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The Talisman of Troy
Our Price: $13.82 Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 2 to 5 weeks
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780330426534
ISBN: 0330426532
Label: Pan Books
Manufacturer: Pan Books
Number Of Pages: 288
Publication Date: October 15, 2004
Publisher: Pan Books
Studio: Pan Books
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Boring read, mediocre plot, mechanical story development
Although writing this review's title (add hackneyed writing/translation), I should admit that I'm into the last chapter or two. Somehow I've managed to get this far before tossing it. That's probably because my curiosity has struggled past mind-numbing boredom to read Manfredi's explanations for some historical mysteries/rumors e.g. the Two Helens. He haphazardly and awkwardly drops them in here or there in his narrative. Kind of a historical "Say...whatever happened to....". It's rather disjointed, ... Read More
Rating: - The Anti-Iliad
I have read the reviews that compare this work to Homer's Iliad. Don't believe it! Manfredi uses this work to drape a funeral pall over all of the great, surviving Greek Heroes of the Trojan War. It is a tale of despair, woe, and tragedy. I guess one could say that it is a good view into what "normal" proto-Bronze Age life was like.
If you want to see the grand heroes of Diomedes, Menelaus, and Agamemnon made into mere mortals, read this book. Be warned, though, that this book will ... Read More
Rating: - Good take on lesser hero
I've heard of Diomedes before, but never quite got interested in the character until I read this book. Sounds very scientific indeed. Gives reasoning why the Dorians (later Spartans) conquered Greece in the Mycenaen period. I also liked the character of Orestes. Originally, I thought Orestes killed the son of a guy who served his dad so well, but this story puts everything into much better perspective.
It's a solid book.
Rating:  - modern Homeric prose
If someone had've suggested to me, before reading this book, that an author could come along and successfully marry Homeric poetic style and atmosphere with modern ancient historial fiction, I would've been sceptical. But this book does it. A simply fantastic yarn that manages to cross a boundery into inspiring literature. Although I get the point of a previous reviewer regarding a pre-knowledge of Homer, I'm not sure it is a must. I think it serticaly adds to the expereince, but I'm pretty sure this book ... Read More
Rating: - Homer Revisited
I've found the author's other books quite entertaining, but this one is truly excellent. It reads almost like another "Odyssey" set in the real world, a tale of the last of the heroes from the age of myth on a dark, epic voyage. Manfredi uses easily accessible prose to express a timelessly classic storytelling style that perfectly fits the subject matter and imbues it with a sense of tragedy. There is an all-pervading sense of pathos as the protagonists travel across the landscape of a dying once-wonderous ... Read More
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