From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. This second volume of Shanower’s award-winning series offers readers an intense retelling of the saga of the Trojan War using multiple literary and historical sources as a springboard. Shanower is the rare talent who can adapt such a well-known work and not only make the dense material accessible, but utterly compelling. Each panel drips with detail and epic scope, yet the characters are never lost in the fray. The Greeks of yore are refreshingly depicted as ethnic in appearance, and a mind-boggling amount of research has been expended on the story and visuals. This collection opens with Paris, Prince of Troy, returning home with Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, as his stolen paramour, unconcerned that she is wed to a king who is determined to reclaim her. Paris’s father, Priam, reluctantly welcomes Helen to his land. Meanwhile, the inexperienced warrior Achilles leads a bloody assault on an island which he mistakenly believes to be Troy. Bitter sibling rivalry, obsessive lust, full-scale battles, simmering homoerotic tension, and drama and intrigue on every page combine to create a stunning addition to the literature of the Trojan War.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up–If you have fans of A Thousand Ships (Image, 2001), then read no further: just order this book immediately. Shanower has mastered the history, archaeology, literature, and mythology of the Trojan War, and is busy distilling the results into seven graphic novels. He understands human psychology, dramatic pacing, narrative structure–and he can draw. Sacrifice begins by recapitulating the story thus far. Paris sails back to Troy, just as self-regarding and shortsighted as when he left. Thrilled with his own prize (Helen), he has no understanding of the political complications. Priam does, but he is swayed by the machinations of Helen and by Hecuba's generosity. Not only are the major characters (Achilles, Klytemnestra, Odysseus) complex, but even a minor player like Telephus is carefully developed. Shanower's graphic decisions are admirable, and some pages (like the tormented Agamemnon's recitation of his family history) are brilliant. There's more sensitive material in this volume: incest, nudity, violent death–all in the sources–but no one will be checking out Sacrifice for its few dicey scenes. This work demands close engagement and thoughtful response: it makes the Trojan War both unbelievably distant in a vivid historical past, and compellingly present in our own age.–Patricia D. Lothrop, St. George's School, Newport, RI Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


From Booklist
Gr. 8-up. The second installment of Shanower's black-and-white graphic-novel retelling of the Trojan War takes up the story, begun in A Thousand Ships (2001), as Paris and his fleet arrive in Troy. Helen's beauty; Kassandra's dire predictions; Achilles' desire for adventure and his homosexuality (discerningly depicted); and Mycenae's response to the threat of war provide the synergy in this episode, and Agamemnon's sacrifice of Iphigenia unfolds with heartbreaking determination. Extension of a single image (the wind is a monstrous, hissing presence spreading across several panels), and changes in perspective keep the eye as busy as the mind in attending to both the narrative and the metaphor of the classic myth. The denouement, placing Odysseus on the beach, wondering aloud if anyone will recognize him when he returns home, is an excellent cliffhanger to prepare readers for the next volume of this retelling. An appended glossary and genealogical charts will help those new to Greek mythology, and a page-long preface recaps the first volume. Francisca Goldsmith
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
While Trojan prince Paris returns to Troy with Helen, the Achaean fleet mistakenly attacks Mysia, then is scattered by a storm. High King Agamemnon gathers the army again, but for the fleet to sail, the gods require the life of Agamemnon's eldest daughter, Iphigenia.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The Trojan War springs to life once more in this award-winning graphic novel. The famous names of legend breathe anew as human nature displays itself in all its glory and all its degradation. Odysseus decides to use runaway Helen's beauty as an incentive to gather the army and keep it focused on war with Troy. But this clever idea ties Odysseus closer to the war, ensuring that long years must pass before he can return to the home and family he longs for. When the warrior prince Achilles leaps onto the beach and throws his spear, it's the opening of a battle with ramifications reaching far beyond the end of the fight. Achilles finds himself compelled to choose between his son's mother and the man he loves. Then a ragged stranger forces his way through the gates of Mycenae to threaten High King Agamemnon's infant son Orestes. Instead of uniting Agamemnon with his wife Klytemnestra, this menace only increases the tension between them, tension that grows even sharper when Agamemnon is required by the gods to make a heart-searing sacrifice.

In Sacrifice, Eric Shanower combines the legend of Troy -- perhaps the greatest story ever told -- with recent archaeological evidence of the Late Bronze Age to create a detailed new vision of the first major conflict between east and west. In February 1991, Eric Shanower conceived the idea to tell the story of the Trojan War in the comics medium by combining the myriad versions of the Greek myth with the archaeological record to dramatically and visually present the complete story in authentic historical detail. That idea became Age of Bronze, for which Mr. Shanower has won several awards. His past comic book work includes his Oz graphic novel series and An Accidental Death, written by Ed Brubaker. His illustrations have appeared in many comics throughout the USA and Europe and in magazines, in books, and on television. He is the author of two prose books.

FROM THE CRITICS

Douglas Wolk - The Washington Post

Shanower's sureness of the tiniest details feeds Age of Bronze's barreling momentum. His Trojan War is a conflict of people more than of nations, and the cast is dizzyingly huge, but he juggles them deftly, selecting images that say what words can't.

School Library Journal