Tag Archives: Historical Fiction

Spartacus III: The Pharaoh’s Blade (The Spartacus Chronicles #3) by Robert Southworth – Review

3 Replies

s3

Title – Spartacus III: The Pharaoh’s Blade (The Spartacus Chronicles #3)
Author – Robert Southworth
Genre –  Historical Ficton
Length –  254 Pages (Kindle)
Publication – 4th April 2015
My Rating – 5/5 Stars

Synopsis

Empires clash as they hunt for a fabled blade. Spartacus and his friends fight for survival, amidst men who will stop at nothing to hold the legendary weapon. Danger threatens from the shadows, as old and new enemies emerge with violent intent. Spartacus and those he loves will stand together and even the Gods are undecided upon their fate.

Review

So this is Rob’s third and final Spartacus story and wow, what a great way to end it.

The story starts well with the back story into a legendary dagger, it is quickly shown to us that this dagger is not one you want falling into the hands of the wrong person. so much so Thutmose who currently holds the dagger send it away from his land as he knows the in wrong hands it could caused disaster.

Fast forward a bit and now we find ourselves back with our hero Spartacus along with his friends Cassian and Plinius,

Our friends are approached while returning from war and thrust it to one last war to secure the peaceful life they wish so much for. Crassus their enemy will do anything to get this dagger and its up to Spartacus to make sure this doesn’t happen

The book quickly moves from battle to battle, each side incurring loses and we see our hero’s deal with this loss

I really don’t want to give too much away as I think you should read the story for yourself and I hope like myself you won’t be disappointed with how the book ends. I knew Rob wouldn’t be able to keep this series going forever but I really do think he tied the series up nicely.

Rest assured if you’ve read the pervious two books you will love this.

Since reading the first two instalments I can see the editing has improved, I think I noted only a couple spelling/grammar errors but nothing that stopped my reading progress or spoilt the story

Overall I can’t think of anything that I didn’t like about this book, I felt the story progressed at a good pace so you didn’t get bogged down in fight scenes. The new characters fitted in well and the story line itself was intriguing. I found I read this book pretty quickly as Rob kept my interest throughout the story

Honestly if this is your type of genre then you should definitely read this series

Keep the books coming Rob!

By the Sword (Spoils of Olympus #1) by Christian Kachel – Review

Leave a reply

CK1

Title – By the Sword (Spoils of Olympus #1
Author – Christian Kachel
Genre – Historical Fiction
Length – 370 Pages (Kindle)
Publication – September 2014
My Rating 5 / 5 Stars

Synopsis

322 B.C.

The Macedonian Empire is on the verge of civil war following the sudden death of Alexander the Great.

As a boy Andrikos watched as Alexander’s army marched through his homeland of Greek Ionia after defeating the Persians at the Granicus River.

Soon he will be embroiled in their world – and forced forced to flee his old life.

Thrust into the army, Andrikos struggles to cope with the brutal training, as Alexander’s surviving generals seek to divide and conquer the spoils of Olympus.

But Andrikos is not destined to be a nameless soldier.

By chance he is chosen for a clandestine mission – and is immersed in a world of intrigue, violence and brotherhood.

The path that lies ahead of Andrikos requires him to shed his immaturity and take on the responsibilities and emotions of a man beyond his years.

Review

Where do i start! Wow! This book was great! I’m a fan of the genre anyway but i was surprised just how much i enjoyed it.

This book follows Andrikos as he turns from a boy into a man.

The story starts slow but quickly Andrikos is thrust into the army after he and his friends get into a bit of bother with some local lowlifes. We following him as he leaves his family behind and undergoes basic endurance training while marching to join the army where he makes and looses friends along the way.

You find out a lot about his position in the army and how the structure works and there is great detail in the clashes between the warring armies

The best bit about this book comes next, i won’t give too much away but he gets involved in some clandestine actions within the warring armies and it made the book enjoyable and easy to read as you weren’t bogged down in full on army vs army all out war scenes.

I feel you see Andrikos grow quickly, he even finds a potential love interest along the way which i think fitted perfect into the story.

All in all i would definitely recommend this book. If you’ve read anything by Gordon Doherty like i have i think this book will be right up your street.

I’m eagerly awaiting the next book in the series