The Warrior

Orestes #3

by Laura Gill

Orestes, son of Agamemnon, now rules as king of Mycenae. Claiming his beloved Hermione as his queen, he sets out to reclaim the vassal states once held by Agamemnon. However, his ambitions stir conflict with the neighboring Argives, whose cunning and unscrupulous king, Cylarabes, is determined to discredit and defeat his Mycenaean rival at all costs.

Genres: Historical Fiction

350 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 3, 2012

Reviews

[J. Andrew Brantley · Rating 4 out of 5]

“There is a kind of excellence in me and you—born in us—and it cannot live in shame.”― Sophocles, Electra

Orestes is often an overlooked character in mythological reinterpretations. However, Laura Gill does a wonderful job bringing him and the Bronze Age Greek world to life in this novel. In this final part of the trilogy, we see Orestes come into this kingship ready to show the Bronze Age world he a force to be reckoned with. Ms. Gill's research in Bronze Age Mycenaean culture and history is extremely thorough. I could get a clear sense of the setting and the landscape. In many ways Ms. Gill reminds me of Mary Renault; both of these women have created vivid re-imaginings of Greek Antiquity. Both of their protagonists, Theseus and Orestes respectively are the sons of kings; they possess a sense of entitlement and quick wit that more than compensate for their other shortcomings. They both learn that just because someone is the son of a king, it does not make him naturally fit to rule a kingdom. The mythic themes provide the outline for Gill's novel. Within this context, the ‘historical’ aspect of this ‘historical' fiction is very realistic and true to its age and time. In both novels, there were tinges of historical misogyny, but that is indicative of the Mediterranean Bronze Age. At the age of 25, Orestes has accomplished what most men of his time only dreamt of achieving.

One of the overall things about the book that I found puzzling was the lack of plot-level conflict. For instance when the novel begins and Orestes is on his way to Sparta, ostensibly to attend the wedding of Menelaus's illegitimate son Megapenthes, in reality he hoped to marry Hermione (who had been pining over for the first two novels). He meets with Menelaus and not only does the King of Sparta agree to the marriage, he expedites the ceremony to happen in tandem with Megapenthes' wedding. (Later in the novel when Elektra tries to chastise Orestes for having children with her concubines, reminding her of what their father did, I half expected to find out that Megapenthes was actually Agamemnon's son and was sent to Sparta for safekeeping) There was no obstacle for Orestes to overcome in order to marry Hermione. Even at the wedding ceremony when, by complete happenstance, Peisistratus of Pylos (Hermione's former fiancé) and Telemachus arrive, Menelaus invites them to revel in the festivities. There is no big stand off between Peisistratus and Orestes for Hermione's hand.

If anything Orestes sulks at how handsome and charming Peisistratus is (in comparison to himself maybe?). When Telemachus laments about the situation on Ithaka since his father Odysseus has not returned home yet, Orestes has little empathy for his kinsman. He's been king for about 10 minutes, and already feels very comfortable doling out advice and criticisms to his generation of royals. Instead of Telemachus and Orestes being first cousins, they are distantly related. Maybe if they had been more closely related Orestes would have had a different approach with him?

When Telemachus comes to Sparta in a bid for the support in ousting his mother's unwanted suitors from Ithaka, Orestes chastises Telemachus for his seeming lack of courage. Mind you, it took Orestes more than a fortnight to gather a group of insurgents to take back his throne...but I digress. Later in the novel I was surprised how lackluster Telemachus and Peisistratus turned out to be (I admit to possessing a slight bias since Telemachus is one of my favorite mythological characters), with Telemachus simply acting like a pig farmer when Odysseys should be rearing him in readiness to become a future king. Peisistratus seems rather listless as a character, probably stemming from the fact that he will not inherit his father's throne. Then I remembered Pylades, who, as Orestes's second-in-command was such as asset; in reality Pylades wanted his father to mend fences, and more importantly, reinstate him as heir apparent. It made me wonder what Orestes would have been doing had Agamemnon not died. Orestes was living high off the hog because he was king (and as Mel Brooks once said, "It's good to be the king!"), how different would their father/son relationship be had Agamemnon survived.

In the second installment of the trilogy he also seemed to want use his power to settle old scores. Just the mention of Erigone (daughter of Aegisthus) makes his blood boil and wants her to be swiftly killed, but Menelaus refuses him. Menelaus has to remind him that she is a person of no consequence and should not suffer for her father's sins. This plays out in a similar fashion to another little girl at the end of the novel, which was a very nice touch. Eteokles, for being Orestes' valent and around him for most of the novel, he does not say much. I have found it endearing to have a servant's opinion be taken under consideration and valued.

As for the women in the novel, Hermione and Elektra being under the same roof was very well done; their respective temperaments seemed to balance one another. Hermione took to queenship like a fish to water, and seemed to be very beloved amongst her people. Motherhood agreed with her; Tisamenus was adorable, but at times needed better discipline. It was endearing to know that Chione, Orestes's first concubine and Hermione got along, it would have been nice to see moments like that in the novel.

What it came to the overall plot of the third novel, I am not sure what I expected. In comparison to the Greek dramatists, Book One dealt with The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides Agamemnon and the second novel dealt with The Libation Bearers and The Eumenides, I thought the third novel might tackle Iphigenia in Tauris. I have never read anyone dealing with that and it would have been interesting to see how it would have played out.

This was a great ending to the trilogy and it was nice to have a light shined on Orestes.

[Iset · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alright, so the third book in the trilogy doesn’t quite live up to the heights of the second book. Now that we’re post Orestes’ most famous and traumatic deeds, that would have been a tall order. Plus, some of the material overlaps with what I’d read before in the author’s other book, Helen’s Daughter. So I wasn’t as gripped, nor invested in the tale at this point. But it was still enjoyable, and I could actually relax a bit instead of sitting on the edge of my seat! Most of this material, the key plot points, is brand new to me, and I felt curious as to where the author could possibly go in this new, overlooked phase of the Atreides’ lives. Some of the developments are obvious – conflict on the horizon, the threat of war. What I most enjoyed was the emergence of a more confident adult Orestes having overcome the burden that weighed him down so in the second book. I liked this character, he was hard to resist, I found myself laughing along with him at times. On balance I would have to say that the second book is the best one in the trilogy, but this at least matches the first book and is worth the read.

7 out of 10