Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #383176 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Synopsis
A castaway tossed onto a deserted beach is the last survivor of a world that no longer exists. He has a terrible, fascinating story to tell - the true reason for which the Trojan War was fought...The protagonist of this tale is Diomedes, the last of the great ancient Greek Homeric heroes, who seeks to return to his beloved homeland after years of war against Troy. But destiny has other plans for him. Betrayed by his wife, who plots to murder him and persecuted by hostile gods, he has no choice but to turn his sails west, towards Hesperia, the mysterious mist-shrouded land that will one day be called Italy. He ventures boldly into this new world, for he carries with him the magic Talisman of Troy, a mysterious, powerful idol that can make the nation that possesses it invincible...

Customer Reviews

A Worthy Addition.
Having been bitterly disappointed with Manfredi's "Empire of Dragons" it was a relief to read this earlier work. As an attempt to fill the gaps in our knowledge of the Trojan tales lost to history, it was a praiseworthy effort. Invoking the atmosphere of "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" brilliantly, it is a tale of flawed heroes who battle in a world that is changing too quickly for them to adapt to it. At the cusp of the end of the Mycenean world and the beginning of the classical age, it manages to envoke an atmosphere of imminent catastrophe that carries throughout the entire book while, at the same time, interpreting legends in a believable way. Well worth the read.

Not up to scratch
I was dissappointed more with this book not only because of its lethargic pace but also because I expected more from the author. Manfredi guides you through the trials of Diomedes. After attempting to build up these trials into what you would hope to be an exciting extavagant climax Manfredi leaves you unsatisfied and a feeling of being cheated out of the ending you feel you deserve. The other side of the story following Menelaus and other Homeric characters is far more interesting and its unfortunate Manfredi didn't base his tale on that.

Fails to convince
While I have read engaging and enlightening historical novels, I would not count this among them, because the author's attempt to infuse the text with pathos in the style of the Illiad and the Odyssey fails to convince.

I had trouble feeling for the hero Diomedes, whose story serves to carry the plot, but elicits hardly any of the emotion which has kept these myths present as the archetypes of drama to this day.

I can't judge the historical relevance of the author's conjecture, but conjecture is not why I take issue with the text: it's simply written by numbers and finishing it was a chore.

The ending felt like an afterthought - rushed, as if the only criterion had been to stay within a page limit.