(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
Having been an avid reader of Greek mythology for a really long time, I was quite eager to read this book that was a retelling of one of the stories I know… though not every aspect as well as the others.
It was good to see all of the different characters, but I didn’t feel like they were really expanded upon. I liked being able to see Clytemnestra and getting some hints of her feelings for Aegisthus and his for her… but I lost a lot along the way of the hostility/rage of Clytemnestra apparently had towards her husband. When Aegisthus kept talking about what had happened to his brothers, I had the strong feeling that was just an excuse. There was very little depth to him as a character.
I didn’t feel that the story changing to prose worked very well. I found it very distracting to read the conversations between Apollo and the Furies and Athena and the Furies. The rest of the book wasn’t like that… and it did throw me out of the story as I tried to translate the archaic language of the prose.
While there were elements of Orestes being driven mad by Apollo’s voice in his head, I did think that was the strongest part of the book. I would have liked to see more in the way of showing rather than telling… especially with Orestes’ and his sister’s relationships with their cousin. I couldn’t actually figure out why Orestes and his cousin were lovers, since I knew very little about their personalities.
There were some really dark moments in this book… and I found it really hard to figure out who I was supposed to empathise with. I was really disappointed that Cassandra’s character was completely ignored and not expanded upon. I couldn’t actually care about her fate, because there was nothing more of her character added than what I already knew.
I felt that this book could have been made longer and had more emotion involved to add more to the myth. I don’t think I’ll be reading this book again… and I can’t say I’ll seek out any more by this author in the future.
Ink of Blood 