Lion of Macedon - David Gemmell

This David Gemmell book is arguably his greatest to date. It portrays the life of Parmenion, a man who is constantly manipulated by Fate and the seeress Tamis. It begins in Sparta, one of the two greatest Ancient Greek city states where Parmenion or Savra as he is known at this stage in the book is being educated in one of Sparta’s military schools. Here he is derided and scorned by his classmates because he is not a pure blood Spartan. Whilst at the school he wins the Generals Games and as a result wins one of swords of the legendary Battle King Leonidas who fell at Thermopylae as one of the 300 Spartans denying the Persians the chance to crush Greece. ...  Read the complete review

Greek war fantasy set in 360 B.C. is not normally my kind of reading but I'll give anything a try once (!). The Lion of Macedon is the beginning of the tale of a unique warrior - Parmenion - who has a mixed background and therefore no particular alliance to any of the warring factions in Greece at that time? he travels the country using his amazing skill for war strategy where it is needed. Gemmell's books are apparently based closely on fact where fights and manoeuvres are concerned (although I wouldn't know any better if they were completely made up). The tale of Parmenion itself though is Gemmell's own work of fiction and I found it ...  Read the complete review

follow the career of permenion a spartan urchin who develops into one of the worlds pre eminent generals as he first overcomes his childhood enemy leonidis in the finals of his schools war games, to the end of his career where his illegitamate son alexander the great murders him in a fit of madness the lion of macedon and dark prince are two books giving you the illusion of being in classical greece as parmenion grows from put apon adolescent to master general guiding first philip of macedon whose country is surrounded by enemies with little army to support it, to helping his son create an empire to dominate the world full of colour and life of the ...  Read the complete review