Troy: Shield of Thunder
 Helikaon, King of Dardania, and his unfulfilled love for Andromache, now wife of Hektor, continues to be the central theme of this novel. However, the story is dominated by two surviving Mykene warriors turned outlaws - Kalliades and Banokles—who flee the wrath of Agamemnon, rescue a mysterious woman Piria (who turns out to be a runaway priestess, whose real name is Kalliope, and a royal princess). The three are themselves rescued by Odysseus, whose past is gradually revealed. Odysseus, like other kings, is headed for Troy to participate in the wedding celebrations of Hektor and Andromache. In the meantime, Helikaon has been seriously wounded by the assassin Karpophorus and only gradually returns to health. Andromache approaches Hektor, seeking an end to their engagement, only to learn a closely guarded secret concerning his manhood. Her earlier visit to king Priam revealed a harsh truth, upon which she acts much later. By the last third of the book, Troy is at war with Agamemnon and his allies. The Greek battleplan is rather different from that in the Iliad but makes sense historically. (Perhaps Gemmell was inspired by Mithridates or the Greek-Persian wars.) What happens next is a stunning set of reverses engineered by long-term planning and long-concealed treachery. In the last book, Troy: Fall of Kings (published in August 2007; U.S. edition due in December), the war between the Trojans and the Greeks will come to its climax. it:L'ombra di Troia pl:Troja: Tarcza Gromu