The Gryphon's Skull

I liked this book. This series is a refreshing change from a lot of historical/fantasy novels that seem to replay the same plot lines, the same heroes, the same tropes over and over again. The two main characters are extremely likeable and the setting is evocative enough for you to get a feel for the world they live in without your (my) own ignorance of the period being frustrating. That was my biggest gripe with the first book. It read so much like a history text book at times that I found myself skimming whole pages for the story parts. The author has done a much better job this time around, although he still needs to disguise his expositional dialogue a bit better. There were several times one cousin said something aloud that should have been common knowledge to the other, which meant he was really saying it for our (the reader's) benefit. The quotation marks could easily have been dropped, making it internal dialgue rather than external. But, all in all, I really like this series. We'll see about the next two books. Pete PS - As a side note to something another reviewer mentioned, the anachronistic dialogue fits fairly seamlessly. Sure, I doubt a Hellene ever said 'you've got a bargain, pal' using those words, but I'm quite sure they said the equivalent using their own. Accurately recreating period slang and informal speech would leave most people saying "huh?" Just look at Shakespeare, and that's written in English. The way HNT wrote it is a lot simpler for the casual reader. I know I don't want to have to stop and think about the meaning of every conversation. I just want to read the story.

About three centuries BC, the merchants Menedemos and Sostratos sail the Aphrodite across the Aegean Sea from Rhodes to deliver cargo in Athens. Menedemos captains the vessel while his cousin Sostratos handles more of the scholarly side of the business. Of course the two bicker over everything with Sostratos being a back seat driver and Menedemos a pseudo intellect.On this particular journey, the argumentative duo obtains the skull of a strange looking bird that Sostratos believes is a gryphon, which proves the existence of the mythical beast. Menedemos dreams of receiving plenty of loot at an auction as he figures the philosophy schools will compete to buy the gryphon skull. As the relatives argue, fuss, and fight over the bird, they must also deal with the typical hazards of the open sea ranging from pirates to warring countries to spoiled aristocratic relatives, but mostly they contend with one another.THE GRYPHON'S SKULL is a delightful ancient historical novel that brings to life Greece through the eyes of a strong cast, especially the delightful lead characters. The story line is action-packed, filled with real tidbits and persona, but also contains much amusement especially when the cousins bicker, banter, and bother one another. Fans will relish this trek and want to read the combatant cousin's first novel, OVER THE WINE DARK SEA.Harriet Klausner