Amazonia: A Novel

Book Description

From James Rollins, national bestselling author of Subterranean, Excavation, and Deep Fathom, comes a breathtaking masterwork of extraordinary adventure -- a gripping journey into a wilderness of astonishing mysteries as deadly as they are unfathomable.

AMAZONIAOut of the world's most inhospitable rainforest, a man stumbles into a small missionary village. Within hours, the CIA operative and former special forces soldier -- tongueless, scarred, his eyes wide with terror -- is dead. But the most disturbing aspect of Agent Gerald Clark's death has his superiors in Washington baffled. Agent Clark had only one arm when he first came to the Amazon -- the result of a well-placed sniper's bullet -- but the photograph of him submitted by a Brazilian morgue shows a corpse with two upper limbs fully intact.

Nathan Rand has made the Amazon region his home since his father led a scientific mission into the lush green wilderness and never returned -- the same doomed expedition that took Gerald Clark into the jungle. Now the government wants Nate to follow the elder Rand's trail, accompanied by a team of scientists and a phalanx of experienced U.S. Rangers. For somewhere in the dark, impenetrable depths of the most dangerous region on Earth there are mysteries that must be solved, no matter what the cost in money, materials... or lives.

There are undreamed-of perils here in this breathtaking world where devouring insects rule, diseases unknown to modern science flourish, and rivers teem with hungry, flesh-eating predators. As Nate Rand and his party push deeper into the jungle, toward places no human has ever entered, they are haunted by an ugly truth that cannot be dismissed and, perhaps, will not be survived: They are not alone... and they are being stalked.

But the threat of mortal hunters pales before the nightmare that awaits fourteen unsuspecting men and women, as each step brings them closer to an ancient, unspoken terror that even the native peoples fear. And as madness, terror, and horrific death descend upon the second cursed Rand expedition, those still living are forced to confront a power beyond human imagining -- one that can forever alter the world beyond the dark, lethal confines of the Amazon rainforest for better... and for worse.

Download Description

When a CIA operative stumbles out of the lush jungle to his death, the government turns to Nathan Rand, an Amazon native since his father's disappearance, to solve the mystery of a world where devouring insects rule and foreign diseases flourish. But Nathans only sure of one thing: his team is being stalked...and madness, terror and horrific death aren't far behind. The Rand scientific expedition entered the lush wilderness of the Amazon and never returned. Years later, one of its members has stumbled out of the world's most inhospitable rainforest - a former Special Forces soldier, scarred, mutilated, terrified, and mere hours from death, who went in with one arm missing...and came out with both intact. Unable to comprehend this inexplicable event, the government sends Nathan Rand into this impenetrable secret world of undreamed-of perils, to follow the trail of his vanished father...toward mysteries that must be solved at any cost. But the nightmare that is awaiting Nate and his team of scientists and seasoned U.S. Rangers dwarfs any danger they anticipated; an ancient, unspoken terror -- a power beyond human imagining - that can forever alter the world beyond the dark, lethal confines of . . .

Customer Reviews:

Suspend all intelligence and rationality to enjoy.......2007-10-05

The plot is totally unbelievable and this contributed to making the book very annoying to me. It sounded like a group of third graders sat around and tried to think of what would be really cool in the jungle, like prehistoric mutant beasts, marines, and crazy wierd tribesman. The drama is built by a series of impossible and irrational events causing the reader not to care. The characters are one-dimensional stereotypes lacking personality, good guys are completely perfect and bad guys completely evil. The marines are tough egotistical emotionless drones whom can't defend themselves. The hero is stupidly, irrationaly, blindingly, "brave" and he is always the one that has to jump in and save the other helpless members at any cost. The writing is dull, especially for so much action, and predictable since many of the main characters can't die with 300 pages left. The climax comes too early and is fed by another train of unbelievable facts. What else can I say that I did not like? Oh yea the romance is contrived and the dialogue is laughable. In the unending near death situations Nate constantly has some corny Terminatoresque line just before he should be killed.

