''The Golden Wind'' is a

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other t ...

by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, first published in hardcover by Doubleday in 1969, and in paperback by

Curtis Curtis or Curtiss is a common English given name and surname of Anglo-Norman origin from the Old French ''curteis'' ( Modern French ''courtois'') which derived from the Spanish Cortés (of which Cortez is a variation) and the Portuguese and Ga ...

in 1972. The book was reissued with a new introduction by

Harry Turtledove Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14, 1949) is an American author who is best known for his work in the genres of alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and mystery fiction. He is a student of history and completed hi ...

as a trade paperback and ebook by

Phoenix Pick Phoenix Pick is the science fiction and fantasy imprint of Arc Manor Publishers based in Rockville, Maryland, United States. Phoenix Pick publishes many classic and semi-classic works of science fiction and fantasy. These include '' Dark Un ...

in July 2014. It is the fifth and last of de Camp's historical novels, both in order of writing and chronologically. The novel has also been translated into German. The same title was used for a story of adventure in China by Takashi Ohta and Margaret Sperry, first published in 1929.

Plot summary

The novel concerns the adventures of

Eudoxus of Cyzicus Eudoxus of Cyzicus (; el, Εὔδοξος ὁ Κυζικηνός, ''Eúdoxos ho Kyzikēnós''; fl. c. 130 BC) was a Greek navigator who explored the Arabian Sea for Ptolemy VIII, king of the Hellenistic Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt. Voyages t ...

and

Hippalus Hippalus ( Ancient Greek: Ἵππαλος) was a Greek navigator and merchant who probably lived in the 1st century BCE. He is sometimes conjectured to have been the captain of the Greek explorer Eudoxus of Cyzicus' ship. The writer of the ''Perip ...

on the first voyages by sea from

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. Following these, it deals with Eudoxus' efforts to circumvent the newly established Egyptian monopoly on trade with India by pioneering a new route around the west coast of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, which are ultimately defeated by misadventure and the sheer extent of the continent.

Reception

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' calls the book "a tale of high adventure, rich in historical lore and erudite in the telling. Of Mr. de Camp's ... novels, this may well be the most ambitious and quite possibly the best." In contrast, Carol Ann Shine, writing for ''

Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional pract ...

'', feels "Mr. de Camp has completely missed the mark in this story," which "moves slowly through stereotyped situations which would tax the imagination of the most gullible reader, and obvious and seemingly inappropriate philosophical discussions further delay the action." She rates it "for the faithful L. S. de Camp follower only ... however, this title will disappoint even Mr. de Camp's large following."Shine, Carol Ann. "DE CAMP, L. Sprague. ''The Golden Wind''. Review in ''Library Journal'', Mar. 15, 1969, pp. 1159-1160.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Golden Wind, The 1969 American novels Historical novels Novels by L. Sprague de Camp Doubleday (publisher) books Novels set in the 2nd century BC