• Age: 10 to 14
• Grade: 7

Two-and-a half millennia after it was created, Homer's Odyssey remains one of humanity's most memorable adventure stories. In this re-creation of Homer's classic as a young adult novel, we see the aftermath of the Trojan War through the eyes of Alexi, a fifteen-year-old Trojan boy. Orphaned by the war and enslaved by Odysseus himself, Alexi has a very different view of the conquering heroes of legend.

Despite a simmering anger towards his captors, Alexi gradually develops a grudging respect for them. As the Greeks fight off the angry Cicones, weather a storm that pushes them far beyond charted waters, and nearly succumb to the blandishments of the bewitching Lotus-eaters, he realizes that they are not the demons they were said to be, but people like himself.

At the same time, Alexi's quick thinking, bravery, and the healing skills that he learned from his father prove to his captors that he is no ordinary slave. His key role in their escape from the Cyclops earns the respect of his master, Odysseus, and a striking discovery during their escape gives his life a newfound purpose.

Straddling the boundary between historical fiction and mythology, Torn from Troy is written in a hard, realistic style and brings to life the travails of a bronze-age slave of the Greeks in a form that will appeal especially to teen boys. While this book is the first volume of the author's Odyssey of a Slave trilogy, it is a compelling and fully-realized work on its own.

Patrick Bowman was born in Ottawa and grew up in Toronto. After writing software for twenty years, he slipped the corporate bonds to become a full-time children’s author. The trilogy, “Odyssey of a Slave,” grew out of his long-time interest in the Greek classics. Torn from Troy, the first volume in the trilogy, received rave reviews from the schools. Patrick lives in Toronto with his wife and two daughters. For more information about Patrick Bowman and his work, visit patrickbowman.ca.

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Torn From Troy: Odyssey of a Slave

This is the first book in a proposed trilogy that uses the events of the return journey of Homer’s Odyssey as its foundation. The author tells the story from the point of view of Alex, a Trojan orphan turned Greek slave. (The fact that his new master is Odysseus isn’t revealed until the end of the book.) The captured Alex speaks Greek and is the clever son of a dead physician. These facts, plus his own ingenuity, help keep Alex alive and needed while the marauding Greek army attacks the Maronion people, gets lost in a storm, is charmed by beautiful women and confined by a Cyclops.

Caution: The story is very violent. Drug taking and withdrawal occur as part of the storyline.

Torn from Troy: Odyssey of a Slave

Alexi and his sister Melantha, orphans in the beseiged city of Troy, are woken by the sound of rampaging Greek soldiers. Within hours, Melantha is dead — although she managed to kill her attacker before she died — and 15-year-old Alexi is a slave of the invading forces. Fluent in Greek, he is judged useful to his captors and their crafty leader, nicknamed Lopex (the fox).

Bundled onto a ship with other slaves, Alexi proves even more valuable to the Greeks during the long journey toward home. A very long journey it will be because Lopex (as Alexi discovers) is Odysseus, King of Ithaca. In this first book in a planned series, the young Trojan and the Greeks encounter both the famous Lotoseaters and the terrifying Cyclops. Alexi’s quick wits and knowledge of healing (learned from his father) help them through their adventures. By the end of the book, much danger still waits for Alexi and his captors, but he has also discovered that his sister may be alive after all.

Author Patrick Bowman throws the reader immediately into the action and keeps up the excitement throughout the book. It’s no surprise that this book is a 2012 Red Maple Award selection. He skillfully conveys a remarkable amount of factual information about the ancient Greeks and Trojans without once slowing the pace and brings to life the story of Odysseus by making us see it through a Trojan’s eyes. I look forward to the second book in the series, The Sea God’s Curse, coming in the fall of 2012.

Torn from Troy (Odyssey of a Slave)

In this exciting retelling of Homer’s Odyssey, Alexi, a Trojan teenager, is captured and enslaved by the hated Greeks as they sail for Ithaca. During the voyage, they raid the Cicones, visit the bewitiching Lotus Eaters and encounter the Cyclops, but Alexi has no idea how much worse his life is about to get. Book One in the series.