Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #415855 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 245 pages

Customer Reviews

Ancient Warfare Brought to Life
Novels about Ancient Greece are not exactly falling off the bookshelves into the laps of prospective reader's, so whenever I find one I usually snap it up, as Ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt are among my favourite reading material. The author Jon Martin is the advisory editor of the magazine Sparta. This is a journal of Ancient Spartan and Greek history. Such a position leaves little doubt of his love and knowledge of the subject he writes about. He has travelled to many areas of Greece with the sole intent of adding as much authenticity to his novels as possible.

The author's books are not what I would class as light reading, but they are well worth taking the time to read properly. By that I mean that they require the reader's full attention. Not the sort of book to be read while watching the television and almost impossible to speed read but they are none the worse for that.

This novel revolves around the Battle of Marathon, surely among the most famous of all the battles that took place in the ancient world. The author's love and knowledge of the subject shines throughout the book. A book that holds the attention of the reader from start to finish. Warfare at the time was brutal and bloody and the author does not pull any punches when it comes to describing the combat. The book gives a wonderful description of the battle and what it must have been like to be caught up in such a conflict.

Good but missed the mark
This was my first novel by Jon Edward Martin and unfortunately it disappointed from the off. There is no doubt about his knowledge and passion for Ancient Greece but as a novel it just doesn't deliver.

The book is a series of snapshots covering 33 years of Persian / Greek history with small chapters covering major events. It simply tries to cram in too much before the battle and then, as if he had run out of enthusiasm for the project, skims through this major battle in just a few short pages leaving the reader feeling cheated.

In addition to this there are grammar and spelling errors on almost every page which spoilt the flow. I cannot believe a proofreader was employed it's so bad.

There are much better novels from this era such as Steven Pressfield's wonderful Gates of Fire. If you are a Bernard Cornwell or Conn Iggulden fan forget this book.