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Daughter of Troy Paperback – May 1, 1998

by
Sarah B. Franklin (Author)
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Sarah B. Franklin (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars 29 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 432 pages
  • Publisher: Harper Perennial (May 1, 1998)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0380793539
  • ISBN-13: 978-0380793532
  • Product Dimensions: 1.2 x 6.5 x 9.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,414,158 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 starsA look at Ancient Troy
By shel99 on February 10, 2000
Format: Paperback
This book was immensely entertaining. It's a retelling of Homer's classic epic "The Iliad", through the eyes of Achilles' slave/concubine, Briseis. The story is the same enduring tale that has become a classic over the years. However, it sometimes reads like a cheesy romance novel. In my opinion, there were too many sex scenes that were really not related to the plot. I like a good sex scene as much as anyone, but it's a bit too much in this book, which is the reason it only gets three stars from me.
If you are interested in this book, I would recommend that you instead check out Marion Zimmer Bradley's "The Firebrand", which is a similar novel in that it's a retelling of the Iliad through the eyes of a minor character - Kassandra (Cassandra), Hector's sister - only the writing is much better.
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4.0 out of 5 starsA woman's experience beneath the walls of Troy...
By Stuart W. Mirsky on August 2, 1998
Format: Paperback
I picked this one up w/some trepidation as the blurb on the back and a quick scan of the pages within suggested a bodice-ripper built on the foundation stones of that most revered of all things Greek -- The Iliad. I was pleased to see I was wrong. This is a tale of the Trojan War from a woman's perspective, particularly from the point of view of Briseis, the slave girl and victory prize of Achilles, over whom all the sturm und drang of that marvelous tale is raised. And it's a good one.

For those who don't know the tale, it essentially recounts what happens to the Greek and Trojan armies in the final year of the bitter Trojan siege, when the Greek over-king, Agamemnon, forced to give up his own victory prize, the girl Chryseis because of a god's anger, seizes the slave girl of his greatest hero and war-leader, Achilles, as a consolation prize. The resultant pique of the proud Achilles leaves the Greeks without a champion and gives the Trojans a chance to reclaim the initiative on the battlefield. Not promising for a tale told entirely from a woman's perspective. And yet, the use of Briseis as witness and recounter of events is inspired. In fact, the author has succeeded admirably. The prose is brilliantly evocative of the times and ancient tale it has to tell, without being stale or hackneyed. Never once are we troubled with the "wine-dark sea" (an Homeric catch phrase, much overused these days), although the prose still manages to conjure up the land and climate of the country in which this all presumably occurred...as well as the culture of the people among whom the tale is set.

The "voice" is mostly right, too.Read more ›
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4.0 out of 5 stars... a good story anyway
By Kelly (Fantasy Literature) VINE VOICE on January 4, 2003
Format: Mass Market Paperback
I agree with other reviewers who say there is too much irrelevant sex in _Daughter or Troy_. That said, on to the good stuff.
You might remember this book's heroine, Briseis, from the Iliad--Achilles's concubine, stolen away by King Agamemnon. But in _Daughter of Troy_, Briseis is so much more than a bimbo... She's an outspoken, brave, sardonic, intelligent princess, gifted with powers of prophecy. These powers break her heart, though, because knowing the future does not necessarily mean you can change it...
We read about Briseis's childhood at the court of the small kingdom of Lyrnessos, her adolescence in which she discovered sex and learned about the ruling of a kingdom, and her young adulthood as a prize of the invading Greeks. I truly liked Briseis and enjoyed spending time reading about her; kudos to the author for writing a compelling, strong female character without loading her down in modern-day political correctness.
I also liked the dark look at the ancient deities. It is always refreshing to read historical novels where the ancient pagans aren't practicing modern Wicca. The gods are scary in this book, appropriate given that they were thought to require constant sacrifice and to interfere often in the lives of mortals.
Gripes: I wanted to know more about Briseis's life after Achilles's death. Franklin shows her as an old woman, but she only tells her story up until about age seventeen, when the war ends. It is truly sad to imagine that nothing much of interest happened to her after that, especially with so many years ahead of her. Perhaps I can hold out hope for a sequel. Second, people believed Cassandra too often! LOL!
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4.0 out of 5 starsDaughter of Where?
By B. Morse on April 8, 2002
Format: Mass Market Paperback
The title of this book is confusing, having read what lies underneath it. The narrator of the story, Briseis, is a daughter of Lyrnessos, a city that lay to the south of Troy. The rightful queen of that city by birth, Briseus begins her tale by telling it to another, and recounts first her rapturous affair as the slave of Achilles, then returning to her youth, and what led to her enslavement, and finally with the powerplay between Achilles and King Agamemnon.
I am a lover of historical fiction that deals with Ancient Greece. And while I have found better, this one is highly entertaining, as a retelling of the Iliad.
Briseis from very early on is gifted with augury, the power to prophesy events from omens she witnesses. The fight of two eagles tells her of the coming battle in Lyrnessos which will lead to its downfall, and the death of her family. Her brothers stand valiantly to defend their home, even as Briseis warns them of impending doom for them all. As she grows from girl to young woman, her powers of insight grow, as well as her ability to attract and seduce men. Sampling many of the 50 sons of Priam, she develops a liking for male flesh, and grows hungry for a hero of her own. But as fate would have it, she is married to a a man she grows to hate, and prays for his early demise, as her visions have foretold, and the arrival of a hero.
Her prayers are answered in the form of Achilles, the great love of her life. After Lyrnessos is taken, Briseis is reduced from Queen to slave, a role she takes on willingly to share the bed of her beloved warrior hero. Their passion grows, even as the battle of the city of Troy looms like a dark cloud over both their heads, where Briseis has foretold much death and destruction.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Good story

Published 13 months ago by lori reed
5.0 out of 5 starsThis is a wonderfully researched view of the people and events leading...

This is a wonderfully researched view of the people and events leading to the destruction of Troy as told by the captured princess/queen of a small kingdom as the prized trophy by... Read more

Published 19 months ago by larsodin
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

Good historical fiction/legend fiction. Based on The Iliad, backstory for Brisies.

Published 19 months ago by MaryLou
4.0 out of 5 starsDramatic look at Bronze Age fictional account of the Trojan War,...

Daughter of Troy is not exactly a love story, or at least, not as we'd categorize it in modern times. Read more

Published 20 months ago by Beth Wade
5.0 out of 5 starsFirst off I love this book period

First off I love this book period. But it was delivered quickly and in wonderful condition very happy with my purchase!!!!

Published 23 months ago by Jazmine Howard
4.0 out of 5 starsOddly Focused But Interesting

I read this a while back (Amazon tells me I bought it in 2010) and found the framing to be a little unexpected -- the book is broken down by the men Briseis took as lovers, the way... Read more

Published on September 24, 2014 by Amalia T
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Love this book!!

Published on July 19, 2014 by Brittany C.
3.0 out of 5 starsMore cheesy than epic

It just didn't have the "umph" that I had hoped for. It read more like a cheesy romance novel, after a slow start, than the epic love story I'd anticipated between Briseis... Read more

Published on April 16, 2014 by Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 starsI liked it enough to keep it.

I only keep the books I might actually read again on my kindle account; I kept this one. Action, adventure, strong female survivor. It would make a good movie.

Published on September 9, 2013 by Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 starsInteresting new perspective on Trojan War

I liked this one. If you are willing to overlook a little bit of purple prose and dialog, this novel focusing on a young woman caught up in the central events of the Trojan War... Read more

Published on March 5, 2012 by Kindle Customer

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