Clarke Books

Let it be known that I am happy and excited that you chose me to read your book. I do not know whether or not you wanted my exact thoughts on the material, but I think you did a great job and I look forward to reading more material of yours.

I am proud of you, and hope you continued success.

I absolutely loved the characters, as for 2 of them I can relate to their lifestyles and situations. Journey sounds like someone I would want in my life, in a mentoring role.

I am thoroughly confused. Just when I thought Rachel's life was going good, you abruptly finished
her story, is there more to come? Please say this is not the end of her character.

I fell in love with Walter, nuff said. Its so great to see this character in a positive light.

I look forward to more works from this author.

I recently read on a discussion board about authors having to fulfill "page counts" when submitting books to major publishing houses. The argument was: having a "page count" minimum often adds unnecessary fluff to a novel. I countered with: sometimes recommending more pages could mean that more depth, description, plot, etc. needs to be added to the story to improve its presentation. That's my sentiment with Different Trees from the Same Root. Reading it was comparable to running in a relay...on your mark, get set, GO! Run as fast as you can until you reach the finish line.

Different Trees from the Same Root begins with first person narratives of its main characters - Delilah "Journey", Walter, Rachel and Christina. Each tells their story and their struggles. A good beginning but somewhere between Chapters 4 and 6, you suddenly end up in the middle of their lives, without warning. For instance, Walter and Christina were contemplating dating, next they're dating, then they're married, suddenly they're having a baby, the baby is walking, and... Stop pushing the fast forward button so I can savor the story. Unfortunately that's not the case, the same happens with the other two characters. Rachel had issues with her sexuality, she struggled, she accepted, she moved on. Journey had issues with her lifestyle, she found an angel who accepted her for who she was, they lived happily ever after, tragedy struck, family was brought together after years of abandonment. Where is the element of surprise? As I turned the pages I knew almost verbatim what the next page was going to read.

Different Trees from the Same Root lacked substance; it didn't have enough "fluff" to keep the reader interested. Too predictable, not enough description, not enough history, not enough... Every story/life altering event was neatly packaged with a four-page minimum (sometimes less) from each narrator. Although the stories were good, they could have easily been told in an hour-long conversation. Not to mention a lot of misplaced metaphors, timelines, names, subplots and plots.

All is not lost. Once the storytelling skills are honed and fine tuned, Clarke has a blossoming future as a writer. While Different Trees from the Same Root is mediocre, there is a lot of potential.

Reviewed by Esther "Ess" Mays of Loose Leaves Book Review

Ms. Clarks Different Trees From The Same Root was not only a fast read filled with drama but it also caused me to get goose bumps and cry. The storyline and characters were simply magnificent. The story holds you captive as you are so into the next event that you are paralyzed to the end.

Walter Armstrong was abandon by his father after his mother died and left to be raised by his barely eighteen year old sister. Going through life and handling the responsibility of fatherhood was like second nature for him. He totally refuses to abandon his child like his father had done him. It was good watching him remain the good guy throughout.

Journey a female character brought up being abused and dealing with a drug addict mother and a father who felt it was his duty to have sex with her ran away after being confronted with the reality that her father may be her child's father. Journey a name given to her by a john that she picked up as his quest is to pull her off the mean city streets of Detroit and give her a life that is much more pleasant. I don't want to tell you too much of this womens story I think it would be putting too much out there. I will say I enjoyed this book immensely.

I most likely would have given this book a five star rating however, her character Rachel's story could have been a whole other book in its entirety. It had no relevance to the Journey and her story. But all in all this was a great read. I started this book and finished it all within a five hour span, again I would recommend anyone to read this book who is dealing with lost love ones and homosexuality.

Stacy D Campbell

DIFFERENT TREES FROM THE SAME ROOT by Cheril N. Clarke take us back into the lives of Walter, Rachel, Christina and Sheila with a new character, Deliah "Journey" Noble, added to the mix along with several other secondary characters. The aforementioned characters first appeared in Clarke's debut novel Foundations and while it is not absolutely necessary to read that novel, because Clarke does an excellent job of revisiting, Foundations is a good prelude to the awakening of the characters you will find in DIFFERENT TREES FROM THE SAME ROOT.

