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Published: July 07, 2011
Words: 110,079 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781452403472
Short description
The Trojan War leaves Orestes, the prince of Mycenae, a spiritual orphan. His parents, Agamemnon and Clytaemnestra, wage a bitter private war that threatens to tear the royal family of Mycenae apart, and young Orestes and his siblings are caught in the middle.Extended description
The Trojan War leaves young Orestes a spiritual orphan. Agamemnon, his father, has been away fighting for nine years. Clytaemnestra, his mother, never wanted him. Now, crazed with grief over the murder of her daughter Iphigenia, she takes as a lover a rival kinsman whose presence threatens to tear the royal family of Mycenae apart.When the war ends, and the unthinkable happens, Orestes must flee for his life. As an exile far from home, can he survive long enough to grow to manhood and reclaim his birthright?
Adult-content rating: This book contains content considered unsuitable for young readers 17 and under, and which may be offensive to some readers of all ages. For more information, see the Support FAQ.
Tags
historical, ancient greece, orestes, agamemnon, the trojan war, mycenae, mycenaeansAvailable ebook reading formats
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Reviews
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Review by:
sjhunter451
on Nov. 24, 2012 :
Note: In the interest of full disclosure, I received a free copy of The Young Lion in return for an honest review.
The story of Orestes is a well-known classical myth in the Atreid cycle so I'm not too concerned about spoilers. Still, just in case... The young Mycenaen prince Orestes endures a particularly horrific family trauma, escapes into exile, grows up, and returns home to...
What earned stars? The author is obviously passionate about Greek history and knows a lot of cultural detail, which she uses liberally and competently to flesh out the bare bones of the classical history. As someone who has been to Mycenae, I enjoyed her use of the setting to describe daily life in the palace and the city. Clytemnestra and Elektra, as seen through the narrator's (Oreste's) eyes, are fully developed characters and their motivation is comprehensible, even worthy of some empathy.
What didn't earn stars? Orestes gives us a lot of factual details about his activities, but only the shallowest of introspection. Admittedly, when he starts his narration he is only a child, but his character never seems to grow in complexity or insight. He wasn't just unlikeable, he was boring.
Which brings me to my biggest problem with the book: it doesn't end. It builds and builds all too slowly to a climax that never occurs. For this reason I debated a two-star rating which, frankly, might have been all it earned if I had paid for the book. Only the quality of the detail and the writing kept it at three.
I suppose it is a matter of opinion that a book should actually have a climax and a satisfying ending. I don't object to cliffhangers that encourage a reader to continue the next book in a series, but I find it bothersome not to have been rewarded with something after all that detailed build-up. Certainly the story justifies multiple volumes, but why not give a climax and then in the next one use it as a traumatic memory with some fresh insights? As it is, I wasn't intrigued enough to move on to the next book.
(reviewed within a week of purchase)