Samantha G

A Kind of Meh Ending to a good series

Revisado: 09-06-22

Not that I haven't enjoyed listening to the twins arc, but the entire story just seems kinda... off. The story was okay, I really liked the focus on stratocles becoming an ally to the twins, instead of the assassin he's been since the beginning, and I think it really fits his arc well. Other than that, I don't really have anything good to say.

The first really big problem is the story and the finale, the battle of Ipsus. A lot of the book was centered around the Kassandra and Lysimachus gathering their forces and trying to meet up with Seleucus to destroy Antigonus once and for all, so a lot of the buildup is just them marching across Anatolia. When you finally get to the finale, it was pretty flatly delivered and done almost within the last hour and a half. It also doesn't really present any suspense, or present a danger to the main characters, except of course those who die off out of frame.

The love relationship between satyrus and Merium seems really forced, because it goes the entire book and you don't really get an actual conclusion till the very end.

The second major problem is that Cameron took the multiple perspective approach and applied it way too much in this book. I think you get the different perspectives of at least 22 different characters throughout the book, their parts either being major side plots to tie into the story later, to establish the key players in the last battle, or just to do some negligible. Its very jarring and annoying, because a lot of these parts aren't particularly long, so for like 5 or 10 minutes, you'll be with stratocles, then with satyrus, then to Melita, then to Merium, and so on. They're particularly annoying when they're sprinkled in the last battle; like if you extended the battle from being 1 hour to 2 hours, and followed all of the characters in detail to their own perspectives, then it would be a lot better. But it's like I said before in destroyer of cities, if Cameron doesn't have something for the character to do, it just seems like padding.

Overall, I didn't hate this book, it was just hard to keep up with what's going on, and it makes the actions of all the characters less important and it seems to me that Cameron wanted to get Ipsus as the last part of the story, reuniting all of the old characters plus all of the new ones together for one last hoorah, but ultimately it just falls flat.

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Good Third Installment

Revisado: 09-06-22

I really liked this book, especially because of the main part of the book being the siege. Cameron always does a good job when it comes to the imagery of sieges: the tactics, the suspense, the different buildup of the sides, and playing out each action in great detail. This is also when the Antigonids become the main antagonists of the series. Antigonus One Eye and Demetrious are definitely interesting, and I do like Demetrious as a character, but they're kind of underwhelming when compared to Heron and his struggle to kill the twins off while also trying to control the Euxine.

Unfortunately though, Melita does virtually nothing in this book. In the beginning of the book, she goes east to Hyrkania because some unknown faction from the far east raids a farm, and the raiders are hyped up to be some sort of major power in the east of the Caspian. But then halfway through the siege in the book (about like 8 or 9 hours left), there's one small chapter that essentially wraps up her conflict. Then by the next chapter or two, Melita and a portion of the asagetae are brought to Rhodes.


One of the downfalls in Cameron's writing in this book is trying to writing from different perspectives, especially if the other perspective doesn't really have any arcing direction. It just seems as if he adds in random bits here and there, to pad out Melita's part without completely forgetting about her as a character. To be honest, he could've just cut all the Melita stuff out from the beginning of the book to when she comes in with the reinforcements and nothing would have changed.

Overall,

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Another Great Book

Revisado: 09-06-22

Leaving off from the first book, the twins have grown up more and they start to build up their reputation in the world. I really liked the staunch differences in their storytelling, how their issues differ, and how they're able to overcome.

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Really good start!

Revisado: 09-06-22

Even though I absolutely loved Kineas' story, the first book of the twins arc was really well done. It sets up the twins really well, you get to see them develop their character, their skills, and emotions toward what they know they need to do to stay alive and retake what was theirs. What also helps it is you have all of the great characters from Kineas' story (Philocles, Leon, Darius, Theodorus, Crack, and so on) that act like a driving force for the twins. The villains are also very well done, and you really can relate to their motivations. All together a really good book for the first part of the series!

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A Story of Conquest and Tragedy

Revisado: 05-25-22

A nice long and thorough story of Alexander, told by Ptolemy. I enjoyed a lot of it, the beginning is kinda slow because you're listening to Ptolemy and Alexander's upbringing in the court of his father Phillip. But after Phillip dies, and Alexander becomes king, the story really picks up. My favorite part of the book is the all the battles in Greece, and in western Anatolia, because this was when you get to see Alexander's prowess as a commander for the first time, and how the army starts to see him as a god. This is also when you meet a lot of great characters, specifically Kineas, and all the people you hear about in Tyrant. I loved the battles against the Persians, Cameron does a fantastic job of telling the battles how they actually went down from the perspective of a soldier, while not being dragged out too long, which is good for a audiobook 40 hours long.
I think what kinda set me off from the story was after Kineas' part of Tyrant ends (if you've listened to it, you know what I mean). I point this out because it's where Alexander turns from benevolent king to insane tyrant. You start to think "when is he gonna die or get killed," but it drags on for the last 5-15 hours of the book, so by the 35 hour mark when the India campaign starts to die down, you're just waiting for it to happen.
One big thing I don't like with Cameron's first person writing is that he has to remind you from time to time that you're listening to someone retell his story to someone else. So, you'll hear Ptolemy point out something in the "present" to make a point about something that happened in the story. To me, its unnecessary, and a bit annoying, but can be comical sometimes. That's why I like when he writes stories in third person perspective, like in Tyrant and Tom Swan.
Overall, it's a great story, and the 40 hour long listening was definitely the credit, it can get drag on out by the end, but the story throughout was consistently great to listen to. And as always, Peter Noble does a fantastic job telling the story.

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Indiana Jones In Armour

Revisado: 12-02-21

Indiana Jones In Armour, that's what a peer on a XVth Century armour group on Facebook described this series to me as. I really enjoy historical fiction, and as I had just gotten done listening to Thomas Cromwell's Archer Tale series, I thought as rough and solemn as that series was, how could Cameron be able to make a series set in 1450s Europe more light-hearted and fantastical? Lots and lots of intrigue, and the pursuits of antiquities. And I've got to say, Indiana Jones in Armour is exactly what it is, and I enjoyed it a lot. Firstly, the attention to the descriptions and detailing in the various fighting scenes, and that he mentions, name, a lot of the moves in them. And he no doubt does a good job with the authenticity of the terms for all the clothing, weapons, armour, and other items used in the books.

The best part I think of the book so far is the narrator Peter Noble. I really like his performance, and his voice just fits the role for the book very well. I'm very glad to see he seems to do a lot of Christian Cameron's books, especially this series.

Though, sometimes plot points don't add up, or I have to go back and re-listen to figure things out, or there are some characters that I think seemed to either stop existing entirely or change in some way without much explanation, like for example [---Spoilers---] the Bishop that headed the Pope's embassy to the Sultan, where did he go to after they fled? And half way through the book, they started referring to Alessandro as Di Bracchio after the escape, and it was very confusing for me. [---End of Spoiler---]

All in all, it's a good historical fiction adventure book that doesn't take it's premise too hard or too solemn. Definitely a recommend.

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