Tweet
Hello all. This worked the last time I tried it (circa July 2003, with a copy of "The Sword of the Spirits" by John Christopher) so I thought I'd give it a try here.
Same situation. I'm groping for the title of a book that I read and really enjoyed many years ago, which I can't remember. The book is fiction, is written in English, and details a story about a young boy in ancient times. He is either Greek, Cretan, or Egyptian - I don't remember which. Living in a society where only priests can understand the complex pictograph script, he is entrusted with the secret of 22 phonetic letters and how all language can be simplified to those letters.
At one point he is caught in the middle of a skirmish and taken captive on board an enemy galley, and he and his fellow captives escape during a dramatic sequence. Their captors make them dance, and during the dance the prisoners' ringleader tells them to rush the guards and take their weapons and commandeer the ship, all in song.
At the end of the book, he returns to his oppressed people and teaches them the simplified script, allowing them to throw off their shackles and revolt against the priest caste.
The title was something like "The Twenty-Two Letters of the Alphabet". However, I have tried looking for this on Amazon.com (using reasonable variants thereof) and haven't found it yet.
Does anybody remember anything like this? It was a very good book, and although I last read it when I was 10, I hope to get a copy again. Any help would be appreciated!
Same situation. I'm groping for the title of a book that I read and really enjoyed many years ago, which I can't remember. The book is fiction, is written in English, and details a story about a young boy in ancient times. He is either Greek, Cretan, or Egyptian - I don't remember which. Living in a society where only priests can understand the complex pictograph script, he is entrusted with the secret of 22 phonetic letters and how all language can be simplified to those letters.
At one point he is caught in the middle of a skirmish and taken captive on board an enemy galley, and he and his fellow captives escape during a dramatic sequence. Their captors make them dance, and during the dance the prisoners' ringleader tells them to rush the guards and take their weapons and commandeer the ship, all in song.
At the end of the book, he returns to his oppressed people and teaches them the simplified script, allowing them to throw off their shackles and revolt against the priest caste.
The title was something like "The Twenty-Two Letters of the Alphabet". However, I have tried looking for this on Amazon.com (using reasonable variants thereof) and haven't found it yet.
Does anybody remember anything like this? It was a very good book, and although I last read it when I was 10, I hope to get a copy again. Any help would be appreciated!
Comment