Lord of the Silver Bow

Troy, Book 1

By: David Gemmell

Narrated by: Thomas Judd

Length: 15 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's Summary

Three lives will change the destiny of nations. Helikaon, the young prince of Dardania, haunted by a scarred and traumatic childhood. The priestess Andromache, whose fiery spirit and fierce independence threatens the might of kings. And the legendary warrior Argurios, cloaked in loneliness and driven only by thoughts of revenge.

In Troy they find a city torn apart by destructive rivalries - a maelstrom of jealousy, deceit and murderous treachery. And beyond its fabled walls blood-hungry enemies eye its riches and plot its downfall. It is a time of bravery and betrayal; a time of bloodshed and fear. A time for heroes.

©2017 David Gemmell (P)2018 Orion Publishing Group

At Last!

what can I say? I am a gigantic fan of David gemmell. I may have read every single one of his books and he is the only author who I keep around for future rereading. when I saw that basically every one of his books was now available on Audible I knew instantly the book that I wanted to download First.

his retelling of the Iliad is amazingly written as we see various characters from myth grounded in reality yet still emerge heroic, Brave, and worthy of the reverence so many students of literature and history bestow upon them. David gemmell has a reputation for writing simple stories with simple characters. That may have been true for some of his early novels, but this Trilogy represents him at the height of his skills. his characterization of Aeneas and andromache give them both volition and motivation despite being trapped in their respective roles in Bronze Age Greece.

after listening to an audiobook version of one of the stone Berrington novels by Stuart Woods, I thought to myself that some books just weren't made to be read aloud. while they are good books, and the dialogue is fine, the style of some authors just doesn't translate well to an audiobook format. I feared this for David gemmell. I wondered if this might have been why his books had never been made available in an audiobook format up until now. his dialogue is often very on the nose and when I Tried reading it out loud to my wife it didn't sound the same as it did in my head. the narrator of this book does a splendid job of making every line maintain the tone the author intended.

I fully intend on getting the next book and the next, and then moving on to the rest of his collection. And I highly recommend that you do the same.

Effortless Perfection

A confluence of a great story and great narration producing what can only be described as sublime. Gemmel’s Troy anthology is an example of a level of storytelling every author should want to achieve.

There are 2 kinds of people...

I have to say, if you don't love David Gemmell's works, well, we could never be friends.

Excellent re-imagining of the 12th century BC

The reader is outstanding. This was a very entertaining if rather unrealistic story based on the run up to the Trojan war, 12th or 13th century BC. The author has created admirable heroes and heroines. Unfortunately, the second book in the series was nothing like this one and much more like the author's other macho fantasy stories. But this one is unique and well worth your time if you like this period in history.

A Favourite

I first read this book over ten years ago, while I was in high school. It flared in me a passion for the bronze age and the Trojan War specifically. It is this story that truly captures the enchanting romanticism of the age (or rather, of the stories of that age) above all others. This has been my fourth read-through now, which is rare thing. I can only name a few other titles I've wanted to read even twice.

I'd been waiting for an audiobook version ever since I started indulging in this medium, and I can happily say Thomas Judd has done an excellent job. Consider this fan extremely satisfied.

I enjoyed my first audible and look forward to continuing this series.

Great story with great narration. Looking forward to listening the next book in this series. I’m glad a friend introduced me to audible.

Excellence in Mythology

David Gemmell is a master. His characters are complicated yet compelling. His style jumps between various perspectives and we see events from multiple eyes. The narrator lends weight to the trademark Gemmell Wisdom.
Homer would be proud of this remembrance of his tales.

A wonderful work of art

Gemmell is amazing and I wish that this series was more popular and had a film adaptation. Being that its historical fiction, it takes many liberties with the source material but masterfully crafts the narrative to resemble what we know of Homers work. And Judds amazing narrative skill adds to the entertainment that is this series. Ive read (and listened) to many books in my time and this series is still my all time favorite. I read this series every few months beginning to end and its still fascinating. Please read it. You will not be disappointed.

Gemmell does a great Homer, enjoyed the story

the narrator's performance was good, the voices and accents were consistent. Gemmell is great

Makes those ancient days come alive

Establishes fascinating back stories of kings, queens, generals as well as ships and gods. We can now realize those folks think just like us. Counters recent trends in recasting history as involving common people. Unlike the YA fantasy I usually read, definitely an uptick in gutting and rutting.

