Troy Trilogy

It makes me quite happy whenever I see classical literature being re-appropriated into 'popular' culture - movies, music, graphic novels. (Some Classics snobs might consider this a bad thing. Ignore them.) It's especially gratifying for me when I see my own personal faves make their way into the mainstream. Consider the Troy Trilogy, a series of three (duh) books by the author David Gemmell. I picked up the first in the series, Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow a couple of weeks ago to while away some idle summer hours. I was hooked. The trilogy is a sort of alternate-history take of what preceded the Trojan war, and follows some of the major characters involved from a completely different angle than the usual. The central character of the first book is a fellow named Helikaon, a prince of Dardania. (By the way, Helikaon is what his mother calls him. His father Achates insists on calling him by the thoroughly unmelodious name Aeneas.) Known around the Mediterranean as 'the Golden One', Helikaon/Aeneas has made his reputation as a sort of bigger-than-life adventurer, ridding the seas of pirates (who are secretly supported by the war-mongering king of the Mykene, Agamemnon). It goes on from there, but it's an entertaining and engaging read. Check it out!