Lion: Book 1 of The Golden Age: 'Brings war in the ancient world to vivid, gritty and bloody life' ANTHONY RICHES

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A new empire is being raised at the Italian peninsula. During this time, two boys, at the City of Rome are transforming to men whose ambitions are nothing but glory, battles and serving the greatest empire in the world. For one thing, as soon as a woman was dragged roughly out by her hair, I could just tell she was going to be the love interest. She was such a weak character that I can't even remember her name, although that might be because she didn't appear in the entire second half of the book. Speaking of Attikos, why didn't anyone kill that old c*** already!? I absolutely adore how Iggulden create the villains in Lion. The worst kind of villains are wimps and fools who don't know their limitations. Never fail to get me frothing in the mouth. Nearly burst a vein or two at Attikos and Ephialtes. I'll be sure to read book 2 just to see them either get killed or redeem themselves (no hopes for Attikos, but Ephialtes might yet be saved, like Pericles - they're not entirely different, I think). One of them is a senator’s son, who has been given everything to achieve his dream. The other is an adopted child who is cunning and strong. His love for his adoptive family and brother will be the most powerful force in his life. I found it hard to engage with most of the characters. Pericles, the main character, was difficult to understand and contradictory. I did not understand his determination to marry the complete stranger they met on an island. He behaved like he'd never seen a female before. Nor did I understand why he and his wife became so nasty to each other once they were married. Yes, he suspected she was in love with someone else, but given all the talk about Athenian men learning to be calm and mature, you'd think he could do better.

Lion | Conn Iggulden | 9780241513125 | NetGalley Lion | Conn Iggulden | 9780241513125 | NetGalley

But even during times of peace, the threat of Sparta - Athens's legendary rival - looms large on the horizon. When a sudden catastrophe brings Sparta to its knees, Pericles sees a golden opportunity to forever shift the balance of power in his city's favour. I was so pleased when I started reading Lion as I realised straight away I was going to enjoy it. It’s been a long time since I read anything set in Ancient Greece, so a lot was new to me, including the characters as well as the historical setting. This is the first book in Conn Iggulden’s Golden Age series set in the 5th century BCE. I thoroughly enjoyed it which surprised me as generally speaking I’m not keen on reading battle scenes and the book starts and ends with battles. But I had no problem with following the action of the battles between the Greeks and the Persians, and was able to visualise what was going on without any difficulty. The characters’ names took me a little while to get clear in my mind but I soon got used to them. Johnson, Ani (May 2017). "Dunstan: One Man Will Change the Fate of England by Conn Iggulden". thebookbag.co.uk . Retrieved 19 April 2018. Iggulden released a four-book series, the Wars of the Roses series, [7] starting with Stormbird in 2013, Margaret of Anjou [8] (called Trinity in the United Kingdom) in 2014, Bloodline [9] in 2015, and Ravenspur [10] in 2016. In 2017, Iggulden published a historical fiction novel called Dunstan, [11] chronicling the life of the 10th century monk and political adviser to the Saxon Kings of England, St. Dunstan.

Iggulden released a four-book series, theWars of the Rosesseries,starting withStormbirdin 2013,Margaret of Anjou(calledTrinityin the United Kingdom) in 2014,Bloodlinein 2015, andRavenspurin 2016. Empire of Silver (2010, ISBN 978-0-00-728800-7) (titled Genghis: Empire of Silver 2010, ISBN 978-0-385-33954-4)

Lion: The Golden Age, Book 1 (Audio Download): Conn Iggulden

Pray also noted that Iggulden’s “writing shines in battle,” adding that “hand-to-hand combat and military clashes are Iggulden’s forte.” Justin Warshaw in theTimes Literary Supplementalso noted Iggulden’s flair for bloody detail. His descriptions of fighting and other violence wrote Warshaw, “are as convincing as they are horrific.” The Lion is a historically based fictional story about Pericles the leader of Athens during the height of the Peloponnesian war and one of the most intriguing figures of antiquity.The prologue starts in the point of view of Pausanias, so you'd think he'd be important to the story, right? Wrong. He turns up for some minor passages throughout the first act and then promptly goes home to die quietly. Historically true, but doesn't mean you have to structure the narrative around him. Whether it’s due to getting to know the characters, the smoother pacing or just fewer confusing jumps between the narrators, I really enjoyed The Lion. It offers an insight into life as an Athenian at that time: not just war, but the more pleasurable aspects of life; friendships, laughter, the fun of putting on a new play and seeing a society coming together, united under a cause. As always, I enjoyed learning a little more about life in Ancient Greece, particularly about theatre and The Festival of Dionysus. As before, the battle scenes are exciting and are seen from both sides of the field. The horror of what soldiers faced in the days of hand to hand combat is drawn in enough detail to appreciate it without being too gory, thankfully. No doubt, the fourth book of the series will follow Pericles in his later life and I will look forward to that. I am conscious that the above paragraph reads like faint praise. The truth is that, despite its readability, I have problems with the plot and characterisation. First, the clear and obvious hero of the book is Cimon, who steals every scene in which he appears. Pericles pales into insignificance in his presence. The story flags when Cimon is not present. Second, Pericles himself comes over as shallow and impetuous, nothing like how I might envisage the historical figure. True, he is young and inexperienced, but Cimon although not much older is a successful leader of men. Then there are the cardboard cut-out villains, Attikos (fictional) and Ephialtes (historical). Finally there is the entirely implausible love affair and marriage of Pericles to the unsuitable Thetis, the captive concubine of a pirate from Scyros. I just cannot conceive that this could possibly have occurred in the Athens of the aristocratic Pericles.

The Golden Age Series by Conn Iggulden - Goodreads

The time for Julius Caesar to indulge in treacherous political battles has come. His great courage to face slave rebellion, love for a beautiful older woman and the sword of his loyal friend, Marcus Brutus has strengthened him. Once his rank is promoted, he is able to do what no other leaders of his era did. He eventually left teaching to write his first novel,The Gates of Rome. He is married to Ella, who is from theAmalfi Coastin Southern Italy and whose family are renowned craftpastaandraviolispecialist producers in the region.They have four children and live inHertfordshire, England,nearChorleywood Golf Club.Born in 1971 to an English father (who was an RAF pilot during the Second World War, [1] ) and Irish mother (whose grandfather was a seanchaí). He went to Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary in Ruislip, Middlesex, then attended St Martins School in Northwood, before moving on to Merchant Taylors' School. [2] He then went to St Dominic's Sixth Form College, before he studied English at the University of London, [2] and went on to teach the subject for seven years, becoming head of the English department at Haydon School, where one of his students was Fearne Cotton. [3] He eventually left teaching to write his first novel, The Gates of Rome. He is married to Ella, who is from the Amalfi Coast in Southern Italy and whose family are renowned craft pasta and ravioli specialist producers in the region. [4] They have four children and live in Hertfordshire, England, [5] near Chorleywood Golf Club. [1] The age of myths and legends has given way to the world of men. In the front rank stands Pericles, Lion of Athens. Behind Pericles lies the greatest city of the ancient world. Before him, on land and at sea, stands the merciless Persian army. Both sides are spoiling for war. Though still a young man, Pericles knows one thing: to fight a war you must first win the peace.