King of Ithaka
This is a retelling of the homecoming of Odysseus in the Odyssey, recounted from the first-person viewpoint of his sixteen-year-old son, Telemachos. The people of Ithaka want a new king. Odysseus must come home at once to keep his throne. Therefore, Telemachos goes off to find the father he never had a chance to know. Accompanied by the centaur Brax, and also – against his will – by a young girl named Polydora, the teenager faces peril and adversity, and in the process finds his own strength. What does it mean to be a man and a king? What is honor? Telemachos eventually comes to his own judgments about these questions, and makes his own independent assessment of his father.
I particularly enjoyed the magical world – populated by mythological beings as well as ordinary mortals who happen to be figures of legend – that the author creates. The novel has action and excitement, as well as nuanced characters. Some might find Telemachos a bit too modern in outlook for someone born in his era. Would he really have been so shocked by his father’s less admirable traits? Perhaps not. Just the same, this is an absorbing read that would make a wonderful introduction to Greek mythology for both boys and girls.
