Over the Wine-Dark Sea (Hellenistic Seafaring Adventure)

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining but kind of annoying
Review: During the first third of this book, I kept checking to make sure it was written by the same author that wrote the sophisticated and dramatic "Justinian", a book that I loved. The two cousins, Sostratos and Menedemos, who are sent on a trading journey across the Aegean Sea seem very immature, continually arguing about insignificant matters, when it seems more realistic that they'd be concerned about guiding their ship and managing their crew. I was amazed that so much of the story focused on trading their cargo of peacocks, which the cousins continually argued and worried about as the peacocks ran around deck and bit the crew.

What I particularly noticed during the first third of the book was the author's unsophisticated writing style in his method of conveying the historical setting. In most historical fiction, you absorb the history through the action, but the two cousins were constantly discussing the ancient writers, describing the different ships, clothing and places, supposedly instructing one another, but it was obvious that their dialogue was meant to instruct the reader. It was an unskillful and unsubtle writing technique.

In spite of these annoyances, the story was entertaining enough to keep me reading as they confronted pirates, got into messes with merchants' wives in places they traded, skirmished with a sword-brandishing mercenary, and had other amusing adventures. There were no intensely violent scenarios, and they always escaped, mostly unscathed, so the mood of the book is pretty lighthearted. In spite of the immature bickering of the cousins, I enjoyed their adventures and was able to form a mental image of the the culture and sights of this early Greek period.

Rating:
Summary: You'll read this more than once.
Review: This is a masterly evocation of the ancient world -- with interesting characters who are sympathetic and understandable, but _not_ like modern people stuffed into chitons.

The scholarship is solid but not obtrusive, the action is exciting, and the settings are well-drawn.

I'm particularly impressed by the way the language -- while natural, smoothly written English -- _feels_ like ancient Greek.

When you've read this book, you'll want to read it again for the bits you missed; and you'll know down in your bones that it's a long, dangerous way from Rhodes to Italy.

Rating:
Summary: A LOOK INTO ANOTHER TIME
Review: This is a very clever book that gives the reader a look at another time, over two thousand years ago. While not as good as the author's previous historical novel, "Justanian," "Wine Dark Sea" is a excellent read. You won't find it in most book stores so order it here, you won't be disapointed! ...