Troy, The Greek Myths Reimagined

 

Troy, The Greek Myths Reimagined, by Stephen Fry is the third of four books that cover the entire ancient Greek mythology from Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, as well as events that occurred both before and after those books by Homer.  I’ve already reviewed the other three books, and I basically raved about the quality of Fry’s efforts as both a writer and narrator of this material. The story of Troy, is certainly the equal of the other three books. Although I’m very familiar with the old Greek myths and other ancient Greek literature, I found this retelling of the stories to be refreshing and wonderous. Fry’s appendix in Troy put all the issues about the timing of these events and his thoughts about myths versus reality into a very acceptable perspective. It’s my opinion that all modern story telling about human drama starts with these Homeric works. He lived, perhaps, in 750 BCE, and the Trojan War occurred several hundred years before then, and it is remarkable that his stories have survived nearly three millennia. He writes about life, death, illness, all sorts of life’s challenges, fidelity/infidelity, love, hate, self-aggrandizing, humility, religion, atheism, war, peace, and so much more. If you’re a fanatic about adventure stories, you owe it to yourself to read Stephen Fry.

Gideon Redemption

 

Gideon Redemption is the third novel by Grant Rosenberg that I’ve reviewed, the third in a series about his protagonist Kelly Harper. It was Kelly’s father, Dr. David Harper, who was the main figure in the first book, Gideon. He was a physician who took over responsibility for a clinic in the Mission District of San Francisco, but in a highly unusual situation, in order to adequately fund the medical care that he was doing at a considerable financial loss, he accepted a roll as an assassin of the worst of society’s dregs. The assassin was known as Gideon. When he was killed in the second book, Gideon Resurrection, Kelly, who had followed her father into a medical career and who placed her father on top of a tall pedestal for his humanitarian acts, knew nothing about his dark activities until she read his diary. Although aghast at what she learned about her father and then when she gained responsibility for the clinic’s survival, she eventually agreed to become the next Gideon. The contrast in roles of being a literal savior of the downtrodden on the streets of the Mission District, and a woman was also a killer who used the money she earned to pay the clinic’s bill, caused Kelly great emotional distress. In the third novel, Gideon Redemption, it becomes clear that stress of her two identities was tearing her emotionally apart.

 

If you check out my prior reviews of Mr. Rosenberg’s books, you’ll find that I literally raved about his writing and the characters that he skillfully developed. The third book is equally well written with regard to the evolution of Kelly and the associated characters. The three books together get my ultimate 5/5+ rating. He does a remarkable job tying together the plots and subplots in a most satisfying manner.

 

I think this book was originally intended to be the last in the series, but I hope Mr. Rosenberg changes his mind about this. Kelly is such a compelling and intriguing character, I would be disappointed not to see where she might go from this point forward. Whatever he decides, if you’re a fan of murder mysteries, this three-book series should be on your bookshelves.

Ensorcelled

 Ensorcelled by Eliot Peper is the 13^th Peper book that I’ve read and reviewed. Considering that I’ve read so many of his books, you might get the hint that I really like his writing. The title is a word I’ve not seen before, so I looked it up. In the past tense ensorcelled means enchanted, fascinated, or captivated. The reader was forewarned that magic was a part of the story.

The protagonist of this short novel, only 90 pages, is about a teenage boy who has been captivated by the gaming world. Games are what he thinks about, dreams about, and lives for. As a new game was about to be released by his favorite gaming company, he planned to be first in line to acquire the game, and then to spend all of his upcoming hours engaged in the play. Her expected to be ensorcelled once again in the game world. Then, he was stunned to learn that his parents had planned a family camping trip on the very day of the game’s release, and he could not talk his parents out of having to go along with them.

 

In total disbelief, this boy who was somewhat handicapped with regard to his social skills (whose name we never learn), went along to a remote camping site where two other families, friends of his parents, had already arrived. There were two other teenagers there too, Theo and Lenny. Lenny was a teenage girl who loved an adventure, apparently a trait that had gotten her into some troubles in the past. Theo was a high school kid to whom everything came easily, socially, academically, athletically. He was remarkably modest about his skills and he seemed to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. He was loved by all for his authentic personality, except for our protagonist who is horribly jealous of him. Theo was everything he was not. Theo and Lenny were great friends and obviously enjoyed each other’s company.

 

The book is told in the first person, and our main subject was also an artist, and he could avoid social engagement by disappearing to do some sketching. On the trip, he was fascinated by one particularly beautiful tree that was a ways from the camp. When Lenny decided she should help him actually visit the tree, without revealing her plan, she got him to go with her. The adventure involved a hike, a canoe ride, a swim in a cold mountain pool, and a treacherous rock climb, all done in the dark while parents were left bar behind, asleep in their tents. They got to the tree, and it was a beautiful experience, but on the way back down, tragedy struck. Lenny was badly injured in a fall. It was left to him to get them out of this mess, a task that he was sorely unprepared for. That’s when the magic happened for Lenny and our narrator. 

 

To tell the end of this beautiful story would be a spoiler I just can’t give away. My advice, buy the book and spend just a short time absorbing this great story. Peper strikes again. If you’ve not already read his work, then you are in for a treat.

