I liked it. I thought it was a good fantasy adaptation of the Anabasis. There was a lot which was very good about it. Rictus comes from quite a different position to Xenophon - who was an Athenian aristocrat who threw in his lot with the Thirty Tyrants after the end of the Peloponnesian War. Rictus suffers a lot more personal trauma than Xenophon and in many ways appears to be quite a different character - not necessarily a more interesting one, just differentThat said, I thought the rest of the cast were lovely... for a particular definition of lovely, from the Kufr king to the members of the Kerusia. I have a real soft spot for Gasca.The only reason I did not rate this book higher is because I found the overwhelming grimness a little .... well, overwhelming. Which I should have expected - I read the original.And I do miss Tissaphernes. I have to give this novel 4.5 to 5 stars. Now if your starting the book give it time. Thank God sometimes for me being one of those 'can't stop 'till the end' people. I didn't think I was going to enjoy this book as I felt I'd had my filler of hack and slash and wanted something deeper, or maybe more rounded? Well I can't say this book is either but it did grab me by the short hairs and take me for a ride I wasn't expecting!
Do You like book Los Diez Mil (2013)?
A gripping read with decent characters. The story is inspired by Xenophone's Persian expedition.
—bibi
Any fans of Gemmell esque heroic fantasy should like this.
—roxy
