El protagonista de la novela es Arimnestos. La historia está contada en primera persona y es el propio Arimnestos quien está contando la historia de su vida a su hija. Todo comienza cuando tan solo era un niño que vivía con su familia en una pequeña granja en Plataea. Aunque hijo de un herrero, recibió buena educación y ent renamiento en las arte de la guerra por un viejo soldado. Estalla la guerra contra Esparta y, tanto él como su padre y hermano, luchan codo con codo en la batalla de Platea. En esta dura y legendaria batalla aunque fueron los griegos los que salieron victoriosos, el final para Arimnestos estuvo marcado por la tragedia, un cruento final que marco su destino de por vida. Su padre es asesinado por su propio primo Simon, su hermano también muere y él cae inconsciente en el campo de batalla y al despertarse se ve convertido en esclavo. Es aquí donde comienza a fraguarse la historia de El asesino de hombres. Traicionado por su primo es enviado como esclavo a Ephesus donde sufrirá las vejaciones de la esclavitud. Sin embargo la suerte se pondrá de su parte y será comprado por un rico mercader y también poeta de Ephesus llamado Hipponax. En el seno de esta familia es tratado como uno más. Se hace muy amigo del hijo, Archilogos, con quien comparte clases de lucha y el manejo de las armas, y comienza a despuntar como un gran luchador. Sin embargo el amor que siente por Briseida, hermana de Archilogos, terminará con esa relación de fraternidad. El conflicto entre persas y griegos continúa y Arimnestos valiéndose de su don para la guerra decide ganarse la vida en el campo de batalla, teniendo como imagen a imitar el personaje de Achilles de la Iliada.

Outstanding book outstanding series. I you loved Malazan and GoT then this is a must read. ( )

For a short post summarising my thoughts on the series from Killer of Men to The Great King, please see my blog:
https://theidlewoman.net/2016/04/24/the-long-war-christian-cameron/ ( )

you are sitting at the feet of an old man who is telling the story of his life from age seven to mid twenties. He is the son of a blacksmith in ancient Greece, becomes involved in a war between Athens/Sparta/Thebes, is sold into slavery to a wealthy family in Persia, rises in stature as a fighter and wins his freedom, fights in the Persian/Greece wars, becomes a successful pirate, more fighting and eventually returns to his place of birth to have revenge on the killer of his father and the person who sold him into slavery.

The book is a personal account told in the first person which is interesting, there are constant asides to his daughter and others she brings in to listen to his story.

You get to understand how it was to live as a peasant, as a slave and as a hero...in those ancient times. There is a fair bit of detail there which I like but it is always looking in from a distance. You never really feel a part of the story. The battle scenes are ok...just ok for me. A bit of detail but you don't feel a part of the battle.

Not a bad read though the final 40 pages are an anti-climax. Of course it leads to a sequel book whch I might read if I stumble across it but won't actively serarch for it. ( )

Written in the first person, the account of Arimnestos's experience as re-told to his daughter in his old age is riveting.

No happy tale this. Rather it is the revelation to his daughter that he is a killer of men; a warrior that comes alive in the midst of blood, death and carnage. The story begins with a young Arimnestos given the rare gift (especially for the son of a simple bronze-smith) of a classical education which included reading and mathematics and - equally important in those times - physical education in the arts of warfare. At a young age, Arimnestos is thrust into a phalanx and brutal battle with the Persians. After seeing his father and brother killed, he's sold into slavery. It is then that the true story of young Arimnestos' life as a killer of men truly begins.

Cameron does a remarkable job of making you feel as if you’re walking the ancient world of Greece during the bronze and iron age, while at the same time seeing the same motivations that drive us today.

This book ends with the promise of more to be said from Arimnestos and I am certainly looking forward to hearing from him again. ( )