bibliomaineiac's review against another edition
2.0
I love mythology, especially Greek. However, this book didn't do much for me. The writing and story seemed haphazard at times. It also felt quite rushed in areas, then quite slow in others. While it was "ok," it certainly is not a favorite.
nairam1173's review against another edition
3.0
Wow, what a bunch of jerks.
I've never been a huge fan of Greek mythology, so this wasn't /engrossing/ to me, but it was quite readable. The illustrations are gorgeous. I found out part way through that it is apparently the last in a group of books on Greek myths that Gates wrote. I wonder if reading the others would have made me less confused by the number of names being thrown at me?
I do like that it puts its focus on a number of things leading /up/ to the war, and less on the Trojan horse. That meant most of it was new material for me (or at least unremembered), and so, more interesting.
I've never been a huge fan of Greek mythology, so this wasn't /engrossing/ to me, but it was quite readable. The illustrations are gorgeous. I found out part way through that it is apparently the last in a group of books on Greek myths that Gates wrote. I wonder if reading the others would have made me less confused by the number of names being thrown at me?
I do like that it puts its focus on a number of things leading /up/ to the war, and less on the Trojan horse. That meant most of it was new material for me (or at least unremembered), and so, more interesting.
jordantaylor's review against another edition
2.0
I love the Trojan War, but why does every author tell it the same way? There are so many characters and sides and intricate details to it, I suppose that the reader does admittedly need to know the same basic details every time. But I have found that most authors who decide to write the tale of the Trojans perform their execution in much the same way: distant, factual, and unbiased as to which side or character they would prefer to see come out victorious. Rarely does the story stay with a single character. For all of the books I have read on the subject, I still have no sense that I have ever come to know any of the characters.
This one is no different, perhaps even worse. It covers the tale of Helen being given away in marriage, the story of Paris giving an apple to his favorite goddess, and then touches lightly upon how Odysseus leaves home. It then focuses quite heavily on the tale of Iphigenia, a lesser known character who was the daughter of Agamemnon.
As for the actual war, it was brushed over in the last few pages and not really covered.
The book had no plot, purpose, or point. There was no main character and little connection between the few relatively unrelated stories that each chapter told.
No character was ever looked into in even the most cursory way, and the whole thing was scattered and messy.
This book is rather short at only 96 pages (though the print is trickily small), and I am pretty sure that it is a children's or at least YA book.
Therefore, I was amused at the illustrations. There were 4 or 5 full page, pretty illustrations. Well done, but if this is a children's book, why are the characters of the drawings so sensually portrayed? Not a single one failed to accentuate the just-barely-covered breasts, privates, or buttocks. I just thought that this was a bit strange, given the age group the book is aimed at.
I cannot recommend this confusingly jerky book to anyone. In fact, I think that I would dissuade you from reading it even more strongly if you like the Trojan War. This one covers it in such a way as to make it almost insulting.
Not a good find, I'm afraid.
This one is no different, perhaps even worse. It covers the tale of Helen being given away in marriage, the story of Paris giving an apple to his favorite goddess, and then touches lightly upon how Odysseus leaves home. It then focuses quite heavily on the tale of Iphigenia, a lesser known character who was the daughter of Agamemnon.
As for the actual war, it was brushed over in the last few pages and not really covered.
The book had no plot, purpose, or point. There was no main character and little connection between the few relatively unrelated stories that each chapter told.
No character was ever looked into in even the most cursory way, and the whole thing was scattered and messy.
This book is rather short at only 96 pages (though the print is trickily small), and I am pretty sure that it is a children's or at least YA book.
Therefore, I was amused at the illustrations. There were 4 or 5 full page, pretty illustrations. Well done, but if this is a children's book, why are the characters of the drawings so sensually portrayed? Not a single one failed to accentuate the just-barely-covered breasts, privates, or buttocks. I just thought that this was a bit strange, given the age group the book is aimed at.
I cannot recommend this confusingly jerky book to anyone. In fact, I think that I would dissuade you from reading it even more strongly if you like the Trojan War. This one covers it in such a way as to make it almost insulting.
Not a good find, I'm afraid.
collismeanshill's review against another edition
3.0
Ian and I often read this together when he was small. Led to many good discussions. We have the 1976 version.
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