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