The Hittite [Hardcover]

Ben Bova (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 13, 2010

This is the tale of Lukka, the Hittite soldier who traveled across Greece in search of the vicious slave traders who kidnapped his wife and sons.  He tracks them all the way to war-torn Troy.  There he proves himself a warrior to rank with noble Hector and swift Achilles.  Lukka is the man who built the Trojan horse for crafty Odysseus, who toppled the walls of Jericho for the Isrealites, who stole beautiful Helen--the legendary face that launched a thousand ships--from her husband Menaleus after the fall of Troy and fought his way across half the known world to bring her safely to Egypt.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Bova is best known as a prolific writer of works of science fiction. Here he tries his hand at supposedly historical fiction, with interesting, enjoyable, but uneven results. Lukka, a Hittite warrior, returns to the Hittite capital city to find it engulfed in civil war, his father murdered, and his wife and two young sons taken away by slavers. Along with a small cadre of soldiers under his command, Lukka launches an epic search for his family, which leads him to the gates of Troy as it is beseiged by the army of Agamemnon. Bova then proceeds to an original retelling of the final stages of the legendary Trojan War. In this account, Lukka serves as a literary mirror, revealing the personalities of some well-known characters, with a few surprising results. Odysseus, predictably, is practical, crafty, and a natural survivor in treacherous waters. Achilles is a born killer, but he is shown as short and ugly, and his death is decidedly unheroic. Helen is, of course, the babe of all babes, but she is also petty and whiny. Bova tends to use flowery, descriptive language to excess, but he knows his Homer. --Jay Freeman

Review

"Excellent.  A thrilling and inventive retelling of the legend of Troy."
--David Hagberg, New York Times bestselling author of The Expediter

"Completely convincing and emotionally satisfying; the adventure and warfare are gripping enough to keep me awake to finish the book in a single night.  I hope that when I'm [Bova's] age, I'll be doing--as he is--the best work of my career."
--Orson Scott Card, New York Times bestselling author of Ender's Game

"A cast of stars, all seen through the eyes of a Hittite warrior. With authentic battle scenes and the reality of siege warfare, THE HITTITE is an adventure you'll want to undertake."
--Barbara D'Amato, Mary Higgins Clark award-winning author of Foolproof

“Bova gets better and better, combining plausible science with increasingly complex fiction.”
—Daily News (Los Angeles)

 

“Bova proves himself equal to the task of showing how adversity can temper character in unforeseen ways.”
—The New York Times

 

“[A] cautionary but hopeful thriller… modern twists and a genuinely surprising ending.”
—Publishers Weekly on The Green Trap

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books; First Edition edition (April 13, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765324024
• ISBN-13: 978-0765324023
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,193,922 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For all the title, this is more of a retelling of "The Iliad" from a slightly different perspective, October 12, 2010

By 

Kiwi (Mississauga, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Hittite (Hardcover)

I picked this one up due to a recently acquired interest in the history of the Sumerians, Assyrians, Egypt and their neighbours. There aren't that many novels set in this period (broad as it is.....) and this seemed like it had potential. That said, I agree with many of Stuart's comments in his review - while the author seems to know his stuff, he's condensed a number of historical events for no good reason, the historical events used as background seem out of whack and chunks of the storyline seem a little forced. From the title, I was looking for a bit more in the way of "Hittite" themes and background woven into the book and that was certainly missing.

That said, ignore these failings and it's an entertaining reinterpretation of the Iliad using an "outsider" to give a different point of view. I certainly enjoyed it myself and if there's a sequel, I'd more than likely pick it up.

For another (and probably the only) really good novel set in Hatti, read I, the Sun by Janet Morris, a truely excellent novel that recreates the life of the great Hittite King, Suppiluliumas. Can't speak highly enough of this book.

And as for Harriet's review - I despair. As far as I can recall, there's no mention of the "Emporer" of the Hatti being stripped of his clothes. I fear Harriet may have read a publicity review or perhaps got this mixed up with another book. Truely, I shudder whenever I read a review by Harriet of a book I've just read - they seem to be taken straight from the publishers blurbs, and not particularly accurately at that!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Hittite, June 19, 2010

By 

Hank Quense (Bergenfield, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hittite (Hardcover)

A different take on the Trojan War and a quite unique one at that. Bova has retold one of the most retold stories in literature and managed to give it fresh view. The main character, Lukka, is a Hittite officer who leads his squad of soldiers in a search for kidnapped and presumably enslaved wife and children. His search takes him to Troy where he plans to ask Priam from help in his search. Instead, he is cut off from the city by the Greek army. He enlists with Odysseus's troops and fights (and survives) against the Trojan hero, Hector. Odysseus uses Lukka as an ambassador to the Trojans twice. In the city, he meets the beautiful Helen and can't get her out his mind afterward.
Bova takes the historical figures and give us great character sketches: Achilles, Agamemnon and Menalaos are all portrayed vividly.
There several twists on the usual events that are reputed to take have taken place once the walls were breached, but I'm not going to give them away. I've read a number of Trojan War stories and this has to rank up there with the best of them.
Four out of five stars

Tunnel Vision

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History,romance and a twist ending!!, May 31, 2010

By 

Jane Sarges "Elizabeth the biblioholic" (Sioux Falls, SD, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hittite (Hardcover)

If you love history,adventure,romance and a mystery thriller then The Hittite by Ben Bova is the book for you! Once started, I couldn't put it down. It's a real page turner,a convincing and inventive retelling of the legend of Troy. It has an interesting and believable twist! The Hittite is an adventure you'll want to undertake and be looking for more at the end of the book.
Historical figures and concepts are incorporated into the novel in an acceptable manner.
Mr.Bova has done his research. He takes recently discovered facts concerning the Hittites, their empire and military proficiency and turns the myth of Troy into a believable novel.
If you are a connoisseur of ancient history The Hittite will make sense and as the ending is left open there is a possibility for a sequel...I hope the author feels the same.
I highly recommend this book!
I read a few comments that questioned Mr. Bova's research....
if you are trully interested in the veracity of historical facts in the book then try:
Trevor Bryce
J.G.Mcqueen
Joachim Lactaz
and J.D.Hawkins to name a few.
These people are experts in their field of Hittite history, archeology and language.
"New evidence leads to these conclusions....recent excavations of 13th century Troy and translations of Hittite Tablets(by J.D.Hawkins)and an archelogical enterprise under the direction of of Manfred Korfman authenticates Mr.Bova's conclusions of Hittite and Tojan history and involvement.

Rebutal to Stuart McCunn: The only item I agree with you is the cover art: Lukka could have been portrayed more authentically and I would rather imagine Helen for myself. It had the look of a romance novel. But I do believe that cover art is more in the hands of the publisher than the author.
The story....well written or not....is your own opinoin and we are all entitled to that, although again I disagree with your analasys.
I draw the line at your conjecture of historical inaccuracies. To pit another novelist as comparison...a fiction writer himself is ludicrous.
Try the above named archeologists,historians and Hittite language translators who are experts in their fields.!
And you will see the Mr.Bova "is on time and on target"!