DIFFERENT TREES FROM THE SAME ROOT, told in first person, opens with an introduction by Journey; she is as raw as she is real. Journey, now in her early 40s, was a teenage mother who abandoned her infant daughter and both were left to fend for themselves in life. Watch as Journey makes a trek through life and find out where she ends up and how. With the return of Walter, we find his landscaping business thriving and his love life at a standstill. Add in Walter's love poems and you have a very committed and loving single father. When we left Rachel in Foundations she was on a mission to find her true self. Rachel travels to Miami from Silver Spring, Maryland, to New York City and back again only to be faced with the realization of what life holds for her. Christina, the daughter of wealthy parents, appears again and is as confused as ever as she searches for meaning in a pending relationship and a desire to rekindle a friendship. All of the characters connect in more ways than one which will definitely surprise the senses.

While some scenes are predictable, this is a very emotional, high impact and spiritual novel about fate, self-awareness, the love of self and the ability to carry on as long as you have faith in a higher being.

Reviewed by Dawn R. Reeves
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

I read the book about 23 years ago and have re-read it time and time again. What it lacks sytlistically it makes up for in sheer joy of discovery and achievement by its characters on a Mars that was a valid extrapolation from knowledge at the time (c.1950) of writing. Good SF is about real people in a world that really might be - hence the personal secrets that are discovered along-side the planetary ones as the novel progresses.

Mars officially is a cold, lifeless world, but the author Arthur Clarke has endorsed recent claims of life evidenced in space-probe photos. He might be mistaking hype for science, and geology for biology, but he might also have "The Sands of Mars" in the back of his mind too.

I purchased "The Sands of Mars" years ago after I read another novel (The Songs of Distant Earth) which I adored.
I really enjoyed reading "The Sands of Mars". It was an unusual read since Mr. Clarke had written the novel many years ago - when many assumptions at that time about the moon and planets have been proven false today. In fact, Mr. Clarke mentions that in the preface of my book - and asks the readers to see how many they can spot (like plants that grow on the Moon and Mars, to name a few). These distractions should not at all take away from the novel. It's actually a simple and straightforward story. A writer (of Science-Fiction), named Martin, decides to go to Mars - which is still in it's infancy of colonialism. The story then relates of the colony's attempts at maintaining the colony on Mars as well as their attempt at terraforming the planet. It's a good story, that many should enjoy!

Although not one of his absolute best stories, The Sands of Mars is a classic work of science fiction and one which has held up well over time. It starts out a little slow at first, but once the story gets a bit into the Mars landing part of the book it increasingly picks up steam. Once again, in the climax of the book, Clarke has a seemingly impossible thing happen and describes it in such a way as to make it believable. Maybe that is the mark of a good science fiction writer. Also, the characters in this book, unlike some other works of Arthur's where the characters tend to be flat and somewhat dull, are quite believable and likable. Certainly you should read 2001: A Space Odyssey, Rendezvous With Rama, and Childhood's End first, but if you are an Arthur C. Clarke fan then you should definately pick up The Sands of Mars.

On a sidenote, ignore the reviewer below who refers to this novel as "Part of Clarke's one novel per planetary body pulp series". This is simply a ridicilous statement. First off, ACC DOES NOT have one novel per planetary body, and he, being of the leading and perhaps pioneering practicioners of hard SF, certainly does not write pulp. Indeed, if you read this book as part of the omnibus Prelude To Mars, you will read in the preface to Prelude To Space that that novel took Arthur 20 days to conceive and write, which is a record he has never since come close to equalling. Yeah, sounds like pulp to me. Sure. Forget the negative commentary and enjoy the book.

For a science fiction book written in the late 1940s, this is an amazingly undated piece of work. Oh, sure, there are a few anachronisms ~ vacuum tubes and the possibility of vegetation on Mars are the most obvious to my non-scientific mind ~ and we are not as close to having a colony there at the end of the Twentieth Century as Clarke expected, but almost nothing else is out of place. The plot itself is impeccable; Clarke has created likeable, fun, believable, cogent characters of whom it is a pleasure to read. Martin Gibson is a Terran writer journeying to Mars to report on the successes there; his discoveries, including the major one that life on a frontier is what he wants. Mars is on the cusp of starting to make itself independant of Earth by the success of a secret project that Warren Hadfield ~ Chief Executive ~ has had scientists working on: Nothing less, in fact, than the complete reformation of the planet is contemplated. There are surprises a-plenty and mountains of pleasure in this, Clarke's first great novel. It deserves more renown than it has.

