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hibashakes's review against another edition
5.0
I LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS BOOK SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!
It was an absolutely riveting account of the Trojan War. I was so engrossed with the book and I only put it down to sleep!
One of the best books I've ever read (hands down)!!!!!
It was an absolutely riveting account of the Trojan War. I was so engrossed with the book and I only put it down to sleep!
One of the best books I've ever read (hands down)!!!!!
janie's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
zurpel's review against another edition
4.0
I’ve already read quite a few books by Marion Zimmer Bradley, including most of the Avalon and Darkover series. I always liked her writing style and how she manages to tell a vivid, historical believable and deep story.
I wasn’t disappointed with The Firebrand. The book is a retelling of the fall of Troy, told from Kassandra’s point of view. Kassandra is a princess of Troy. When she was still a child, she was claimed both by the Goddess and by Apollo. She spent some time in her youth among the Amazon tribes and learned to fight. Later she became a priestess to Apollo. Since her early childhood she had visions of what was to come and was doomed not to be believed.
There are always to kinds of historical books for me: Those that get boring soon because they either lack in detail and are unbelievable or because they lose themselves in detail so the story itself drowns in it. And there are those stories that are brilliant, captivating narratives that make history real. The Firebrand belongs to that second category. The story at once made me feel like I know the time. There was not too much description but also enough to paint a vivid picture of the time and place. It’s easy to sympathize with Kassandra and although I often get easily bored by long travels in books or battles, I didn’t get bored in The Firebrand (there were both travels and battles).
In-between the story itself Kassandra asks herself some thought-provoking questions about the gods that are worshiped in different parts of her world and about the standing of women in society.
The only reason it took me so long to finish this book was the simple fact that my edition had a very small font size, so I couldn’t read much of it in the evenings and I sometimes had to squeeze in a book with larger font so my eyes wouldn’t protest too much (this is one of the reasons why I love my e-readers so much; always the perfect font size).
I wasn’t disappointed with The Firebrand. The book is a retelling of the fall of Troy, told from Kassandra’s point of view. Kassandra is a princess of Troy. When she was still a child, she was claimed both by the Goddess and by Apollo. She spent some time in her youth among the Amazon tribes and learned to fight. Later she became a priestess to Apollo. Since her early childhood she had visions of what was to come and was doomed not to be believed.
There are always to kinds of historical books for me: Those that get boring soon because they either lack in detail and are unbelievable or because they lose themselves in detail so the story itself drowns in it. And there are those stories that are brilliant, captivating narratives that make history real. The Firebrand belongs to that second category. The story at once made me feel like I know the time. There was not too much description but also enough to paint a vivid picture of the time and place. It’s easy to sympathize with Kassandra and although I often get easily bored by long travels in books or battles, I didn’t get bored in The Firebrand (there were both travels and battles).
In-between the story itself Kassandra asks herself some thought-provoking questions about the gods that are worshiped in different parts of her world and about the standing of women in society.
The only reason it took me so long to finish this book was the simple fact that my edition had a very small font size, so I couldn’t read much of it in the evenings and I sometimes had to squeeze in a book with larger font so my eyes wouldn’t protest too much (this is one of the reasons why I love my e-readers so much; always the perfect font size).
meredith_gayle's review against another edition
I am not entirely giving up on this book. I am going to read The Iliad, because it has been over 30 years ago since I read this book. I may end up having to buy the book since this copy was hard to acquire through the lbrary.
curly_entropy's review against another edition
5.0
I can't recommend this book with a clear conscience. I tried re reading and knowing what I now know about the author it wasn't possible. But when I was a baby reader ( I had to be like 14? Maybe older maybe younger) this book opened my eyes to a world of possiblity. Today I'm enjoying my feminist fantasy but back then I thought all fantasy series where LoTR. The fact that it made me question so much about a world that until then was defined by male written literature makes it an important book for me.
lmclaren113's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
readandfun360's review against another edition
5.0
Ho scoperto che amo i retelling della guerra di Troia e altre storie.
Ho iniziato ad approcciarmi a questo mondo tramite “il silenzio delle ragazze” e per ultimo “Circe”, e mi era piaciuto tantissimo vedere come la figure principali dei poemi venissero descritte come donne, capaci di loro pensieri, sebbene non venissero mai prese sul serio dalle figure mashicli di questi periodi, quindi ho letto e ascoltato con molta curiosità anche questo libro.
Qui vediamo come protagonista Cassandra, la figlia di Priamo ed Ecuba, dalla nascita fino a dopo la guerra di Troia.
L’ho ascoltato su audible e l’ho apprezzato molto grazie alla lettrice, ma soprattutto grazie alla scrittura molto semplice ma allo stesso tempo descrittiva e completa dell’autrice.
Veniamo inglobati nella vita di questa ragazza e viviamo in primo piano tutto quello che le accade; ho gioito con lei, ho pianto con lei, mi sono affezionata alla sua figura ed è stato tristissimo dirle addio all’ultima pagina.
E’ sempre molto interessante vedere lo stesso avvenimento, da punti di vista differenti, e questo l’ho trovato in particolare modo completo ed esaustivo.
Sono stata spettatrice della guerra di troia dall’inizio alla fine, senza venire protetta da fatti brutti e sconcertanti.
So che l’autrice ha scritto altri libri, questa volta fantasy, ma non vedo l’ora di leggerli perché il suo modo di scrivere mi è piaciuto molto.
Non è mai stato noioso, né prolisso, sebbene fosse pieno di descrizioni e anche di pensieri.
Nel complesso ve lo consiglio assolutamente, anche se di norma non sareste amanti del genere
Ho iniziato ad approcciarmi a questo mondo tramite “il silenzio delle ragazze” e per ultimo “Circe”, e mi era piaciuto tantissimo vedere come la figure principali dei poemi venissero descritte come donne, capaci di loro pensieri, sebbene non venissero mai prese sul serio dalle figure mashicli di questi periodi, quindi ho letto e ascoltato con molta curiosità anche questo libro.
Qui vediamo come protagonista Cassandra, la figlia di Priamo ed Ecuba, dalla nascita fino a dopo la guerra di Troia.
L’ho ascoltato su audible e l’ho apprezzato molto grazie alla lettrice, ma soprattutto grazie alla scrittura molto semplice ma allo stesso tempo descrittiva e completa dell’autrice.
Veniamo inglobati nella vita di questa ragazza e viviamo in primo piano tutto quello che le accade; ho gioito con lei, ho pianto con lei, mi sono affezionata alla sua figura ed è stato tristissimo dirle addio all’ultima pagina.
E’ sempre molto interessante vedere lo stesso avvenimento, da punti di vista differenti, e questo l’ho trovato in particolare modo completo ed esaustivo.
Sono stata spettatrice della guerra di troia dall’inizio alla fine, senza venire protetta da fatti brutti e sconcertanti.
So che l’autrice ha scritto altri libri, questa volta fantasy, ma non vedo l’ora di leggerli perché il suo modo di scrivere mi è piaciuto molto.
Non è mai stato noioso, né prolisso, sebbene fosse pieno di descrizioni e anche di pensieri.
Nel complesso ve lo consiglio assolutamente, anche se di norma non sareste amanti del genere