Sparrows in the Wind

***Sparrows in the Wind*** is a 2022 fantasy adventure novel by Gail Carson Levine. When Cassandra, the princess of Troy, is cursed by the god Apollo so that no one believes her prophecies, she tries to challenge fate of an upcoming war with help from Amazon warrior princess, Rin.

## Blurb

Cassandra, a princess of Troy and follower of Apollo, is delighted when the god himself appears to her. Apollo asks to love her in exchange for giving her future sight, and she agrees—but recoils when he kisses her. Enraged, the god transforms his gift into a curse: Cassandra's visions will never be believed.
After horrifying images of coming war and death pour into her mind, and with no one to heed her warnings, Cassandra risks her safety again and again to avert the disaster awaiting Troy.

But it will take years—and the friendship of an Amazon warrior princess named Rin—for Cassandra to find hope of success in reversing the course of the war.

With heroines to cheer for and nail-biting adventures, Newbery Honor–winning author Gail Carson Levine once again transports her readers, this time to ancient Troy, where princesses (even cursed ones) will stop at nothing to shape their fate.

– *Official Book Description*
## Dedication

*To David: Thank you for your company in the worst of times and the best*

## Plot

Cassandra is tasked the important job of the *kanephoros*, a tradition in Ancient Greece where a young unmarried woman leads the procession to sacrifice in honor of a deity. This year being Apollo, Cassandra is nervous of stumbling, which is believed to cause a curse for their Trojan city. She successfully makes it down to the altar. Departing after the competitions, she goes to the sacred grove and meets the god Apollo. Apollo offers the gift of prophecy which extends to Cassandra's twin, Helenus. When he kisses her, Cassandra is revolted and pushes him away. This causes Apollo to be angry but states that he will return the next day. When the time arrives, Cassandra had a vision of her brother Hector dying in battle, and she storms out of the room. Eurus ends up bringing her back, and she apologizes, explaining that a kiss would be disgraceful. Since gods cannot take back their gifts, Apollo places a curse where nobody would believe Cassandra's prophecies or warnings, though spares her twin brother. This follows by a vision where in six years times, Troy is burned and she witnesses her death by a "rageful" woman. The only way the curse can be lifted is if she becomes Apollo's oracle in Delphi.

Meeting up with her twin, Helenus explains that the war is because of a woman named Helen who arrives to Trojan but the Greeks want her back. Survivors of Trojan will be enslaved, except for Helenus. He comments of his love for Helen, and does not appear to care about changing the dark future. Next, Cassandra makes food offerings to the gods and Eurus appears, thanking her. Being a young god around the age of Cassandra, he is considered minor and unlike the other deities, self-berates and takes blame. As a way to help, he explains that Paris has to choose the "fairest" of the three goddesses Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena. Cassandra realizes this will result in trouble if Paris offends the other two goddesses, though does not see how this connects to Troy yet. Eurus helps her travel to Mount Ida to visit Paris and his wife, where Cassandra witnesses the three goddesses appear. While Cassandra tries to intervene by declaring Hera as the fairest, Paris chooses Aphrodite. As a reward, Aphrodite offers Helen to Paris while Hera offers a favor to Cassandra which she accepts and will use later.

## Characters

Trojans
* Cassandra - princess; 14 years old
* Aminta - Cassandra's cousin
* Andromache - Cassandra's sister-in-law; Hector's wife
* Antenor - councilor to King Priam
* Conny - Queen Hecuba's dog
* Corythus - Paris and Oenone's son
* Oenone - Paris' wife, mountain nymph and seer
* Hecuba - queen and Cassandra's mother
* Priam - king and Cassandra's father
* Deiphobus - prince and Cassandra's older brother
* Hector - prince and Cassandra's older brother; 25 years old
* Helenus - prince and Cassandra's twin; 14 years old
* Laodice - princess and Cassandra's younger sister
* Pammon - prince and Cassandra's older brother
* Paris - prince and Cassandra's older brother
* Polydorus - prince and Cassandra's younger brother
* Kynthia - Cassandra's cousin
* Maera - Cassandra's hound
* Melo - Cassandra's cousin
* Laocoon - priest of Apollo
* Myrtes - palace musician

Amazons
* Rin (Shirin) - princess
* Barkida - first bowyer
* Gamis - second bowyer
* Khasa - Rin's older cousin
* Lannip - Rin's aunt
* Penthesilea - queen and Rin's mother
* Rethra - Rin's younger cousin
* Serag - Rin's aunt
* Short Block - a horse
* Tall Brown - a horse
* Young White Chest - Rin's dog
* Zelke - Rin's aunt

Greeks
* Achilles - warrior
* Agamemnon - commander of Greek army
* Helen - wife of Menelaus
* Hermione - Menelaus and Helen's daughter
* Menelaus - king of Sparta
* Pragora - Hermione's nursemaid

Greek/Trojan and Amazon Deities
* Aphrodite - goddess of love and beauty
* Apollo - god of truth and prophecy, protector of children
* Ares - god of war
* Athena - goddess of war and of the city
* Eris -goddess of discord
* Eurus - god of east wind
* Helios - god of sun
* Hera - goddess of family
* Poseidon - god of sea
* Zeus - thunder god, lord of the immortals
* Cybele - goddess of the earth and sun, warrior goddess

## Trivia

* Levine announced in her blog on March 9, 2022, "It's a new take on the Greek myth of the Trojan War. Part One is told by Trojan princess Cassandra, who has the gift of prophecy and the curse of never being believed; Part Two is told by the Amazon princess Rin. A Greek chorus is spoken by three crows, Apollo's sacred bird."
	+ She mentioned back in 2021, "In my forthcoming Trojan War book, Sparrows in the Wind, the poems are modelled on my idea of a Greek chorus, because in school, I loved the Greek chorus in classic Greek plays. My chorus is three crows."

## References

1. ↑ "Hep Cat" (blog post). March 9, 2022.
2. ↑ "Putting Poems In' (blog post). August 11, 2022.

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