Rollins plot is tied together by mud bridges wrapped in duct tape, that is, it falls apart constantly so he just makes big leaps to get from one point to the next.

The book is slightly entertaining, hence the two stars.

****Possible Spoilers (if this book could be spoiled):
The especially annoying tidbits that made me roll my eyes and say "not again":

-Dr. Kowe has a Santa Claus bag of jungle cures and magic plant matter
-Pirhanna-Frog (need I say more) would take over the world since a simple bite kills a full-size man in minutes and they are only nocturnal even though they live in dark swampy Amazon water, dumb
-killer locusts by the million are attracted by some burning sludge, dumb
-Nate or Kowe are basically the only ones who can see or do anything right or important, Nate particularly notices every single threat first, unreal
-The civilians are immune to any damage until the end but trained marines fall like flies
-the mysterious, non-human, freakish, super-warrior Ban-ali are taken over basically without a fight
-just to wrap up the story the exhausted prisoners somehow catch up to the bad guys who have a two hour head start in the same night and crush them no problem (same guys who could not defend against them)
-a cat cuts through two legs in one swipe like her claws are Samurai swords but then to kill the whole pack just poison some meat
-Blue Whale sized Caimans living in a lake that bullets can't penetrate, including their soft underbelly, dumb
-Blue Whale sized Caimans can leap straight up 20 plus feet, really dumb
-Dr. Carl Rand is alive, fed by a tree root for half a year, really really dumb

Excellent!.......2007-09-18

I'm going to give you the review of this book in a nutshell, plagarized from a comment I read elsewhere about another author:

"James Rollins is not a polished writer, but he is a very good storyteller."

I've just read Amazonia for the 2nd time, and the book retains a lot of it's excitement. Yes, the characters aren't too deep, and the obligatory bad guys are comic-bookish, but that's OK, this isn't drama.

What is of importance to me as a reader is that Rollins is a heck of a storyteller and has a heck of an imagination. The premise of a man returning from the jungle under mysterious circumstances is as good as I've ever read. Rollins then takes you along on an adventure into the Amazon to solve the mystery, where you're just completely beset by the most mysterious and terrifying of happenings. You literally don't know if you're gonna survive the trip as you go deeper in the jungle and deeper into the mystery. The trip into the jungle is as long as it's terrifying and as terrifying as it's satisfying. He's managed to fit a lot into the book and you'll definitely get your money's worth.

I think of this genre and Rollin's initial outputs (not his latest books) as direct descendants of early works by writers like Sir H. Rider Haggard, only more evolved. I think HRH might be pleased, or miffed, I don't know.

Amazonia.......2007-09-17

I read so many books that sometimes its hard to find a book that keeps me interested. But this book really did it! Its exciting and kept me reading till it was done.. Good read

It could have been better..........2007-09-08

I loved the plot - it kept you on the edge of your seat. As with his other books, though, it did have too many gory deaths. I understand that some gory deaths help contribute to the story, but a good number of these ones were just unnecessary.

Good but the same old plot.......2007-07-30

I would like to give this a 3.5 because I read Subterranean and Excavation before this and the plot remains the same, same as the previous two. I think among the 3 Excavation was the best because of the visuals in it. Amazonia is a little less fast-paced than the previous 2 novels. Also the visuals are not as good as the previous two.
The same old bizzare creatures, lost civilization, killing-unused-characters, and so on. The good thing abt the book is the bit of technology it has in the end. You can more or less guess the ending if you have read the other two books. I haven't read deep fathom and ice hunt, but i am reading sandstorm and it appears different, i have my fingers crossed.

Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart: A Novel (Walker, Alice)

Average customer rating:

Reponse to Mamala
top three??
Very hard to get through
Way too new agey and pompous!
Open Your Mind to "Open Your Heart"

Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart: A Novel (Walker, Alice)
Alice Walker
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1400061733
Release Date: 2004-04-20

Book Description

The Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Color Purple, Possessing the Secret of Joy, and The Temple of My Familiar now gives us a beautiful new novel that is at once a deeply moving personal story and a powerful spiritual journey.

In Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart, Alice Walker has created a work that ranks among her ?nest achievements: the story of a woman’s spiritual adventure that becomes a passage through time, a quest for self, and a collision with love.

Kate has always been a wanderer. A well-published author, married many times, she has lived a life rich with explorations of the natural world and the human soul. Now, at fifty-seven, she leaves her lover, Yolo, to embark on a new excursion, one that begins on the Colorado River, proceeds through the past, and flows, inexorably, into the future. As Yolo begins his own parallel voyage, Kate encounters celibates and lovers, shamans and snakes, memories of family disaster and marital discord, and emerges at a place where nothing remains but love.

Told with the accessible style and deep feeling that are its author’s hallmarks, Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart is Alice Walker’s most surprising achievement.

Customer Reviews:

Reponse to Mamala.......2006-08-25

Honestly, I haven't read this particular Walker work, though I just ordered it. But I had to laugh -- and respond -- to Mamala's statement that Walker "insists on seeing everything through the lens of a person of color" and that while beautiful in The Color Purple (in which the primary antagonists and oppressors are black men, themselves, of course, deeply damaged by racism) it's somehow less warm and fuzzy in this work. How dare Alice Walker insist on writing through the eyes of a black person! How dare John Updike insist on writing always through the eyes of a suburban white American well-to-do man! (Even when trying, and failing miserably, to write about a teenaged Muslim). Mamala, your words are self-evident. Stick to Ann Coulter

top three??.......2006-01-17

Despite enjoying previous works by this author, I actually stayed awake last night contemplating whether this novel was in my top three worst novels of all time. Why? It is meandering, cliched, downright offensive in terms of stereotypes and the main characters Kate and Yolo generally bear no resemblance to real people. To compound the problem, the other characters who play supporting roles are hollow shells used merely to make didactic points about oppression and abuse. Being black is depicted in terms of such simplistic stereotypes as "being more tolerant than anyone else", being native American is "being in touch with the land" and being white has nothing positive to say for it at all.
For example, the author seems unaware that if Kate actually lived in Africa as I do, her sexuality would be enough to get her thrown into jail by virtually every African government of the day and would result in her being an outcast by local communities. That's the level of tolerance here in the Motherland.
My point ultimately is that this novel is ahistorical, ill-informed and in terms of simple entertainment value - particularly tedious if you have any interest in wit, irony, insightfulness or relevance. Don't waste your money.

Very hard to get through .......2005-09-13

I'm a fan of Alice Walker (read the Color Purple too many times to count) but this book was very hard to get through. If you are not familiar with the language that she uses it will take you a long time to get trough. I usually read a book in about three days, this one took me all on August.

Way too new agey and pompous!.......2005-08-09

I love Alice Walker's philosophies, but I really found myself loathing the protagonist of this book. Kate was very self-satisfied and arrogant, I thought. I definitely preferred her lover's story/journey to Kate's. The new age aspect to it was a turnoff and though I do embrace some 'new age' practices, I just thought it was too much. Also, the book meandered too much, going from character to character without cohesion. All in all, I found myself forced to get through this since I just couldn't stand Kate. I would not suggest this book to others.

Open Your Mind to "Open Your Heart".......2005-06-09

I frequently found myself remembering how I felt years back reading Walker's "Temple of My Familiar" -- a compelling plotline that encourages the reader to learn about new places and peoples while questioning his/her own beliefs. That being said, "Open Your Heart" may be more treasured by readers who have already opened up to broad spiritual concepts (ex. the feminine divine) as opposed to traditional formalized & Western religion. For those readers, I would also highly recommend "Dance of the Dissident Daughter" by Sue Monk Kidd. As for me, I got "Open Your Heart" from the library & plan to buy my own copy to re-read again & again as I predict I will get more from it each time. I don't see Walker attempting to promote any "philosophy" except a willingness to accept those who find God outside of church or temple walls.

