Another super historical tale from this master of the craft. A story of Greeks and Persians with heroic Spartans all intermingled in a tale of war,friendship and treachery beautifully described. An astonishing amount of detail is included explaining the Persian hierarchy in all their deceitful ways with the Greeks and Spartan mercenaries as heroes this rockets along to a superb conclusion. Excellent!

This is one of those books that I was thrilled to get accepted for. It’s a historical fiction about Spartans. Literally one of my favourite groups of people from ancient history. I dropped pretty much everything to get started on this one.

I kind of wish I hadn’t rushed into it. It wasn’t quite what I had hoped for nor as exciting as I had expected. Don’t get me wrong, the last half of the book was a thrill ride. It’s just the first 50-55% that was so boring I struggled to get through more than twenty or thirty pages in a sitting.

Going by what little I know of the actual conflict involved, and by the author’s historical notes (which were wonderfully informing. I really do enjoy the historical note part of any historical fiction book), it seems to be fairly accurate to what happened (obviously despite the changes the author mentioned having taken artistic licence with). But I just couldn’t help reading the first half with an air of ‘so when is something going to happen, because right now you just have a few thousand men walking through the desert complaining about money’.

I know, the whole issue of pay was a big, neigh huge, concern for Prince Cyrus and the Greek mercenaries that followed him. But I just feel as though there really wasn’t anything gained from a storytelling standpoint or from a character growth standpoint by reminding us of the lack of funds chapter after chapter in bursts of a dozen pages or so at a time. The book could have been made more compact and enjoyable if constant re-reminding was lessened.

With my biggest drawback being the utter tedium of the first half, I can happily say it is kind of worth it for the second half. Things pick up in a big way. There are huge battles, character development (because until this point it felt like there absolutely none. All of the characters acted and talked the same. It was very difficult to distinguish one man from any other on his personality alone) and just everything I wanted in the first part of the book to get me hooked and involved.

We are treated to hope, joy, misery, betrayal, heartache and grief in the last part. We were treated to grumpy men trudging through the sand in the first part with a bit of betrayal to make things a little more lively.

I have given The Falcon of Sparta a three out of five rating and that is purely for the latter half of the novel. I had hoped to give it more as I had such high expectations.

New series from Conn Iggulden where Persia vs Greece in the ancient world, the author excels at this sort of historical conflict.
Here we have Prince Cyrus trying to overthrow his brother Antxerxes to gain the throne following their father's death. As normal we have epic battles and more. Excellent book would highly recommend

‘In the army was a certain Athenian, called Xenophon…’

Loosely, very loosely, based on the Anabasis of Xenophon written in the Fourth Century BC, this is an entertaining modern retelling of the march of the Greek mercenary army hired by the Persian prince Cyrus to help him overthrow his brother Artaxerxes, the king of kings.

If, unlike me, you don’t know the story or the period, you will not be irritated by the many historical changes and occasional mistake, nor will you be annoyed by the portrayal of the Spartan contingent as something they were not and never were. You will also be surprised and perhaps shocked by the events following the battle of Cunaxa at the turning point of the novel.

But the truth is sometimes stranger still than fiction and doesn’t always need to be dressed up and popularised. I have read other modern novels based on Cyrus’ grand adventure and while this one is much better than them, the original by Xenophon is the best of all.

I was sent a copy of The Falcon of Sparta by Conn Iggulden to read and review by NetGalley.
This is a rousing novel full of action and tactics based on historical fact from the first-hand account by Athenian nobleman Xenophon, a pupil of Socrates. He had enlisted in the army of Price Cyrus who was secretly mounting a rebellion against his brother King Artaxerxes of Persia, using Greek mercenaries and the elite fighting force of the Spartans. There is a lot of tactical content throughout the book but the author cleverly manages to marry the astonishing and brutal facts with a personal narrative giving the characters substance, making the historical content much more accessible.

