Dragonflies is written by Mayne Island author Grant Buday

Dragonflies, 165 pages

Author: Grant Buday

It is easy enough to exploit the story of Helen of Troy.

That story is a raging epic, borrowed for countless novels, Hollywood films and plenty of documentaries.

Grant Buday, an author from Mayne Island, borrows from the mythology for his latest novel, Dragonflies.

But in as much as the story of the Greeks and the Trojans form the background of the book, it’s really Odysseus’s story. And the Trojan horse really belongs to Odysseus.

Buday’s Odysseus is war weary. He wants to go home and see his son, who in the 10 years the Greeks and Trojans have been at war has grown. He wants to see his wife, Penelope. But instead he is stuck in a foreign land, manipulated by kings and generals, hated by other soldiers and advisors.

He is disdainful of Menelaus, who forces the war to continue so he can get back a woman who in all likelyhood doesn’t even want him.

Odysseus’s disdain is finely written, as if even though no on can hear his thoughts there is a fear someone might have him killed for treason. But on occasion, Odysseus’s contempt is clear and biting.

Buday also uses a gently mocking hand to paint an attitude about the other warring king, Menelaus’s brother Agamemnon, who wants to rule the kingdom of Troy.

Agamemnon gives Odysseus the most difficult of tasks: think of a plan to end this war. The weight of the world is handed to him amid a plethora of flowery words.

Odysseus has to fight naysayers and his enemies to convince them of the merits of a Trojan horse. His supporters are tormented and accused, and his ache for home follows him everywhere. Odysseus is the unwilling hero, and a beautifully written one at that.

It is Buday’s excellent description of the Greeks’ camp and situation that paints this book so well. He is a poet in a narrative format.

He also sprinkles in fascinating bits of ancient mythology and characters.

And in the grand tradition of such epic tales, even a positive ending is not necessarily a happy one.

Dragonflies is available through bookstores, or online at Amazon or www.biblioasis.com. It is $19.95.

The Chronicle reviews books primarily by Vancouver Island authors, or on topics relevant to the Ladysmith/Chemainus area. To have your book considered for review, e-mail editor@ladysmithchronicle.com.