{
  "id": "troy-shield-of-thunder",
  "shelfNumber": "11",
  "title": "Troy: Shield of Thunder",
  "subtitle": "",
  "authors": [
    "David Gemmell"
  ],
  "firstPublished": "2006",
  "firstPublicationNote": "First published in 2006. Exact first-publication day is not established; selected paperback dates are later edition dates.",
  "kind": "Novel; heroic historical fiction drawing on the Troy tradition",
  "themes": [
    "adventure",
    "place"
  ],
  "theme": "sea",
  "layout": "voyage",
  "tagline": "A harbor. A promise. A gathering conflict.",
  "dek": "The coast is a meeting place for travellers, warriors and uneasy alliances. As conflict gathers around Troy, Gemmell asks what courage and loyalty might mean to people caught inside a legend. This is the second part of a continuing story: begin with Lord of the Silver Bow, then arrive here with its relationships still in mind.",
  "art": {
    "src": "/images/bookshelf-goodreads/troy-shield-of-thunder.webp",
    "alt": "An imagined Bronze Age Mediterranean harbor of pale stone and turquoise sea, with a plain bronze disc in the foreground.",
    "width": 1536,
    "height": 1024,
    "caption": "Original AI-generated atmosphere for PointCast. Not a book cover, archival image or historical document."
  },
  "context": {
    "heading": "Arrive with the first volume in mind.",
    "paragraphs": [
      "The coast is a meeting place for travellers, warriors and uneasy alliances. As conflict gathers around Troy, Gemmell asks what courage and loyalty might mean to people caught inside a legend. This is the second part of a continuing story: begin with Lord of the Silver Bow, then arrive here with its relationships still in mind.",
      "Gemmell's Troy is an imaginative retelling, not a translation of Homer or an archaeological account. In a publisher-hosted interview about the trilogy's opening volume, he explains his interest in mortal lives and the freedom of creating his own version. Read the novel's choices alongside the older tradition without treating fiction as proof of Bronze Age events.",
      "Includes warfare, violence and loss. This continuing story draws on relationships established in the first volume. The series and publisher blurbs reveal later developments; use the titles for reading order and save those descriptions until afterward."
    ],
    "sourceIds": [
      "source-2",
      "source-3",
      "source-5"
    ]
  },
  "authorNote": {
    "text": "David Gemmell creates his own imaginative Troy. His publisher-hosted interview describes an interest in mortal lives; keep that novelist’s perspective distinct from Homeric translation or evidence about Bronze Age events.",
    "sourceIds": [
      "source-2",
      "source-3",
      "source-5"
    ]
  },
  "entryPoints": [
    {
      "id": "loyalty",
      "label": "Loyalty",
      "title": "Follow an obligation.",
      "prompt": "Choose one relationship and notice the promises made in quiet scenes as well as in conflict."
    },
    {
      "id": "place",
      "label": "Place",
      "title": "Read the coast as a meeting point.",
      "prompt": "Notice who arrives, who can leave and how journeys bring different commitments into contact."
    },
    {
      "id": "retelling",
      "label": "Retelling",
      "title": "Recognize a novelist’s choices.",
      "prompt": "Keep what you remember from ancient myth beside what this novel actually establishes. What becomes immediate or uncertain?"
    }
  ],
  "pathways": [
    {
      "label": "Begin with the first volume",
      "title": "Begin with the first volume",
      "text": "Let the relationships arrive before the battles. Read Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow first. At the opening of Shield of Thunder, note which loyalties have carried over. Keep the publisher's later-volume blurbs for after reading."
    },
    {
      "label": "Trace a loyalty",
      "title": "Trace a loyalty",
      "text": "Watch one character's obligations change when private commitments meet public danger. Choose one relationship to follow. Notice promises made in quiet scenes as well as in conflict. Ask whose account of duty you trust, and why."
    },
    {
      "label": "Read the retelling",
      "title": "Read the retelling",
      "text": "Attend to what this novelist chooses to make human, uncertain and immediate. Separate what you recognize from ancient myth from what the novel establishes. Notice who tells stories inside the story. Read Gemmell's interview after the first volume if you want context for his choices."
