Judith StarkstonRezensionen

Of Kings and Griffins is the third book in the author’s Tesha series. I did not read the first two and felt no loss. What you are getting when you dive into the book is a rich, story based on the history of the Hittites. Tesha is married to the chief advisor to the throne but the King has just died and she is anxious for many reasons – most of all she wants her husband to keep his influence with the new king. But the new king is only a child and there are forces afoot that aim to take advantage.

As this book takes the reader into the realm of fantasy we also meet an enclave of mythical griffins where Tesha’s sister Daniti has been kept captive. While there though she learns to appreciate the magnificent creatures and there is an understanding that they too only want the best for their children.

In addition, Daniti’s husband, Marak is dealing with a plague of some kind that is killing his soldiers. He cannot understand the how or the why but he needs to stop it before his army is decimated.

All of these subplots are expertly woven together into a fast paced and thrilling tale that combines history and fantasy. The characters are richly developed and all wonderfully distinct and comfortably inhabit their worlds be they mystical or just plain boring. That is the kind of writing you have to appreciate; where you can easily move between griffins and humans and feel that all is right in the world you are reading about.

This was a delight of a book. Well written and quite engrossing. I didn’t get much done while reading it and that’s the kind of book you want, right?

I blurbed this! "Tension runs high in this Bronze Age-inspired fantasy novel packed with sorcery and betrayals. Don't start reading this too close to bedtime!"

I blurbed this! "Priestess of Ishana evokes everything I love about historically-inspired fantasy with a strong and savvy heroine, a compassionate hero, and a world both blessed and cursed by the oversight of gods. Mystery, romance, action: this has it all."

This is one of my favorite periods for reading - I have several which I'm sure you have figured out by now. I have read both The Illiad and The Odyssey but it was a very long time ago so you could almost say for the purposes of this review in regards to this book that I haven't read them 'cause I can't remember much but the basics. That did leave me a touch confused at the start but I soon found my reading footing(?) and found myself wrapped up in this tale of war told from a female perspective.

Briseis is a young woman of learning and she is destined for great things but she is kidnapped by Achilles. Or is this her destiny? She does her best in her new situation, using her healing skills but is witness to the destruction of Troy. Her relationship with Achilles is one built from destruction but it does end up to be one of love.

I found this book to be an excellent read and truth be told I hardly felt like I was reading at all. I was absorbed in the story of this fascinating woman. My only issues at all came at the beginning as I tried to remember the bones of the ancient tale. Once I found my bearings I was enraptured by this telling of what history tells us is Achilles story through the eyes of the woman he stole and came to love.½

Very rarely can I not give enough stars for a book. This is such a book. I love the Iliad, it's become one of my favorite books over the years. Judith Starkston has brought the characters of the Iliad to life, but she's done so with her own spin. Through the eyes of Briseis, the priestess/healer. The woman who was briefly able to calm the rage of Achilles.

This book will leave you breathless. I could not put it down. The descriptions so incredible, you can smell the flowers as you walk through the forests of Mt Ida.

Briseis is a multidimensional character who dominates this story. She is a woman who will capture your heart. She could be your friend, your sister or your daughter. You will just love her. She is a strong woman with courage and compassion.
We watch her grow from a young woman losing her mother to a strong Princess of Lyrnessos. We watch her become a captive of Greek soldiers and a confidante of Achilles. Through it all, she is an incredible character.

I loved this book. I didn't want to sleep or eat, just wanted to keep reading. When I was finished, I started over and read it again. It's that good. Judith Starkston- thank you for bringing some of my favorite characters to life for me.

Ms. Starkston sent me a pre-publication copy and here we have an excellently researched book. There are many tales of Troy, and the great battle that conquered her. We look most closely at Achilles and his lover, through the eyes of that lover. But we do so as if the mythology is true.

And with that I found that this romantic epic was not actually one that I longed for or could relate well too. Many another possibly could, but there was a great deal of longing and yearning, and finding a way to nullify the horrific acts that enemies inflict upon each other in a brutal war. That the mythology also intruded puts this novel in to the realm of Romantic Fantasy, and bends us away from the Historical, where we would try and explain in rational terms why Achilles was a tremendous warrior.

The set-up, to bring our two leads together also took away from the pacing of the book though gave the heroine the out of contrasting prior relationships to the foreordained relationship she was doomed to have with the heroic, godlike, Achilles. It was overly long and a key to enticing those who study the military side of this war would be to access the tale closer to the action, and more distanced from the romance.

That however was not the main thrust of this piece. The set-up was designed to give one an affinity for the Heroine, and it does that well. But to provide us in modern times with a read of a story where all believe that the Gods influence things such as the plague, makes a disconnect for me as a historian as well. I should expect that even the most firm believer would be prone to understand that one action in life a certain way does not cause the desired outcome from nature, and thus the gods, since nature is arbitrary.

Thus in the end, this is a highly rated book for those who would dwell in the midst of a tale of love, with the background of the Trojan War painted around it. But if you were to look too closely for more detail of that war, or any aspect beyond what we know from the Iliad or from archeological digs that support Homer's epic, you might not find what you want.½