Cursed by the Sea God

By: Patrick Bowman

Narrated by: Gerard Doyle

The second volume in the trilogy that re-envisions Homer's Odyssey is once again told from the viewpoint of Alexi, the young Trojan boy. Captured by Odysseus after the fall of Troy, Alexi is forced to accompany the Greeks on their sea journey home to Ithaca. Cursed by the Sea God contains many of the iconic adventures of the homeward journey, including the encounter with the keeper of the winds, the descent into Hades, the fateful visit to the cannibal Laestrygonians, the encounters with Circe the sorceress, who turns the crew into pigs, the songs of the Sirens, and the deadly passage between the monster Scylla and the whirlpool Charybdis.

Having earned his master's respect in saving him from the Sirens, Alexi loses it all though mischance, and his own circumstances take a turn for the worse as he is given away to the most brutal soldier on the ship. It takes all of Alexi's skill and determination just to stay alive.

The first volume in the trilogy,Torn from Troy, received an Earphone Award from AudioFile Magazine, while the print edition was nominated for the 2012 OLA Red Maple Award and has proved to be a best seller.

©2013 Patrick Bowman (P)2013 Post Hypnotic Press

A retelling of an old story with a fresh look

Alexi’s journey as slave to Odysseus continues on the fateful journey to Ithaca.  This audio is based on Homer’s Odyssey; packed with action involving deadly encounters with Circe the sorceress, the Sirens and their deadly song, the cannibals of Laestrygonians and the keeper of the wind.  Mistakes are made through bad decisions of which Alexi had no input but faces the consequences even as a piglet!

Removed from Lopex’s (Odysseus) favor through no fault of his own, Alexi must use his wits and knowledge to outsmart others in his company and save them from the curse of the sea god.  Alexi is losing friends, but is able to redeem himself in the case of one.  Alexi learns to not turn his back on his friends and his actions has consequences for all involved.

The audio was wonderful!  A retelling of an old story with a fresh look – told from the view point of a slave.  The moment when Alexi realizes Greeks are human too is moving and genuine.  His perseverance and questioning of authority is witty and completely today – it is interesting to see how teenagers have not changed from day one until now!  Bowman makes Alexi real and easy to build a connection with as with others in the series.

Bowman’s fresh take on Homer’s Odyssey is engaging and fun.  I remember studying the Odyssey in high school and later in college – not once did we look at it beyond the view point of Odysseus or as stories legends are made.  Hearing this told from the viewpoint of Alexi is interesting; further it raises the thought in one’s mind, “what other viewpoints are there?” Well written and crafted, Bowman is masterful in his story telling.

His character building is excellent as well.  There are some characters you just love to hate!  I thought telling the story of Pen was an excellent addition to the story.  Demonstrating how easy it is to forget one’s beginnings, peer pressure and bullying.

The narrator, Gerard Doyle did an amazing job at bringing the characters to life with his voice and enthusiasm.  His voices were well suited for the tale with just the right amount of excitement, sadness, and wonder strategically placed.  His voice over all is calming and light.  His accent is wonderful and comes across as natural.

Although this is an old story, Bowman’s freshness and Doyle’s accomplished narration makes it all new and entertaining.

There were no audio issues, everything went smoothly.

Audiobook was provided for review by the publisher.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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A wonderful retelling of the Odyssey

I wrote a more complete review for the first book of this series. This second book is even better and I enjoyed the entire trilogy immensely. I hope Mr. Bowman will be writing more novels in this genre in the future. The reader is wonderful too and really makes the story come alive.