Description
A THOUSAND SHIPS
Full Color Edition
Book 1 of AGE OF BRONZE
The Story of the Trojan War
by Eric Shanower
Color by John Dallaire
Introduction by Tom Beasley, PhD
224 color pages with color covers
Contains issues 1 through 9 of the comic book series
ISBN 978-1-5343-0829-9 paperback
All copies ordered via this website will be signed by the cartoonist Eric Shanower.
If you would like your copy personalized, simply include instructions in the “Special Instructions” field during the ordering process.
In addition to collecting the story from Age of Bronze issues 1 – 9, A Thousand Ships includes an Afterword by the author, Pronunciation Glossary, Maps, Genealogical Charts, and Bibliography.
A Thousand Ships brings to vibrant life the prelude to the Trojan War. Here, once more, shines the glory of Troy. Here the famous names of legend breathe again, Achilles, Odysseus, Paris, Agamemnon . . . and Helen, the face that launched a thousand ships. When Helen of Sparta disappears with Paris, prince of Troy, the Achaean kings unite under High King Agamemnon to bring Helen back to her husband.
The Trojan War is one of the world’s most enduring and exciting epics. Great poets of every age have told the story, each in his own way—-Homer, Euripides, Virgil, Ovid, Chaucer, and Shakespeare. Countless others have told the story, too, adding to and expanding on earlier versions.
In the 1870s, German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann revealed to a fascinated world the remains of the ancient city of Troy. Ever since, excavations at Troy and elsewhere have shed light on the Late Bronze Age culture of the eastern Mediterranean, the world of the Trojan War. Now, Eric Shanower combines the various Trojan War legends with the findings of archaeology to present a new retelling of the Trojan War, built on the foundations of the past, but uniquely envisioned for today’s readers by a modern cartoonist.
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What people have said about A Thousand Ships:
“The drawing is excellent, the language lively, and the research awesome.”
—Ursula K. Le Guin
“History never read so good.”
—Entertainment Weekly
“A beautifully rendered complex story drawn in a superb, delicate style with good characterization and fast-moving action . . .”
—Andrew Grossberg, Tripwire
“Already nominated for several Eisner Awards, (an Oscar in the comics’ world), Shanower’s combination of myth and black-and-white artwork is a triumphant storytelling achievement.”
—Today’s Librarian
“Besides being beautifully drawn and intelligently, even intellectually, composed, it is archaeologically accurate–by those qualities it’s better than any film I’ve ever seen on Bronze Age Greece, including the popular Clash of the Titans. I have already spent hours pondering some of Shanower’s more interesting archaeological choices, and I am eager to be challenged by those yet to come.”
—John G. Younger, Archaeology
“. . . a feast for those new to Homeric tradition and modern archaeology as well as those who simply love mythology. The story begins with Paris’ reconnection with his royal family and the subsequent kidnapping of Helen, with nuances of the legend roving through the viewpoints of various characters, including Paris and a youthful Achilles. Shading, texture, and Shanower’s use of a single image across several panels give depth to the black-and-white cartoon artwork that carries the story.”
—Booklist
“. . . the story also has many amazing scenes for an artist . . . and Shanower makes the most of them, with a fine-lined style in black and white drawings evoking woodcuts and classical paintings.”
—Publishers Weekly
“The story . . . has been told and retold many, many times, but rarely with the panache and verve of Eric Shanower’s epic comic book version. This is no mere retelling of the Iliad, for Shanower goes back to the very beginning of the ancient tale and faithfully retells it in beautiful black-and-white drawings that bring the Bronze Age Aegean vividly to life.”
—India Edghill, The Historical Novels Review
“Shanower may not create the poetry of The Iliad but he tells a story in a straightforward, clean manner that will keep you reading through one sitting.”
—Andrew D. Arnold, Time.com
“[Shanower] has put his own stamp on one of the most enduring tales in the history of literature. . . . readers are likely to find this telling of the story charming, if idiosyncratic.”
—Karl M. Petruso, Bryn Mawr Classical Review
“This is the opening trumpet blast in Shanower’s B&W graphic novel version of the entire Trojan War, and the quality of both the storytelling and the artwork is unsurpassed. Comparisons to Art Spiegelman’s Maus (1991) spring immediately to mind. . . .”
—Paul di Filippo, Asimov’s
“. . . brings the Trojan War to life.”
—Alan Caruba, Bookviews
“Shanower has taken the classic epics plus his extensive research into prehistoric Greece and Troy and synthesized a masterpiece out of them. Gone are the larger than life, impossibly distant heroes and heroines. Gone are the vague place settings. In the pages of the Age of Bronze trade, readers will find very human characters with motives we fully understand . . .”
—Katherine Keller, Sequential Tart
“What sets apart Shanower’s graphic novel is the attention to historical detail, a superb talent as an artist, and a powerful flair for storytelling. A Thousand Ships is a gripping presentation perfectly suited to a modern readership and brings this age-old tale to a whole new generation of readers.”
—Midwest Book Review
“. . . an excellent narrative that draws the reader into the story.”
—Brent Frankenhoff, Comics Buyer’s Guide
“Well worth your time.”
— The X-Axis Reviews
“The style is classic, portraying subjects in crisp outline and amply displaying the artist’s mastery of contrast, texture, and action . . .”
— The Bloomsbury Review
“Eric Shanower has given us a thrilling book presented in the graphic novel mode.”
—Sarah Reaves White, Writers Write
“. . . an intensive imagining of a bygone age that consistently astounds in its invention.”
—Matthew Surridge, The Comics Journal
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