Black Ships (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: bow cabin, young olive trees, Seven Sisters, Prince Aeneas, Lady of the Sea (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Graham's exquisite and bleak debut views the events of The Aeneid through the oracle Gull, a disciple of the Lady of the Dead. Taken to the Lady's temple after being lamed in a chariot accident, Gull quickly displays her power to see the future. Her first vision—black ships fleeing a burning city—lets her recognize Aeneas when he arrives after the fall of Wilusa (the Hittite name for Troy), hoping to save those sold into slavery. Gull joins Aeneas, and they take the few remaining people of Wilusa on a glorious journey to find their scattered brethren and a site where they can found a new city. Historians will admire Graham's deft blending of Virgil's epic story and historical fact, most notably the creation of Egyptian princess Basetamon to take the place of magnificently anachronistic Dido. Graham's spare style focuses on action, but fraught meaning and smoldering emotional resonance overlay her deceptively simple words. (Mar.)
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Product Description

"Haunting and bittersweet, lush and vivid, this extraordinary story has lived with me since I first read it." --Naomi Novik, author of His Majesty's Dragon

The world is ending. One by one the mighty cities are falling, to earthquakes, to flood, to raiders on both land and sea.

In a time of war and doubt, Gull is an oracle. Daughter of a slave taken from fallen Troy, chosen at the age of seven to be the voice of the Lady of the Dead, it is her destiny to counsel kings.

When nine black ships appear, captained by an exiled Trojan prince, Gull must decide between the life she has been destined for and the most perilous adventure -- to join the remnant of her mother's people in their desperate flight. From the doomed bastions of the City of Pirates to the temples of Byblos, from the intrigues of the Egyptian court to the haunted caves beneath Mount Vesuvius, only Gull can guide Prince Aeneas on his quest, and only she can dare the gates of the Underworld itself to lead him to his destiny.

In the last shadowed days of the Age of Bronze, one woman dreams of the world beginning anew. This is her story.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Orbit; 1 edition (March 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316068004
• ISBN-13: 978-0316068000
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #273,764 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a wonderfully crafted story from the classical age, March 21, 2008

By	Sergio (Texas) - See all my reviews

A well constructed opening to this novel of Trojan refugees draws the reader in quickly and never disappoints. This is a wonderfully crafted story which takes place at the end of the age of heroes and the beginning of the story of Rome. Almost hidden behind marvelous storytelling is an excellent conflation of the mythic and heroic tales of the ancient Greek world, and the historic and archeological records related to ancient Greece, the Middle East, ancient Egypt, and pre-Roman Italy.

This is one of those novels whose three dimensional characters grow on the reader to the point that finishing the book is like watching old friends disappearing around the bend. Though Black Ships tells of the many adventures these refugees encounter in their wanderings, real excitement comes from watching as the main characters struggle to find their path - sometimes relying on faith in the whispers of gods; sometimes by trusting their own judgement.

Jo Graham tells the story through a significant female character, and the feminine experience is a major theme of the book. However, she has avoided one of my frequent complaints about novels that strive to give a 'new' point of view. She has done a fine job of "fleshing out" both male and female characters, and giving some of the male characters 'real' lives that are not always told only as they impact the main character/narrator/

This is a great read for anyone who enjoys a well crafted adventure story, but, for those with an interest in the history and mythology of the ancient Mediteranean, this is a real treasure.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cross the wine-dark sea with Gull--you won't regret it, May 30, 2008

By	Kelly L. (www.FantasyLiterature.com) (Columbia, MO United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

There's nothing I love so much as sinking into a big fat book that combines the sweep of history with a dash of magic. This book is an adaptation of the Aeneid, from the point of view of the Sybil who, in the poem, guides Aeneas through the underworld.

She's a lot more fleshed out here. Her name is Gull, later known as Linnea and as Pythia, and jumps off the page from the very beginning of chapter one with a self-introduction that reminded me a bit of Phedre's at the beginning of Kushiel's Dart. The wording and the voice are different, but it's the same sort of introduction: This is me. This is who I am. Take me or leave me--and if you take me, I've got a damn good story to tell you.

