The Gates of Athens: Book One in the Athenian series

Product Information

In the new epic historical novel by New York Times bestselling author Conn Iggulden, in ancient Greece an army of slaves gathers on the plains of Marathon . . . The silver mines of Laurion contributed significantly to the development of Athens in the 5th century BC, when the Athenians learned to prospect, treat, and refine the ore and used the proceeds to build a massive fleet, at the instigation of Themistocles. [8] The summary talks about politics & intrigue but it’s nowhere near the comparison of say a Richard Harris novel with his series on Cicero…. It’s all rather staid rather than a retelling of legends of Athenian democracy…. No flourish at all…

Speaking of slaves, their perspective is missing entirely from this book. So is the perspective of women, metics, and generally everyone else who isn't part of the Athenian or Spartan elite. You could make the argument that that is not what the book is about so it's okay, but I'd disagree. The author made the conscious decision to focus on 'great men,' leaving out any criticism of rampant Greek misogyny, the intense slavery, the superiority complex Greeks had regarding non-Greeks, etc. etc. Instead he blatantly and uncritically copies the self-serving Greek narrative about the wars, which in my opinion makes him no better than those he copied, with all their misogyny and classism. Athens, and in fact ancient Greece as a whole, had serious issues and this book whitewashes them, and that is simply not okay. Amazing plot progression and alteration of pace throughout, with a variety of historical figures, all whilst drip feeding historical information that was so interesting and educational whilst not detracting from the main focuses. Masterful.One issue I had with all this, however, is the fact there’s just so much prose. I like reading dialogue (unless we’re talking about an HP Lovecraft story) and I felt Protector could have used more. I missed a sense of camaraderie between the characters and it’s a very long book to have so much unbroken text. I mean, I’ve just opened the book at random to look and chapter 28 has no dialogue at all. Like I say, I believe this must have been a decision the author took on purpose and I think it certainly works in terms of imparting a sense of the enormous scale of this conflict – this novel is about PEOPLES rather than PEOPLE – but I think it took me longer to finish the book as a result. Evoking two of the most famous battles of the Ancient World --- the Battle of Marathon and the Last Stand at Thermopyla e --- THE GATES OF ATHENS is a bravura piece of storytelling by a well acclaimed master of the historical adventure novel. In het eerste deel leerde ik de democratie van Athene beter kennen en ik heb het gevoel dat we in dit boek vooral veel ontdekken over de Sparten. En de onderlinge relatie tussen beiden rijken, die nog recht tegenover elkaar zullen komen te staan. stars. Protector starts where The Gates of Athens ends. The Athenians have evacuated to Salamis and are watching their city being torched by Persian troops. Offshore, the sea battle rages, the Greeks greatly outnumbered by the Persian fleet. How can the Athenians possibly survive this onslaught? I go into this in the full knowledge that this first book of the series will cover history that ive read in another series – Long War by Christian Cameron – which covers the Greco-Persian war in much more detail (6 books) ….. my real interest is reading a series about the later Peloponnesian wars (Sparta & Athens) which is where this series by Conn Iggulden winds up or so the “book sell” stuff tells us…..

Stoae: or Colonnades, supported by pillars, and used as places of resort in the heat of the day, of which there were several in Athens. In the Agora there were: the Stoa Basileios, the court of the King-Archon, on the west side of the Agora; the Stoa Eleutherios, or Colonnade of Zeus Eleutherios, on the west side of the Agora; the Stoa Poikile, so called because it was adorned with fresco painting of the Battle of Marathon by Polygnotus, on the north side of the Agora. A magnificent historical sequence of events told through the mind of one of the greatest historical writers out there, and this numbers amongst his best works.

The tale told here is massive in scope – you’re looking at armies numbering in hundreds of thousands! That’s quite a difference to many historical novels, especially my own which usually have warbands of a few hundred or even just a dozen. I think the author has made a choice in writing this book to make the whole thing feel BIG – there’s very little dialogue and we flit between characters without ever really seeing them as normal people. We’re TOLD about them, but there’s not many scenes of basic human interaction like men sitting drinking together, sharing jokes and songs, couples being intimate or the like. I can’t be sure, obviously, but I think Iggulden must have decided to avoid scenes like that – avoided making the people too minutely detailed – because he wanted to focus on the greater overall picture. These events were momentous and we do get a vivid sense of how incredibly powerful these nations were. Sparta’s incredible fighting prowess, Persia’s sheer numbers and ambition, and Greek cunning and resilience. This is the second novel in the Athenian series of Conn Iggulden, telling the tale of the Persians Wars and the Peloponnesian War. I did enjoy ‘the gates of Athens‘ that ends with the fantastic first part of the battle of Salamis. Protector continues the story of this battle and I was immediately drawn into the action. Of course, it’s simplistic to view the great events of history only through the prism of today, but I wonder if it can really be coincidence that there is passing mention of prorogation and a soldier passing out while waiting for inspection by a tardy Xerxes as the Persian emperor prepares to go to war. There is even a man who gains the power he craves and realises that, actually, it’s pretty hard work, and a bit boring.

For all the excitement of the action scenes, Protector struggles to provide the same emotional impact as the first book. The problem is twofold. The first is the small amount of time we get to spend with any of the characters. The nature of the story means that it is necessary to use multiple perspectives, but there’s also a good deal of head hopping, which makes it harder to connect to any of the characters. This was somewhat of an issue in book 1, but the focus on Themistocles and Xanthippus in particular allowed the reader to feel like they really understood them, even if neither was an easy man to like. For the most part, Protector relies heavily on the emotional links built up in the first book, but it does little to reinforce them. This feeds in to the second problem. To get in all the important moments means jumping around a fair amount. Without the impactful characterisation, the narrative feels bitty, especially when it comes to wrapping up certain stories at the end. The history means that having an entirely satisfying ending was unlikely, yet finding out what happens to the main characters is anti-climactic at best. This book had bled out all my care for them and that was more disappointing than anything else. Ten years later, Xanthippus watches helplessly as Athens succumbs to the bitter politics of factionalism. Traitors and exiles abound. Trust is at a low ebb when the Persians cross the Hellespont in ever greater numbers in their second attempt to raze Athens to the ground.I never thought I would find these ancient Greek wars so immersive, but Iggulden has a talent for writing battle scenes and political intriges that will get you on the edge of your seat. But wow, how amazing The Gates of Athens was. One of my favourite historical fiction books of all time. Actually, one of my favourite books of all time, regardless of genre. In this we experience the battle of Marathon, as well as Thermopalae, and much more, with Conn Iggulden somehow crafting magnificent characters in a subtle and understated manner that paid off so, so well. Cynosarges, east of the city, across the Ilissos, reached from the Diomea gate, a gymnasium sacred to Heracles, where the Cynic Antisthenes taught. And near irresistible to historical fiction writers. But if anyone is looking for non-stop bloodshed, they won't find it here. What Iggulden does in The Lion Shield/The Gates of Athens is weave the fighting into the wider politics of the period, focused primarily through the city-state of Athens. Xanthippus and Themistocles provide the main two POVs, their conflict and/or comradeship the means though which Athenian 'democracy' and its limitations is explored. This choice allows the reader to see more than just men at war, giving flashes of life in the home, agora, and assembly.