The Sands of Mars is a joy - a lightweight, easy-reading, far-sighted hard sci-fi novel that addresses the broad topics of interplanetary travel and colonization, development and terraforming of the hostile extra-terrestrial Martian environment. One could quibble, I suppose, that the science is slightly dated and there were certainly a couple of predictions that have since been proven incorrect but, for my money, the story is made all the more exciting and amazing for the degree to which it is now, fifty years later, approaching reality and the possibility of achievement!

Martin Gibson, a celebrated science fiction writer, has been invited to be the first and only passenger on the maiden voyage of Ares, the first interplanetary vessel that will be devoted to passenger travel. A simple thesis indeed for a marvelous novel - Gibson's job is to report back to earth on the trip and his perceptions of the progress that the first colonists have made in their establishment of a flourishing base on Mars. Unlike Asimov's "The Gods Themselves" which addresses the philosophical and psychological impact of living in an alien environment on Earth's moon, The Sands of Mars restricts itself almost exclusively to addressing the hard core physical and scientific issues. Not to suggest that makes it less interesting or a weaker novel - that's just the side of the sci-fi coin that turned up when Clarke flipped it, I suppose! There certainly wasn't any shortage of topics - oxygen, air pressure, weather, heat, buildings, local travel (both on the planet and to Mars' moons, Phobos and Deimos), interplanetary travel back and forth to Mars, emergency preparedness, government, effective utilization of limited manpower, biology and zoology (or at least Clarke's rather exciting vision of what is possible), communication and more!

I also appreciated the fact that, while the science was straightforward and not particularly complex, neither was it dumbed down or patronizing. For example, when Ares first left Earth's orbits to begin the long trip to Mars, it was described as follows:

" ... she would pull away out of the orbit in which she was circling and had hitherto spent all her existence, to swing into the long hyperbola that led to Mars."

I haven't been a big fan of Arthur C Clarke's other more open-ended esoteric novels such as "Against the Fall of Night" but I certainly enjoyed this one!

Paul Weiss

This is an excellent book to give as a wedding gift.

Encourage the newly married who invited God to their wedding to also invite Him into their marriage!

Kim Parker,
Richmond, Virginia

I have read many books on building a strong marriage or repairing a damaged one. Many of them are very good, others, not so much. Without question, this book, A MARRIAGE AFTER GOD'S OWN HEART by David Clarke, presents the married couple with the absolute best advice to building a marriage that reaches levels rarely found in marriages. I would even go so far as to say, if a couple follows what Clarke outlines here, adheres to it with vigilance, you absolutely cannot fail in your marriage. I know that is a very strong statement to make, but I truly believe it.

As the title clearly states, this book is about using your marital relationship to strengthen your relationship with God, and in doing so, having the kind of blissful relationship in marriage that God intended you to have. If you do not feel the need to have God in your life, or to ask for God's guidance in your marriage, then by all means, do not buy this book, but if you know your relationship will be enhanced a thousand-fold with God's guidance and inclusion in your lives, this book gives clear, concise direction in how to make it happen for you.

Clarke covers every aspect and angle of building a spiritual bond with your mate. No only does he educate readers on the importance of spiritual bonding, but gives step by step detailed instructions on things such as how to broach the subject with a reluctant mate and becoming prayer partners.

There are those who will shallowly conclude that only God-focused Christians will have a successful marriage. That may be true if you consider fifty years of living together in misery a success. What David Clarke is focusing on here transcends the short-sighted success of longevity and strives instead for a lifetime of blissful happiness between a man and woman. Is that to say there will be strife or turmoil? Certainly not. But with God guiding your way, strife and turmoil become hurdles rather than roadblocks.

Pastor Monty Rainey

This book is a wonderful guide to getting a Christian marriage on track, and getting to a passionate, fulfilling relationship. The author writes with humor and uses funny examples from his own marriage to show how he went from an average relationship to an incredible one. I highly recommend this book.

