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Summary:
Jason Thanou of the Temporal Regulatory Authority had about had it with nursemaiding parties of ivory-tower academics through Earth's blood-drenched history, keeping them alive as they sought evidence for their pet theories. Of course, when one of the ivory-tower academics looked like Doctor Deirdre Sadaka-Ramirez, one last expedition didn't look like such a bad idea after all.. . . Besides, there was something to be said for witnessing the Santorini explosion of 1628 B.C.—the most cataclysmic natural disaster of human history, and the source of much of the mythology of Jason's own Greek ancestors. But once Jason and his companions were in the Aegean Bronze Age, unable to return to their own twenty-fourth-century time until a predetermined instant, they would find that there was more to those old legends of gods and heroes than anyone had imagined. For the gods were very real—horribly so. And dealing with them took very real heroes.
Customer Reviews:
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Encounters With Greek Gods
Customer Rating:
Blood of the Heroes (2006) is a standalone SF novel. Some centuries from now, humans have achieved interstellar travel. Humanity has also discovered time travel, although only to the past. The Temporal Regulatory Authority controls all such travel.
In this novel, Commander Jason Thanou of the Hesperian Colonial Rangers has been called back to Earth. As a retired member of the Temporal Service, he has been recalled to lead a trip into the past. The three time travelers will be carried back to 1628 BC to witness the eruption of Santorini, the most powerful energy release in history. The Temporal Service has never before sent humans back that far into time.
Jason is a very experienced time traveler. He is thoroughly used to Temporal Service methods and techniques. And he has become acclimated to the transitions effects. Of course, no one has ever taken quite as long a time trip.
Jason is a native of the Hesperian colony and is rather tired of the Earthan arrogance. The major reason that he left the Service was this attitude that Earth is the center of the universe, both socially and technologically. His boss -- Kyle Rutherford -- is a prime example of such geocentricism.
Jason will be the mission leader. Deirdre Sadaka-Ramirez will be the geological specialist and Sidney Nagel will be the historical specialist. Deirdre is a native of Mithras, which happened to be inhabited when a slower-than-light colony transport reached the planet. The autochthones proved to be insensately ferocious and the colonists were unable to leave the planet. The resulting colonial society had been very protective of fertile females, but the women have since reacted to the past by become extreme feminists.
Nagel is a native of Earth and is a noted historian. Unlike other noted historians, Nagel is physically fit enough to survive the TRA physical training requirements. An arrogant geocentrist much like Rutherford, he often appeals to Rutherford's prejudices. Still, he also occasionally incites Rutherford's professionalism by suggesting alternative procedures. Nonetheless, Nagel knows the geography and culture of that period as well as anyone available to the TRA.
Rutherford gives the travelers a tour of the area where they will be operating. Naturally, the landscape and buildings differ from those that they will be seeing. However, the landscape should be fairly close to the contemporary hills and valleys. Except, of course, for the area of the Santorini caldera and cones.
In this story, Jason, Deirdre and Nagel arrive in the TRA installation in central Australia. After briefly visiting their rooms, they are taken to the medical facilities for implantation of the Temporal Retrieval Device within their left arm. Then they undergo various forms of treatment to cleanse their systems of microorganisms that might be harmful to the people of the past.
Later, they are taught the local language by neural induction. TRA has sent an unmanned probe to Argos -- a minor town in the target area -- to record the language. Upon hearing this news, Nagel wants to suspend the trip while he prepares a paper on the discovery that the local language is an early form of Achaean Greek. Rutherford promptly puts a stop that idea.
After being completely briefed, clothed and equipped, Jason, Deirdre and Nagel are sent to an August dawn near Argos in 1628 BC. They walk into town and discover that they are comprehensible -- although with an atrocious accent -- to the locals. After spending the night in the megaron of Acrisius -- the local king -- they travel toward Lerna.
This story has the threesome make some astounding discoveries. On the road to Lerna, they are attacked by bandits, but are holding their own before the god Eurymedon intervenes. After the god leaves with Deirdre on his flying chariot, Jason takes care of the remaining bandits and leads Nagel on the rescue of Deirdre.