The Falcon of Sparta is a history book unlike any other, the story, action and characters fill the pages with a wonderful tense and powerful adventure.
The Persian king Artaxerxes rules the vast Persian Empire, warned by his father To trust no one once he is king including his brother Cyrus, he attempts to have Cyrus killed, with this betrayal Cyrus plots to overthrow Artaxerxes by hiring an army of Spartans and Greek mercenaries. The attempt fails leaving this army stranded in desert conditions with little food or water.
This sets the scene for the emergence of Xenophon a previous student of Socrates to lead these 10,000 soldiers out of Persia and back to their Greek homeland.
A riveting story, a twisting plot and some shocking scenes of violence and suffering. My only problem was keeping up with all the names, the don't trip off the tongue very easily.
My thanks to net galley and publisher for opportunity to review this book honestly

Ataxerxes, newly-crowned king of Persia, seeks to secure his throne. Following his father’s advice and example, he seeks to eliminate the threat posed by his younger brother, Cyrus.

Incensed by his brother’s betrayal, the formerly-loyal Prince Cyrus gathers an army to depose his tyrant brother. Against the vast might of the Achaemenid Empire, he brings an army composed of Persian troops and Greek mercenaries, spearheaded by Spartans, soldiers who are famed the world over for their discipline and prowess.

Xenophon, an Athenian no longer welcome in his own city, joins Cyrus’s army. As the two brothers war over the fate of an empire, he looks for a new purpose and sense of identity.
As is possibly already clear, this book starts slowly. There’s a lot of necessary setup to run through and a lot of characters to be introduced before the story gets rolling. I don’t think that’s a fault in the book so much as an unfortunate necessity of writing historical fiction set in an area that doesn’t receive as much popular attention as many others. I read rather a lot of historical fiction, and I’d consider my knowledge of history to be at least average, but I’m still much more au fait with Imperial Rome or Napoleonic France than I am with the incredibly complex history of Persia.

Once all the introductions have been made, the novel picks up pace. Armies move across vast distances and politicians engage in Byzantine machinations. For a book about a war, The Falcon of Sparta has surprisingly little focus on the actual battles. They take place, of course, and are described, but the meat of the story is about movement and supplies. It’s good to read a book that takes a view higher above the battlefield, and is probably a lot more true to life than stories where every plot point is resolved through skill of arms and firmness of purpose.

Iggulden has clearly done a lot of research into the period. Everything drips with detail and the prose is evocative, bringing the ancient world to life. It is, admittedly, archetypal, and some necessary gaps in historical knowledge have been filled in, but it is hard to begrudge any of that, given the distance in time and the way that almost everyone agrees on the broad strokes.

The book is, of course, based on a true story, and one that was completely unfamiliar to me. I nobly didn’t look up any of the characters until the end, and my suppositions about what was going on and how this connected to my limited understanding turned out to be almost totally wrong. That’s not a criticism, but it did make me realise that I should spend more time reading history itself.

This is proper historical fiction – fiction grounded in history rather than just using it as a backdrop. It’s not heart-pounding action, but that’s not what you want. I find the best historical fiction leaves you with sadness and awe – the amazing things people managed to do are always so much more impressive than the things we imagine they might. Humans are capable of truly astonishing things, and reminding us of that is, to my mind, one of the key duties of the genre.

The Falcon of Sparta is fascinating, and unusual, and enriching. I enjoyed reading it, and I understand more about a fascinating set of cultures than I did before I started. I recommend this book.

I’d heard of the of the tale of Xenophon but never read it and hadn't even initially associated this book with it. As an avid follower of of all things Conn Iggulden it was an eye opener to read and see this unfold... it went from a tale to a portrait, a picture that immersed you and knowing it's foundations were in an actual event, truth, well I am the wiser for it and marvel at at what went on so long ago. It takes a good author to blend fact and a little fiction whilst remaining true to the history - something Mr Iggulden has mastered so many times.

I really enjoyed this book. Apart from the Battle of Thermopylae I knew nothing of the Spartans. The characters had personality and the death of some of the main people came as a complete surprise to me. The minor characters then came into force. A good book with lots of twists and turns.

