Book Review: Last of the Amazons

My third historical novel focusing on Ancient Greece (specifically the Bronze Age) is Last of the Amazons (2002) by Steven Pressfield. Although the story focuses largely on the same events from Mary Renault’s The Bull from the Sea (1962), the perspective is entirely different.

The story works as flashbacks within flashbacks; following a character called Mother Bones, who, in her youth, along with her older sister, was raised by an Amazon survivor of the Athenian-Amazon war in fifth-century BCE Greece. As Theseus (yes, the fellow who beat the Minotaur) features as a main character in the novel, it firmly straddles history and mythology, but for me, one of the most fascinating parts of the novel was its structure.

Narrated in turns by Mother Bones, who recalls stories told to her by her Governess Selene, and after the key event of the novel, also includes narration by both Mother Bones father and uncle, a picture is painted of one of the most brutal wars I’ve read about in fiction. Much like the female horse-riding clans in Suzy McKee Charnas’ Holdfast series, the novel attempts to paint of picture of a warrior woman culture and how it would look in times of peace, dispute, and war, and yes, when we get into the violence of the novel it is brutal.


An intriguing read, and definitely one that will lead me to checking out other books by the same author.

5 Things about Me and Reading In no particular order

1. The first piece of mythology I can recall reading is the story of Theseus, but even though he is much more famous for his adventures in the labyrinth with the minotaur, what interested me the most was his dad telling him; “I’ve put a bunch of stuff under this big rock, when you’re old enough to move it you can take what’s there and go make something of yourself”, which is pretty much exactly what happens and was the first moment I understood the concept of “not until you’re older”
2. Like many children of the 70’s, my favourite preschool book is The Monster at the end of the Book by Jon Stone and Michael Smollen.  If you’ve never read this 4^th wall-breaking story I am entirely jealous of the fact that you will get to read it for the first time.
3. When I was eight years old, my third grade teacher Mr. Murray read the entire class the novel The Hobbit, a chapter at a time for a month.  I think I can honestly say that every time I read a fantasy novel I’m trying to recapture the state of awe and wonder I felt in that classroom almost thirty years ago.
4. Each month I set out to read at least seven books, and even though I don’t quite make my quota every month (with comics, course readings, family time, etc.), my punishment is I get to read eight or nine books the next month, which is pretty much the best punishment ever.
5. As many readers eventually do, I have tried my hand a few times at creative writing – netting me a couple rejection letters and one short story which can still be found online related to a role-playing game I was really into at the time, and honestly, I still like it!