Title: Gods and Warriors
Author: Michelle Paver
Publish date: August 28th 2012 by Dial
Source: ARC received at BEA
Buy it on: Amazon
Goodreads summary:
In the turbulent world of the Mediterranean Bronze Age, long before the Greek myths, a boy and a girl battle for survival. With the help of three animal allies – a dolphin, a falcon and a lion cub – they defeat the forces of tyranny and withstand the elemental powers of the gods of land and sea.
Book review:
The back cover of Gods and Warriors by Michelle Paver boasts that it’s “perfect for fans of Percy Jackson.” I qualify under that category MOST ARDENTLY, so I was really really excited to begin reading. I don’t think it’s really perfect for Percy Jackson fans… but it might just be perfect for me.
One thing Gods and Warriors does have in common with Percy Jackson is the way that young kids have these really awful things happen to them and wind up in this impossibly huge situation.
But, like Rick Riordan, Michelle Paver still manages to make them sound their age. These are kids who would be in middle school in our era and they sound like it… to an extent. I mean they don’t sound anachronistic, but they sound like kids. There’s more than one point-of-view in Gods and Warriors, but they’re all necessary and advance the plot.
If there’s one thing that I admire, it’s the ability to bring a world to life. And Michelle Paver EXCELS at that in Gods and Warriors. It’s in little things from the way that Hylas refers to certain plants to the way that people from different places refer to things differently. Revolutionary, I know.
But the history of Gods and Warriors is brought to life so perfectly that the research that Michelle Paver conducted is evident. I love historical fiction, but I’ve never been particularly interested in the Mediterranean Bronze Age. I am now.
The language is simple, but really effective. The whole book is so tuned in with nature and spirituality that it’s absolutely beautiful sometimes.
Overall rating: 4.5/5. If all MG books made me like them so much, I’d read a whole lot more of them. Happily, Michelle Paver has many other books for me to dive into in the future.
