Review: Hand of Fire by Judith Starkston

Title: Hand of Fire
Author: Judith Starkston
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Fireship Press
Publish Date: September 10, 2014 (Tomorrow!)
Source: I received a copy from the author; however, this did not affect my review.

What's the Story?:

Blurb: "The Trojan War threatens Troy’s allies and the Greek supply raids spread. A young healing priestess, designated as future queen, must defend her city against both divine anger and invading Greeks. She finds strength in visions of a handsome warrior god. Will that be enough when the half-immortal Achilles attacks? Hand of Fire, a tale of resilience and hope, blends history and legend in the untold story of Achilles’s famous captive, Briseis."

My Two Cents:

"Hand of Fire" is the new historical fiction novel of Briseis and the Trojan war. Briseis was the famous captive of warrior Achilles but in this book, she has her own story too! Briseis is a young priestess who learns her art of healing from her mother. She also lives during a very tumultuous time and is able to use her skills in order to get through her life. I haven't had an opportunity to read a lot of historical fiction set in ancient times but every time I come across a book like "Hand of Fire," I feel like I need to read a lot more set during this time (it is just so darn exciting). With an incredible story and a lot of great historical detail, this book will appeal to a wide range of historical fiction readers.

The characters in the book are well drawn, especially Briseis. Our heroine it is definitely an interesting character that I really enjoyed following through the story. I like that she is really able to live on her own terms when it seems that other people might like to have more control over her life. One of the most exciting parts of this book for me is the appearance of Achilles as a character. You may be familiar with the methods Achilles and the way that the author is able to weave both his myth as well as some historical detail from the Trojan war together is really something worth reading. I loved reading about Achilles and Briseis together.

This book has a lot going for it! The characters pull you in and there is a ton of action! As I already mentioned, the historical detail in this book is really wonderful. For me, authors notes are often helpful to read but may not be exactly exciting. With this book; however, I really enjoyed the authors note and loved getting sort of a background as to how the author was able to take all of these different facts and myths and weave them into a compulsively readable story. I know that I will anxiously be awaiting this author's next release.