A few people, not least my publisher, were curious about why the fabled Trojan horse doesn't appear in Torn from Troy, other than a single indirect reference.  The simple answer is that this book is through Alexi's eyes, and he didn't happen to see it.  Troy's a big place, and he was elsewhere.

The standard images you see of the Trojan horse are silly.  In 2004′s movie Troy, the Trojan Horse looks like something a child slapped together with bundles of sticks.  Now, the Trojans weren't stupid.  They had successfully resisted a gigantic Greek army for ten years (okay, a lot less in the movie).  Even if the horse looked absolutely perfect, it's unlikely that the Trojans would have gone for it.  And the idea that they would take in something slapdash that looked more like an insult to the gods than a gift is really unlikely.

In the sequel, The Sea God's Curse, we will hear more about the story of the Trojan horse.  I won't say any more about it, except to remark that history, as the old saw goes, is written by the victors.  The true story of the Trojan horse, as related to Alexi by someone who was there, is very … different.

This touches on a broader issue.  Odysseus was known as the "man of a thousand twists and turns", a man who made stories up regularly for his own advantage.  And much of the original Odyssey is told "by" him.  Given that, and assuming it to be a historical document rather than just a flight of fancy, how much should we trust its accuracy?  Not much, is my guess.  Nonetheless, I have tried to follow a rule: I don't contradict what's in the Odyssey.  I add a lot, and I leave out things that aren't significant to my books, but I don't contradict.  Mostly.  There are a few spots where the Odyssey says things that aren't consistent – e.g., the six-week storm, as discussed earlier – and I've felt free to change those to make them a little more believable.