Big fan of the author from previous series, and while this was a decent read, it just didn’t quite measure up to his others for me. Think that was largely to do with not feeling the love for a few characters Like Xenophon. Well written as ever but just not quite as engaging as his others.

A stand-alone novel from the bestselling author Conn Iggulden which is based on historical events related in Xenophon’s ‘Anabasis’, otherwise known as ‘The Persian Expedition’, which is available via Penguin Classics. The Persian king Artaxerxes rules an empire stretching from the Aegean to northern India and the first half of this novel covers the attempts by his brother Prince Cyrus to overthrow Artaxerxes. The attempt fails and the Greek mercenaries employed by Cyrus, including Spartans are left stranded in the heart of an enemy's empire, without support and little food or water. This sets the scene for the second part of the story where the young soldier and student of Socrates, Xenophon leads the survivors against the Persian army and their bid to reach the sea and Greek territory.

Plenty of action to be had, although the battles are described briefly and not dwelled upon like say the books of Bernard Cornwell. The descriptions of the time help you immerse yourself into the story, although he does seem to describe the toilet habits a little bit too much!

I won’t give the various subplots away, save to say this is an enjoyable historical novel and Conn Iggulden has the knack for penning a classic page turner. If like me you miss the works of the late, great David Gemmell this novel will be one for your bookshelf.

Another belter from the undisputed king of historical fiction!

The book (initially) follows Prince Cyrus, as he is betrayed by his brother when their father lay on his deathbed. Cyrus builds an army, built around Greek mercenaries with the help of Clearchus, a renegade Spartan General. Cyrus marches his forces through the heart of Persia where he meets his brother in battle, and loses. I'm no expert on Persian history, and this shocked me as until this point Cyrus had been one of the main characters.

The second half of the book follows a Greek named Xenophon, who is elected leader of the Greek mercenaries and against all odds, leads them out of Persia and back onto Greek soil. It's a wonderful story, made all the better by being based on real events. The battles are so well written, you really feel as though you are in the dust with the Greek phalanx as they cut a swathe through a mighty Persian horde time and time again. The character development of Xenophon is startling, he must have been one hell of a man!

Very, very much recommend!

Once again, Conn Iggulden has written an incredible and riveting military history novel. A Greek odyssey, in every sense of the word, that takes the reader on an amazingly hazardous journey across ancient Persia.
There were many unexpected and shocking twists in the plot. I assume this is because I haven’t studied this period before and the main characters were virtually unknown to me. The book has definitely encouraged me to undertake some further research on the key players, yet another sign that it is a well written novel.
I really liked Iggulden’s historical attention to detail in the weapons, tactics, logistics and strategy. The characters portrayed in the book were well rounded and totally believable. The radically different leadership styles of the main protagonists were fascinating, yet timeless.
The book is certainly up to the very high standards of the author’s previous work. Sadly, the ending of the book probably precludes a sequel!

Oh dear, I have to confess I found this a little boring. I had to make myself keep turning the pages, sure that I would get to 'the good stuff' soon.

Iggulden is one of my favourite authors, yet here i think he has stepped too far from historical fiction into giving a blow by blow account of actual events. It's as if he sets the scene for at least two thirds of the book before he brings us to where he wants us to be - the extraordinary retreat of the Greeks and Spartans from Persia following their only defeat by Persian forces.

This in itself was the most interesting element of the book. I couldn't decide until here who was supposed to be our hero. Both Princes of Persia were in the frame, so in the end it didn't matter who won and who lost. The only thing that mattered was what happened to the officers and men employed as mercenaries. And this bit is, as i say, an awful long way into the book.

A bit of a disappointment in terms of storytelling, but still a very interesting read. Just not a gripping one.

Persia vs Greece in the ancient world and Conn Iggulden is excellent at this sort of historical conflict. Here we have Prince Cyrus trying to overthrow his brother Antxerxes to gain the throne following their father's death. Whilst history is fine, geography in the book was confusing (ancient world map please), and with a disappointing end I can only give it 4 stars. I much preferred the Rome series.

