Title: Brilliant, Poetic and Memorable
Review: The prose in this novel is so dense it reads like poetry. While this is a difficult novel to read, the story of Latro, an amnesiac mercenary, alternately directed by a series of slaves, masters, prostitutes and kings, is definitely a worthy one. Despite his memory loss, the things that Latro takes for granted are ones that are wholly out of place to the reader, for despite the triteness of sacrifice in Greek times, I imagine we must flinch a little at each, and at the harshness of living conditions.Wolfe doesn't let the reader off the hook either, choosing to translate place names in many cases so that the reader has to think back to ancient history to figure out where he is and where he's going. He uses many alternative names for the gods, so this too can't be taken for granted, but must be considered, so that instead of each god being only a name, you come to see the significance and the history behind each one.
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