As christians we know that a marraige built around God is the key to building lasting true happiness with our spouse. This book is practical, and explanatory on how to achieve this ever so important goal. Highly recommended for all who desire to reach new peaks in marrital and personal intimacy with christ.

The basic premise of this book is that the spiritual bond between a man and wife is very important, and Clarke ends up giving some very practical tips that will help you build this bond. He also intersperses some helpful examples from his experience as a marriage counselor.

I am rating the book a three, but it could very well be a four for me. I down-graded the book because it took a long time to get to the meat. Examples are great for supporting a case, but sometimes they dilute the content when there are too many, and I felt like there was some dilution in this case. If I had rated the book after three chapters, it would have been a two, but I really thought that the advice and insight in the later parts of the book were helpful.

One of the helpful things that Clarke talks about are how to build a good prayer life together, and he addresses four different stages of spiritual vitality that a couple may be at. He does not presume that you are either an on-fire Christian or an outright spiritual rebel, and he strives to give advice for wherever you might be.

Clarke also spends chapters on sex and communication that I found helpful because he spoke from both the perspective of the wife and the husband, and addressed key issues for each. The advice most helpful to me, as a guy, was to be pro-active in developing communication with my wife. This is something that does not always come naturally to me, so I appreciated his insight.

The chapters are very short, which I think is a good thing because you can soak in smaller chunks of information at a time. I would recommend this book to Christian couples, with my advice being to skim the first few chapters and to take good notes throughout the rest of the book.

I enjoyed this book very much. The author quickly pulled me into her world and kept me there pretty much non-stop til I finished the book. My compliments on that feat!!

Joanna is a negotiator working to help bring about peace among warring factions in a star-system far from Earth. All of a sudden, she finds herself kidnapped via beam from her ship and married to a commanding (hunkalicious), irritating (drool-worthy), non-negotiating (gorgeous) neanderthal!

Alex knows he has to marry outside his world as part of the peace accords and since he hasn't been able to get the curvy (stubborn), beautiful (disobedient), and sexy (head-strong) Earth woman out of his mind, isn't it handy that she's been declared compatible by the Match Key? Well...rather than go through the whole courting rigamarole, he'll just order them married and get on with it. No problem, right???

When these two titans clash, it's truly marvelous. While at times I was irritated with both of them, I still heartily enjoyed their meandering path to happiness. Several secondary characters deserve a book of their own and I think the author means/meant? to develop this world more as I was left with lingering curiosity regarding some events in the book. But still a satisfying read and I'll look for more by this author.

I thought the book was well written, and I just loved the delima of the heroine. I did not figure out the plot till then end, and I was surprised at the ending.

I was excited to see that the sequel to Moonfire has finally been published and decided to read Moonfire again before jumping into the sequel. Once again Anne Clarke took me to an exotic future where two people from different worlds fall in love. I'm a big fan of futuristic romances and always snap them up whenever I find them. Some concentrate on world building at the expense of the romance while others are romances with a bare bones future world. Anne Clarke achieves a good balance between romance and world building and has some laugh out loud humorous scenes. I thoroughly enjoyed re-reading this book and am looking forward to reading the sequel StarJumpers Bride, which is published under the name J.A. Clarke.

I feel bad doing this, since Ms. Clarke put effort into writing a book (one would think), while I am taking the much easier route of tearing it apart. However, in the spirit of fair criticism, I have to say that in my opinion one could fill an entire term paper with what is wrong with this novel. Here are some possible entries:

(a) I know that the enjoyment of reading erotic scenes doesn't always depend on good writing. Here, however, it is most certainly hampered by crass writing. In addition to fairly formulaic and stereotypical erotic scenes, which constitute the bulk of this book, we often find stuff like: "He had a brief moment of doubt when he wondered if she would breed less easily because of her daintier size" (p.42); "While she never initiated their lovemaking, she had never refused his advances, except once on the first day of her monthly bleeding." (p.190) And more of the same.

(b) The emotions of the two main characters are agonies of pointless and exaggerated misunderstandings. He wants her, but is put off by her cold demeanor; she wants him, but won't yield just for the sake of it. When at last we think they understood each other and sigh with relief, the book goes right back to "he wants her, but...", as if nothing had happened. The reader often wishes the characters would have a long talk about it and move on to more interesting emotions.

