Ancient Greece, 480 BCE. Was the Oracle of Delphi a teenage visionary who saved the Cradle of Democracy, or was she manipulated by politically-savvy priests as some modern historians claim? The slaughter of the Spartan Three Hundred at Thermopylae, Greece 480 BCE — when King Leonidas tried to stop the Persian army with only his elite guard — is well known. But just what did King Xerxes do after he defeated the Greeks?
Fifteen-year-old Thaleia is haunted by visions: roofs dripping blood, Athens burning. She tries to convince her best friend and all the villagers that she’s not crazy. The gods do speak to her, and the gods have plans for this girl. When Xerxes's army of a million Persians marches straight to the mountain village Delphi to claim the Temple of Apollo’s treasures and sacred power, Thaleia’s gift may be her people’s last line of defense. Her destiny may be to save Greece, but is one girl strong enough to stop an entire army?
Gail says that "Night of Pan" means "transcending beyond the individual ego to join with the Universe." She also says, "Tired of the History Channel and some other modern historians depicting the Oracle of Delphi as a drug-crazed teenager manipulated by politically-savvy priests, I decided it was time to reclaim history for young women. My story is built around the four prophecies about the Persian invasion that we know from Herodotus.
"When the invaders are a day’s march away, the villagers go to their Oracle to ask if they should hide the women and children and bury the temple’s treasures, spoils of war. 'Trust Apollo. He will take care of his own,' the young girl says. What amazes me is that they listened!
"We all know how the story ends. As the Persians marched between the towering limestone cliffs there was an earthquake and thunderstorm. Huge boulders crashed onto the path in front of the Persians. Believing the gods were against them, they ran away never to return. They burned Athens but left alone a mountain village that a young girl protected with the help of the gods. All that is history. Nothing fabricated."
Life ~ by Lu Yao, 1982, (translated by Chloe Estep, 2019), historical fiction (China), 334 pages
Gao Jialin is a stubborn, idealistic, and ambitious young man from a small country village. His life is upended when corrupt local politics cost him his beloved job as a school teacher. That prompts him to reject rural life and try to make it in the big city. Against the vivid backdrop of 1980s China, Lu Yao traces the proud and passionate Gao Jialin’s difficult path to professional, romantic, and personal fulfillment — or at least hard-won acceptance.
On a personal note: My step counter app told me I had walked 4.6 miles on Friday. Then I did even better yesterday. Not bad for an old lady, I say with a smile on my face.
3 comments:
Keep up the walking. Those are great numbers. I need to try harder to reach them.
Both of the books sound promising.
You should be very proud of your walking accomplishments. I managed to get in four miles one day this week, but I hope to do more walking next week.
Good for you for walking over 4 miles! That must feel great. My dad is your age and has been so active all this life but in the last couple of months has started having hip pain so he's now scheduled to have a hip replacement in April, for which I am very glad.
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