[3PT]⇒ PDF Gratis Black Ships Jo Graham 9780316068000 Books

Black Ships Jo Graham 9780316068000 Books

Download As PDF : Black Ships Jo Graham 9780316068000 Books

Black Ships Jo Graham 9780316068000 Books

If I had to describe this book in one word it would be : WOW!!! This was my first book by this author and wont be the last. I am very into reading books involving ancient history, especially having to do with the Old Ways, Old religion and how it was practiced, how the people lived their lives, and history in general. Because I am such an avid reader, I am probably somewhat jaded as to what I expect in a book, and lately I have had a hard time finding books that will hold my interest, in fact many friends are nudging me hard to finally settle and focus on publishing some of my own work, but illness and just focusing on home and my furkids and such is enough for me; a fat cat on the lap, cuppa tea at the elbow and a GOOD book; and I am a happy woman. I LOVED this book. It is NOT all sunshine and light; it is the story of a young slave girl who by happenstance or fate?? ends up apprenticing to the Priestess of Death. (I know, sounds terrible, but truly; isnt death just the turning of the natural wheel of life?) This author knows her history, or should I say "Herstory"..as we come along her journey through womanhood, her quest to help her own people find a safe haven to begin a new life after the village and most of its people are killed. Jo Graham had me up late at night and grabbing for my book as soon as my eyes opened the next day; I read this book in I believe it was three days (and nights). Just excellent writing. I hope she will continue to write more along these topics; ancient times, ancient ways, ancient beliefs(??) that still exist in some/many forms to this day. I highly recommend this book to anyone into books like MZB "Mists" series, Diana Paxton, Morgan Llewellyn..she is right there with some of the best known authors of the Old Ways and it was an excellent read.


Tags : Black Ships [Jo Graham] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Haunting and bittersweet, lush and vivid, this extraordinary story has lived with me since I first read it. --Naomi Novik,Jo Graham,Black Ships,Orbit,0316068004,Oracles;Fiction.,Women slaves;Fiction.,Aeneas (Legendary character),American First Novelists,American Science Fiction And Fantasy,Fantasy,Fantasy - Historical,Fiction,Fiction - Fantasy,Fiction Fantasy Historical,Fiction Historical,Oracles,Women slaves

Black Ships Jo Graham 9780316068000 Books Reviews

I finished Black Ships by Jo Graham and I highly recommend it.

Using the Aeneid, a poem by Virgil, as a guide, Graham has crafted a wonderfully engaging story told from the perspective of Pythia, the handmaiden of Death. She is the daughter of a captive from the Trojan War brought back to Greece as a slave. Gull, who becomes Pythia, was born of rape and the violence surrounding the destruction of Troy.

Graham uses the new information on the currently documented site of ancient Troy, specifically Troy VI and Troy VIIa built on the ruins of Troy VI, which is likely the site of the famed Trojan War that features in Homer's Iliad. Troy VIIa is the shanty town built on the ruins of the more splendid city.

Once the Greeks returned to plunder Troy again, after Agamemnon's death, the survivors, sailing black ships, break through the blockade and return to Greece to rescue their people after 18 years of slavery.

This rag-tag fleet then sails away after a short battle with the remaining Greek soldiers protecting the city making for freedom and a new land, landing first at Thera, the Island of the Dead, and then to a couple more cities to winter before striking out for Egypt in the dead of the night. They suffer losses and escape Egypt to rescue the people in a small town in Italy from which they established the mighty city of Rome.

I had chills and moments where the story became all too real for me and that is due to Graham's use of language and the reality of the characters, time, and place. The settings were wonderful and the main characters jumped off the page.

Black Ships is an elegant portrayal of difficult times that never breaks character or jumps out of the time and settings of the ancient world of 3500 years ago.
Black Ships, Graham's debut novel, is a retelling of the story of the Aeneid from the point of view of Gull, daughter of a slave from Troy, who finds refuge in mainland Greece and becomes an oracle of the Lady of the Dead.

When the black ships come to Pylos, captained by an exiled prince from Troy, seeking the remnants of the people who were scatted when Troy fell, Gull, then only seventeen, must decide what her fate will be. She goes with the exiled Trojans and begins an adventure that takes her around the known world, to the ancient temples of Egypt and eventually to found the city that would become Rome.

As a "god-touched" oracle, she becomes the trusted advisor to Aeneas as he guides his black ships of refugees. Her ability to see the future makes her invaluable and we see the familiar adventures through new eyes.

Graham does an excellent job with all the characters. Gull, Aeneas and Xandros are the most memorable, but even minor characters resonated through the pages. The writing is excellent. This novel is an adventure and a love story, a retelling of ancient history and a different take mythology that kept me enthralled from the first page.
I absolutely adore a good historical novel - the older the time period, the better. Throw in some mythos, weave in some legends, and I am in heaven, which is pretty close to how I felt while reading Black Ships, by Jo Graham.

Black Ships is the Bronze Age story of Gull, a young slave girl who, having been lamed in an accident, is given as an acolyte to the temple of the Lady of the Dead. Her ability to see the future earns her a place as an oracle to her people, and when nine black ships appear, captained by Aeneas, a prince from the fallen city of Troy, she follows her destiny, aiding him in his journey to find the rest of their scattered tribe, and establish not only a new city, but a whole new era.

Based on Virgil's Aenead, the story is a deft blend of fact and fiction, taking the reader on a glorious Mediterranean voyage through the islands and harbors of ancient Greece, into the shadowy temples of Byblos, the watery world of Atlantis, and down the Nile into the mysterious land of Egypt. I was completely caught up in Gull's journey, very happy to find such a beautifully crafted story set in an age of heroes, and pleasantly surprised by the author's take on what we already know of history. I've already moved on to reading Graham's next novel, The Hand of Isis, which I'm sure will not disappoint.
If I had to describe this book in one word it would be WOW!!! This was my first book by this author and wont be the last. I am very into reading books involving ancient history, especially having to do with the Old Ways, Old religion and how it was practiced, how the people lived their lives, and history in general. Because I am such an avid reader, I am probably somewhat jaded as to what I expect in a book, and lately I have had a hard time finding books that will hold my interest, in fact many friends are nudging me hard to finally settle and focus on publishing some of my own work, but illness and just focusing on home and my furkids and such is enough for me; a fat cat on the lap, cuppa tea at the elbow and a GOOD book; and I am a happy woman. I LOVED this book. It is NOT all sunshine and light; it is the story of a young slave girl who by happenstance or fate?? ends up apprenticing to the Priestess of Death. (I know, sounds terrible, but truly; isnt death just the turning of the natural wheel of life?) This author knows her history, or should I say "Herstory"..as we come along her journey through womanhood, her quest to help her own people find a safe haven to begin a new life after the village and most of its people are killed. Jo Graham had me up late at night and grabbing for my book as soon as my eyes opened the next day; I read this book in I believe it was three days (and nights). Just excellent writing. I hope she will continue to write more along these topics; ancient times, ancient ways, ancient beliefs(??) that still exist in some/many forms to this day. I highly recommend this book to anyone into books like MZB "Mists" series, Diana Paxton, Morgan Llewellyn..she is right there with some of the best known authors of the Old Ways and it was an excellent read.