Wonder Woman: The Journey Begins (Wonder Woman)

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Wonder Woman for young readers

Wonder Woman: The Journey Begins (Wonder Woman)
Nina Jaffe
Manufacturer: HarperFestival
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060565217
Release Date: 2004-03-16

Book Description

As Wonder Woman leaves Paradise Island to spread the Amazons' message of peace and justice, trouble erupts the world over. She suspects that Ares, the god of war, is to blame for this dark shadow of hatred.

Now the Amazon Princess must use all the tools at her command -- her Golden Lasso of Truth, her silver bracelets, and, most important of all, her great wisdom and quick mind. But is she powerful enough to defeat the menace of Ares and restore peace to Mortals' World?

Customer Reviews:

Wonder Woman for young readers.......2004-06-03

This book is very cute. It is a light, easy-to-read story with a few B&W illustrations throughout. The story is fairly simple and has only a few words that may require explaining to little ones. There is no violence in the plot even though Wonder Woman carries a sword and shield. A must-have for Wonder Woman fans or anyone with hero-loving children!

Wonder Woman: The Rain Forest (Festival Reader)

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Wonder Woman: The Rain Forest (Festival Reader)
Nina Jaffe
Manufacturer: HarperFestival
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060565209
Release Date: 2004-08-03

Book Description

When danger threatens the rain forest, only one person is strong enough, fast enough, and smart enough to protect it and the people who live there. Armed with her magic Lasso of Truth and silver bracelets, will Wonder Woman arrive in time to save the day?

Wonder Woman: The Contest (Festival Reader)

Average customer rating:

Great for young girls!

Wonder Woman: The Contest (Festival Reader)
Nina Jaffe
Manufacturer: HarperFestival
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060565187
Release Date: 2004-03-16

Book Description

The Amazons must choose a champion.

Who is the smartest?
Who is the strongest?
Who is the fastest?
Who will be Wonder Woman?

Customer Reviews:

Great for young girls!.......2004-09-04

This book was perfect for my young girls. Wonder Woman is a terrific role model (she doesn't look like a Barbie doll in this book) and my girls LOVE the story. It is simple and just the right speed for this reading level. The pictures are well done and engaging. We love reading this book and my girls ask for it every night!

Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart: A Novel

Average customer rating:

Disappointing
Instructions

Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart: A Novel
Alice Walker
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0812971396
Release Date: 2005-03-29

Book Description

Customer Reviews:

Disappointing.......2006-08-14

I've enjoyed other books Ms. Walker has written but I didn't care for this one much. Lovers Kate and Yolo go separately on spiritual journeys. I found her meandering style in this novel difficult to follow. I liked reading her unique perspective of the world even if I didn't agree with her opinions. I also Googled somethings that she mentioned that I found interesting. Because it's short I stuck with it to the end but can't recommend it. Read her early work instead.

Instructions.......2006-06-11

Now Is The Time To Open Your Heart works on several levels. Its a great book to take on vacation. It would be a great treasure on a cruise or retreat. It is quite digestible in a weekend, although I would encourage a somewhat slower reading so that the juiciness of Walker's prose and perspectives can seep through various levels of consciousness.

Obviously, Now Is The Time considers the personal and emotional journeys of Kate, a somewhat famous writer and her lover Yolo, a working artist. When their relationship reaches the usual inevitable point of where do we go next, both lovers, separately embark on planned and unplanned journeys of self-discovery. The two people who return from a trip to Hawaii and a vision questing experience in a tropical rainforest have interesting souvenirs. While Kate travels the farthest in terms of distance, like Yolo, what she really discovers is what she shares with others.

Notably, Kate and Yolo, are members of the civil rights generation and have survived the sexual revolution and womens' liberation and all of the other significant social and political signifiers of the past fifty years. Walker uses these and other characters to suggest that after the revolution, after the foolishness and foibles of youth, the real work of self-mastery is the one true human vocation.

I found the dual storyline a bit distracting. Still it is one of Walker's stronger and more compelling works. Its well worth reading, sharing with a friend or two and discussing at length.

