Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Voyage with Jason by Ken Catran

Voyage with Jason is an adventure/Greek mythology book, which is why I chose it. The book is based on the adventures of Jason and the Argonauts and their legendary quest to find the Golden Fleece. The book is slightly altered to make the story more 'realistic' compared to the old legend. The book was very interesting, because the way Ken Catran altered the story is very impressive and explained the events that are very different from the legends, but still made sense at the same time.

 Interestingly, the book was not told by one of the heroes like the other books, but by Pylos, a boy shipbuilder who was rescued from a brutal overseer by a man who seems like nothing more than a big country bumpkin. When I found out who the man was, like Pylos I was quivering with awe..
(no, I'm not going to spoil it for you!)

After this encounter Pylos is dropped straight into the strangeness that surrounds Jason's quest for the Golden Fleece with his company of heroes. That sounds grand and glorious, and it is, but Pylos views the great heroes of the Argos (their ship) with a stranger's eye. The story he tells has not been prettied up and decked out with laurel branches and gold leaf. He describes legendary people who are all too human, countries where the gods still fight over who will be worshipped and who will be forgotten, violent barbarians with scary moustaches, women with deadly grudges, and kings whose motives are highly mixed. This is a wonderfully believable book about human beings who still manage to accomplish heroic things, and about the ways they find to trip themselves and one another. 

I liked how the book had many interesting characters and most of them had different skills and personalities, but some of them were kind of lifeless; only saying one line/minor involvement. But the story was still amazing, and I loved how it was shown from the perspective of a peasant boy in a voyage with princes, nobles and heroes. I give it an 8 out of 10 because I really enjoyed the book and it was very well written by a very good author; Ken Catran makes adventure and glory both reachable and dark.

-Joseph

1 comment:

  1. Glad you enjoyed this book, Joseph. I like your comments about the point-of-view in the book. It is an interesting choice to use a minor character to tell the story rather than the "hero". It is nice to see you reading some more books by this author! What are you going to read next?

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