It is impossible to manufacture any concern or involvement with the pretty or mighty or noble creatures paraded across the page. Briseis, heroine or not, is just another surprisingly clever, unsinkably brave fairy tale princess. A princess who has sex at the drop of a mantle, like all her peers. That, oddly enough is not a big draw. The sex is strangely unarousing.
Orgies read as rather pale action sequences, less enticing than the battle scenes.
If I was a bit embarrassed to be seen with it in public, that's just the bodice-ripper aspect. Daughter of Troy is a fresh slant on a familiar subject, by an author who has done her research. In fact, the most interesting part of the book may well be the Postscript, where Franklin explores and explains the inconsistencies between archaeological evidence and existing literature. Certainly, it goes down easier. She co-authored the 45th anniversary issue cover of MAD Magazine.