Blind Eye

High Priestess Iliona #1

by Marilyn Todd

A new series set in Ancient Greece - 466 BC - Blackmailed into spying for Spartas hated secret police, High Priestess Ilionas investigations keep turning up the same stories of a one-eyed giant that lives in the hills above the legendary Cyclops. But soon Iliona comes to realize that the threat to her country doesnt come from the so-called Cyclops, or even their arch-enemy, Athens; it comes from deep within Sparta itself . . .

Genres: Historical Mystery, Mystery, Historical Fiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2007

About the author

MARILYN TODD lives with her husband on a French hilltop, surrounded by vineyards, châteaux and vines. As well as sixteen critically acclaimed historical thrillers, she's a prolific writer of short stories, most of which are crime, but range from commercial women's fiction to comic fantasy and all points in between. When she isn't killing people, Marilyn enjoys cooking. Which is pretty much the same thing.

Reviews

[Clemens Schoonderwoert · Rating 4 out of 5]

**Should Read as 4.5 Stars!**

Read this book in 2010, and its the 1st volume of the "High Priestess Iliona Greek Mystery" series, from the author, Marilyn Todd.

The year is 466 BC, and High Priestess Iliona is blackmailed in to spying for Lysander of Sparta's hated secret police, and its not against the arch-enemy Athens, but one of their own from Sparta, and she must do it when visiting Sicily as a group.

In this group visiting Sicily hides a traitor, and Iliona must find out who that is, and though there are several persons as options, she has a lot of work to do in finding this traitor.

This same traitor is doing everything he/she can to frame Iliona, and the more Iliona investigates the more danger it will be for her personally.

What is to follow is a very exciting Greek mystery, in which High Priestess Iliona, our main protagonist, will have to do some serious digging before being able, after a superbly worked out plot, to reveal the traitor to Sparta, and so proving herself by doing this dirty job for powerful Lysander of Sparta in a very entertaining manner.

Highly recommended, for this is an astonishing begin to this wonderful Greek series, and that's why I like to call this first outing: "An Excellent Priestess Iliona Mystery Begin"!

[Phair · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this one. The setting/period was interesting but I found the story hard to follow. The pov & time kept changing and it was hard for me to keep the characters straight. The central character did not stand out for me. Not sure I will revisit this series.

[Brittany Wouters · Rating 3 out of 5]

Following on from Todd's rollicking Claudia Seferius series, this offering strikes a bland note.

The premise is great -blackmailed into posing as a foreign priestess lest the Secret Police start taking a broader interest in her sheltering and adopting of unwanted Spartan children- but it diminishes with each longwinded chapter.

Lysander is creepy (lord if this trilogy ends with a romance so help me god-) and Iliona doesn't have the most distinct voice. This may be doing her a massive disservice, comparing her to Claudia Seferius, who bubbles and froths with a rich inner voice throughout her series. One does not have to be a vibrant personality to have strong convictions -see Persuasion by Jane Austen- and Iliona is not committing small amounts of treason out here, saving runaway soldiers and netting up (literally) unwanted babies. As a priestess who is semi-removed from regular society, her actions and thoughts do come across a bit naive and entitled at times, and I hope the following two books establish more of a personality for her. Jocasta was amazing -complex, prickly, yearning for a homeland she'll never see- and I could see a hint of Todd's excellent repartee in her.

The mystery was a bit ehhh, even though I enjoyed Todd's classic denouement scenes. I felt like there were too many players and not enough showing- the writing style, which I feel was unavoidable due to having to explain the complex politics of Greece at the time, comes across as very tell, not show. What a shame; it could have felt more organic and less like a history lesson.

It ends with Iliona being recruited via blackmail again, and I wonder where Todd will take this series. Hopefully this isn't a romance; it's giving off Maria V. Snyder vibes.

[Susan Jo Grassi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love history and with ancient Greek history comes myths and monsters. This novel is full of both, with one monster being misinterpreted while another is unsuspected. Blood flows while traitors hide in the shadows and slither through the rocks and the shines of the ancient gods. I look forward to reading the next in this series.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed parts of this, but overall I kept feeling I was missing something, as if literal paragraphs of explanation were excised from the text. Ilionia would just decide something out of the blue. Maybe it was just me.

[Marra · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[Eleanor Kuhns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although there were a number of annoying things (the repetition of certain descriptions for one), I found the story captivating and the main character engaging.

[Jennifer (JC-S) · Rating 2 out of 5]

‘The young stallion tottered to his feet and stretched the long night from his legs.’

Sparta 466 BCE: Lysander, the commander of the Spartan secret police known as the Krypteia, coerces Iliona, high priestess of the river deity Eurotas into gathering intelligence for him. Sent to Sicily to investigate, Iliona keeps coming across a story of a one-eyed giant living in the hills above Sicily and preying on inhabitants. Iliona quickly comes to realise that the threat to Sparta does not come from the so-called Cyclops, or from Sparta’s arch-enemy Athens. The traitor is part of the team sent to Sicily with her: but who is it, and why?

I like fiction set in and around Sparta, and I picked up this novel for that reason. I have mixed feelings about the novel: it was a quick page-turning read but not completely satisfying. I am interested enough to read the next novel in the series: I want to see how the character of Iliona develops.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Annoyingly modern slang used in dialogue, though I'm finding it easier to ignore as the book progresses. I understand that it's difficult to put a casual conversation in ancient Greek into dialogue without it sounding funny.

**

Eh. It felt convoluted and spacey. The story wasn't that complicated, so the confusion was a deliberate attempt by the author to make things feel more involved. I don't have any interest in pursuing the series.

[Charles Stephen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted a satisfying story about Greeks that was set in ancient times. One like Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles. I'll keep looking. [Found it: Mary Renault's The Last of the Wine (1956)]

This review is not an endorsement of amazon.com or any business owned by Jeff Bezos. Books for my reviews were checked out from a public library, purchased from a local brick-and-mortar book shop, or ordered from my favorite website for rare and out-of-print books.

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new series by the author of Claudia Seferius books. While I'm always ready to read more about Claudia, Sparta's Iliona is another terrific female character negotiating pitfalls of politics, religion, and human failings. Also proves that Sparta is far more interesting than one famous battle.

[Arlene Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay she isn't Claudia, and it isn't as funny, but I did enjoy it and will definitely read the next one...

[! · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75