If the reader can do that, the book has a number of pluses. You can't take this as historically-grounded fiction it's better to view the setting as a fantasy world that happens to have jumbled parallels to history. In this novel, soldiers who fought in the recent Trojan War (waged a bit before 1200 B.C.) are still drifting back home -but the poet Homer, who actually lived a few centuries later, appears here as a young student bard. Readers who never watched it, or who (like me!) can't remember all of the first two season's episodes, can still enjoy the book easily.Ī weakness of the series was that the writers never anchored it at any point in ancient history persons and events from across two millenia and more were just thrown together in an anachronistic jumble. Some mention is made, here and there, of incidents that happened in series episodes but while series fans are the primary intended audience, prior knowledge of it isn't really necessary. She's also faithful to the portrayals of Xena and Gabrielle (and another series regular who makes a cameo, Mannius) their character, and the qualities of their relationship, are brought to life faultlessly. The author's use of these elements is deft, staying faithful to the characterizations and back-stories of these figures, while at the same time fleshing them out and giving them believable personalities. But Emerson has worked other strands of classical mythology into her tale as well: the titular 'huntress' is the legendary Atalanta, and both Nausicaa and skilled weaver Arachne play roles in the story. Xena and sidekick Gabrielle (who here actually comes into her own as pretty much an equal partner in the adventure) do get drawn into a rescue mission for some kidnapped preteen girls, and the Sphinx from Greek mythology is involved. Though lifted from the back cover copy, the Goodreads description oversimplifies the premise here, but it's basically accurate.

If I could give half-stars, I'd probably give it three and a half but I rounded up due to some unexpected positives. (Published in 1997, it reflects the first couple of seasons.) Wanting a light, short book to fit in between other reads, I recently started it without ultra-high expectations I expected it to be passable entertainment that I'd rate at three stars. Being a fan of the old Xena, Warrior Princess TV series (1995-2001), when I stumbled on it on BookMooch, I snagged a copy of this original spin-off novel based on the series.

The Xena Scrolls by Ru Emerson