Customer Reviews

The Talisman of Troy

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If this is one of Manfredi's less-acclaimed works, then I can't wait to read his others. It's been a while since I read a good historical/semi-historical novel and this sure is one of them. For this, the credit also goes to the translator Catherine Feddersen, who makes the bronze age world come alive without sounding cheesy as many contemporary writers do. The novel focuses on the lost poems of the Trojan circle, remnants of which can be found in the Greek tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, and in Virgil's Aeneid. The Trojan war is over, and the heroes return home to an unwelcome reception, unfaithful wives and posers on their thrones. The main story revolves around Diomedes of Argos and his voyage to Italy, but we are also witness to the fates of Menelaus and Agamemnon. On the surface, the events that Manfredi describes are true to Greek legend with a few twists here and there. But underneath it, he weaves a very Robert Graves-like theme of the return of the reign of the mother goddess which, although I am no authority on Greek legends, I have not found in any original source. Then there are fascinating descriptions of what the author presumes the Dalmatian coast was like in the Bronze age, the places he describes are the coastal areas of present day Albania, Bosnia, Croatia and Italy. A fascinating read!

Another grandiose and brutal epic of the ancient world from the bestselling author of the Alexander trilogy, Spartan and The Last Legion
A castaway tossed onto a deserted beach is the last survivor of a world that no longer exists. He has a terrible, fascinating story to tell - the true reason for which the Trojan War was fought... The protagonist of this tale is Diomedes, the last of the great ancient Greek Homeric heroes, who seeks to return to his beloved homeland after years of war against Troy. But destiny has other plans for him. Betrayed by his wife, who plots to murder him and persecuted by hostile gods, he has no choice but to turn his sails west, towards Hesperia, the mysterious mist-shrouded land that will one day be called Italy. He ventures boldly into this new world, for he carries with him the magic Talisman of Troy, a mysterious, powerful idol that can make the nation that possesses it invincible... The Talisman of Troy recreates the emotions of an epic age, at once grandiose and brutal. It breathes life into that tormented time when these ancient, mysterious peoples were first settling the land of ice and fire which over the centuries would become their home and the centre of a world destined to last for millennia.

I've found the author's other books quite entertaining, but this one is truly excellent. It reads almost like another "Odyssey" set in the real world, a tale of the last of the heroes from the age of myth on a dark, epic voyage. Manfredi uses easily accessible prose to express a timelessly classic storytelling style that perfectly fits the subject matter and imbues it with a sense of tragedy. There is an all-pervading sense of pathos as the protagonists travel across the landscape of a dying once-wonderous age. A familiarity with the the greek myths would help to appreciate the story, but isn't required. If you love reading about the Odyssey and the Argonautika, you'll enjoy this one. To date, it is my favorite of Manfredi's novels.

If someone had've suggested to me, before reading this book, that an author could come along and successfully marry Homeric poetic style and atmosphere with modern ancient historial fiction, I would've been sceptical. But this book does it. A simply fantastic yarn that manages to cross a boundery into inspiring literature. Although I get the point of a previous reviewer regarding a pre-knowledge of Homer, I'm not sure it is a must. I think it serticaly adds to the expereince, but I'm pretty sure this book would stand alone.

The Manfredi/Manfredi author/translator combination is also worth pointing out: the translations of his older works have never been as strong. If you are reading Manfredi in English, check that the translator is Christine Manfredi.

I gave this novel only three stars, because the writing, is at times, oppressive. Manfredi deserves an "A" for effort. This novel, in the writing stlye, of the great author/poet Homer, fills in the gaps regarding the fates of the great heroes that conquered troy. We learn the fate of Agamemnon, the Greek King who has sacked Troy and returns home to a betrayal by those he most trusts. Dimomedes also returns home to Greece to learn that his wife has been both unfaithful and scheming to remain in power. Diomedes chooses to flee Greece and wander through wild, unexplored Italy in exile. There he must tangle with another survivor of Troy, the mighty Aeneas, and eventual founder of Rome.

A background in the classics is necessary to follow the stories.
If you have read these great classics and want to read a well crafted novel that connects some of the points of these great volumes, then Manfredi's work is for you. If you fell asleep in English Lit. class during the Iliad, you'll never get past the first chapters of this work.

I've heard of Diomedes before, but never quite got interested in the character until I read this book. Sounds very scientific indeed. Gives reasoning why the Dorians (later Spartans) conquered Greece in the Mycenaen period. I also liked the character of Orestes. Originally, I thought Orestes killed the son of a guy who served his dad so well, but this story puts everything into much better perspective.

It's a solid book.

I have read the reviews that compare this work to Homer's Iliad. Don't believe it! Manfredi uses this work to drape a funeral pall over all of the great, surviving Greek Heroes of the Trojan War. It is a tale of despair, woe, and tragedy. I guess one could say that it is a good view into what "normal" proto-Bronze Age life was like.

If you want to see the grand heroes of Diomedes, Menelaus, and Agamemnon made into mere mortals, read this book. Be warned, though, that this book will leave you feeling worse than if you had just watched "Legends of the Fall".

Although writing this review's title (add hackneyed writing/translation), I should admit that I'm into the last chapter or two. Somehow I've managed to get this far before tossing it. That's probably because my curiosity has struggled past mind-numbing boredom to read Manfredi's explanations for some historical mysteries/rumors e.g. the Two Helens. He haphazardly and awkwardly drops them in here or there in his narrative. Kind of a historical "Say...whatever happened to....". It's rather disjointed, like much of the plot. Generally, the writing is pedestrian, uninspiring, unimaginative and amateurish. Character development is shallow and uninteresting. While his knowledge and research seem excellent, it doesn't seem enough to sprinkle these obscure titillations into what seems to be a computer-driven narrative. I'll try to finish this book, but I swear I'll toss it into the waste basket, unfinished, if I once more hear Diomedes cry "ARGOS!" as he pillages another quasi-historical tribe in pre-Roman Italy.