Arrow through the Axes

Arrow through the Axes concludes the “Odyssey of a Slave” trilogy
that began with the Red Maple–nominated Torn
from Troy, retelling Homer’s Odyssey.

The slave Alexi, now free of his Greek captors, infiltrates
the Greek strongholds of the Bronze Age in search of his sister. In so doing he
participates in the stories of Orestes, son of Agamemnon, as he seeks revenge
for his father’s murder, and of Telemachus, son of Odysseus, who lands on
Ithaca, the home island of Odysseus, just in time to witness the arrival of a
mysterious stranger. As Alexi comes to understand the damage that the Trojan
War has visited upon its victors, both he and the reader are forced to confront
an unpleasant truth, while Alexi must decide where his allegiance really lies.

Re-casting the Odyssey as a YA adventure, this trilogy
brings ancient mythology to life in a way that traditional retellings cannot.
We see what life would have been like for Bronze-Age warriors as Bowman
interweaves adventure, ritual and historical detail into a realistic and
compelling narrative. Readers who have experienced pop mythology, and now want
to dive deeper, will find Arrow through the Axes especially satisfying, but all
readers will enjoy this powerful excursion into the classic mythology that
shaped western culture.