Wonder Woman: The Ultimate Guide to the Amazon Princess

Average customer rating:

"beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena..."
Wonderful
I wish I could give it a 10!
AWESOME WONDER WOMAN BOOK!
Entertaining Resource for WW Fans

Wonder Woman: The Ultimate Guide to the Amazon Princess
Scott Beatty , Alastair Dougall , Scott Beatty , and Roger Stewart
Manufacturer: DK CHILDREN
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 078949616X

Book Description

Culled from the archives of DC Comics, Wonder Woman: The Ultimate Guide to the Amazon Princess details the amazing exploits, incredible adversaries, and magical weapons of the greatest comic book heroine. Packed with original comic book images and a timeline charting Wonder Woman's entire career, this comprehensive illustrated treatment will delight fans of all ages-and win over many new ones.

Customer Reviews:

"beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena...".......2007-03-27

"Wonder Woman: The Ultimate Guide to the Amazon Princess" was an interesting and informative "dossier" of Wonder Woman in the comics. This book helped me realized that I am a fan of Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman, rather than how she is depicted in the comics. Perhap, I just need to re-familiarize myself with the Wonder Woman comics. That is...if I can sort out all these timelines. If Marvel has numerous timelines, I'm sure that DC is no different.

I did learn a few things about Wonder Woman. For example, I knew about her invisible jet but I did not know about her other invisible modes of transportation. Her array of weapons were fascinating as well. Of course, I was shocked to learn that Queen Hippolyta was once Wonder Woman. However, I was disappointed that Nubia, Diana's twin sister was not mentioned (other than a listing in the back). There were just so many things that I learned about Wonder Woman, despite the fact that I claimed her to be one of my favorite superheroines.

However, there were a few tidbits that I found confusing. For example, Diana Trevor crashing and dying on Paradise Island. It is said that Princess Diana was named after Trevor. But wait a minute! Wasn't she already named Diana?!? The whole Diana Trevor was something new and confusing because most of us know about Steve Trevor crashing on Paradise Island. Again, was this from a different timeline?

Overall, I found the book to be interesting even though some info can be confusing. I did find some of Wonder Woman's villians to be comical. An example...Egg Fu?

Of course, there were some info that I wished were included in the book. The TV show, Wonder Woman, starring Lynda Carter. There was no mention of the TV show impacting the comics. Was the transformation (spinning) a result of the tv show? Or was that before? There were no mention of the cartoons. I guess the comics were the sole focus of this book. Also, I wished that the book had included Marvel's version of Wonder Woman. I wished that the book had included the fusion of Wonder Woman and Storm, Amazon.

The best feature of this entire book was seeing the evolution of Wonder Woman. Her uniform has changed. Her powers have increased. Her status has elevated. She is indeed Wonder Woman!

Wonderful.......2007-01-12

This is a very nice book - any Wonder Woman enthusiast would love to own it. I liked it so much, I bought one for a teen-ager for a birthday present. Neat history of the Amazon Princess.

I wish I could give it a 10!.......2005-11-28

As a huge WW fan, this is the best present I ever recieved!

GREAT book!

AWESOME WONDER WOMAN BOOK!.......2005-10-21

WOW!!! This book is amazing. Gorgeous pictures, in depth details about WW and her enemies, allies, and her life. You must own this book if you are a WW fan. I was very impressed! So much is in the book that I never knew.

Entertaining Resource for WW Fans.......2005-07-24

(Note: Same Edition, published by DK has different cover art)

Beatty and DC have written & compiled a lighthearted, but devoted encyclopedia chronicling the rich history of the latest incarnation of the Amazonian Princess. I am an older fan of the nostalgic Golden and Silver Age versions (which are respectfully included and acknowledged here), so it was more of a detached learning experience than a loving trip down memory lane for me. However, the art work and accompanying prose will delight all of Wonder Woman's readers/admirers.

Too bad there was nary a mention of Lynda Carter's indelible image of the TV version, who somehow managed to permanently influence the way artists and fans perceive the essence of both Diana Prince AND Wonder Woman. There is one sentence that mentions the lyrics from the TV theme song, but that is it.

