Arrow through the Axes
Arrow through the Axes
Odyssey of a Slave, Book III
by Patrick Bowman
$11.95
- March 2014
- print ISBN 978-1-55380-323-2
- ebook ISBN 978-1-55380-325-6
- PDF ISBN 978-1-55380-324-9
- 5 1/4″ x 7 5/8″ Trade Paperback, 214 pp
- Young Reader Novel – Ages 9 to 12
Paperback:
Ebook:
Arrow through the Axes concludes the “Odyssey of a Slave” trilogy that began with the Red Maple–nominated Torn from Troy, retelling Homer’s Odyssey. The slave Alexi, now free of his Greek captors, infiltrates the Greek strongholds of the Bronze Age in search of his sister. In so doing he participates in the stories of Orestes, son of Agamemnon, as he seeks revenge for his father’s murder, and of Telemachus, son of Odysseus, who lands on Ithaca, the home island of Odysseus, just in time to witness the arrival of a mysterious stranger. As Alexi comes to understand the damage that the Trojan War has visited upon its victors, both he and the reader are forced to confront an unpleasant truth, while Alexi must decide where his allegiance really lies. Re-casting the Odyssey as a YA adventure, this trilogy brings ancient mythology to life in a way that traditional retellings cannot. We see what life would have been like for Bronze-Age warriors as Bowman interweaves adventure, ritual and historical detail into a realistic and compelling narrative. Readers who have experienced pop mythology, and now want to dive deeper, will find Arrow through the Axes especially satisfying, but all readers will enjoy this powerful excursion into the classic mythology that shaped western culture.
Click here to read the first chapter of Arrow through the Axes.
Reviews:
“Bowman’s aim was to create a version of the Odyssey that young people would read for fun, and he has certainly succeeded. . . . Recommended.”
—CM Magazine“[Bowman’s] message that there are no winners in war is clear, but, told through the eyes and insight of a young enslaved Trojan boy, the learning of that lesson is all the richer, and more vivid and poignant.”
—Little Canadians
