A Dance of Pride and Peril

Dreams and destiny in the land of the Great Goddess

Four thousand years ago, Crete is a land of contrasts. The mountains are wild and forbidding and people live and toil there as they have always done, vulnerable to disaster and sudden death. Yet on the coast, a new world is arising.
As a young woman in the high mountains, Talita knows nothing of the opulent and sophisticated civilisation developing in the cities of the coast. Yet when her uncle sells her and she is taken to the city of Mulia she seizes the chance of a new life.

Mulia is famous for its thrilling and deadly acrobatic displays, where young men face the fierce charges of giant bulls, leaping over them or dying in the attempt. Talita is sold to the owner of the arena and trains as a dancer, her job to entertain the audience and goad the raging bulls.

Yet she wants more than this. Even as a child, she protected her flock from bears and wolves and was undaunted by them. Now she yearns to be a bull-leaper, a role reserved for men. Her friends and lover believe she is foolish to have such dreams. Foolish, wilful and dangerously reckless.

When she realises that she has a bond with Torq, the mightiest of the bulls, her ambition grows even stronger. Yet her dreams are thwarted when priests arrive from the Kingdom of Egypt and steal Torq away.

Her enemies accuse Talita of taking Torq. Despite her pleas, she and her lover Pellon are condemned to a hideous death at the hands of the Ancient Ones.

Will she find the strength and courage to escape? Dare she voyage to the distant land of Egypt and challenge the powerful, cunning, High Priest. Can she liberate Torq, prove her innocence and save her life?

This is a fascinating exploration of an ancient culture in which the Great Goddess was worshipped, and entirely appropriate that the hero of this tale is a young girl. I recommend this book to you both for its history but also for an inspiring tale about courage in an independent young girl who refuses to have her life circumscribed by the edicts of others. S.A. Dunster

Martin Lakes brings to life the extraordinary traditions of the bull-leaping school and develops the richness of feelings of despair and struggle in a series of tantalising and exciting twists and turns as Talitha's story develops. Sian Martin

I loved this book. Martin Lake has a wonderful gift for making history come alive on the page and in the reader's mind, and he has surpassed himself with this new story, set in Crete in ancient times. The pace of this story never falters, the other characters are real and believable, and the power of Lake's historical re-creation ensures that the reader is "there" at every moment. This is a book not to be missed. Enjoy! CelticGirl


Genre: Fantasy