Wonder Woman: Amazon Princess (Wonder Woman)

Average customer rating:

Wonder Woman: Amazon Princess (Wonder Woman)
Nina Jaffe
Manufacturer: HarperFestival
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060565225
Release Date: 2004-03-16

Book Description

Diana, princess of the Amazons, has been given many special gifts by the gods. Now the threat of evil is spreading over Mortals' World, and the Amazons must send an ambassador to teach the ways of peace. A great contest will be held to choose this champion. Eager to prove herself, Diana enters the competition in disguise. But is she the fastest, the strongest, and the bravest? And will her mother, the queen, permit Diana to go to Mortals' World to fulfill her true destiny -- as Wonder Woman?

Average customer rating:

Amazing Read
A Fine Pressfield Novel
Clash of Culture, Not Character
Lost in a Dark Age!!!
A must-read

Last of the Amazons: A Novel
Steven Pressfield
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 038550098X
Release Date: 2002-05-14

Amazon.com

With an epic scope and keen sense of detail, Steven Pressfield has created an entertaining and vital reimagining of the Amazon legend with his historical novel, Last of the Amazons. Combining myth with history, Pressfield offers a conjectural account of the legendary female warrior tribe as it may have existed in the years leading up to its extinction. Following the Athenian-Amazon war in the fifth century B.C., Amazon warrior Selene is taken captive and placed as an unlikely governess to the two daughters of a high-ranking Greek. The three form a lasting bond, and when Selene eventually escapes to return to Amazonia, eldest daughter Europa follows her. The Athenians, including King Theseus, assemble a group to find them, eventually traveling to Amazonia. Here, those involved relate the story of the Amazon war to the men, and the book's action really begins. Narrators tell of Theseus's earlier voyage to Amazonia, where his weakened crew was given shelter by the Amazons; the love affair between Theseus and Amazon queen Antiope; and the terrible consequences of the queen's defection and the Amazonian invasion of Athens that it inspired.

Throughout, Pressfield instills Amazons with a grandiose sensibility, firmly modeling it after the Homeric epics of its time. Pressfield relishes in describing these events and their heroes with a divinely consequential spirit:

Antiope advanced…Clearly no few of the foe took her for a goddess, with such splendor did her armor gleam and by such brilliance did her aspect exceed the common measure of humanity. The hour was still early, the west-facing slope deep in shadow, so that the Amazon, seen from the besiegers' lines, advanced from gloom into flares of blinding dazzle.

Some clumsy dialogue and clichéd interactions hamper the book's emotional resonance, but the level of intricacy and constant action on display here keep the pages moving along. Amazon is ultimately an impressive, fun read that renders history spectacular in its speculation. --Ross Doll

Book Description

The author of the international bestsellers Gates of Fire and Tides of War delivers his most gripping and imaginative novel of the ancient world–a stunning epic of love and war that breathes life into the grand myth of the ferocious female warrior culture of the Amazons.

Steven Pressfield has gained a passionate worldwide following for his magnificent novels of ancient Greece, Gates of Fire and Tides of War. In Last of the Amazons, Pressfield has surpassed himself, re-creating a vanished world in a brilliant novel that will delight his loyal readers and bring legions more to his singular and powerful restoration of the past.

In the time before Homer, the legendary Theseus, King of Athens (an actual historical figure), set sail on a journey that brought him into the land of tal Kyrte, the “free people,” a nation of proud female warriors whom the Greeks called “Amazons.” The Amazons, bound to each other as lovers as well as fighters, distrusted the Greeks, with their boastful talk of “civilization.” So when the great war queen Antiope fell in love with Theseus and fled with the Greeks, the mighty Amazon nation rose up in rage.