    }
  ],
  "editions": [
    {
      "id": "troy-shield-ballantine-paperback-2007",
      "label": "Ballantine U.S. trade paperback",
      "format": "Paperback",
      "publisher": "Ballantine Books",
      "isbn": "9780345477026",
      "publicationDate": "2007-12-26",
      "pages": 512,
      "extras": "Additional introductions, notes or supplementary material have not been established for this edition. Publisher dimensions: 5.5 × 8.25 inches, as listed by the publisher. Textual differences from other editions have not been established.",
      "why": "A larger U.S. paperback format for an extended first reading. Useful if you prefer a trade-size page rather than the compact Corgi format.",
      "sourceId": "source-1",
      "links": [
        {
          "kind": "new",
          "label": "Visit the publisher's purchase page",
          "url": "https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/59024/troy-shield-of-thunder-by-david-gemmell/paperback/",
          "note": "Exact selected paperback ISBN 9780345477026. Check the external provider’s regional and format terms."
        },
        {
          "kind": "used",
          "label": "Compare used copies by ISBN",
          "url": "https://www.abebooks.com/book-search/isbn/9780345477026/n/100121502",
          "note": "Exact print ISBN search. Check seller condition, binding and delivery terms."
        },
        {
          "kind": "borrow",
          "label": "Find the title through your library",
          "url": "https://www.overdrive.com/media/259974/shield-of-thunder",
          "note": "Title-level discovery of a separate licensed Transworld ebook; the selected print ISBN is not a verified local holding. An eligible card and participating-library licence are required; availability and holds vary."
        }
      ],
      "translator": "Not applicable — English original"
    },
    {
      "id": "troy-shield-corgi-paperback-2007",
      "label": "Corgi compact U.K. paperback",
      "format": "Paperback",
      "publisher": "Corgi",
      "isbn": "9780552151122",
      "publicationDate": "2007-04-02",
      "pages": 640,
      "extras": "Additional introductions, notes or supplementary material have not been established for this edition. Publisher dimensions: 177 mm × 40 mm × 107 mm, as listed by the publisher. Publisher displays 02/04/2007 in U.K. day/month/year order. Textual differences from other editions have not been established.",
      "why": "A compact U.K. paperback for carrying. Its 640 pages and smaller dimensions distinguish the physical format; they do not establish extra chapters or a revised text.",
      "sourceId": "source-2",
      "links": [
        {
          "kind": "new",
          "label": "Choose a retailer on the U.K. publisher's page",
          "url": "https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/329786/troy-shield-of-thunder-by-gemmell-david/9780552151122",
          "note": "Exact selected paperback ISBN 9780552151122. Check the external provider’s regional and format terms."
        },
        {
          "kind": "used",
          "label": "Compare used copies by ISBN",
          "url": "https://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-search/isbn/9780552151122/n/100121502",
          "note": "Exact print ISBN search. Check seller condition, binding and delivery terms."
        },
        {
          "kind": "borrow",
          "label": "Find the title through your library",
          "url": "https://www.overdrive.com/media/259974/shield-of-thunder",
          "note": "Title-level ebook discovery; print borrowing requires checking your library's catalog for this ISBN. An eligible card and participating-library licence are required; availability and holds vary."
        }
      ],
      "translator": "Not applicable — English original"
    }
  ],
  "digitalRoutes": [],
  "rightsNote": "Modern copyrighted work. Purchase authorized copies or borrow through licensed libraries; no free full-text route was verified. No book text or cover is hosted here.",
  "readerNote": "Includes warfare, violence and loss. This continuing story draws on relationships established in the first volume. The series and publisher blurbs reveal later developments; use the titles for reading order and save those descriptions until afterward.",
  "deeper": {
    "themes": [
      {
        "title": "The cost of a promise",
        "text": "Which obligation becomes most difficult to keep, and how does the novel make that difficulty visible?"
      },
      {
        "title": "Courage away from battle",
        "text": "Where does courage appear away from a battlefield?"
      },
      {
        "title": "Alliances and trust",
        "text": "How do personal loyalties complicate political alliances?"
      }
    ],
    "questions": [
      "Which voices control how an event is remembered, and whose experience falls outside that account?",
      "What does the focus on mortal characters allow Gemmell to explore?",
      "What changes in your understanding of the first novel after reading the second, without anticipating the third?"