Weak plot, predictable storyline

I am not sure who this book is aimed at. If it weren't for some sexual content, I would plug the target audience as "young teens dipping their toes in adult fiction". It isn't a grown-up book. Characters are Bronze Age, but their natures are imbued with very modern and western sensibilities and thus lose credibility. They lack depth and nuance. The plot is entirely predictable. I listened all the way to the end for the right to say "told you so". The reading is good. Clear and well modulated. I could listen to the reader again, just not reading this series.

Excellent story, narrator a bit weak

Excellent story, narrator a bit weak. I love this trilogy so will persevere, but the narrator is a bit grating. His delivery is quite flat and women's voices are not his strong point. A shame, as it really is an excellent book.

David Gemmell

David Gemmell what can I say absolutely brilliant. when David died the world lost a great story teller.

Great fantasy book familiar Greek myths fresh view

Fantastic book. Familiar backdrop of the Greek myths told a new by David Gemmell.

I loved it so much I bought the 2nd book before I finished this one so I could give stright into part 2.

Swords, battles, gods, love, blood; all the right ingredients of a classic fantasy novel spun together in a new modern voice by words-smith Gemmell.

Beautifully written but awful narration.

I read this trilogy a decade ago and have waited all that time for the audiobook. The narration is tedious with little expression, just a rhythmic reading with so many mispronunciations that it grates on the nerves. I still bought all three books as my Mother's eyesight is so bad that she can no longer read and I have wanted her to hear one of the greatest modern versions of the Trojan War for a long time. If you can put up with the narration you will get to enjoy Gemmell's best work by far.
He brings the oldest written story alive with characters you not only invest in but fall in love with. The age of heroes and of love.
It is worth investing in the written version of you haven't already, that way you will picture the Tojan world in your own way and understand the characters even more as the narrator doesn't do them justice.
I still give a good rating for the story alone.

awesome

great book and very well read with good accents, greeks aounding english is great !!!

brilliant

I thought this was a very enjoyable version of the events that might have taken place around the time of King Priam and Troy!

The story was very well told and extremely enjoyable
Thank you! David!

What an amazing book!

Great characters, particularly the heroic but vengeful "Golden One". His portrayal of love and friendship is bitter sweet; glorious yet tinged with sadness. Could not put this book down!

Secularising the myths

When confronted with a gargantuan diy task this summer, I chose the Troy trilogy as my escapist fantasy while I performed acts of redecorating heroism. I loved David Gemmell's Waylander series, his prose has a melancholic, elegiac, turn of phrase and he doesn't seem to have the extremely low opinion of human kind that George R R Martin's insists on illustrating at every possible twist and turn of his admittedly brilliant realised vision. How refreshing it was to discover an ancient world where no supernatural things happen whatsoever (save Cassandra's prescience, which is so well done you never see the culmination of that character's arc until the very end). There are no gods or monsters save the darker nature of some of the villains and the heroes. A simply stunning secularised retelling of the Illiad, the Aeneid and aspects of the Odyssey without any divine guiding hands. Brilliantly drawn characters wrestle with superstitions and human foibles as they seek to negotiate a treacherous recognizable political reality. Some very famous legendary characters, Odysseus, King Priam, Hector, Achilles and King Agememnon interweave with Gemell's literary creations and all are giving spectacular revisioning (save Agememnon who remains a trenchant villain). Helen is given a total makeover but remains the de facto cause of the war. She has a character arc and a nobility that far outweighs her miserable fat in the myth. Helekaion is a brilliant central figure who's both cruel an noble, but Gemell finds the heroic in most of his characters. Moving, stunning, brilliant. A magical secular reworking of much loved legends. The narrator has many convincing regional british accents to draw from and his northern irish accent was pure Stephen Rae. If you love greek mythology, love being transported to a fully realised ancient mediteranean world, you'll simply love the twists and turns in this expertly realised series. I didn't want it to end.

Great book, bland narrator.

I read this trilogy a couple of years ago and as I don’t have much free time anymore, decided to buy the audiobooks in order to enjoy them again.

The story is still as great as it always has been, however the narration is terrible. Having listened to other audiobooks on here and heard how well they can be performed, this trilogy has really missed out on its potential as an audiobook. For some reason they opted to have someone read it who barely makes an effort to change his voice to give him 4 or 5 different tones/accents to serve hundreds and hundreds of pages worth of dialogue and characters.

If you can stomach the tedium of that then you will enjoy a great series of books which do deserve re-reading every now and then. If you can’t, then buy the paper/kindle versions and you won’t be sorry.