But in working with such well-known material, and altering as little as possible, I found it really distracting. Renault juxtaposes this with an almost formal, somewhat "legendary" tone to the story, and many a mention of the Gods and their ways etc.When I read Black Ships by Jo Graham earlier this year, an approach like this worked a treat. It's so pseudo because our knowledge has expanded since she wrote these books, and also, it's at heart speculative we do not and cannot know these things. Along the way, he will fall in love, organise succession and try to keep the always-fickle gods on his side.Renault has taken a raft of classical myths surrounding Theseus, and adapted them into a kind of pseudo-historical yarn. It's not a bad book, per se, but in striving to be so many different things in so short a space, it inevitably falls short.Returning triumphant from Crete, Theseus now faces a far more complex challenge: running, maintaining and expanding a kingdom. Unfortunately, the conflicting demands of preserving a mythic tone, getting through a tonne of classic legends, and still providing human characters proves too much in The Bull From The Sea.
This novel - Renault's second featuring Theseus - is ambitious, and packs a lot into its meagre 220 pages.
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