Title: Gates of Fire
Author: Steven Pressfield
Pages: 440
Genre: Historical Fiction
This book is about a Spartan man who is captured by the Persians during the Pelopponesian War. The Persian emperor wants to know his story, as this man claims that he has been turned alive again in order to tell this story. He died during the war, and as he was following his comrades into the Greek heaven, he was taken by Hermes, a Greek god, and returned to life. After this prologue, his story begins. Apparently, this man grew up as a prosperous boy, but the Spartans were betrayed, and his whole village, including his family, was killed. He is left with his thirteen-year old cousin and his blind old servant (whom his family had treated well). He needs to survive. This is as far as I have gotten in the book.
I think that this story tells a lot about how Greek life must have been like back then. The author uses very vivid details to describe what is happening to this boy, and his writing style is not exactly...PG, so it makes it more realistic. There is a lot of violence in this book, and it is very gripping (so far). Some of the things that happened back then are kind of shocking for me, but I'm pretty sure they are true. This novel is a book for young adults to adults because of its difficulty level and because of the fact that the guy ends up dying in the end. In childrens' books, the main characters don't die, and it's a happy ending. (I know that the guy dies, because it says so in the beginning of the story). All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone who doesn't mind reading about wars, and to someone who likes excitement.
Author: Steven Pressfield
Pages: 440
Genre: Historical Fiction
This book is about a Spartan man who is captured by the Persians during the Pelopponesian War. The Persian emperor wants to know his story, as this man claims that he has been turned alive again in order to tell this story. He died during the war, and as he was following his comrades into the Greek heaven, he was taken by Hermes, a Greek god, and returned to life. After this prologue, his story begins. Apparently, this man grew up as a prosperous boy, but the Spartans were betrayed, and his whole village, including his family, was killed. He is left with his thirteen-year old cousin and his blind old servant (whom his family had treated well). He needs to survive. This is as far as I have gotten in the book.
I think that this story tells a lot about how Greek life must have been like back then. The author uses very vivid details to describe what is happening to this boy, and his writing style is not exactly...PG, so it makes it more realistic. There is a lot of violence in this book, and it is very gripping (so far). Some of the things that happened back then are kind of shocking for me, but I'm pretty sure they are true. This novel is a book for young adults to adults because of its difficulty level and because of the fact that the guy ends up dying in the end. In childrens' books, the main characters don't die, and it's a happy ending. (I know that the guy dies, because it says so in the beginning of the story). All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone who doesn't mind reading about wars, and to someone who likes excitement. 
Interesting! This relates to what we are studying in Humanities class. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat choice!