    ]
  },
  "series": {
    "intro": "Begin with Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow. Shield of Thunder continues the trilogy; knowledge of the ancient myth does not replace the first novel. Publisher descriptions contain later developments; the order below is spoiler-light.",
    "items": [
      {
        "title": "Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow",
        "note": "Volume 1. By David Gemmell.",
        "url": "https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/59023/troy-lord-of-the-silver-bow-by-david-gemmell/paperback/",
        "sourceId": "source-5"
      },
      {
        "title": "Troy: Shield of Thunder",
        "note": "Volume 2. By David Gemmell.",
        "url": "https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/59024/troy-shield-of-thunder-by-david-gemmell/paperback/",
        "sourceId": "source-1"
      },
      {
        "title": "Troy: Fall of Kings",
        "note": "Volume 3. By David and Stella Gemmell.",
        "url": "https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/TRY/the-troy-trilogy/",
        "sourceId": "source-3"
      }
    ]
  },
  "related": [
    {
      "title": "Treasure Island",
      "url": "/books/treasure-island/",
      "why": "Read another adventure through journeys, obligations and uncertain accounts."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "source-1",
      "label": "U.S. publisher — Troy: Shield of Thunder",
      "url": "https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/59024/troy-shield-of-thunder-by-david-gemmell/paperback/",
      "type": "U.S. publisher",
      "note": "Selected Ballantine paperback ISBN, format, publication date, pages and dimensions; New purchase route."
    },
    {
      "id": "source-2",
      "label": "U.K. publisher — Troy: Shield of Thunder",
      "url": "https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/329786/troy-shield-of-thunder-by-gemmell-david/9780552151122",
      "type": "U.K. publisher",
      "note": "Selected Corgi paperback ISBN, format, date, pages and dimensions; Troy book two; Retailer choices."
    },
    {
      "id": "source-3",
      "label": "Publisher series record — Troy: Shield of Thunder",
      "url": "https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/TRY/the-troy-trilogy/",
      "type": "Publisher series record",
      "note": "Explicit numbered reading order; David and Stella Gemmell credited for Fall of Kings."
    },
    {
      "id": "source-4",
      "label": "Author-associated book record — Troy: Shield of Thunder",
      "url": "https://davidgemmell.com/shield-of-thunder/",
      "type": "Author-associated book record",
      "note": "First publication year 2006."
    },
    {
      "id": "source-5",
      "label": "Publisher-hosted author interview — Troy: Shield of Thunder",
      "url": "https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/59023/troy-lord-of-the-silver-bow-by-david-gemmell/paperback/",
      "type": "Publisher-hosted author interview",
      "note": "Gemmell's own explanation of imaginative retelling and mortal focus; First volume's title."
    },
    {
      "id": "source-6",
      "label": "Licensed digital distribution catalog — Troy: Shield of Thunder",
      "url": "https://www.overdrive.com/media/259974/shield-of-thunder",
      "type": "Licensed digital distribution catalog",
      "note": "Title-level ebook library discovery."
    },
    {
      "id": "source-7",
      "label": "Library licensed digital catalog — Troy: Shield of Thunder",
      "url": "https://tlc.overdrive.com/media/259974",
      "type": "Library licensed digital catalog",
      "note": "Separate ebook ISBN 9781409084655; Transworld release date and EPUB/OverDrive Read formats."
    },
    {
      "id": "source-8",
      "label": "Bookseller marketplace — Troy: Shield of Thunder",
      "url": "https://www.abebooks.com/book-search/isbn/9780345477026/n/100121502",
      "type": "Bookseller marketplace",
      "note": "Exact selected U.S. ISBN used-copy search."
    },
    {
      "id": "source-9",
      "label": "Bookseller marketplace — Troy: Shield of Thunder",
      "url": "https://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-search/isbn/9780552151122/n/100121502",
      "type": "Bookseller marketplace",
      "note": "Exact selected U.K. ISBN used-copy search."
    }
  ],
  "checkedAt": "2026-10-03",
  "canonical": "https://pointcast.xyz/books/troy-shield-of-thunder/",
  "artworkProvenance": "/images/bookshelf-goodreads/provenance.json",
  "commerce": "External discovery links. Providers determine availability, prices, condition, and library eligibility. No PointCast stock, checkout, payment, or fulfilment.",
  "reproducedBookText": false,
  "quotationsUsed": 0,
  "artworkIsOfficialCover": false
}