melita66 | Books for late January: Graham and Scott

I've been ripping through books by Jo Graham. I like historical novels, particularly about societies or time periods about which I'm interested. Graham had some good press so I had picked up her three books, Black Ships, Hand of Isis, and Stealing Fire, but they were languishing on the to-read bookcase. I recently read her Stargate Atlantis tie-novel, Homecoming, co-written by Melissa Scott, and thought that would make a nice segue into her books. While I just started Hand of Isis, which is the 2nd published, I read the other two in chronological, rather than published order.

Black Ships is a retelling of the Aeneid, through the eyes of a oracle, Gull, and the remaining Trojans search for a home. Stealing Fire is the story of Lydias, a soldier in the army of Alexander the Great, set after his death, but with flashbacks. Lydias is an incarnation of Gull so there are some visions, forwards and backwards in time. I was quite happy to see that Bagoas had a role. The Persian Boy by Mary Renault is one of my favorite books. Hand of Isis is the story of three (half) sisters, Charmian (viewpoint character, another incarnation of Gull), Iras, and Cleopatra. Yes, that Cleopatra.

All in all, I would have to say that I don't think Graham is as good as Kay or Tarr yet, but the interwoven stories among the three books are exciting. One of the books had a vision of a woman in an army. I guessed it was Russia, perhaps around Napoleonic times. After I found Graham's blog, I found out that it is Napoleonic era, but set in France (at least partly). I hope she finds a publisher for these books (a duology).

Jo Graham is spear-heading a 'season 6' of Stargate Atlantis through a 6 book series called Legacy. The books are written/co-written by various people including Melissa Scott. Through the connection, I was able to fine Scott's new blog. She has several books written or in progress and I can only hope they find homes and are published soon. Lethe Press may publish a new book in the Point of Hopes/Point of Dreams series. Hooray!