(c) Although the author makes it painfully clear that the "adventure" part of the plot is as crucial to the book as the dialogue to a porn movie, I was hoping that the "mystery" would be resolved, at least. The whole thing is squeezed in the last 50 pages or so (out of 300) of the book, in which we hear about a strange city, a strange being, and a strange prophecy. At the end of the book, we sort of solve the prophecy, and find nothing about the city, the being, or why the prophecy was important in the history of that planet, for that matter.

I am sorry, but I wouldn't recommend this book, unless you really have nothing else to read on a train ride.

I love paranormal/futuristic romances but I am very picky and rarely find new authors that I like but Anne Clark has just been added to my list! I won't write a storyline for this book as others have done so but I thought the book was well done. I will be looking for more books in the future from this author!

As an ordinary white boy, with roots in a small town, I loved the writing and the observations in this book.
This is not a book for one who wants to read of a far-flung adventure. It is introspective and interesting...

Bonnie puts all the Advance Reader Copies out on a table in her independent bookstore. They're there for us to take if we want; she could never read them all. I browsed these books recently, reading titles, author's names, and wondering about the artwork. This one has the guy snoozing on the red couch. The Ordinary White Boy? Sounded interesting, looked interesting. So, I took it.

Turns out it was interesting. I love Lamar, the self proclaimed ordinary white boy. What's great about him is that he is coming to terms with who he is and the choices he's made in his life. I felt like I should read with a highlighter pen and mark up the passages of self discovery so I could pass it on to friends and say, check out this passage. But I might as well photocopy the book to yellow paper. It's full of discovery and I want my friends to read every page.

It occurs to me that "discovery" is a heavy word. This novel is everything but heavy. Short chapters, snappy dialogue, and insightful monologue made this book fun to read. The fact that I walked away, much as Lamar does, with a little more clarity about ordinary white boys is just bonus.

Just wondering why the author chose Little Falls as his place to demean in his book?

Clarke has written a fine first novel. If you enjoy Walker Percy's The Moviegoer or Richard Ford's The Sportswriter, check out Ordinary White Boy.

Brilliant. A well written debut from an author who is so completely comfortable with his prose that the main character dances in your thoughts long after you've put down the novel. Be prepared, this is by no means a quick read... it is instead, a wealth a detailed wit and controversy which will open your eyes and furrow your brow in the same chapter. To the reader enjoy this book... put up your feet... curl up with your blanket... energize your book club... and to the author... well done.

This book adequately retells the story of the Trojan war, and gives solid if traditional portrayals of the characters. It provides absolutely no historical setting and description, which was somewhat disappointing.
One major problem is Paris. I have never read or seen a Paris that I liked. I am beginning to believe that it is impossible to potray his and Helen's love story in any sympathetic manner. Paris is usually just annoying. Helen is stupid for going off with him. Someone should write a retelling where Helen got abducted, just to shake things up a bit.
The portrayal of Achilles as really a loving person who the world forced to become a killing machine was certainly unusual, but not well-developed enough. If Clarke had devoted a novel to Achilles instead of a few chapters, it might have worked better.
I liked seeing Aeneas as a major player, not an afterthought.
It seemed like Clarke couldn't make a decision about how to handle the gods in his story. Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera do appear to Paris. But Thetis, mother of Achilles, is actually a priestess and the daughter of Chiron the centaur?? Is Aeneas the son of Aphrodite or not? The unclear reality of the gods is aesthetically pleasing, but mostly it did just seem like the author was confused.
I might recomend this as an introduction to the myth surrounding the Trojan War--it provides great geneology and background. But mostly, it is just one man's uninteresting retelling.

I hate to call this a modern-English, novel-style retelling of a classic poem: such a description implies inferiority and hack writing, as if its merely written expressly for those too unintelligent to read the actual poem. "The War at Troy" is far more than this. Rather than an "Iliad for Dummies", this book is a fantastic work of literature in its own right. Excellent writing and a strong sense of narration makes what is, in its original form, an oftentimes convoluted plot with a enormous cast of characters and locations, into a very flowing and beautifully clear tale. Clarke retains the original feel of the story and writes in such a way that it feels simultaneously timeless, yet compelling for modern readers.

