The Stolen Goddess

This is the second book of a trilogy that begins with The Golden Gryphon Feather and concludes with The Mirror of Heaven. I've never read the first book, and though there are obvious references to what happened in it, I didn't feel lost reading this book. Indeed I think the first chapter is a recapitulation that wasn't necessary. Past that this is an entertaining tale based on Greek Myth and archeological and historical fact. It deals with some of the same material, characters and time frame as Mary Renault's The Bull from the Sea and deals with Theseus' daughter, Akama of Crete and her love, Decalion. We're told the tale by Ducalion, the son of a bull-leaper who calls Goddesses "aunt." While Mary Renault's tales are historical fiction about people who believe in the Olympian divinities, The Stolen Goddess is fantasy where the characters directly interact with such figures as Apollo and Hades. The "stolen goddess" of the title is Persephone. Purtill also can't be compared to Renault as a writer. I wouldn't call this book a keeper, and I liked The Mirror of Helen about Helen of Troy more than this book--but it is fun and if you can't get enough of books like The King Must Die and The Bull from the Sea using Greek Myth as their basis, this wouldn't be a bad choice. ( )