Product Description

The gripping second volume of the bestselling Alexander series Continuing the epic saga of Alexander the Great, Alexander: The Sands of Ammon brilliantly describes Alexander's querst to conquer Asia, the limitless domain ruled by the Great King of the Persians. In a seemingly impossible venture, Alexander and his men storm Persian fortresses and harbours, crippling King Darius' domain of land and sea sea. Even the legendary Halicarnassus is defeated by the Macedonian armies. Ruthiessly, Alexander's war machine moves ever onward taking him up into the snow-covered Anatolian highlands. But there is danger ahead. Despite the defeat of Darius, the Island City of Tyre and the Towers of Gaza prove to be formidable obstacles. Undeterred, Alexander surges forth over land and sea to the mysterious land of Egypt. And there, in the sands, lies the Oracle of Ammon, waiting to reveal an amazing truth to Alexander. One that will change his already amazing life.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21045 in Books
• Published on: 2002-02-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

From the Publisher
Valerio Massimo Manfredi's best selling fictional series baed on the life of Alexander the Great has sold over 700,000 copies in Italy and over 1.5 million in the rest of Europe and South America. This trilogy has sat in the best seller lists across the world for months and months. Now for the first time it is translated into English. After GLADIATOR, the movie, read this wonderful tale of battles, honour and heroism.

About the Author
Valerio Massimo Manfredi is professor of classical archaeology at Luigi Bocconi University in Milan. He has published nine works of fiction, including the bestselling Spartan and The Last Legion. The Alexander trilogy has been translated into 24 languages in 38 countries. He has written and hosted documentaries on the ancient world, and has written screenplays for cinema and television.

Customer Reviews

Historical action thriller
This audiobook of Valerio Massimo Manfredi's "Alexander: Child of a Dream" was abridged by Keith Darvill to a 3 hour story recorded on 3 CDs and it's read by Derek Jacobi. It's the first volume of a trilogy: 1) Child of a Dream, 2) The Sands of Ammon, 3) The Ends of the Earth. I enjoyed Derek Jacobi's reading of 'Child of a Dream' so much that I intend to buy the rest of the trilogy.

The young Alexander, privileged product of a mating between a rich and powerful king, a beautiful and clever queen and (the queen believed) a god, seemed a very pleasant and caring youth, considering all the slaughter and mayhem he ordered and participated in as he grew and matured. His mother, Olympias, was an ambitious, ruthless dabbler in ritual and magic. His father, Philip, was King of Macedon, wise in military matters, a great warrior and leader of his people - fighting to unite all the Greek nations. His sister, Cleopatra, married her mother's brother (another Alexander). His tutor, Aristotle, later became the detective and, with the help of his nephew, investigated the murder of King Philip.

The satisfying thing about this sort of novel is that you can learn something at the same time as you're being entertained. I had to get out an atlas to find out where the characters were marching and where the action was taking place. It would have been better if a map of the area had been included with the audiobook. There was a map of Middle Earth in the BBC's Lord of the Rings radio play CD box, so I know it sometimes happens. In any case, I had an atlas fortunately and was able to follow the action across page 38.

I started listening to stories almost by accident about 2 years ago when I got a virus that put me in bed and made it hard to focus my eyes. Now my eyes can focus again and even though I read a lot of books, I still enjoy listening to stories. It's a different sort of pleasure. If you haven't ever listened to an audiobook, I suggest you try it. This one is pretty good. Derek Jacobi is one of the best readers. Other good readers you might also like to try are:

Alex Jennings who reads Robert Harris's 'Pompeii' (abridged);
Martin Shaw or Rob Inglis who read the Tolkien books (abridged and unabridged);
Philip Pullman reads his own 'His Dark Materials' trilogy (unabridged);
Douglas Adams reads his own 'Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy' books (5 of them, all unabridged).

A lot of books are available as audiobooks now and I've only come across one so far, that I haven't liked.

Historical action thriller
This audiobook of Valerio Massimo Manfredi's "Alexander: Child of a Dream" was abridged by Keith Darvill to a 3 hour story recorded on 3 CDs and it's read by Derek Jacobi. It's the first volume of a trilogy: 1) Child of a Dream, 2) The Sands of Ammon, 3) The Ends of the Earth. I enjoyed Derek Jacobi's reading of 'Child of a Dream' so much that I intend to buy the rest of the trilogy.

The young Alexander, privileged product of a mating between a rich and powerful king, a beautiful and clever queen and (the queen believed) a god, seemed a very pleasant and caring youth, considering all the slaughter and mayhem he ordered and participated in as he grew and matured. His mother, Olympias, was an ambitious, ruthless dabbler in ritual and magic. His father, Philip, was King of Macedon, wise in military matters, a great warrior and leader of his people - fighting to unite all the Greek nations. His sister, Cleopatra, married her mother's brother (another Alexander). His tutor, Aristotle, later became the detective and, with the help of his nephew, investigated the murder of King Philip.

This book covers the period when the child grows to young adulthood showing every sign of being intelligent and physically fit and strong. He masters whatever he turns his hand to (including taming an angry wild stallion just by talking to it and running alongside it for some distance), commands loyalty from his friends and is loyal in return. He becomes an excellent and respected leader and a clever military tactician. As this part of the trilogy ends, he is about to invade Asia.

The satisfying thing about this sort of novel is that you can learn something at the same time as you're being entertained. I had to get out an atlas to find out where the characters were marching and where the action was taking place. It would have been better if a map of the area had been included with the audiobook. There was a map of Middle Earth in the BBC's Lord of the Rings radio play CD box, so I know it sometimes happens. In any case, I had an atlas fortunately and was able to follow the action across page 38.

I recommend this audiobook.

You simply can't put it down.
The pace of this book is quite awe-inspiring, not only from the perspective of what Alexander accomplished, but also from the manner in which Manfredi builds and maintains the atmosphere throughout. Having perfectly set the scene and built the characters in the first volume The Sands of Ammon sets off full throttle into the next stage of Alexander's epic tale. Yes a historical document might have been more detailed on some aspects, but I felt Manfredi has succeeded in striking a balance between conveying the exhilaration and magnitude of the campaign, telling a great tale and keeping it within a very readable trilogy. The end result is an adventure that were it not based so much on fact would probably seem implausible. An addictive read. For me buying the next volume is not an option - it's a must.