Shield of Thunder

Book excerpt: The second novel in David Gemmell's bestselling Troy trilogy. Interlacing myth and history, and high adventure, this is epic storytelling at its very best. The war of Troy is looming, and all the kings of the Great Green are gathering, friends and enemies, each with their own dark plans of conquest and plunder. Into this maelstrom of treachery and deceit come three travellers; Piria, a runaway priestess nursing a terrible secret, Kalliades, a warrior with a legendary sword, and Banokles who will carve his own legend in the battles to come. Shiled of thunder takes the reader back into the glories and tragedies of Bronze Age Greece, reuniting the characters from Lord of the silver bow; the dread Helikaon and his great love, the fiery Andromache, the mighty Hektor and the fabled storyteller, Odysseus.