Lion of Macedon
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4.7 • 33 Ratings
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
Over and again, the aged seeress Tamis scried all the possible tomorrows. In every one, dark forces threatened Greece; terrible evil was poised to reenter the world. The future held only one hope: a half-caste Spartan boy, Parmenion. So Tamis made it her mission to see that Parmenion would before the deadliest warrior in the world -- no matter what the cost.
Raised to manhood in Sparta, bullied and forced to fight for his life every day, Parmenion had no notion of the unseen dimensions of magic and mystery that shaped his fate. He grew in strength and cunning. His military genius earned him the title Strategos in Sparta. His triumphs for the city of Thebes made him a hero. And finally his fate led him to the service of Philip of Macedon.
As Tamis had foreseen, Parmenion's destiny was tied to the Dark God, to Philip, and to the yet-unborn Alexander. All too soon the future was upon them. Parmenion stood poised to defeat evil -- or to open the gate for the Dark God to reenter the world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This enjoyable historical fantasy set in ancient Greece spans three decades in the career of Parmenion, a Spartan of mixed ancestry whose life is being shaped and monitored by an aging seeress. Scorned as a half-breed by the Spartans, he leaves vowing to wreak vengeance--which he does, at the head of a victorious Theban ar- my. Parmenion goes on to become Greece's preeminent soldier of fortune, a brilliant military strategist and tactician. Eventually, he hires on to Philip, the beleaguered king of Macedonia. Parmenion provides the young king with military help but, more importantly, intervenes in a ceremony meant to secure the siring of a child whose birth might signal the ultimate triumph of evil. Parmenion's final--and most meaningful--battle takes place not in this world but in Hades, where the forces of evil are held at bay long enough to deny the Dark God dominion over the newly born soul of Alexander the Great. Particularly enchanting in Gemmell's ( Legend ) ambitious book is the appearance of Aristotle as a wizard and guide through the underworld, a Greek combination of Arthur's Merlin and Dante's Virgil.
Customer Reviews
Lion of macedon
This is a book that captures your heart and mind. That you hate to put down. Not wanting to miss what is happening next. Even at the end of the book. You are still looking for another page to read on willing to see the books end.
Historic Fantasy at its best
Gemmell's style is short and punchy and his great skill is building wonderful cameo characters around the main protagonists: in this case, Parmenion.
The action of the book moves rapidly from Sparta to Thebes to Macedonia charting the path to the birth of Alexander the Great. We follow Parmenion's unhappy childhood, his development into one of the greatest Generals of all time and his move to Macedonia to help engineer Philip's dream of a great nation. Along the way we meet characters such as Xenophon, Leonidas and more mystically Aristotle and others, al of whom are drawn with careful nuance.
The book is a real page turner and a good introduction to Gemmell and his over-arching philosophy around good and evil which permeates all his work.
Overall, this is a fun, easy read, introducing Ancient Greece and bringing the characters to life superbly. A great step for older Percy Jackson fans.
My favorite
All time favorite book.