This first encounter sets the stage for the rest of the book. Deirdre is abducted and Jason has to rescue her. Deirdre is very upset at the way she is fulfilling the stereotype.
Then, too, the god Eurymedon is only the first of many gods in this time period. Although humanoid, the gods are obviously not human. Then Jason meets a seagod who is even less humanoid.
This tale is packed with action, usually involving the rescue of Deirdre. Despite the many captures of Deirdre by gods, pirates and bandits, the story contains very little mention of sex and that is all offstage. The violence is minor, unless one considers a truly huge volcanic eruption as violence in the usual sense.
Recommended for White fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of minor combat, historical locales and customs, and deities flying around the countryside.
-Arthur W. Jordin
Jason is fighting for his life in this story of time travel and survival.
Customer Rating:
Steve White's BLOOD OF HEROES tells of one Jason, who is tired of nursing academics through violent Earth history as they seek to prove their points back in time - until an expedition to observe one of the greatest natural disasters in human history strands them in ancient Greece. Now Jason is fighting for his life in this story of time travel and survival.
Excellent page turner
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After reading "The Prometheus Project" and now "Blood of the Heroes," I've become a fan of Steve White's books. "Blood of the Heroes" mixed Greek mythology, history and a number of twists in this page turner that explains the real history of the Greek Gods and other historical figures from 1628 BC. I won't give away who we meet (for one thing, without the context it would sound corny), but I enjoyed running to my computer to look up some of the mythological and/or historical figures we met. -Larry Hodges (member, SFWA)
It's been done before, and better.
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By Andre Norton in the Time Traders novels, for starters. If you're going to use an old idea, it needs to have a fresh angle or at least be well done. This book has neither.
It starts with a forced-feeling conflict between the hero and his old boss, for no good reason, and one never becomes apparent later. Mr. White seems to understand that stories should start with conflict, but not that the conflict should have something to do with the plot.
His characters don't act in character, or even seem to be sure what their character is: What would you expect an alien on a backward planet to do if he finds someone in his power in possesion of anachronistic high technology and suspects they're from the future? In this novel he doesn't take them in for questioning, doesn't take their high tech stuff away, doesn't do anything else his character OUGHT to do, he lamely turns them over to the weak locals who immediately let them escape. (p. 104-105) Of course they need to escape for the show to go on, but that's a lame reason and kills believability. Later they kill and vaporize one with no investigation, just so they won't find out about him. (Author's motivation, not theirs)
The cardboard babe, Deirdre, can't seem to make up her mind just what sort of girl she is. First we find her relieved that she won't have to wear a breast-baring costume. Then on page 131 we find that she is the sort who takes "plenty of opportunities to demonstrate her indifference to traditional notions of physical modesty." Then just 7 pages later she won't dress down for a swim, even though it would acceptable in the culture. This kind of inconsistency in a character equals laziness in an author. The indigenes of the era are just as inconsistent. The main "Hero", offspring of a "god," grown up with seemingly supernatural and strange things, swoons into unconsciousness on page 144 at the mere sight of an alien, for no better reason that to let the time travelers have a private, and painfully obvious expository dialogue. Of course the Hero wakes up when the plot needs him to, after the long tedious explanations for the benefit of the reader are over.
Another eye-roller is when our heroes find themselves in the alien's home base. Our main hero is able to satisfy himself by a "quick survey" of the room that these aliens from the stars have no "cameras or audio pickups in the chamber." Of course they don't, and we can be assured that these star-traveling aliens who have been at war with other high-tech aliens (who can make themselves invisible) for millenia have never heard or thought of hidden monitoring equipment. How can we be so sure? Because the plot needs our heroes to have some private conversation here! What other reason could there be? In this book, none other is needed.
There are many other examples but this review is long enough. The bottom line: too many characters doing too many stupid and uncharacteristic things jarring you out of the story to make it an enjoyable read. Reread Andre Norton's "The Time Traders" instead.
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