Thora: A Spartan Hoplite's Slave

by Red Hope

She is the only female hoplite in Spartan history.

She is a royal guard to King Leonidas.

She is the Iron Edge.

In an age when men rule, Halcyon rises above and is the master of her own life. At home, Halcyon controls her lands and her personal slaves with a strict hand, until the day she purchases an unusual slave. Thora is a fair skinned woman who stands taller than the Greek gods, with hair the color of gold, and blue eyes that rival the skies. Halcyon must own the unusual woman, but she is hardly prepared for the thunder that follows.

Step back into the glory of Ancient Sparta when the city-state becomes a formidable military power. Learn about Sparta’s unique social system including women’s dominant roles in both the house and in public affairs, and follow one slave owner’s journey as she learns to accept her slave’s spirit.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Lesbian, LGBT

242 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2018

Reviews

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Im always skeptical of historic ff romances just because reality of it can be really harsh and i like the stories to have obatacles that can be overcome to some extent within the course of the book. This book however is not a ff romance. Yes it has some of that but its more of a story about Thora and how she goes from an usual slave to more. Not much really happens to be honest with you and the stuff that does happen is a bit spaced out. It is a historical story with a little sex (of both persuasions), a bit of love, and a war. Its well written a deserves a solid 4 stars but for me it just wasnt enough so i give it a good 3.5 stars. Its available on kU.

[Heather Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

Set in classical Greece, the plot of this novella is fairly straightforward: upper class woman who is Not Like The Other Girls is intrigued by the beauty and defiance of an exotic (in this case, Norse) slave and purchases her in order to tame her and (as we eventually find out) with the goal of some sort of interpersonal relationship. After a period of power play, assorted hurt-comfort scenes, and jealous pining, the slave runs away because...well, because, and her retrieval results in a rescue, a joyous reunion, and her being freed, concluded by a HEA with her former owner. I don’t recall there being any explicit sex scenes, though there is one attempted rape.

I was a little hesitant about this book because the blurb implied the trope of “slavery as a context for romance”, which is really tricky to do well. As it happened, I didn’t really get to the point of evaluating how well or badly the slavery aspect was handled because I simply found the story too clumsily written to enjoy.

The prose is awkward and full of info-dumps. Point of view is handled sloppily and shifts from head to head constantly, sometimes multiple times on a page. There is an excessive use of referring to people by roles and characteristics “the Spartan woman”, “the scraggly slave”, “her owner.” And there is a lot of misuse of vocabulary--choosing the wrong homophone or using the wrong grammatical form of a word--which, along with an inconsistent wavering between a formal historical style and the use of modern slang made it hard for me to immerse myself in the story.

I would like to praise the author for the depth and detail of historic research included in this book. Although I might quibble on the interpretation of certain details, and found the incorporation of the world-building both info-dumpy and opaque, the author clearly took the challenge of historical fiction seriously and did her ground work.

I received a review copy of this work.

[Igrowastreesgrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

The end? THE END?! What do you meant 'The End'? At the end I was ready for some more of the story. I was ready for some fluffy moments between the two and then some family moments later...

I'll add a real review soon lol

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this look into the Spartan home and society. Very interesting to see how the Spartan homestead is ran. I loved learning of the story of Halcyon the only female Hoplite in Spartan history and Thora the Norsk slave. I wish it were longer. I would have loved to see more between Halcyon and Thora, after Halcyon gives Thora her freedom.

[Nixxiud Sionnach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Halcyon and Thora dancing around their feelings for each other. They can see in each others eyes that there is a bond between them. They hold themselves apart due to the Master/Slave boundaries. Thora has more of a problem with this due to how she is treated and how strong her feelings are for Halcyon. This is a slow burn book.

This was a good book (written by: Cameron North)that I found before Lexa Luthor put out The Iron Edge: A F/F Omegaverse Historical Romance which happens to be a rewrite and expanded version of Thora: A Spartan Hoplite's Slave.
I read this book after reading The Iron Edge to compare them. I enjoyed The Iron Edge better. Again though, this book (Thora: A Spartan Hoplite's Slave) was written before it.

[DR · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, well, well. A worthy read with insightful information about the running of a Spartan household where the property owners are hoplites in the Spartan army. Although Halcyon, as a woman, is an example of women who owned their own property and wealth. Halcyon, as noted by Spartan's queen, took very good care of her slaves and owned them outright, not sharing them with the city-state.
Thora, "I am Norsk", is strong-willed and freedom minded and more than a handful. The book is about Halcyon's and Thora's relationship; moving from owner-slave to friendship to love. I especially enjoyed there was no sex between the main characters. A good read, well written.

[Rae Storey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really interesting story with two fascinating characters. I really enjoyed their journey together. I felt the writing could use a little more polishing and more character development in the supporting cast. But what a great historical fiction period that has never been addressed in lesfic before.

[Sue Retzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a quick read, good story - it caught my attention pretty quickly. Only thing that bothered me in it was this. One character is supposed to be Norsk. I took this to mean from Norway - yet, a lot of the phrases where Icelandic not Norge.. But - this wouldn't bother most reader who don't know Norwegian

I'd read more from the this author.

[Marsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

refreshingly unique

I have never read such a book before set in ancient Spartan. I found it uniquely interesting , with realistic world building but with a romantic edge.
Hail to the author North. I recommend this book.

[XR · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wondered whether or not freedom was an option for Thora. I didn't like Halcyon at the start, but she kinda grows on ya.

[Mndc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where is the lesbian romance in my lesbian romance? Oh well, liked it well enough.

[Bobbi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ancient Greece has always interested me, mix in some lesfic and I thought I'd be sold but the writing hit on some pet peeves of mine so I had a hard time getting through this.
First, the constant "head hopping" really ruins the flow of a story for me-- one sentence we are in the head of one of the main characters and the very next sentence we jump into some random minor characters head for no reason, then jump back or to someone else completely.
Secondly, I don't like when writers refer character only by their title or a characteristic constantly, no I haven't forgotten she is a Spartan, a slave, or whatever the last 50 times; at least it wasn't by hair color which really drives me nuts.
If you can look past these issues there is a decent story here. The author did a good job researching the subject matter so it was pretty easy to get absorbed into the setting. The rest just fell flat for me.

[A. Lo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I greatly enjoyed the historical aspect of this story and delving into the world's drama kept me wanting to know more. The pace of the story is quick, and the drama, intrigue and action and how each character reacts as the story progresses are well written, and at a few points, I even cheered them on! While this story may not have explicit sex scenes, the romance is emotional and portrayed by the character dynamic as the story progresses.

[Jessica Malveaux · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it!!!

It was so touching! I felt the emotions of every character as if the were my own! I love Thora's spirit and the commonality between and all the other personalities in the story! It's like she bridged everyone!

[Briar Roseboom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good

This was an amazing book I really enjoyed it however I expected a lot more action in a warrior aspect.