- Hardcover: 381 pages
- Publisher: Pacific Rim Press (CA) (January 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0930926269
- ISBN-13: 978-0930926267
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.5 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 658 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,322,101 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Booklist
This fine example of the emerging genre of visionary fiction is equal parts historical novel and myth-based fantasy. Hand uses contemporary archaeological findings about the novel's setting in ancient Crete to depict a woman-centered society threatened by invading Indo-Europeans but finally destroyed by the volcanic eruption of Thera. The heroine, Leeshandra, is a Cretan temple priestess in love with a childhood friend, the half-Greek Alektrion. Few love affairs are as star-crossed as theirs, for they spend most of the time apart and yearning for one another, Leeshandra in training for the bull-leaping contests and later for priestesshood; Alektrion in waging war at sea to protect the island society. When fate finally brings them together, the tumultuous invasion of Crete ends all hope of reunion. Or does it? Hand vividly portrays a goddess-worshiping society and its inability to withstand the assault of the patriarchs. And she does so in a page-turning style that keeps the reader entranced all the way to an ending that hints at a sure-to-be-welcomed sequel. Patricia Monaghan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From the Back Cover
"A remarkable book! A moving love story, in a unique and beautifully-imagined setting that recreates the ancient Goddess culture of Crete, but something more besides--an unusual look at the dual nature of humanity, and the warring forces that form our soul."
--Diana Gabaldon
Author of the Outlander Series
"In the vein of Mary Renault: masterfully written, fast-paced, meticulously researched.
--Robert Lawrence Holt
Author of NY Times best-seller Good Friday
"Superb historical drama! The first novel ever to bring readers into the utterly alien reality of the Minoan world . . . I wasn't able to put the book down. For me it was right up there with James Michner's The Source. . . Judith Hand allows us actually to taste and feel a lost world whose people were already dust and myth when Plato and Athens were young."
--Charles Pellegrino.
Author of Unearthing Atlantis
"What a breath of fresh air. The time period is unique. The characters are believable and empathetic."
--Barclay Sterling Award
"Wonderful sensuality...This proves that ... so-called "hard-to-sell" time periods can be made fascinating in the hands of a skilled author."
--Ohio's Ignite the Flame Contest
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Violent and bloody death stripped the innocence of youth from me when I was twelve. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Violent and bloody death stripped the innocence of youth from me when I was twelve. Read the first page
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Concordance
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.3 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A strongly crafted novel rooted in historical construct, Jan 20 2001
By Barry Friedman - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Voice of the Goddess (Hardcover)
This strongly crafted novel is a compelling love story etched on a lush canvas of competing Mediterranean cultures as the early civilizations clashed on land and at seaa conflicted world restless with military adventurism. At the crossroads of contending tyrants, gods, philosophies, religions, and economies stands the serene culture of ancient Crete. Judith Hand invites us there to experience that society's struggle to survive. Her heroes and heroines are rooted in historical construct. In pursuit of their aspirations, they make mistakes, ones that could topple one of the loftiest of ancient cultures. Who then might survive the carnage to carry their examples of harmony and coexistence to following generations?Confessing a personal bias, as a retired military officer, I enjoyed the shrill authentic ring of gnashing swords, the battered groaning shields, splintered oars and shattered masts so vivid in her battle scenes. War is not pretty. Killing is not a game. To her credit, Judith Hand did not write those scenes as entertainments. The human fear, sweat, blood, exhaustion, revulsion and tears weren't omitted.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
You won't want this advenure to end, Sep 6 2001
By Arline Curtiss - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Voice of the Goddess (Hardcover)
In a way this wonderful book reminds me of The Mists of Avalon. It is more fantasy novel than historical novel and seen through the eyes of a heroine rather than a hero. What are the forbidden secrets of the priestesshood? How are young girls prepared and trained sexually and romantically to take their place in this paradise of a society. How does a woman thus trained rise to become an actual goddess to her people and deal with the cataclysmic natural disaster that threatens to doom them all? Will she have to give up her true love to save her people? You will be surprised how this dynamic and clever heroine Leeshandra contrives to keep her honor but "have it all."
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Written with painstaking historical research, Mar 19 2001
By Midwest Book Review - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Voice of the Goddess (Hardcover)
Set in ancient Minoa, Voice Of The Goddess is an epic novel of two lovers who must struggle to protect their island home from invasion from Mainland Greece, and survive the catastrophic 1628 BC explosion of the nearby island of Santorini. Judith Hand has combined painstaking historical research with a flair for dramatic story telling that truly emerses the reader into a time of Bronze Age high culture and a sophisticated society of Mediterranean goddess-worship of Crete as it existed 1600 years before the birth of Christ. Voice Of The Goddess is Hand's debut as a novelist and we can only look urgently for her next venture into historic fiction.
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