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gillothen's review
2.0
A close friend suggested the book to me, and I noted two other people I know were thanked in the endnote, so I was particularly disappointed not to be drawn into the world of this playwright in Classical Athens at its height. It was full of detail, but that was part of the problem - so much about the position of foreigners or slaves or the history of the Persian war just got in the way. I wish I could rate this more highly, but I found it unengaging and full of infodumps. Typical example: "I glanced up at the Acropolis and silently begged gracious Athena to show me how to bring down these bastards who so blatantly scorned our democracy."
Highly relevant to me in the week of the catastrophic General Election, but typical of the style, clunky sentences allied to a determination to include as much cultural baggage as possible, even at moments that were supposed to be very tense. Reasonably accurate research as far as I could tell (steel knives, though? Not sure about that) but just way too much of what needs to be handled with a light touch. Historical whodunnits need plenty of context and period background, yes, but if you don't care all that much about the characters they aren't going to work.
ruric's review
4.0
Good crime romp around ancient Athens with our playwright Philocles accidentially turning detective to find out who left a dead body outside his house. Loaded with details on day to day life in Athens.
ganglari's review
4.0
I checker TWICE while reading this book if JM Alvey was a pen-name for Steven Saylor, that's how much it reminds me of the Roma Sub Rosa-series. Basically, if you enjoy those books, these are the almost the same but set a 450 years earlier and in Athens.
The only real difference in style is the Forrest Gump/Zelig-like quality of Roma Sub Rosa, where Gordianus works on the periphery of great men known to history. That is not the case here. Philocles seems inspired by a real-life playwright of the same name who lived a few hundred years later, but both him and his cases seem less grounded in real historical happenings. This can be seen as bot a positive and a negative, of course. The historical details are spot on and extremely interesting though.
The only real difference in style is the Forrest Gump/Zelig-like quality of Roma Sub Rosa, where Gordianus works on the periphery of great men known to history. That is not the case here. Philocles seems inspired by a real-life playwright of the same name who lived a few hundred years later, but both him and his cases seem less grounded in real historical happenings. This can be seen as bot a positive and a negative, of course. The historical details are spot on and extremely interesting though.
imi_11's review
4.0
A great plot with well defined characters. I really enjoyed how the author mixed fiction with fact. Athens and the City Dionysia was brought to life through a gripping well thought out plot which I throughly enjoyed!
bookmadjo's review
4.0
When I was given the opportunity to read and review this book on behalf of Orion Books I have to say I was so intrigued that I jumped at the opportunity. I have read novels set in Ancient Rome, but have never read anything set in Ancient Greece before so it was a completely new experience for me.
JM Alvey’s academic background as a Classics graduate and comprehensive research has resulted in such exemplary world building that I could picture myself in Athens, alongside Philocles, his partner Zosime and his family and the players. Personally I would have loved a map to help picture where everything was, but notwithstanding this it was still easy to have a mental picture of the location and the culture. I really enjoyed the murder mystery aspect of the novel, which had me guessing throughout and it was really entertaining to see how it developed. I also particularly liked the way in which it drew on the political events of the period.
As far as the main characters were concerned, I found myself warming to Philocles throughout the story, but his feisty partner Zosime was such a wonderful character from the start, strong, opinionated, and not at all like the Athenian women around her. I found myself wanting to know more about the characters, including the players, which I think is perhaps the only minor weakness of the novel. However it made sense when I found that Shadows of Athens is the first in a series of murder mysteries set in Ancient Greece, and the second novel, Scorpions in Corinth, will be released in September 2019.
Shadows of Athens was an enjoyable romp through Ancient Greece, and having fully immersed myself in the world created by JM Alvey, I am filled with anticipation for how this series will develop. Shadows of Athens is out now.
Thank you to Orion Books, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review Shadows of Athens.
JM Alvey’s academic background as a Classics graduate and comprehensive research has resulted in such exemplary world building that I could picture myself in Athens, alongside Philocles, his partner Zosime and his family and the players. Personally I would have loved a map to help picture where everything was, but notwithstanding this it was still easy to have a mental picture of the location and the culture. I really enjoyed the murder mystery aspect of the novel, which had me guessing throughout and it was really entertaining to see how it developed. I also particularly liked the way in which it drew on the political events of the period.
As far as the main characters were concerned, I found myself warming to Philocles throughout the story, but his feisty partner Zosime was such a wonderful character from the start, strong, opinionated, and not at all like the Athenian women around her. I found myself wanting to know more about the characters, including the players, which I think is perhaps the only minor weakness of the novel. However it made sense when I found that Shadows of Athens is the first in a series of murder mysteries set in Ancient Greece, and the second novel, Scorpions in Corinth, will be released in September 2019.
Shadows of Athens was an enjoyable romp through Ancient Greece, and having fully immersed myself in the world created by JM Alvey, I am filled with anticipation for how this series will develop. Shadows of Athens is out now.
Thank you to Orion Books, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review Shadows of Athens.
aster_isk_m's review
funny
informative
tense
medium-paced
3.25
I'm not a fan of crime novels, but the setting was interesting enough for me to keep reading. It seems well-researched and you get a look into everyday life in Ancient Greece, which I find very fascinating.
stephend81d5's review
3.0
easy going read about a murder in ancient Greece (Athens) and has similar traits as sansoms shardlake. took a little while to get into the book but as soon as I did, interesting read
pers's review
4.0
It's all Greek to me!
I did Latin at school for 4 years, so I'm reasonably well-versed in Roman history, but I only did a little Greek history nearly 40 years ago. As a consequence it took me a little while to get into the rhythm of this book - the Greek names took some getting used to.
That said, this is an intriguing historical setting for a murder mystery! And it's packed full of details about daily life in Ancient Athens, but never goes over the top. Too often authors who've really researched something for a book end up spoiling the reading experience for me because their research is showing. Alvey never does this.
A good read.
I did Latin at school for 4 years, so I'm reasonably well-versed in Roman history, but I only did a little Greek history nearly 40 years ago. As a consequence it took me a little while to get into the rhythm of this book - the Greek names took some getting used to.
That said, this is an intriguing historical setting for a murder mystery! And it's packed full of details about daily life in Ancient Athens, but never goes over the top. Too often authors who've really researched something for a book end up spoiling the reading experience for me because their research is showing. Alvey never does this.
A good read.
hteph's review
4.0
Interesting murder mystery put in context of classical Athens. The problem with murder mysteries is that you have read so many of them it is nearly impossible to find one that don't feel familiar and predictable. The different cultural scene goes a long way help with that.
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