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Werke von Jon Edward Martin

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Although written several years after the author's debut novel In Kithairon's Shadow: A Novel of Ancient Greece and the Persian War, I consider this one more or less a prequel, concerning an earlier facet of the Greco-Persian War of ancient times along with the run-up to war. Very enjoyable and hard to put down, this was a fast-moving novel leading up to and including the decisive Battle of Marathon, the run to Athens by Eukles to announce victory over the Persians. Historians today differ as to the exact identity of the messenger. Then follows the aftermath, with Athenians proudly showing the Marathon Plain to Spartans, who arrive after the battle is over. The novel ends, as the previous novel began: with the announcement of the outcome of Thermopylae. Here one character feels that the Persians are not finished with mainland Hellas. Although they have sailed away for now, they will be back.

As in the author's previous novel on Plataea, he moves in sections from different group to different group--both Greek and Persian, giving us a sense of their feelings and points of view of the action. They live and breathe: from Miltiades, the unabashed hero, though historically he was of dubious character; his sons; other Athenians, such as the famous Aeschylus, Aristides, and Themistocles; Arimnestos of Plataea and his family. Arimnestos led the Plataean contingent. We follow several Persian officers, and of course, Darios, the Great King. Battle scenes were as good as I've read elsewhere.

The novel brought the whole era to life for me. One small quibble; there were some homophonic errors, and the most annoying: the author's use of "lie" as the past tense of the verb "to lie [down]; it should have been "lay". This occurred more than five times in the book. On the whole, I highly recommend the book. I felt it concentrated mainly on the Marathon story along with events before and after that touched on it.
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janerawoof | Mar 7, 2015 |
Absolutely engaging novel about the Greco-Persian War in ancient Greece, from breathless announcement of the fall of Thermopylae and massacre of the Spartans to the guests at a symposion, to the Battle of Plataea. We see incidents in the novel from vantage points of BOTH sides, Greek and Persian. Finally we're given closure to each main character's life. Written in an easy-to-understand style [except for the occasional "50 cent word"] and divided into sections, the author has conveyed this period of history very well. We follow an Athenian, Myronides, and various others from that City State--both those loyal to Athens and also two men who advocate joining the Persians; a farm family from Tegea: father and older sons fight at the Battle; four Spartiates along with Pausanios, the Spartan commander-in-chief of the whole Greek Confederation; and a Theban father and son who fight on the Persian side. As one Theban reasons: Thebes has declared itself for Persia, basically for self-protection against Xerxes's might and destructive capability. We also follow four Persian officers, both infantry and cavalry. The novel moves from one group to another so we see how each group is affected and the expression of their opinions. Using characters in this way gave the war a human face. My sympathies were aroused at the plight of the innocent citizens and Persia's "scorched earth" policy.

Plataea is fought on an open plain at the foot of Mount Kithairon--"in Kithairon's shadow." I liked how we were given different points of view through the novel: sometimes the same incident was recounted, first through Greek, then through Persian eyes. I got more of a panorama from this. The novel was an auspicious debut for the author.
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½
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janerawoof | Mar 1, 2015 |
I was thrilled to read such an enthralling novel on a little-known [or written about] period in ancient Greek history: the Athenian besieging of Syracuse on Sicily in 415-413 B.C. Through the unorthodox tactics and strategy of the Spartan, Gylippos, the siege was broken and the Syracusans emerged victorious. The author seemed to adhere very closely to his Thucydides for the meat of the story, with imagination filling in the gaps. When I researched a bit, I was surprised at how many of the characters really lived.

Several separate stories converge in Syracuse: Gylippos's own assignment to lead the Syracusans to victory; Endymion the Argive--from Argos, a common soldier fighting for the Athenians; Nicias, the ailing diplomatic and cautious Athenian general; and Syracusans, especially the cavalry commander Hermokrates and his family.

I enjoyed reading the tactics and strategies of Gylippos, unorthodox as they were. I found the night battle in which "friendly fire" [or whatever it would have been called in those days] exciting, as well as the blockade of the harbor and sea battle. There was unobtrusive love interest which relieved the military scenes and did not become annoying. I liked how the author handled the episode with the embezzled silver; this fit in more with the heroic personality Gylippos presented here, rather than with that of the historical Gylippos.

However, the layout was disconcerting: double spacing with some sentences not continued through to the end of the line but dropped down to next. The broken sentences occurred only in the first few chapters. I feel double spacing is a good idea for a draft but not for the final copy. The story seemed rushed towards the end. I did not like the way it ended, but that probably was one expression of Gylippos's personality. I do wish the author had given more description of the physical appearance of the characters. Some times I felt as though the author had left out some connecting detail on paper although he may have thought it in his mind, e.g., the death of Endymion's superior officer. I had to read between the lines to figure that out. The glossary was poor, and the novel lacked other supplementary material, such as Author's Note. There was a map at the head of Chapter 14, p. 224 in my copy, which mentioned most of the place names in the novel. I wish I could have rated it higher. Recommended.
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½
 
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janerawoof | Feb 17, 2015 |
Excellent, well-written novel about Brasidas, Spartan warrior, hero of Amphipolis in the Peloponnesian War. It narrates Brasidas's life, from his years in the agoge [the Spartan public education system, with emphasis on military training and discipline but teaching literacy, numeracy, and music as well], through his years as an active-duty soldier, notably leading a small force and winning the battle of Methone. Then comes the struggle between Athens and Sparta for dominance, Brasidas's role as general and final battle and death at Amphipolis, where he leads a force of helots under Spartan officers, to victory. We also meet Thukydides, Athenian general, who later finds his niche as a historian. Chapters and sections alternated between the two sides and characters. Both sides have heroes and villains, the latter with no redeeming qualities.

At first I didn't like Brasidas; he seemed like an automaton. After several chapters his humanity began to emerge and this charismatic man became fully-rounded. A long-hidden family secret was revealed and used to advantage. His fighting tactics were wily and unorthodox. Always struggling against a hot temper, he could be compassionate and diplomatic if the occasion called for it. I liked his loyal friends, who always stood by him. Thucydides was admirable, with his steadfast friend, Eukles.

I regretted the lack of supplementary material except a glossary. A map would have been so helpful. I finally found online a colored map of ancient Greece with most of the place names mentioned in the novel. You may have to scroll down. Preceding the colored map is a simpler b&w map.
http://printable-maps.blogspot.com/2011/12/map-of-ancient-greece.html
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½
 
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janerawoof | Dec 31, 2014 |

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