Blind_Mapmaker reviewed The Wine-Dark Sea by Harry Turtledove
Review of 'The Wine-Dark Sea' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
4.25 A solid historical everyday novel of a roadtrip by sea following a pair of Hellenistic far traders and their galley crew through the Mediterranean. Menedemos and Sostratos are cousins who complement each other on the trading side, the character side and the POV side. The year is well-chosen and makes their encounters - or in some cases near brushes - with recorded history. The story is at times a little crude where Menedemos is concerned, but the balancing viewpoint of Sostratos is never far. At first it seems like an exclusively male Greek upper-class focus - hardly surprising given the separate spheres of unmarried men and women at the time - but Turtledove manages to include some female perspectives (although not as POV) and the main characters are both more reflective than most. In the end, we even a short perspective on disability. Hardly exceptional for modern sensibility, but …
4.25 A solid historical everyday novel of a roadtrip by sea following a pair of Hellenistic far traders and their galley crew through the Mediterranean. Menedemos and Sostratos are cousins who complement each other on the trading side, the character side and the POV side. The year is well-chosen and makes their encounters - or in some cases near brushes - with recorded history. The story is at times a little crude where Menedemos is concerned, but the balancing viewpoint of Sostratos is never far. At first it seems like an exclusively male Greek upper-class focus - hardly surprising given the separate spheres of unmarried men and women at the time - but Turtledove manages to include some female perspectives (although not as POV) and the main characters are both more reflective than most. In the end, we even a short perspective on disability. Hardly exceptional for modern sensibility, but nicely done for the early 2000s.
Be warned though, this is neither a thriller, nor a romance, nor a Bildungsroman (though the latter probably comes closest). There are wide stretches where nothing so much is happening. It only seems hectic by comparison if you read Turtledove's "House of Daniel" right beforehand. What really sells the novel are the small things the author uses to make a long-bygone age come to life with believable characters and quirky customs. If the next volume has a tad more in the plot department, I'd certainly go for five stars. As it is, it falls only a little short of that.