Last of the Amazons is not merely a masterful tale of war and revenge. Pressfield has created a cast of extraordinarily vivid characters, from the unforgettable Selene, whose surrender to the Greeks does nothing to tame her; to her lover, Damon, an Athenian warrior who grows to cherish the wild Amazon ways; to the narrator, Bones, a young girl from a noble family who was nursed by Selene from birth and secretly taught the Amazon way; to the great Theseus, the tragic king; and to Antiope, the noble queen who betrayed tal Kyrte for the love of Theseus.

With astounding immediacy and extraordinary attention to military detail, Pressfield transports readers into the heat and terror of war. Equally impressive is his creation of the Amazon nation, its people, its rituals and myths, its greatness and savagery. Last of the Amazons is thrilling on every page, an epic tale of the clash between wildness and civilization, patriotism and love, man and woman.

Download Description

The author of the international bestsellers Gates of Fire and Tides of War delivers his most gripping and imaginative novel of the ancient world—a stunning epic of love and war that breathes life into the grand myth of the ferocious female warrior culture of the Amazons.

Steven Pressfield has gained a passionate worldwide following for his magnificent novels of ancient Greece, Gates of Fire and Tides of War. In Last of the Amazons, Pressfield has surpassed himself, re-creating a vanished world in a brilliant novel that will delight his loyal readers and bring legions more to his singular and powerful restoration of the past.

In the time before Homer, the legendary Theseus, King of Athens (an actual historical figure), set sail on a journey that brought him into the land of tal Kyrte, the "free people," a nation of proud female warriors whom the Greeks called "Amazons." The Amazons, bound to each other as lovers as well as fighters, distrusted the Greeks, with their boastful talk of "civilization." So when the great war queen Antiope fell in love with Theseus and fled with the Greeks, the mighty Amazon nation rose up in rage.

Last of the Amazons is not merely a masterful tale of war and revenge. Pressfield has created a cast of extraordinarily vivid characters, from the unforgettable Selene, whose surrender to the Greeks does nothing to tame her; to her lover, Damon, an Athenian warrior who grows to cherish the wild Amazon ways; to the narrator, Bones, a young girl from a noble family who was nursed by Selene from birth and secretly taught the Amazon way; to the great Theseus, the tragic king; and to Antiope, the noble queen who betrayed tal Kyrte for the love of Theseus.

With astounding immediacy and extraordinary attention to military detail, Pressfield transports readers into the heat and terror of war. Equally impressive is his creation of the Amazon nation, its people, its rituals and myths, its greatness and savagery. Last of the Amazons is thrilling on every page, an epic tale of the clash between wildness and civilization, patriotism and love, man and woman.

"Brutal, bloody, and thoroughly gripping—Pressfield has an amazing grasp of the savage mind, and the precarious nature of civilization."
    DIANA GABALDON

"Writing historical fiction that transports you to another time and place is no easy feat, but in Last of the Amazons, Steven Pressfield does just that. He makes the distant past seem real and immediate. This is historical fiction elevated to the status of myth."
    DANIEL SILVA, AUTHOR OF THE ENGLISH ASSASSIN

Customer Reviews:

Amazing Read.......2007-04-30

I really wasn't sure what to expect with this book. I know a little bit about the whole Amazon mythology but I didn't know where their lands were supposed to have been, I just knew they were on some island you see occaisonally in a movie. After reading this book you could believe that they had been a real people. I recommend this book to anyone in general but I think history buffs will really enjoy this. A must read!

A Fine Pressfield Novel.......2006-08-24

I confess that I was highly skeptical of Pressfield's ability to write from the point of view of a young woman, but "the Last of the Amazons" turned out to be little different than his other works (I mean in tone and style--it is not at all repetitious). The gender of the characters matters little--they are no more than vehicles of their cultures and the campagins they participate in. The romances between Greek and Amazon warriors should be viewed as such.
"Last of the Amazons" is set in the time before the Trojan war--early mythical Greece. Pressfield makes a fine attempt at depicting what such a time would be like, not out of myth, but in true history. The Amazon culture he creates seems plausible, though a little over the top. His gritty and realistic battle scenes, as always, bring period warfare to life. Character development, as always, plays a very minor role. The four or so narrators, from teenage girl to seasoned warrior, are pretty much interchangeable. The most dynamic character is the tragic Amazon queen Antiope, who elopes with Theseus, and even she is a symbol of her culture--a proud race, soon to fall.
I would recommend "Last of the Amazons" for anyone who has enjoyed other novels by Pressfield, is interested in alternate perspectives on Greek Mythology, or who likes bloody battle scenes.