 

Zafara, A giraffe's True Storny, from Deep in Africa to the Heart of Paris

 

Odyssey

 

Odyssey is my favorite book of all times, and I’m surprised that I haven’t reviewed it in this blog which we began writing in 2009. I know that I’ve reread it at least a couple times during the last 16 years. Of course, it was Homer’s book to which I’m referring, not this new version by Stephen Fry. I read Homer’s Odyssey for the first time in junior high school, then again in high school, then again several more times as a college undergraduate. I’ve returned to it many times thereafter simply because the author captures so many human struggles that continue to be applicable to current day life. Issues like money, greed, power, sex, drugs, faith, and adversity are present throughout this epic novel. The vicissitudes of life in 700 BCE was not so much different than life in 2025.

 

I’ve recently reviewed the first two of Stephen Fry’s four-book into the ancient Greek Myths. The first was Mythos, The Greek Myths Retold, and the second was Heroes, The Greek Myths Reimagined. I raved about the qualities of those books which I listened to in audiobook format. The multitalented Fry was the narrator for the entire series, and his skill in that regard was simply remarkable. Because Odyssey, the fourth book, became available on Libby before Troy, I just couldn’t wait to get to Odyssey. Fry had perhaps the most famous author of adventure books in the history of mankind to compete with, to be compared to while relating these well-known stories, and it’s my opinion that Fry succeeds in doing so. This is not like trying to read Homer. It’s a more modern and readable novel, and I could not possible give it anything but a 5/5 or A+ rating. As an adventure book reader, it’s hard for me to imagine that you won’t be entranced by the quality of Fry’s writing and narration. I think Troy is going to be available any day – can’t wait.tt

Serves You Right

 Serves You Right by Orion Gregory is the second novel by this author, the first that has been reviewed in this blog. The protagonist is Sydney Livingstone, a female rookie police detective in Walsh County, Ohio. She had been struggling with her tennis career and chose to leave that to join the police force, then at the age of 24. She walked into a situation in which it seemed that a number of bad guys were getting off too easy, or were hiring good attorneys who were able to get them declared not guilty. However, someone else was finding it unthinkable that such characters were not being sufficiently punished and took it upon themselves to bring their justice to the picture. A vigilante who called himself “The Enforcer” was at work, and the police department had to go after whoever that was. Suddenly, it looked like the vigilante might just be a cop, but who could it be?

 

Gregory created an excellent cast of very different characters. Livingstone seemed to keep making poor decisions and was close to being terminated from a job she desperately wanted to continue. Meanwhile, she continued in a relationship with a man who remained on the tennis tour, but her dedication to the job was threatening their relationship. The Police Commissioner Ed Lasek, Police Chief Delvin Pratt, Captain Wilma Griffin, Sergeant Stuart Montenegro, Detective Kevin Fosterno, Detective Tom Mitsoff, and others all had some obvious faults who could have been The Enforcer. It was near the end of the book that Livingstone made a Perry Mason like speech in a meeting of all the principal police people, addressing each of her fellows from the Commissioner, the Police Chief, and each of her fellow detectives about why it could be them, but then why she eliminated them one by one from being The Enforcer, until her choice was revealed. That was the point at which disbelief struck this reader. A bumbling rookie was supposed to have unraveled a case that none of the more senior officers could figure out.  I just found this suddenly astute rookie detective to not be a believable character. In the middle of her definitive speech I found myself wondering where this had come from.

 

I think this story has the possibility of being a good book, starting with an interesting protagonist. But, since when do rookie officers attain the rank of detective? On the one hand, her stumbling and bumbling attempts are good for misdirection to the reader, but for me, it was just too many signs of incompetence to go with the ending of the novel.

10-22-63

Stephen King published 11/22/63 in January 2012. Admittedly, I’ve never been a Stephen King fan as the result of his frequent departure to supernatural story lines. However, I’ve also been a lifelong fan of time travel stories, and my daughter recommended the book as one of her all-time favorites. I found it on Libby and listened to it’s beautiful narration by Craig Wasson. It’s a date that I clearly remember. I was 13 years old and in an eighth grade world history class with Mr. Williams who was interrupted for a brief private discussion with the school’s Vice-Principal, Mr. Bragg. Mr. Williams came back to the classroom to announce the news that President Kennedy had been shot. It was also my sister’s 16^th birthday. Hopefully, you know something of that day and the days that followed.

In King’s novel, an English teacher in a small town in Maine, Jake Epping, stumbled into a time warp that allowed him to go back to 1958, and then return to his private life inn 2011. Unlike other time travel stories, like H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine or the movie Back to the Future, Epping could not dial in any date he wanted, so it was 1958 or nothing. He was so disturbed by the Kennedy murder that it was his ambition to go back in time in order to stop Lee Harvey Oswald from this horrible act. Epping had to go back to this time five years before the assassination and figure out how to go about doing the deed, and then escaping back to 2011. In 1958, he created an identify for himself, and found a job teaching English on a substitute basis. He quickly became accepted in his small community, but he had to keep his actual reason for being there a secret. Epping did not expect to fall in love which added a significant wrinkle to his plans.

 

King did a beautiful job describing life in the US during the 1958 to 1963 period. He wrote about the awkwardness of Epping meeting Oswald and his family. Meanwhile, there were a number of unexpected roadblocks to interfering with Oswald, as if the past was working to defend itself and keep anyone for making any profound changes. I won’t be a spoiler and write if Epping was successful, but King did skillfully introduce the notion that changing history, even from the most grotesque of acts, might not always lead to a better outcome for mankind.

 

Like my daughter, I was entranced by the story that King spun, and this novel gets my strongest recommendation.