Synopses & Reviews
Two-and-a-half centuries after it was created, Homer's Odyssey remains one of humanity's most memorable adventure stories. In this re-creation of Homer's classic as a young adult novel, we see the aftermath of the Trojan War through the eyes of Alexi, a fifteen-year-old Trojan boy. Orphaned by the war and enslaved by Odysseus himself, Alexi has a very different view of the conquering heroes of legend. Despite a simmering anger toward his captors, he gradually develops a grudging respect for them. As the Greeks fight off the angry Cicones, weather a storm that pushes them far beyond charted waters, and nearly succumb to the blandishments of the bewitching Lotus-eaters, Alexi realizes that they are not the demons they were said to be, but people like himself. At the same time, his quick thinking, bravery, and the healing skills that he learned from his father prove to his captors that he is no ordinary slave. His key role in their escape from the Cyclops earns the respect of his master, Odysseus, and a striking discovery during their escape gives his life a newfound purpose. Straddling the boundary between historical fiction and mythology, Torn from Troy is written in a hard, realistic style and brings to life the travails of a bronze-age slave of the Greeks in a form that will appeal especially to the hard-to-reach teen boy market. While this book is the first volume of the author's Odyssey of a Slave trilogy, it is a compelling and fully-realized work on its own.
Synopsis
You heard what the little filth said to me, Ury growled. He'll be trouble. I say trench him now. The other man spoke, his voice low and even. I heard him, Ury. His mind is quick, and his Greek is good. He knelt down beside my head. Your choice, boy. Decide now.
Alexi's city is still burning when the Greeks catch him and give him a brutal choice: slavery or death. With his sister dead and his home destroyed, Alexi, a 15-year-old orphan from the streets of Troy, grits his teeth and chooses the life of a captive. He and the other Trojan survivors are forced aboard a ship bound for faraway Ithaca, under the command of the Greek warrior Odysseus. But none could foresee the perils of the cursed voyage to come: a brutal raid on the Cicones, a visit to the bewitching Lotus Eaters and a grisly encounter with a Cyclops all take a gruesome toll. Alexi has no idea how much worse his life is about to get.
Torn from Troy is the first book in the dramatic Odyssey of a Slave trilogy: a gritty, realistic retelling of the classic Greek legend of the Odyssey.
Synopsis
Fiction. Young Adult Novel. Two-and-a half millennia after it was created, Homer's Odyssey remains one of humanity's most memorable adventure stories. In this re-creation of Homer's classic as a young adult novel, we see the aftermath of the Trojan War through the eyes of Alexi, a fifteen-year-old Trojan boy. Orphaned by the war and enslaved by Odysseus himself, Alexi has a very different view of the conquering heroes of legend. Despite a simmering anger towards his captors, Alexi gradually develops a grudging respect for them. As the Greeks fight off the angry Cicones, weather a storm that pushes them far beyond charted waters, and nearly succumb to the blandishments of the bewitching Lotus-eaters, he realizes that they are not the demons they were said to be, but people like himself.
About the Author
Patrick Bowman was born in Ottawa and educated in Toronto. He has twenty years of writing experience, all of it in software, but has been fascinated by Greek mythology since stumbling over a copy of Bulfinch's Mythology in his father's library as a child. TORN FROM TROY is his first book. He presently makes his home in Toronto.