weatherington's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I loved it, I think it did mysticism very very well.
leavingsealevel's review
2.0
How do you make a sequel to your sex-filled thriller about Ancient Egypt, given that Cleopatra & co inconveniently end up dead? Reincarnation. Duh.
ginnikin's review
This is a review of the audible audio recording.
1/3 of the way through, bored, don't care about any of the characters, squicked by casual reference to slaves for sale to sailors (wink-wink-nudge-nudge) in the temple. ew
1/3 of the way through, bored, don't care about any of the characters, squicked by casual reference to slaves for sale to sailors (wink-wink-nudge-nudge) in the temple. ew
jackirenee's review against another edition
5.0
Gull is a slave girl, born of rape when her mother's city of Troy was sacked. Injured at an early age and unable to work the flax fields, Gull is taken to the priestess of the Lady of Dead and her destiny. Becoming the Sybil of the lost people of Troy, Gull journey is epic in scope, yet deeply personal and transformative.
This is a debut novel of Jo Graham's and worty of all its praise. The characters are wonderful, the settings amazing, and the tale epic (yes using the that word again) and wonderful. While we ultimately know how it all turns out, my only wish is that Graham would continue the story through the generations after Gull.
Most definitely a most read.
This is a debut novel of Jo Graham's and worty of all its praise. The characters are wonderful, the settings amazing, and the tale epic (yes using the that word again) and wonderful. While we ultimately know how it all turns out, my only wish is that Graham would continue the story through the generations after Gull.
Most definitely a most read.
smemmott's review
4.0
Very engaging and entertaining. Though I have never read The Aeneid, I had a general idea of where the story was headed, but I felt like I enjoyed the plot of this novel on its own. Gull's experiences as a seer - as Pythia - are fascinating and vivid.
seolhe's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
ireitlitam's review against another edition
4.0
I love this series and having already read Hand of Isis and Stealing Fire I was not disappointed in Black Ships. The character Gull is strong and it was hard to put the book down to follow her and the People’s journey. The cast of characters around her were just as sympathetic as she was making the book difficult to put down. While there were a few pacing issues (or jumps in time) I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes Ancient Greece, ships or just very engaging tales.
verlkonig's review
2.0
I'd been so looking forward to reading Black Ships - a retelling of The Aeneid, filled with mythology, epic quests, complex characters and raging wars - especially after hearing that Jo Graham was influenced by Kushiel's Dart, perhaps my favourite book of all time.
Hopefully, I settled down to read it. The first page offers war, pillaging and murder. I paused from reading to rub my hands together with glee - this is my kind of book! But unfortunately, the next 400 pages were not quite so exciting. We follow Gull as she is trained as a Priestess of The Lady of the Dead, thanks to her abilities as a seer. It is then that she's pulled into a treacherous sea journey with a company of misplaced individuals desperate to reclaim their homeland.
Graham's characters are ok - I found Gull interesting and enigmatic - perhaps a little too enigmatic, as it took me half the novel to warm to her - but not particularly memorable. Likewise, other characters did not make me want to pull them to my chest murmuring 'my babies, you're going to be ok', which is how I generally mark a sympathetic character.
The biggest problem with Black Ships is the pacing. 100 pages in, I was a little bored. 200, and I was looking for other things to do instead of finish it. After many pages seemingly floating on water, contemplating, I was desperate for something - anything - to happen. I felt a lot of this could have been cut without losing anything of Gull's character, who I believe is complex if not particularly engaging.
Graham’s prose is succinct, which is all well and good, but the breathy, mystical tone of the novel could really have done with some equally breathy and mystical prose. Combined with its yo-yo pacing and enigmatic lead, and despite the well-researched mythos, Black Ships was ultimately an underwhelming read.
Hopefully, I settled down to read it. The first page offers war, pillaging and murder. I paused from reading to rub my hands together with glee - this is my kind of book! But unfortunately, the next 400 pages were not quite so exciting. We follow Gull as she is trained as a Priestess of The Lady of the Dead, thanks to her abilities as a seer. It is then that she's pulled into a treacherous sea journey with a company of misplaced individuals desperate to reclaim their homeland.
Graham's characters are ok - I found Gull interesting and enigmatic - perhaps a little too enigmatic, as it took me half the novel to warm to her - but not particularly memorable. Likewise, other characters did not make me want to pull them to my chest murmuring 'my babies, you're going to be ok', which is how I generally mark a sympathetic character.
The biggest problem with Black Ships is the pacing. 100 pages in, I was a little bored. 200, and I was looking for other things to do instead of finish it. After many pages seemingly floating on water, contemplating, I was desperate for something - anything - to happen. I felt a lot of this could have been cut without losing anything of Gull's character, who I believe is complex if not particularly engaging.
Graham’s prose is succinct, which is all well and good, but the breathy, mystical tone of the novel could really have done with some equally breathy and mystical prose. Combined with its yo-yo pacing and enigmatic lead, and despite the well-researched mythos, Black Ships was ultimately an underwhelming read.
lizjane's review
4.0
A retelling of The Aeneid. Not quite as good as The Mists of Avalon (which I love, love, love) but a similar feel. And much more accessible than trying to read Virgil's Aeneid (for me).