A highly recommended book, it will make a proud addition to anyone's collection.

Lindsay Clarke transforms Homer's epic and immortal Iliad and related stories into an easier to consume and pleasurable to read literary form in his most recent work, War at Troy. Within this transformation he removes aspects of the Iliad that did not deal specifically with the events leading up to, occurring during, or as a result of the epic conflict. This process has produced a trim, clear, satisfyingly paced, and dramatic version of the personalities and events of the most epic of conflicts. None of this pacing and literary inflection come at the expense of detail, Clarke is meticulous refreshingly intent on delivering not just an entertaining but an accurate version. He succeeds.

Within the pages of War at Troy Lindsay Clarke further distills the conflict into a form focusing almost entirely on the human drama. Save for their role as instigators and agitators most of the whims and more importantly the occasional direct action of the deities of the Grecian pantheon, which featured prominently in the Iliad, are removed in favor of focusing on the events of Greeks and Trojans themselves. This ever-so-slight shift of focus delivers a story that is less fairy tale and more history.

Most modern readers are unaware that the Trojan War is covered in numerous poems aside from the Iliad many of them difficult to locate and read. Lindsay Clarke has done the work for you; he has correlated this information into one concise, entertaining, and reasonably accurate depiction of the events. His writing is at times insidiously evocative and rises to the occasion of the difficult task of living up to expectations of the one of the greatest epic poems of all time.
.

Of the four books I've read that summarize the entire Trojan War saga, Lindsay Clarke's "The War at Troy" is the best written and the most detailed. As another reviewer points out, the prose can be a bit clunky at times. But Clarke has gone to great pains to present the key stories of this saga in a manner that is true to their original sources. And at times, he really rises to the occasion. His account of the sacrifice of Iphigeneia at Aulis is gripping and horrifying. And his account of King Priam's secret meeting with Achilles to claim Hector's body almost moved me to tears. It's an amazing scene that is only topped by Homer, himself. Call me a wuss, but this is what literature is all about.

If you are curious, but anxious, about reading the Iliad, the Odyssey, or the Aeneid, then try reading this book first. It provides the proper context for the epic poems, and it will familiarize you with all of the key characters and events. Then, by all means, read Homer and Virgil. Nothing has topped them in the last 3000 years. They are challenging, but well worth the effort.

I have two small complaints. The first is that that Clarke didn't provide much depth to the stories that come to us from Quintus of Smyrna (see "The War at Troy" ISBN 0760700974). But even then, he touches on most of the key events, and he provides enough detail that the story remains coherent. Secondly, the book ends during the destruction of Troy. Consequently, he omits a number of important events that immediately follow. But I see he has just published a sequel called, "The Return From Troy." I'm sure he covers these events there.

Two other titles that cover much of the same ground (and some different ground) are "The Trojan War" by Olivia Coolidge, and "A Tale of Troy" by Roger Greene. They aren't as detailed as Clarke, but they still include excellent summaries of the key Trojan War tales.

Lindsay Clarke takes on a daring assingment with "The War at Troy." By taking on Greek myths that have been the cornerstone of "Western Civ" since, well, the creation of "Western Civ," you had best be prepared for some intense criticism.

From an academic perspective, Clarke has done a magnificent job of placing the Trojan War, most widely known to modern audiences through Homer's "Iliad," in a logical context. One of the problems of "The Iliad" is that it begins in the tenth year of the war, and there's not a lot of time spent on back story. Clarke's story of the Trojan War kicks off during the formative years of the conflict, and we get to see a lot of the world that Paris and Helen brought to the brink of destruction with passionate affair.

In marked contrast to the recent summer blockbuster, "Troy," Clarke still finds room for the Gods in "The War at Troy." Paris is forced to choose "the fairest" between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, and his choice of Aphrodite casts his doom. On a personal note, I was hoping that Clarke would get deeper into how Athena, supposedly the Goddess of Wisdom, was able to be out-debated by the sexpot Aphrodite. The Goddess of Love makes one heck of a sales pitch, but shouldn't Athena have been able to anticipate Aphrodite's tactics and trump them somehow? Obviously not, or we'd have no story . . . but I digress.

