Pre-review: Black Ships

Since the Amazon US publishing date was yesterday and jo_graham's first reading and signing is coming up, I think it's time to post this. Or at least the first part ofit. I've read the book twice now, once piece-meal as it was created and once in its whole bound form, but now that I've sat down to write about it, I see I'll have to re-read for a proper analysis.

The book is Black Ships.

It's a story of the Aeneid, narrated by a priestess of the Lady of the Dead. It's a whole and more than a whole: it's the first meeting with characters I've had the privilege of reading about in at least four other incarnations throughout history. It's a woman's story, and a mystical journey. The quiet narrative paints ink sketches that catch you and come to you again in dreams, months later. And did I mention it's all historically accurate Age of Bronze Greece?

You can't nail this book down as just historical, fantasy, roadtrip (seatrip?), literary. It's all of these. And it'll haunt you, but it's a beneficial spirit.

In the interest of full disclosure: I know jo_graham and I've had the privilege of following the tail end of the creation of Black Ships and now the next book, chapter by chapter, providing comments. I was wholly unsurprised it got picked up by a publisher. I have a review copy, but I was damn ready to buy my own thrice over.

(And yes, I recced it here when it was still nascent, two years ago. If you remember, she prefers her other name unmentioned ;))

Now, to force someone to cough up my copy and give it another read :)