Clash of Culture, Not Character.......2006-08-23

After reading M. Pressfield's outstanding work, Gates of Fire, I felt compelled to sample his other offerings. At its core, Last of the Amazons is a story about clash of cultures and the transition from nomadic to agrarian society. The story centers around three characters, Mother Bones, Selene the Amazon, and the Greek adventurer Damon; and three different timelines, the "present" (12th century BC) and periods approximately 20 and 40 years prior to that date.

M. Pressfield does an outstanding job in extrapolating a thriving, realistic Amazon society in the horselands of present-day Ukraine, north of the Black Sea, seamlessly integrating historical and archeological fact with inspired supposition. He convincingly creates the geopolitical and socio-economic structures that might have existed at the time, and brings them to life for the reader. Likewise, he regresses classical Athens to the days long before her intellectual dominance of the region, to a time "when history butted up against mythology."

These two societies are really characters unto themselves, and their conflict, rather than the clash between any of the other heroes of the tale (Theseus, Eleuthera, and others) forms the meat of the plot. This is the collision between the old - noble hunter/gatherer nomads - and the new - urban fortress-dwelling farmers, and cultures go to the grave no more peacefully than the warriors representing them. One cannot help but compare the situation to the arrival of the longbow-armed peasant in medieval Europe and the knightly orders of the time, or any other major paradigm shift in history.

Therein lies one of the weaknesses of the tale. Because so much has been invested in artfully breathing life into these cultures, the characters and their stories seem to take a back seat. The jumps in time and perspective as M. Pressfield sets up and then brings the two titans together are disorienting. It also takes so long to set the stage that the reader doesn't develop much empathy for the mortal characters of the work till more than halfway into the book.

However, even with these weaknesses, his writing does remind one, in a positive way, of the great oral "Homeric" tradition of the time, and could easily be mistaken for some of the best English translations of the Iliad or Odyssey by Richmond Lattimore or Robert Fagles. This alone will keep the attention of fans of that era. The description of the siege of Athens brings warfare of that age into vibrant, personal, and often bloody relief.

In short: those looking for excellence in plot or character development might be somewhat disappointed, but those looking for fascinating insights into a culture that "may have been" or fans of the Greek classics will thoroughly enjoy themselves.

Lost in a Dark Age!!!.......2006-03-25

Compared with the other two masterpieces of St.Pressfield, this one is exclusively based on "mythological" elements, that means stories that have not yet been "proved" archeologically, scientifically etc. Besides this fact, St.Pressfield manages to illustrate -in the best way he knows- the story and everyday life of the legendary Amazons, looking back at a very obscure and unknown era of human pre-history, a time before historical records: the Bronze Age (or even further back?) He does it in a very fascinating way, with vivid battle scenes and colourful depictions. After reading the book, the reader has been at least convinced that the Amazons might well have been a real nation and that mythology is history [or vice versa ;)]. "Matriarchy had really been a way of life before patriarchal attitudes started dominating the world, and the civilisation clash between female and male cultures must have been a real fact that took place thousands of years ago in a forgotten, mysterious and obscure age!" Well this is what I personally concluded from this book. Hopefully one day archeologists excavate more proof of our so-called matriarchal past. A really nice book!

A must-read.......2006-03-17

I picked this up on a whim, intrigued by the subject matter. I never thought it would be this good. The writing is great and I liked the blend of historical-fiction and fantasy. I will definitely look for other books by this author.

Wonder Woman: The Arrival (Festival Reader)

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Wonder Woman: The Arrival (Festival Reader)
Nina Jaffe
Manufacturer: HarperFestival
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060565195
Release Date: 2004-08-03

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