Title Ihaka Series --- Author Adèle Geras Cover Art --- Publisher HMH Books - 2006 First Printing 2005 Category Mythology Warnings None Main Characters Klymene, Ikarios, Telemachus, Melantho, Penelope, Odysseus Main Elements Gods

Many years have passed since the end of the Trojan War, and Penelope is still waiting for her husband, Odysseus, to return home. The city of Ithaka is overrun with uncouth suitors from the surrounding islands who are vying to win Penelope's hand in marriage, thereby gaining control of the land. When a naked, half-drowned man washes up on the beach, everything changes. . . .

Told through the eyes of Klymene, a young girl who is like a daughter to Penelope--and who longs for more than friendship from the young prince Telemachus--Ithaka captures the quiet strength and patience of a woman's enduring love for her husband and the ensuing chaos that threatens all as Penelope is pressured to remarry.

Starting back in January I read the original Iliad and Odyssey, and from there read many modern retellings throughout the year. A few months back I ready Troy by Geras...and while I enjoyed the unique viewpoint of using the slaves and servants to tell the tale through their eyes, I didn't find the writing to be engaging and I was mostly bored. The same thing happened here, while an interesting quirk, I didn't find myself caring all that much what happened to the characters, except maybe for Argos, Odysseus' dog that refused to die before his master returned home.

I can't entirely put my finger on what I didn't like, other than the fact that I had to trudge my way through it, whereas when I read Miller's work (Circe, Song of Achilles) I just couldn't put that book down. The writing here was kind of clunky I suppose. And while I thought I might have enjoyed it more if I viewed it as a pure historical novel, I'm not sure that would have changed much, besides, the gods physically manifest and interact with the characters so it still falls under the genre of fantasy. I do like the way the gods just pop in and out for a few seconds, speaking maybe a sentence or two only, poking the story here and there to meet their whims. It's a little weird they have to announce themselves "I'm Ares, god of war", but I guess that's for the sake of the reader, who is not expected to be Greek myth experts (I believe these books are aimed more for YA than adult readers), not the characters.

Anyway, given I spent the year reading every retelling of Greek Mythology I could get my hands on, I definitely enjoyed the unique point of view Geras gave her books, the only one that went that route, I just wish they were written in a way I could have enjoyed them more.