More Grit Lit


Troy -- Fall of Kings
David and Stella Gemmell
Transworld

I have to admit that I started this book with some trepidation. As documented somewhere else on this blog (oh, if only I could figure out how to link to previous posts!), I very much enjoyed the first two installments of Gemmell's series. To recap briefly, the author takes familiar characters from Greek mythology and mashes up heroes, gods and events to create a fabulous retelling of the Trojan War.

Sadly, Gemmell passed away before he could complete the last book in the trilogy and I was more than a little worried that his principal researcher and wife, Stella, wouldn't be up to the task. Boy ... was I wrong! In my opinion, Fall of Kings was even better than Shield of Thunder. There was still enough testosterone in the writing to make the book have that gritty appeal (hell -- my dad read this book!) and the story was jammed full of admirable men and dastardly villains.

I could probably go on about this book for quite some time. But I won't. I will, however, issue a word of caution. If you read this series (and I highly recommend that you do), don't break out your Bulfinch. The Gemmells definitely took some huge liberties with the traditional Greek stories and mythology purists might actually be horrified. No matter. Fall of Kings was fast- paced, engaging, and even a little suspenseful. No mean feat when the reader already knows/anticipates how it's going to end. Three winged chariots out of five.