Book three of Wein's Arthurian/Aksumite series takes up the story of the next generation, with Medraut's twelve-year-old son Telemakos as protagonist. Unlike the first two books in the series, it is told from the third-person point of view, and unfortunately, I think that made it less interesting. The protagonist was less complex than in the other two books and the plot less original in structure, though in substance it was quite interesting: the very young Telemakos becomes a spy to figure out who is breaking quarantine during a plague in order to profit from the situation. Even though the main villain is a bit obvious, he is also genuinely scary, both in his venal motivation and his very creepy actions and speech patterns- he constantly refers to Telemakos as "it."

 

Ultimately this book felt geared for a younger audience than the first two books. The interpersonal relationships were more obvious- Telemakos yearns for his voluntarily mute, trapped-in-the-past father to live in the present and speak to him, paralleling his namesake's desire for his father's return. The climax once again spells out too much explicitly. On the other hand, Goewin and Medraut's relationship continues complex, and the new character Sofya is sharp-edged, sometimes sympathetic, sometimes a jerk, and all in all a worthy addition to the cast.

 

Telemakos's reactions to his tribulations are realistic, his gift for hiding something he practices and works at, and his final confrontation with the villain spellbinding. I would recommend this to readers 10-14, but it's not something I would have picked up if it were not for the rest of the series. It's very satisfying to see how Goewin grows while remaining the same character, and she plays a major and thoroughly enjoyable role. It also wraps up some outstanding issues about Medraut. The book stands alone, but makes reference to the events of others; Medraut and Goewin's conflict refers back to what Medraut did in The Winter Prince and what Goewin considered doing in A Coalition of Lions.

 

This is where I would recommend a younger reader (someone Telemakos's age) to start, but while it's the author's favorite of the series, I think that while it's very good at what it does, what it does is less interesting than what the previous books do.

Wein's writing as always is lovely. In this particular case, that talent is used to lovingly describe the protagonist's wounds, down to every last bleeding scratch and emotional trauma. Almost as many pages are devoted to those wounds--and to the way the protagonist's family coo, cluck, and weep over them--as to the plot.

In short, this is hurt/comfort through and through. And while there is nothing wrong with h/c as a genre, it is profoundly not my genre of choice.

I did quite like the beginning of the book, before the h/c became quite so pronounced, and I have a particular fondness for Sofya. But I don't think I'll be continuing the series.

Only by reminding myself of when this was written was it possible to both continue reading and finish the book. It's a story about an archaeologist and his discovery of an ancient Carthaginian city in Botswana. The relationship between him and his wealthy backer who has been a friend since he was quite young and his assistant, a woman he loves. That's the first part of the story, the second is about a parallel set of people who were in this doomed city, the City of the Moon. They're close enough to be reincarnations. It's not a terrible story but some of the assumptions and treatments of women and non-whites is fairly appaling. Both are objectified and the various African Tribes are treated with a dreadful paternalistic dismissal that just made me grind my teeth. The parallels are interesting, but the idea that only White folk can bring civilization to Africa rankles and made me seriously annoyed with the book and story, even if his sexist attitude to every woman there didn't make me happy.

I absolutely loved this book -- I hardly know what to say about it at this point, except that it's amazing! I think everybody should read it....BUT I will add one caveat. I agree with [a:Karen Healey|2945301|Karen Healey|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1262678790p2/2945301.jpg] --Parts of this book are really hard to read, and haunt you for ages after you've finished reading. Here's what Ms. Healey says:The character torture is sickening and it made me feel physically ill.So if you are not a wimp like me and you can handle really very awful things happening to child protagonists, then I encourage you to read it.That said, it's an incredibly powerful story, beautifully told, with amazing characters. I loved it.

I think the most important thing to say about these books is that they’re not The Winter Prince. They certainly build off of that story, and I would most definitely read it first. But The Winter Prince is one of those books that I don’t think you could write a real sequel to. Nonetheles, A Coalition of Lions and The Sunbird are both fascinating and well-written. Telemakos is a wonderful character who’s reminding me more and more of Megan Whalen Turner’s Gen. I’ve got the next one ordered and I can’t wait till it gets here!
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The main focus switches from Goewin to Telemakos in this book. And I love Telemakos. I love this book too, in a way I think I didn’t the first time I read it. The political tensions, the relationship between the plague and salt, the characters. There are so many echoes back to the first book, which made me think about the characters in such a new way. Probably my favorite of these is when Telemakos tells Medraut that the salt looks like snow–the brief description there had such a vivid ties to the description of the snow in The Winter Prince, and it provides a glimpse into Medraut’s mind that we’re lacking at that point in the story. [Jan. 2011]