For lovers of military history- a novel about Persian rule and rebellion

I probably shouldn’t have chosen this book to review as I’m no fan of military novels but I had enjoyed Darien, a fantasy novel by the writer. This novel was relatively interesting although a bit long-winded and repetitive in places. It relates the tale of Prince Cyrus of Persia’s claim to the throne and his attempt to gain it. It highlights the fighting prowess of the Greeks, particularly the Spartans. However battles and fighting do not interest me much but the characters are quite fleshed out and probably the best part for me.

I’m sure that this has been well-researched and fans of the author and of historical military history will enjoy it.

‘The historian will tell you what happened. The novelist will tell you what it felt like.’ Conn Igguilden quotes EL Doctorow in his notes at the end of the book, saying it was his intention to do both in this fictional account of The Ten Thousand, a force of Greek and Persian mercenaries who marched with Prince Cyrus against his brother Artaxerxes, King of Persia. Xenophon, student of Socrates and on whose account this retelling is based, is a minor character for the first half of the book but becomes central when the defeated soldiers and their camp followers have to march twice as far as they’d already come to find their way home, harried much of the way by the Persian army and later tribal warriors in the mountains.

Igguilden succeeds in bringing this story to life. We feel the pain of defeat and the exhaustion and hunger of the retreating force. Xenophenon is appointed leader, strategos, with the responsibility of leading the survivors back to safety. It’s a long and arduous journey and he kept my interest throughout. The ending, however, felt abrupt and in the last few pages, the story just fizzled out. I knew very little about these episodes prior to reading this book but a quick bit of research led me to discover that Igguilden reshapes history to suit his needs as an author. Although I really enjoy historical fiction, I like to learn as I’m reading and at times like this feel I’m being misinformed, misled even, by the poetic license of the author.

Overall, this is a good read. It’s often exciting, the characters have emotional depth and the sheer logistics of moving such a large force across diffficult terrain is particularly well done. 4 stars for all the reasons above.

It is very hard to judge some aspects of this book as the mobi file supplied by the publisher is amateurish at best with formatting that would be rejected by any serious review site. It doesn't help assess the writing if it is rendered tricky to decipher by the file supplied. Typos, incorrect grammatical annotation, indents all over the place, not good.

What one can discern of the writing itself is as good as you would expected (typos assumed to be the publisher's not the writer's though the annoying point of view flipping, the head-hopping that drains scenes of their power is all the author's...) and Iggulden presents another gritty story. I wasn't gripped as I expected to be as there seemed to be an awful lot going on for little progress, great long passages of conversation between characters that did little to further the plot, and then the passages of plot-furthering action were rushed and felt necessary rather than enjoyed. There is a lot of anti-climax and the pivotal parts of the story seem again to be rushed with the central part of the story taking up very little of the book, setting the scene taking the lion's share.

It is clear what interests Iggulden from this novel and if a reader's interest is equal, they will find much in this to satisfy, but I do feel it lacks because it is not disciplined enough in its execution.

i am a huge fan of Conn Iggulden, so this was a definate read for me.
the story was brilliant, i grew attached to the characters almost immediately, and although i knew that prince cyrus (spoiler alert here) fails in his quest, i was still routing for him, and i was on his side from the beginning.
the only downside i can say about this book is the fact that it is only a stand alone novel, i think ancient greece, and sparta particularly, isnt wrote about enough in historical fiction so id of liked a series to be born from this. that being said though, i still thoroughly enjoyed it and i would highlyrecommend it.

The ancient world was dominated by Persia and Greece, their battles are legendary to this day. The Falcon of Sparta takes one right into the heart of the battle when Cyrus, the brother of the new King Artaxerxes goes to war to win the throne after the death of their father. The young Athenian Xenophon is left to rescue the army that Cyrus had thrown into the heart of the enemy's territory. It is a tale of bravery and excitement. I could barely put it down as I wanted so much for Cyrus to win against the perfidy of his old tutor but then the pupil of Socrates is left to bring the defeated army to safety fighting off the mighty forces nipping at his heels. I wanted to stay with Xenophon even when they reached the shores to home. I hope he thrived. Please write more!