Gull is the daughter of a Trojan slave. When she is crippled in an accident, her mother realizes she'll be seen as a useless mouth to King Nestor. She takes the girl to be apprenticed to Pythia, an oracle and priestess of Persephone, the Lady of the Dead. In time Gull succeeds to the role of Pythia herself, and it seems that she will spend the rest of her life prophesying from her remote cave. Fate, however, has other plans.

Aeneas and his ragged band of refugees from Troy arrive to raid Nestor's palace, and Gull's life is forever changed.

(Oh, I should explain that Graham posits two separate Trojan Wars in this tale. Gull's mother was abducted in the first; Aeneas fled the city in the second.)

The novel follows Aeneas, Gull, and Aeneas's courageous and sexy captain, Xandros, as they search for a place to call home.

To me, one of the major themes of Black Ships is being human in a world that calls for larger-than-life gods and heroes. You see it with Gull, who operates within a strict set of rules as a priestess, and then throughout the story breaks most of them when the will of the Goddess or the needs of her people demand flexibility. You see it with Neas, whose father is constantly exhorting him to act in a more regal fashion. One of my favorite bits is when Gull is examining the cave near Vesuvius that she will use for the ritual of descent into the underworld, musing about how much work it will take to prepare it--and yet, though she works hard to ready the cave, when the ritual occurs it is governed by forces beyond her human control. I liked the contrast between the human and divine here.

The other major theme is love, and how these three flawed and scarred people find it with each other. I love that you can't clearly say "this character is gay, that one is straight." What it really comes down to is that these three people have a bond that transcends all categories. They're just...well, when reading this book I just can't imagine any of them without the other two.

Beautiful book, and I loved every minute of it. I just wish it had been longer. ;)

(And, y'know, I really ought to go read the Aeneid. I never did read the whole thing, though I was supposed to for class once, and Jo has made me more intrigued by it.)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Generic Title but a good read, September 22, 2008

By	Daya Pillai - See all my reviews

As a self professed classics nerd, I couldn't wait to get my hands on Black Ships when I read about it in Entertainment Weekly.

Black Ships is Jo Graham's version of the events of the Aeneid-Aeneas' escape, travels, and subsequent founding of a new city. Our protagonist is Gull, a lowborn acolyte who ascends her mistress' place as Pythia, an oracle of the Lady of the Dead. Gull meets Aeneas and realizes that fate has bound him for a great destiny. She travels with the Trojans, er, Wilusans (Trojans in Hittite) in search of a new home. Their travels take them all over the Mediterranean-from an island of the dead to Byblos to Egypt (where they stay awhile) to the caves of Mt. Vesuvius-and finally into the Underworld itself.

This piece of historical fantasy was an enjoyable read, although a little slow at times. It was difficult for me to read at first because I have such set thoughts on Aeneas' character and how it "should" be but I got over it fairly quickly. I just enjoyed it for what it was-a historical fantasy/romance. I especially enjoyed the disillusioned antics of Egyptian princess Dido, *ahem* I mean, Basetamon.

As the bedraggled group travels from place to place, they are pursued by Neoptolemus (his entrance into a fallen Troy and subsequent murder of King Priam is one of the most haunting scenes of the Aeneid). Unfortunately, Neoptolemus is never more than a vague threat in the distance (literally, they see his sails a couple times), and I would have liked a little more conflict there. The scenery and historical details are thorough, and Graham's writing style is exquisite- it's beautifully simple and yet still so compelling and vivid.

I am looking forward to the Hand of Isis, which is another historical fantasy set during the reign of Cleopatra, the last Ptolemy! It features Charmian, Cleopatra's handmaiden (Get it? Hand of Isis? ) and half sister. I am really curious as to how Graham will portray Cleopatra (I would assume she features prominently in the book, maybe not).

Will Cleopatra be portrayed as a dark, Egyptian sorceress (thanks to Octavian's propaganda) or will she be as she was- a daughter of Ptolemy XII, of Macedonian (not Egyptian!) descent, the first Ptolemy who bothered learning Egyptian mores, language, and who was believed to be the incarnation of Isis.