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The Minotaur Trilogy #1
Cry Silver Bells
A delectable fantasia of the mythical past. It is the story of the last of the fabled Minotaurs, a tale of the shadowy world of Minoan Crete, of the pre-humans who found refuge there, and of wanderers who came among them....
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 20, 1977
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About the author
Thomas Burnett Swann
60 books56 followersThomas Burnett Swann was best known as the author of numerous fantasies published in the 1960s and ’70s. Many of his bucolic tales were set in the Ancient World and populated by mythic creatures. His best-known works include the novel DAY OF THE MINOTAUR and the shorter works “Where Is the Bird of Fire?” and “The Manor of Roses,” all nominated for Hugo Awards. Swann was also a poet, professor, and literary critic.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 16, 2022
Another blast from the past. Lovely and sad in its own late seventies way. Three and a half stars.
September 16, 2022
Today I’ve been thinking about Thomas Burnett Swann and why I don’t really love his books anymore. When I was in my late teens and early twenties I loved these books a lot. I collected all of them and I still have them. But I’m in a purging process and these books don’t spark joy so they will be going to the used book store.
I think the reasons why are best summed up with this book because it contains his only female character who has any personality or agency. I’m speaking of Zoe, the dryad. She is (ahem) mature, struggles with aging and her weight, has had many lovers(all male but it was the seventies). She is sex positive, clever and funny and is the one who rescues Silver Bells. I kind of love her still. The problem is all of Swann’s other females are boring as fuck. Even Zoe’s bright light is dimmed substantially in the next two books and she becomes an afterthought. I’ve been trying to finish The Lady of the Bees but I can’t. I think it’s because Mellonia is such a bland character. Everything just happens to her and in the end she is murdered by Romulus because she won’t fuck him because she’s in love with his twin Remus. At least that is my distant memory of that book. Swann has a tendency to murder or suicide his female characters so his male characters can grow (I think the term is refrigerating) Fuck that. At least at the end of The Day of the Minotaur Zoe is still alive and all of the forest folk are leaving Crete for somewhere safe. All of the Swann books will no longer be in my house soon. I think I’m ok with that now.
September 16, 2022
Today I’ve been thinking about Thomas Burnett Swann and why I don’t really love his books anymore. When I was in my late teens and early twenties I loved these books a lot. I collected all of them and I still have them. But I’m in a purging process and these books don’t spark joy so they will be going to the used book store.
I think the reasons why are best summed up with this book because it contains his only female character who has any personality or agency. I’m speaking of Zoe, the dryad. She is (ahem) mature, struggles with aging and her weight, has had many lovers(all male but it was the seventies). She is sex positive, clever and funny and is the one who rescues Silver Bells. I kind of love her still. The problem is all of Swann’s other females are boring as fuck. Even Zoe’s bright light is dimmed substantially in the next two books and she becomes an afterthought. I’ve been trying to finish The Lady of the Bees but I can’t. I think it’s because Mellonia is such a bland character. Everything just happens to her and in the end she is murdered by Romulus because she won’t fuck him because she’s in love with his twin Remus. At least that is my distant memory of that book. Swann has a tendency to murder or suicide his female characters so his male characters can grow (I think the term is refrigerating) Fuck that. At least at the end of The Day of the Minotaur Zoe is still alive and all of the forest folk are leaving Crete for somewhere safe. All of the Swann books will no longer be in my house soon. I think I’m ok with that now.
June 21, 2015
Set in a Minoan Age Crete populated by both humans and figures from ancient legend, Cry Silver Bells follows the fortunes of two cousins, caught between the kingdom of men and that of the Beasts.
I had somehow expected something similar in tone to E.R.R. Eddison's The Worm Ourorboros or Zimamvian Trilogy: High Fantasy with lots of classical references, but Swann's work is more earth-bound, despite the fantasy subject matter. It put me more in mind of Charles Finney's The Magician Out of Manchuria, though as I read that some 30 years ago, I'm not sure how close the comparison might actually be.
The plot is fairly slight and I did not find the characters of the cousins, at the first, to be particularly endearing, though Swann managed to win me over by the end. In fact, while the whole book is readable, it is probably the last 20 pages that are the best.
I will certainly read the other books in the Minotaur Trilogy: I've had them on my shelves for some years but only recently found this, the first volume. As the first in the trilogy was the last written, it will be interesting to see how the styles contrast.
I had somehow expected something similar in tone to E.R.R. Eddison's The Worm Ourorboros or Zimamvian Trilogy: High Fantasy with lots of classical references, but Swann's work is more earth-bound, despite the fantasy subject matter. It put me more in mind of Charles Finney's The Magician Out of Manchuria, though as I read that some 30 years ago, I'm not sure how close the comparison might actually be.
The plot is fairly slight and I did not find the characters of the cousins, at the first, to be particularly endearing, though Swann managed to win me over by the end. In fact, while the whole book is readable, it is probably the last 20 pages that are the best.
