''Ilario, A Story of the First History'' is a novel by

Mary Gentle Mary Rosalyn Gentle (born 29 March 1956) is a UK science fiction and fantasy author. Literary career Mary Gentle's first published novel was ''Hawk in Silver'' (1977), a young-adult fantasy. She came to prominence with the '' Orthe'' duology, w ...

, published as two novels in the USA, set in an alternate history where

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the cla ...

has become a powerful medieval empire.

Synopsis

Set in the same alternate medieval world as Gentle's '' Ash: A Secret History'' sequence, ''Ilario, A Story of the First History'' is more limited in scope. The protagonist, Ilario, is an

intersex Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical bin ...

person seeking to serve as apprentice to a master painter, a path that takes Ilario from Iberia to Carthage, Rome, Venice and Constantinople. Described as "part picaresque, part travelogue, part prose ''

chanson de geste The ''chanson de geste'' (, from Latin 'deeds, actions accomplished') is a medieval narrative, a type of epic poem that appears at the dawn of French literature. The earliest known poems of this genre date from the late 11th and early 12th c ...

''", the story serves to examine issues of gender, sexuality, and power.Ilario: The Lion's Eye by Mary Gentle
Strange Horizons reviews, 6 March 2007

Reception

Roz Kaveney, reviewing ''The Lion's Eye'' for '' Time Out'' described the book as "action-packed, deeply intelligent novel a focus for intrigue, intellectual debate and a fair amount of polymorphous hot sexual action".Ilario: The Lion's Eye
Amazon.co.uk. ''

Strange Horizons ''Strange Horizons'' is an online speculative fiction magazine. It also features speculative poetry and nonfiction in every issue, including reviews, essays, interviews, and roundtables. History and profile It was launched in September 2000, and ...

'' found the book "something of a disappointment", with "precious few changes of tone".

Ilario novels

*''Ilario: The Lion's Eye''. London: Gollancz, 2006. **''Ilario: The Lion's Eye''. New York: EOS, 2007. **''Ilario: The Stone Golem''. New York: EOS, 2007.

References

British fantasy novels Novels about intersex 2000s novels British LGBT novels 2006 British novels Victor Gollancz Ltd books {{2000s-LGBT-novel-stub