down to more plausible and realistic terms. The darkness I didn’t see at all, there may have been moments where you were momentary surprised or found a little exciting, but to me this was more of a fluffy romance novel than the dark, brooding tale I was expecting.

I enjoyed the interpretation as I do all different variations of Hamlet and it’s characters, but for me, Ophelia lacked any of the fiery sustenance I was hoping for.

For those of you that love Hamlet, and ultimately Ophelia, don’t waste your time reading her story because I’m sure you’d think of your own more exciting tale that she could venture on rather than Klein’s rather drab, if not a happy ending tale.

My rating:

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Henry VII

Title:Henry VII

Author: Sean Cunningham

Genre:History non-fiction

Published:April 12th 2007 by Routledge

Plot:This biography illuminates the life of Henry VII himself, how he ran his government, how his authority was maintained, and the nature of the country over which he ruled since he first claimed the throne in 1485.

Sean Cunningham explores how Henry’s reign was vitally important in stabilizing the English monarchy and providing the sound financial and institutional basis for later developments in government, and tackles key questions in the debate:

Was Henry VII a conventional late medieval nobleman?
How did his upbringing affect his later kingship?
What was the nature of Henry’s marriage to Elizabeth of York?
How and why did he become the main rival to Richard III following the disappearance of Edward V and his brother in July 1483?

Up until now the details of Henry as a person and as a king, his court and household, his subjects, and his country have remained little known. This book fills that gap, bringing to the forefront the life and times of the very first Tudor king.

Review: Most probably one of the worst historical non-fiction pieces I have ever read. There was little in any analysis, we didn’t really gain a view on Cunningham’s own opinion. If we did his voice was weak and drowned out by the factual statistics he bombarded us with.

It didn’t entertain me or engage me and I found it a drag to read. I do enjoy reading non-fiction historical novels and this book for me held some insightful facts at times that really made me think, WOW, I didn’t know that.

Then we’d drop into relaying everything that happened under Henry VII. If you want an interesting analysis of his life and an independent thinker who chooses to express their opinion, Cunningham is not one.

The wording at times may be simplistic and easy to read, but the pace at which the events drag is tedious. We have a very quick run down of Henry’s reign throughout the first section of the book and then we drop into separate factors. Once you surpass the quick overview of his reign, that was where I hit problems. Nothing was engaging!

I feel this book lacked the engagement and analysis I truly desired. I wanted to really understand the workings of Henry VII and his relationships. This book promised a lot and delivered little!

I do not recommend this book to anybody unless they desire a run down of everything Henry did in his reign, which you can get in a simplistic history textbook. This book does not offer an experience, it offers hours of boredom!

Rating:

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