Black Ships is a retelling of the story of Aeneas' flight from Troy with his people, with aspects of it changed and rearranged to fit better with what we really know of history -- for example, to address the problem of Aeneas visiting Carthage before it is ever founded. Dido is replaced by Basetamon, a princess in Egypt. Basetamon herself isn't a real historical figure, but the role she plays is certainly possible. The relationship between Basetamon and Aeneas, and the impossibilities of it, are well drawn, I think: the conflict between their cultures, and her damaged and destructive personality.

The main character is Gull, or Pythia, who is drawn from the Sybil who guides Aeneas down into the Underworld. She is given a life of her own -- in fact, the women of the world are all given lives of their own, including both Lavinia and the unnamed, unnumbered women the fleeing Trojans took with them. There's a certain preoccupation with reproduction and children, which only makes sense, given that they need to have enough of a population to found a new city.

Everything is well thought out and logical: the reasons for Silvius founding a new city, the reasons for Basetamon's death, etc. It's a quick read, too -- surprisingly so: it only took me a little over two hours. There are even some LGBT characters: one of the major male characters is in love with Aeneas, and is also romantically involved with a young eunuch from a temple. I wasn't sure how I felt about the handling of the latter: the pronouns were erratic, and zie died almost as soon as zie'd been introduced to the plot.

I'm not sure how emotionally attached I was to this story. I felt a little choked up at the end, but until then, not really. I pitied Basetamon and Aeneas' pain at what happened to her, while at the same time being a little infuriated at (or about, I'm not sure) both of them. Which is pretty much how I feel about the original, too.

Anyway, I'm not sure why I ended this with the degree of ambivalence I did, considering how quickly I read it, but... there it is. Still recommended, especially if you're interested in historical retellings of mythology.