With the Gods taking generally a back seat in this story (Zeus barely factors in at all), Clarke spends a lot of time putting the Trojan War into the "real world." We learn a lot about how the Argive spent the first nine years of the war (it wasn't all spent on the Plains of Troy), the political scheming of Odysseus that bound so many Argives to Menelaus's cause, and the young life of Achilles. These are all strong points, and Clarke's deviations from established myths seem appropriate (for example, the Centaurs who raise Achilles are not half-men, half-horse, but instead barbarians who spend a lot of time with horses, consequently gaining an equine odor).

Clarke's novel only really stumbles when he gets to the final year of the war. Despite all the storytelling that has gone before, we still don't know that much about Hector, the most noble of the Trojans. Instead, we know a great deal about the craven Paris, but I was hoping to have a better picture of the Trojan hero rather than the Trojan coward. Similarly, while we spent a lot of time with Achilles as a child, we really don't know that much about him as an adult and his Myrmidons. Clarke "tells" us that Achilles is a mighty warrior, but doesn't really give us all that much meat to digest on that front prior to the war.

While Clarke drops some delicious hints of future events (Odysseus on several occasions pines for his home and wife in Ithaca, having no idea of his travails to come, Cassandra occasionally pops up with unheeded prophecies, etc.), but the novel occasionally grinds under some awkward prose. For example, Hector offers up this tooth-grinding line, "He (meaning Paris) freely concedes that his actions is the cause of this great quarrel, and has no wish to see many good men die needlessly on his account." Yeesh. And I wish I could say that this was the only passage that abused the ear, but unfortunately there are more.

Clarke is no Bernard Cornwell, much less Cormac McCarthy, when it comes to describing the battlefield. He does so in a workmanlike way, but there are few passages in "The War at Troy" that set the heart to pounding. Indeed, his romantic scenes are better, but still do not reach any fantastic heights. This wouldn't be a huge problem (he's good, not great), but again, he's writing about one of the fundamental stories in Western literature, and the bar is set pretty high.

The only emotion Clarke nails is anguish. This is important in a story of war, loss and betrayal. But it would have helped if Clarke's range extended to other emotions as well.

All in all, "The War at Troy" is a good read if you're looking to flesh out your understanding of "The Iliad" and the Greek myths that surround it. Clarke's scholarship is much better than his prose, and while "The War at Troy" rarely sings, it does
does tell a darn good story.

A worthy read for fans of Greek myth, to be sure.

I enjoyed the premise of this story, namely an woman Army translator saves a Polish refugee at the end of WWII and promises to help 'him' get out of Europe so he is not repatrioted back to Communist Poland. The reader quickly finds out that the Polish refugee is in fact a women disguised as a man so she won't end up being raped and killed like the rest of her family. The two are soon seperated and the rest of the book follows them as they travel throughout Europe, trying to be reunited. VERY interesting premise but poorly executed.

I did not like that both the women in this story were screwing around with other women to relieve their sexual appetites despite telling their lovers that they were in love with someone else. I didn't buy that these two woman instantly fell in love with the other, especially since neither of them seemed to think sexual fidelity was an important to their relationship. I can't stand reading about lesbians getting together for casual sex and the sharing of their girlfriends. I don't like reading about small circles of lesbians who have been girlfriends with each other and don't seem to mind the incestous nature of it. I didn't find this book entertaining or life affirming. I won't give the end away, but I was left unsatisfied.

To conclude, I would NOT recommend this book. ONE STAR (Amazon wouldn't let me change the stars)

Though I can't improve on Lori Lake's review, I can assure all lovers or romance that this is the real deal. It is filled with authentic touches that place the lovers' attempts to find one another in a believable--and dangerously unstable--historical world, but from the very start serendipity plays a central role in bringing these women together, sealing their bond, and setting them on one another's trail once they are flung apart by circumstance. I thought the ending was wholly in line with the enchanted journey part of the story (tender Pascale and tough Witold both pass into a kind of dream world the moment they meet--and stay there, no matter how ordinary the tasks they must accomplish while searching for one another). This story has little violence, but much danger, and (contrary to assertions by the reviewer upset that it was not a story about contemporary lesbian role-models for a self-affirming monogamous lifestyle) little sex, but much sensuality. None of the sex seemed gratuitous or alienated. I thought it added much sweetness to this deeply romantic grownup fairytale.

