In this sequel to "The Virgin and the Dinosaur", Jake Bento time travels in the Bronze Age, hoping to locate a lost time-traveling expedition. He is shocked to discover that his employers are masquerading as gods, enslaving the locals and pillaging art treasures. Abandoned in the Bronze Age by his employer, Jake has no alternative but to overthrow "the gods".
Rodrigo Garcia y Robertson (born 1949) is an American writer of historical and fantasy fiction. He holds a Ph.D in history and taught at UCLA and Villanova University before becoming a full-time writer. In addition to his eight novels, he has had numerous short stories published in fantasy and science fiction anthologies. He lives in Mount Vernon, Washington.
Quite an adventure. Jake Bento with two companions ( one an Amazon warrior woman from the Sea of Grass, which is present-day Ukraine, the other, an African-American soldier who was lost on a mission into Laos) goes back in time to the Bronze Age to find out what happened to previous missions which inexplicably disappeared. Garcia y Robertson really brings the ancient world to life and adds fantastic elements. Jake finds Atlantis but that's not so fantastic. It's the island of Thera, which was almost totally blown up in one of the greatest volcanic eruptions in history ( today, it's the island of Santorini and one of the most beautiful places in the world to visit--I've been there twice). More fantastic is Jake and his buddies coming across the mighty Hercules... and other gods and goddesses, not to mention various mythical creatures... A good read, published in 1997, it is the sequel to "The Virgin and the Dinosaur," which introduced Jake and other characters. I didn't read it but I would like to get the book sometime to read.
This hero needs to be frequently saved by each of his women. I lost count of the number of times. So who are the real heroes of this book? What do they see in this guy? The book is clear about what the hero sees in each of his women, and he does choose them well. A fun action story with characterization of the women being better than the males, except for the "big guy." I think I understand why there is not a third book in this series. Leave your brain at the first page and enjoy the adventure.
Extremely crass author jumps into Jo Walton's introduction to Tor.com's "e-book of the month" discussions to tell the world that his book is better than hers.