Tros of Samothrace is a fantasy novel by author Talbot Mundy

Talbot Mundy

Talbot Mundy was an English writer. He also wrote under the pseudonym Walter Galt.-Life and work:...

. It was published in 1934

1934 in literature

The year 1934 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* The first Flash Gordon comic strip is published.*Boris Pasternak and Korney Chukovsky are among those present at the first Congress of the Soviet Union of Writers....

 by Appleton-Century

Appleton-Century-Crofts

Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., was a division of the Meredith Publishing Company. It is a result of the merger of Appleton-Century Company with F.S. Crofts Co. in 1948. Prior to that, The Century Company had merged with D...

. The novel was constructed of novellas which first appeared in the magazine Adventure

Adventure (magazine)

Adventure magazine was first published in November 1910 as a monthly pulp magazine. Adventure went on become one of the most profitable and critically acclaimed of all the American pulp magazines...

in 1925-1926.

The original sequence of novellas appeared as follows:

• 1. "Tros of Samothrace", 10 February 1925
• 2. "The Enemy of Rome", 10 April 1925
• 3. "Prisoners of War", 10 June 1925
• 4. "Hostages to Luck", 20 August 1925
• 5. "Admiral of Caesar's Fleet", 10 October 1925
• 6. "The Dancing Girl of Gades", 10 December 1925
• 7. "Messenger of Destiny", part 1, 10 February 1926
• 8. "Messenger of Destiny", part 2, 20 February 1926
• 9. "Messenger of Destiny", part 3, 28 February 1926

When Tros of Samothrace was published in four paperback volumes in 1967 and 1971, the breaks between volumes coincided with Mundy's own breaks between episodes:

• Tros contains "Tros of Samothrace" and "The Enemy of Rome"
• Helma contains "Prisoners of War" and "Hostages to Luck"
• Liafail contains "Admiral of Caesar's Fleet" and "The Dancing Girl of Gades"
• Helene contains all three parts of "Messenger of Destiny"

When Tros of Samothrace was reissued in three paperback volumes in 1976, the breaks between volumes came partway through "Prisoners of War" and "Admiral of Caesar's Fleet".

Plot introduction

The novel concerns the swashbuckling adventures of the title character as he battles Norsemen, pre-Roman Britons and Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....

.

Publication history

• 1929, USA, Bobbs-Merrill
  Bobbs-Merrill Company
  The Bobbs-Merrill Company was a book publisher located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Bobbs-Merrill was known for publishing such authors as Richard Halliburton, David Markson, Ayn Rand, James Whitcomb Riley, Walter Dean Myers, and Irma S. Rombauer. Bobbs-Merrill also published the early works of...
  
  
  • Queen Cleopatra
• 1934, USA, Appleton-Century
  Appleton-Century-Crofts
  Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., was a division of the Meredith Publishing Company. It is a result of the merger of Appleton-Century Company with F.S. Crofts Co. in 1948. Prior to that, The Century Company had merged with D...
  
  , Pub date 1934, Hardback
• 1934, UK, Hutchinson
  Hutchinson (publisher)
  Hutchinson & Co. was an English book publisher, founded in 1887. The company merged with Century Publishing in 1985 to form Century Hutchinson, and was folded into the British Random House Group in 1989, where it remains as an imprint in the Cornerstone Publishing division...
  
  , Pub date 1934, Hardback
• 1935, USA, Appleton-Century
  Appleton-Century-Crofts
  Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., was a division of the Meredith Publishing Company. It is a result of the merger of Appleton-Century Company with F.S. Crofts Co. in 1948. Prior to that, The Century Company had merged with D...
  
  , Hardback
  • The Purple Pirate
• 1958, USA, Gnome Press
  Gnome Press
  Gnome Press was an American small-press publishing company primarily known for publishing many science fiction classics.The company was founded in 1948 by Martin Greenberg and David A. Kyle. Many of Gnome's titles were reprinted in England by Boardman Books...
  
  , Pub date 1958
• 1962, USA, Ace Books
  Ace Books
  Ace Books is the oldest active specialty publisher of science fiction and fantasy books. The company was founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn, and began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns...
  
  , Pub date 1962
  • Queen Cleopatra
• 1967, USA, Avon Books, Pub date 1967, Paperback as 4 books:
  • Tros
  • Helma
  • Liafail
  • Helene
  • Queen Cleopatra (1969)
  • Purple Pirate (1970) bookcover art by Jeff Jones
    Jeff Jones (artist)
    Jeffrey Catherine Jones was an American artist whose work is best known from the late 1960s through 2000s. Jones provided over 150 covers for many different types of books through 1976, as well as venturing into fine art during and after this time...
    
    
• 1968, UK, Chivers, Pub date 1968, Hardback
• 1971, UK, Tandem, Pub date 1971, Paperback as 4 books:
  • Tros
  • Helma
  • Liafail
  • Helene
• 1976, USA, Zebra Books, Pub date 1976, Paperback as 5 books:
  • Lud of Lunden
  • Avenging Liafail
  • The Praetor's Dungeon
  • The Purple Pirate (1977)
  • Queen Cleopatra (1978)
• 2009, UK & USA Leonaur Books, paperback & hardback as 6 books:
  • Wolves of the Tiber
  • Dragons of the North
  • Serpent of the Waves
  • City of the Eagles
  • Queen Cleopatra
  • Purple Pirate