The Hittite by Ben Bova

 

The Hittite by Ben Bova

Tom Doherty Associates

Published in 2010

ISBN 9780765324023

317 Pages

PLACES TO BUY FROM:

Amazon (Hardcover)
Barnes & Noble (Hardcover)

CHECKED OUT THE BOOK FROM MY PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Review/Rating:

3 out of 5



After a long campaign against the Armenian army, Lukka is finally returning home to his wife and two sons. However, instead of finding peace in the capital of the Hatti empire, Hattusa, he finds nothing but chaos. The once great city is now engulfed in flames and men are terrorizing and looting the city of its goods, including any women they find. When he reaches his home, he finds it destroyed with his father dying and wife and sons missing. With the last words of his father that Lukka must find his two sons, he goes off with the men he commands to find them. However, when he reaches Troy, he finds himself in the middle of a war. Now, in order to get his children and wife back, he must prove himself to Odysseos. But by the time he proves himself greater than that of Price Hector of Troy and the swift warrior Achilles, will it be too late to save the loved ones he came for?

Finally, a non-supernatural book AND an adult one. I like young adult books too much. I'll try to get more adult books after I read the rest of the books I have. :) Oh, beware of spoilers in the review. ;)

This is my first compliant... not enough details or descriptions (of the characters, events, places) to make the book longer than it is now. This history fiction book starts with Lukka coming home and finding his house destroyed, his father dying, and his wife and children missing. However, from there, the author tries to quickly get Lukka and his men to Troy in order to find his wife. It skips some things like more details about everything it takes to get there, but it includes some (but not all) of the hardships --- like Lukka having to kill one of his men because the guy didn't want to go on. I found this a little frustrating since the author didn't go into that much detail about him arriving to Troy and finding it under siege. Then after getting there, the book almost automatically goes into the fighting between Troy, and Lukka proves himself there. It pretty much like I wrote in the summary. The book has details, but not enough to keep you satisfied. The chapters are like 2-6 pages each, and not enough details to make the book really worth-while.

My second compliant... I hated how whiny Helen is, but I let that go since it was a different time than it is now. Helen acts like how most authors put women leads: demands attention, blames themselves and gets pity from that, and pretty much gets whatever they want, which is getting frustrating because it is so common now.

My third and last compliant... the ending sucked. It doesn't even have an ending where it mentions whether or not Helen, Lukka, the little boys, and his men make it to Egypt or if Menalaos catches them. I find this more "let me choke the author" worthy than the lack of details part. -____-

Now, a few good things about the book. I like how it goes into the history of Troy and Hatti and who built the Trojan horse, which not many books really do. Though, the author kind of ruins it by not having that many details and making the book go as quickly as possible. However, it is an exciting read, and it is entertaining. Though, it is frustrating. So, go ahead and read if you can live with lack of details, fast-moving, and sucky ending. :|

Oh, a few warnings. This book mentions rape, love scenes, gore scenes, etc, however, the author doesn't go into too many details about the acts --- just kind of mentions them and moves on to something else. Also, I rated it 3 three stars because of the interesting topic, but I didn't go any higher because of the lack of details and sucky ending. ;)

Other Reviews/Author Site:

Ben Bova
Goodreads: The Hittite by Ben Bova
Library Thing: The Hittite by Ben Bova
The Merry Go Round Reviews: The Hittite by Ben Bova
Imagic Reflections: The Hittite by Ben Bova