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Cassandra
(Delphic Women #2)
by
Cassandra is the second in The Delphic Women trilogy.
Doomed, magnificent Troy is burning...
Cassandra, the golden-haired princess cursed with the gift of prophecy, and Diomenes, the Achaean with the healing hands, become puppets of the gods.
Their passions are thwarted, their loves betrayed, their gifts rendered useless for the sake of a wager between two immortals.
Will Cass ...more
Doomed, magnificent Troy is burning...
Cassandra, the golden-haired princess cursed with the gift of prophecy, and Diomenes, the Achaean with the healing hands, become puppets of the gods.
Their passions are thwarted, their loves betrayed, their gifts rendered useless for the sake of a wager between two immortals.
Will Cass ...more
Unknown Binding, 368 pages
Published
1995
by Mandarin
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Both Cassandra and Diomenes are healers who've had close encounters with gods early on in their lives. Cassandra and her twin, Eleni, are given the gift of prophecy as small children, while Diomenes becomes a healer after his life is saved by Glaucus, healing priest of Asclepius. During his illness, Thanatos, god of death, blesses him.
Maybe these blessings are what made the two the target of Aphrodite and Apollo's wager. The gist of the bet is that Aphrodite believes she can get the two together ...more
Maybe these blessings are what made the two the target of Aphrodite and Apollo's wager. The gist of the bet is that Aphrodite believes she can get the two together ...more

The Trojan War has been covered in so many novels and plays, many of which are classics of historical fiction or fantasy genre from Homer and Aeschylus to Heinrich von Kleist to David Gemmell, Seamus Heaney and even Hector Berlioz's opera Les Troyens, that I feel it's more and more difficult for writers to come up with an original, interesting slant on the story. This author succeeds admirably with this enjoyable novel: her retelling of the story of Cassandra. She makes the strong Cassandra a Tr
...more

Oct 25, 2012
Margaret
added it
Nope. Can't get into it.
...more

Nope. Wanted to like it, but...the writing style didn't grab me, she strayed too far (for my taste) from the familiar stories about Cassandra and the Trojan War, way too many characters with little development to keep straight, just didn't appeal. Read most of it, but ended up skimming about a third of it.
...more

The main attraction to this novel was, of course, the author. Who doesn’t know Kerry Greenwood’s Phryne Fisher? I have read quite a few of her works; Phryne Fisher series (though not quite up to date), Corrina Chapman series, and the standalone Out of the Black Land –an Ancient Egyptian novel. I quite enjoy the ancient world and I thought this book which was loosely based on a Greek tragedy could be a good read.
I tried to read the first book, Medea, first (since I’m slightly OCD and cannot face ...more
I tried to read the first book, Medea, first (since I’m slightly OCD and cannot face ...more

I liked this book. Lots of death, but by the time the bloodbath started you knew who lived and died, so it wasn't shocking. The focus was on the people and the way they lived and interacted. And it was really fascinating. And I really enjoyed the interaction between the gods and people. The structure reminded me a bit of The Book Thief with the Grim Reaper. And the subject matter made me want to reread David Malouf's book Ransom which was also about Hector and Achilles and the fall of Troy. But
...more

Cassandra is actually a re-telling or adaptation of events surrounding the Trojan War. There are definitely some twisting of the myth to suit the purpose of the plot which in a way expanded the story. A well written, interesting and entertaining novel that fans of Greek Mythology will definitely appreciate.
*The ARC for this novel was provided by the publisher and NetGalley in return for an honest review*
*The ARC for this novel was provided by the publisher and NetGalley in return for an honest review*

I loved this book. It is exactly the sort of thing I like - history through the woman's perspective, a different view of a familiar story, rich background, absorbing narrative, multi-dimensional fascinating characters. Highly recommend if you enjoyed Mists of Avalon etc. by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Ms Greenwood is not quite the writer Ms Bradley is, but then who is.
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I'm not sure I can fairly review this book right now... I will say this however, if you are a Greek mythology fan, do not go into this book expecting it to be faithful to myths about the Trojan War. On many, many occasions Greenwood diverges from the traditional myths and it is only occasionally effective for moving the story along.
...more
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Kerry Greenwood was born in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray and after wandering far and wide, she returned to live there. She has a degree in English and Law from Melbourne University and was admitted to the legal profession on the 1st April 1982, a day which she finds both soothing and significant.
Kerry has written twenty novels, a number of plays, including The Troubadours with Stephen D'Arcy, ...more
Kerry has written twenty novels, a number of plays, including The Troubadours with Stephen D'Arcy, ...more
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Delphic Women
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