The Arrows of Hercules
Historical novel | |
Publisher | Doubleday |
---|---|
Publication date | 1965 |
Media type | Print (hardback) |
Pages | 297 |
Preceded by | The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate |
Followed by | An Elephant for Aristotle |
The Arrows of Hercules is an
Plot summary
The protagonist is the engineer
Reception
Contemporary reviews of the novel were favorable. Shildes Johnson in Library Journal "highly recommended" the book, calling it "[a]n intriguing novel" and a "fascinating historical romance which is a worthwhile addition to any library." The author "makes his characters live, and the reader can almost imagine the social, economic, and religious milieu of this period in Grecian history."[4]
Jackie Pettycrew in The Arizona Republic deemed it a "rousing piece of fiction" with an "abundance" of action whose "pace is rapid and unrelenting." She rated it an "[a]ltogether, highly entertaining, lightly informative" book bringing ancient history "vividly to life."[5]
Booklist noted its "[a]uthentic background and synthetic [sic: sympathetic] characters mingle easily in a story where action, color, page, and plot have the virile appeal evident in the author's The dragon of [the] Ishtar Gate.[6]
Edith Farr Ridington in Classical World called it "an adventurous, breezy tale" with "exciting and quite believable adventures" written "in a colloquial style that helps to make ancient times come alive" and which "uses to good advantage the author's special interest in ancient engineering." She notes that "[t]he book is spiced here and there with some frank sexualities; otherwise its appeal would seem to be especially to young people interested in a story combining mechanical devices with adventure."[7]
Notes
- ^ Library of Congress (1965). "LCCN 65-10595". The Arrows of Hercules.
- ^ Laughlin, Charlotte; Daniel J. H. Levack (1983). De Camp: An L. Sprague de Camp Bibliography. San Francisco: Underwood/Miller. p. 27.
- ^ Amazon.com record for the Phoenix Pick edition
- ^ Johnson, Shildes. "New Books Appraised. Fiction. De Camp, L. Sprague. The Arrows of Hercules." In Library Journal, v. 90, no. 2, January 15, 1965, p. 268.
- ^ Pettycrew, Jackie. "Highly Entertaining Tale." In The Arizona Republic, Feb. 21, 1965, p. C-29.
- ^ "Fiction. De Camp, Lyon Sprague. The arrows of Hercules." In The Booklist, v. 61, no. 13, Mar. 1, 1965, p. 649.
- ^ Ridington, Edith Farr. "Some Recent Historical Fiction and Juveniles, XI." In Classical World, v. 59, no. 3, Nov. 1965, pp. 75-76.