Bronia Rukowicz aka Witold Rukowicz is THE best butch heroine to come out of lesbian fiction since Leslie Feinberg's Jess, in "Stone Butch Blues".

I was as much in love with Witold as Pascalle Tailland, long before the book finished.

Witold is tough and tender, determined and filled with courage.

Her feelings of love and protection for the women she encounters, her willingness to do anything for them, no matter how dangerous to her personal safety, was truly noble, beautiful,and moving.

Set in WWII, the novel deals with Bronia, a Polish refugee, who,in order to survive, finds it necessary to disguise herself as a man.

She meets beautiful WAC Pascale Tailland. Their time together is brief, but they make a connection, that touches their souls.

Separated, the book's story concerns itself with their adventures, and how they never cease searching for one another, how no love is ever greater than their love for one another.

The ending is a slight surprise, and definitely very satisfying.

Authors of lesbian fiction--take note--Witold Rukowicz is the goal you should be aiming for in creating the kind of character that will enthrall your reader.

Pleasant enough read, obviously a first novel from an author with considerable talent and potential.

The story has some really good writing throughout, and creates the mood of war torn Europe very well. The details were convincing and seemed authentic.

The ending really bothered me though. Without giving it away, I have to say that it was a complete surprise, and not one that left me feeling satisfied.

I just didn't feel that the characters would accept that solution especially without any foreshadowing earlier in the story that this would be the way things would end. It reminded me of stories that end with "suddenly Pascale and Witold woke up and realised the whole thing had all been a crazy dream". I felt cheated.

I enjoyed the book up to that point, and thought the characters and the story deserved better. I would like to see more from this author.

World War II is a few months from ending. The Germans have been repelled, and it's only a matter of time before the Allies prevail. Troops are on the move, as are many soldiers and staff who provide administrative support for the war effort. Pascale Tailland, an American translator, has been stationed in Germany, but now her unit is reassigned. The novel opens with Pascale and her fellow WACs on the train awaiting departure. She catches sight of a blond-haired youth whom she correctly assesses is a refugee. He is "gaunt, hardened, and bleak" but despite his desperate appearance, something is familiar. At the last minute, she pulls him aboard the departing train. And with one touch, Pascale is aware that this slender youth is not a man.

The Polish Bronia "Bron" Rukowicz is passing herself off as Witold Rukowicz. She's escaped one forced labor camp and with cunning and verve is doing all she can to stay away from the horrors of the war. She has no desire to go back to the deprivations in Poland. After all she has been through, she is closed off emotionally. In conversation over the next few hours, Pascale gradually draws out the aloof refugee. When Witold tells Pascale that life is basically "cruelty, wars, and massacres," Pascale insists that life itself gives meaning. Witold is quick to counter: "The only meaning I see is the law of the wolf, kill or be killed" (p. 22). She has stopped believing in goodness or altruism. This, the way of the wolf, has been the refugee's defense against the horrors she has encountered.

For the rest of the short time they travel together, Pascale puts herself on the line in order to prevent Witold from being discovered and either captured or sent off to a refugee camp. By the time the two part, Pascale has made a crack in carefully constructed defenses, and Witold has fallen head-over-heels for the American. Pascale is also smitten.

What follows is the fascinating, engrossing tale of these two women trying to find one another again in the chaos of the war-torn countries of Europe. Bron continues her masquerade as Witold, and her situation is much more dangerous and unpredictable. Both women have to find trustworthy helpers in order to track one another. Pascale's search and Bronia's arduous journey make for a gripping tale. I couldn't put this book down and read far into the night until I reached the surprising conclusion.

Clarke's prose is fluid and literary, and she knows her history, not to mention more than a smattering of several languages. The details about Bronia's persistent attempts to survive are particularly rich. For instance, at one point, while locked up in the hospital ward of a camp, she is considering all possibilities for escape, and she realizes "every place could be escaped from if you looked hard and thought like a mouse." Bron's resourcefulness-and resilience-is truly a miracle.

The Wolf Ticket is one terrific story. I highly recommend it and wish Clarke would publish another novel with great speed.