WHO KILLED CORIOLANUS? (TROY TO ROME BOOK 2)

Fritsch’s unique twist on ancient Greece and early Rome offers more adventures of Timon, last surviving member of Troy’s royal family, and his companion, Lukas.

In Fritsch’s version of the Greek myth, Timon is son of Helen, the Spartan beauty, and Paris, the Trojan prince who brought her to Troy, which precipitated the Trojan War. After Paris was killed and Troy destroyed, Helen married Menelaus. They’ve reigned as king and queen of Sparta for the past 17 years. When they brought baby Timon to Sparta, they placed him in an orphanage to ensure his safety. He grew up with Lukas, his best friend, lover, and musical soul mate. Timon has only recently learned of his royal lineage. Now he and Lukas live together in the palace. Meanwhile, trouble is brewing in the fledging republic of Rome, populated two decades earlier by Trojan escapees. Former Trojan landowner Coriolanus, now commander of the Roman army and navy, sends his 18-year-old son, Marco, to Sparta to invite Timon, whose existence has recently become public, for a visit. In Rome, the three young men establish a ménage à trois, and Fritsch devotes considerable narrative space to their carefree, libidinous romps. Unfortunately, their frolicking, less poignant than the earlier novel’s Timon-Lukas love story, threatens to overwhelm the novel’s more intriguing underpinnings, which deal with political avarice and gender equality, the latter represented by the story’s strongest female character, Thalia, captain of her own merchant ship. Gradually, Timon realizes Coriolanus’ invitation was part of a plan to replace the republic with a monarchy. He intends to seize power during the upcoming senate elections, in which the “plebeians,” who now have the right to vote, have forced the patricians to run against Brutus, the populist hero. Readers will recognize Coriolanus’ scheme to overthrow the popular vote by violence as a haunting reminder of America’s current political climate and the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Following the structure of his series opener, Fritsch hands over alternating narration to the three primary characters—Timon, Lukas, and Marco, giving the novel three distinct, engaging voices, although only Marco faces emotionally compelling conflict.

An enjoyable escape read, sometimes undermined by frivolous scenes, with contemporary relevance and likable leads.