I will certainly read the other books in the Minotaur Trilogy: I've had them on my shelves for some years but only recently found this, the first volume. As the first in the trilogy was the last written, it will be interesting to see how the styles contrast.
August 29, 2021
Fantasy novel set in a fantasy version of Ancient Crete. If you like things like Richard Purtill's Kapthu series you are going to absolutely adore this.
We follow two young and stunningly beautiful cousins Hora (a courtesan) and Lordon (a pimp and thief). After their parents are murdered by a Sphinx they've had to make their own way in the world, plying their trades in Ancient Egypt until they are exiled for a misdemeanour. Hora sleeps with a prince who refuses to play her and Lordon takes offense and slaps him.... Their ship gets attacked by Harpies and a sphinx and they wash up in Pseira but are again exiled for their respective trades. They are sent into the Beast forest where no humans ever return because it is a place of wild creatures...
Here they meet the creatures of the wood. Lordon (now Oryx) falls in love with 300 year old Dryad healer Zoe and gives up his thieving ways and Hora (now Marguerite) falls in love with minotaur Silver Bells. They are exiled when a human hating centaur finds Oryx stealing a kiss from Zoe. When it seems they are to be captured by mercenary Tritons Silver Bells attempts a rescue and all three are captured and sold to take place in the Cretan games - Where Silver Bells is set to fight a Sphinx in the arena.
Quick thinking Zoe, spurred by her unrequited love for Silver Bells gathers a band of motley hybrids to infiltrate the human realm and rescue their friends.
Classics fans are going to love this - its a fully realised Ancient world but peopled with mythological hybrids. Unlike things like Piers Anthony's Xanth however there's no comedy and these creatures are not stereotypes - Our minotaur for example has antlers, the Sphinx is part Shark and this amalgamates her with the lamia - so she becomes a vengeful monstrous woman who can change shape. We also have some slight variations which are new to me altogether: panisci - children satyrs who will remain goat-footed children forever and Bears of Artemis - mini children bear hybrids.
So while this echoes classical myth is some respects, it becomes something delightfully fresh and new. We have a minotaur with no connotations to the Theseus myth cycle indeed he's hybridised more with the traditional Herne the hunter and an evil Sphinx who asks no riddles, has no connection to Oedipus and feels lie a cross between Clytemnestra and Hecate.
The other thing I can applaud this for is the completely unexpected ending. It left me going well that came out of nowhere! Oh my! The ending changes the entire tone of the book which I thought was pretty neat.
Fans of Fantasy utilising Greek mythology will definitely want this in their collection.
We follow two young and stunningly beautiful cousins Hora (a courtesan) and Lordon (a pimp and thief). After their parents are murdered by a Sphinx they've had to make their own way in the world, plying their trades in Ancient Egypt until they are exiled for a misdemeanour. Hora sleeps with a prince who refuses to play her and Lordon takes offense and slaps him.... Their ship gets attacked by Harpies and a sphinx and they wash up in Pseira but are again exiled for their respective trades. They are sent into the Beast forest where no humans ever return because it is a place of wild creatures...
Here they meet the creatures of the wood. Lordon (now Oryx) falls in love with 300 year old Dryad healer Zoe and gives up his thieving ways and Hora (now Marguerite) falls in love with minotaur Silver Bells. They are exiled when a human hating centaur finds Oryx stealing a kiss from Zoe. When it seems they are to be captured by mercenary Tritons Silver Bells attempts a rescue and all three are captured and sold to take place in the Cretan games - Where Silver Bells is set to fight a Sphinx in the arena.
Quick thinking Zoe, spurred by her unrequited love for Silver Bells gathers a band of motley hybrids to infiltrate the human realm and rescue their friends.
Classics fans are going to love this - its a fully realised Ancient world but peopled with mythological hybrids. Unlike things like Piers Anthony's Xanth however there's no comedy and these creatures are not stereotypes - Our minotaur for example has antlers, the Sphinx is part Shark and this amalgamates her with the lamia - so she becomes a vengeful monstrous woman who can change shape. We also have some slight variations which are new to me altogether: panisci - children satyrs who will remain goat-footed children forever and Bears of Artemis - mini children bear hybrids.
So while this echoes classical myth is some respects, it becomes something delightfully fresh and new. We have a minotaur with no connotations to the Theseus myth cycle indeed he's hybridised more with the traditional Herne the hunter and an evil Sphinx who asks no riddles, has no connection to Oedipus and feels lie a cross between Clytemnestra and Hecate.
The other thing I can applaud this for is the completely unexpected ending. It left me going well that came out of nowhere! Oh my! The ending changes the entire tone of the book which I thought was pretty neat.
Fans of Fantasy utilising Greek mythology will definitely want this in their collection.
September 5, 2025
Did not age well in all aspects, but fundamentally a good hearted fantasy romp with likeable characters and a nice story.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews