by Tom Holt
|
by Tom Holt
|
by Tom Holt
|
by Tom Holt
|
by Tom Holt
|
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Product Description
Review
The first Olympic Games were held in 776BC, allegedly. Forty years later at the court of King Palamedes of Elis, a Phoenician merchant on a trading mission sits down to dinner and hears the story of how the games came about. Two old men, brothers, Cleander and Cratus, tell the story and explain their part in the creation of the games. Whilst games were usually held at a funeral, in order to honour the dead, King Leon is persuaded to hold 'games with nobody dead' so that his underachieving son might shine at something. Cleaner and Cratus set out to recruit key players from all over Greece and encounter many adventures along the way. It is, of course, historical fiction, so the reader doesn't know much more about the Olympic Games at the end of the book than they did at the beginning, but it is a highly entertaining read all the same. Anyone well versed in ancient history and mythology will enjoy the many allusions on which much of the humour of the book is based. Holt uses the theme of fraternal rivalry to construct contrasting points of view of the same event, and so questions the validity of 'history'. (Kirkus UK)
ROSS LECKIE
'Wry and droll, fascinating and funny, by bringing us Alexander's nether parts this novel gives momentous matters unforgettable life'
See all Product Description
The first Olympic Games were held in 776BC, allegedly. Forty years later at the court of King Palamedes of Elis, a Phoenician merchant on a trading mission sits down to dinner and hears the story of how the games came about. Two old men, brothers, Cleander and Cratus, tell the story and explain their part in the creation of the games. Whilst games were usually held at a funeral, in order to honour the dead, King Leon is persuaded to hold 'games with nobody dead' so that his underachieving son might shine at something. Cleaner and Cratus set out to recruit key players from all over Greece and encounter many adventures along the way. It is, of course, historical fiction, so the reader doesn't know much more about the Olympic Games at the end of the book than they did at the beginning, but it is a highly entertaining read all the same. Anyone well versed in ancient history and mythology will enjoy the many allusions on which much of the humour of the book is based. Holt uses the theme of fraternal rivalry to construct contrasting points of view of the same event, and so questions the validity of 'history'. (Kirkus UK)
ROSS LECKIE
'Wry and droll, fascinating and funny, by bringing us Alexander's nether parts this novel gives momentous matters unforgettable life'
See all Product Description
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