Book description
Briseis steps out from the handful of lines she gets in Homer's epic, and fearlessly tells her own story as healer, war prize, and partner to the famous Achillesāhere a godlike hero who manages to be all too human. Recommended! āKate Quinn, NYT Times Bestselling author of The Alice Networkā¦
Why read it?
1 author picked Hand of Fire as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Hand of FireĀ was one of the first books to truly win me over on Achilles as a real hero worthy of romanticism and admiration. Starkstonās exploration of Briseisās character and her relationship to and with Achilles is so well-wrought, pulling both from the Hittites (the empire in which Briseis was born) and the Greek mythology and archeology. The way she weaves the two cultures together to create this story, priming Briseis for Achillesās arrival to create a narrative that gives Briseis both power and agency is absolutely masterful. I loved that Starkston didnāt shy away from the supernatural hallmarksā¦
From Amalia's list on retelling Greek myths.
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