Greece Hotels Travel - The Ten Thousand: A Novel of Ancient Greece
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List Price: $6.99
greece-hotels-travel.com Price: $6.99
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Manufacturer: St. Martin's Paperbacks
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780312980320
ISBN: 0312980329
Label: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 384
Publication Date: 2002-10-13
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Studio: St. Martin's Paperbacks
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Editorial Reviews:
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In 401 B.C., a thundering army of mercenaries, camp followers, dreamers, and glory seekers set off to help a rebellious foreign general named Cyrus. In the months that followed, ten thousand men--trained and hardened in three decades of war in Greece--would engage in pitched battles, witness untold horrors, and begin a desperate march across he desert, over raging rivers, and into the jaws of hell itself. By the time it was over, some would be alive, others dead, and one among them would emerge and the greatest hero of all...
In a novel of high adventure and riveting historical drama, Michael Curtis Ford brings to life an amazing true story from Greek antiquity--Xenophon's march of the ten Thousand. A tale of war and peace, of loyalties and betrayals, and of a soldier's love for a mysterious and dangerous woman, The Ten Thousand captures the eternal spirit of courage--in the face of impossible odds.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: decent stab
Comment: The author makes a decent stab at novelizing Xenophon's historic work in this book. He did it better than I would have done. But, maybe not as well as he could have done, based on some of his other books I have read such as the one about Mithradates which seemed much more compelling to me.
Nevertheless, I much enjoyed this work, partly because I am a person of Lakonic ancestry. Perhaps also because I am an American and this book well illustrated the topography and social difficulties of war in the middle east, and how the place has lent itself to guerilla warfare for millenia.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Brilliantly written trip back in time!
Comment: I don't know what some of the other reviewers were reading, but this book is fantastic. I have read a lot of Greek historical novels, and the original Greek texts themselves. Gates of Fire was a great novel, and when I read a review of The Ten Thousand saying it was better I have to admit that I was very skeptical, but I bought the book and read it anyway. I was far from disappointed.
I would have to say not only is this novel better that Gates of Fire, but I would put it up there as one of the best books I have ever read.
I find the best novels are written so well that you can easily build a picture in your mind of what is taking place, and few writers manage to give a reader a consistent clear movie-like image of events for the duration of a novel. Michael Curtis Ford not only achieves this, but manages to pull you right into the story, right into the action.
I would recommend this book to anyone, regardless of your tastes in genre... it is nothing short of brilliant.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The best historical fiction I've read in years
Comment: In 401 B.C. the Persian Prince Cyrus recruited an army to purportedly put down rebels in his domains in Asia Minor. This army, over 100,000 strong with 10,000 Greek mercenaries at its core, marched over one thousand miles to challenge Cyrus' brother for the throne of the Persian Empire. Young Xenophon of Athens and his servant Theo join up to make their fortunes outside Athens which is a shell of its former glory changing their own lives and, unknown to them, the lives of their Greek comrades and others forever.
Michael Curtis Ford picked me up out of my daily life and dropped me into ancient Greece. "The Ten Thousand" is the harrowing account of war, friendship, love, bravery, and the kind of leadership that makes history and inspires legends. Ford meticulously researched not only the events depicted, but also helped me experience as if there the feel, smell, taste, and atmosphere of the ancient world. Told in the first person by Theo, the battle scenes made me feel the adrenaline pumping through your veins and smell the gore and stench of death. He walked me through the streets of Delphi, Athens, and over the dusty roads and narrow mountain tracks leading to ancient Babylon. I felt the heartache and the anguish of making hard choices that cost lives as well as the exultation of victory however brief. It is a rare novel that does all this and teaches you about life, too.
If Fords other novels are like this. I want to read them. Highly recommended for those who love history, but also for everyone who enjoys a well told tale.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Old Story, New Spin, Similar Problems
Comment: In THE TEN THOUSAND, Michael Ford uses Xenophon's ANABASIS (or, as sometimes published, THE PERSIAN EXPEDITION) as his outline. The potential is tangible; ANABASIS is an account of outnumbered, outpowered, and out-of-their-element mercenaries who overcome a near endless series of hardships and dramatic reversal of fortunes to get back to their homeland. Moreover, the original story reads as a bit of a travelogue, and although it has it's shining moments (indeed, I gave it 4 stars for it's depiction of Greek Virtues), suffers from some pacing issues and remains somewhat flat when compared to conventional narrative prose.
Potential is the key word here. Although Ford has a terrific flare for description, and a thorough knowledge of Ancient Greek Culture, he largely fails to improve upon the pacing issues of Xenophon's original (which for Xeno is largely forgiveable, as he was not writing a mainstream Novel). The story still remains primarily a series of skirmishes, travel, and rest periods (and to be fair, changing it too much would be straying from the real story). Ford attempts to balance out this aspect with a secondary story arc, involving a love affair between the narrator Theo, and a member of Prince Cyrus' entourage who is not who she seems to be. This story arc, in the end, supercedes the main plot to become the final character climax of the story, with very unsatisfying results, as this arc is introduced too far into the plot to be of any signifigance to the reader save to break up the mundane aspects of travel. The 'revelation' of the girl's identity is clear to anyone paying attention hundreds of pages earlier. It won't do to have the reader realize something so major, and leave the protagonist willfully ignorant of it until it is, literally, shouted in his face. This still would not be so bad if not for the other major flaw the author fails to overcome; characterization. Xenophon himself is cited historically as a devoutly superstitious (read: religious) man, who always consulted the Gods on all decisions. The Xeno we see in this book is flippant, and saves his major libations for the end. If it were a conpletely fictitious character I would be ok with this, but as an historical account it is totally untrue of the real person. These are the kinds of details an author disregards at his own peril.
ANABASIS was certainly not a story of 3-dimensional characters. Many come and go, with little resolution to their inclusion. Ford does add more personality to the characters, but this is merely pushing them to 2-dimensions, tops. To have the added character interactions hook the reader at all, they have to be likeable, and most of the main characters are not that exciting to listen to. The most grating to me was Theo's frequent waxing into philisophical musing, the apex (or antapex, if you will) of this is his thoughts on how the night smells during a full moon, and the life affirming sound of an earthworm. This is hamfisted and nonsensical. The moon doesn't smell like anything. It's an abstract of an abstract.
I could go on, but I will stop. Suffice to say I had some problems with the story, although some of them are probably due to my previous knowledge of the events in the book. But that is only accounting for some of it, the rest are chalked up to just plain bad storytelling. If I were to re-read one of these 2 stories, it would be Xenophon's original book. Despite it's flaws, it rang truer, and contains additional exciting events after the Greeks get to the Black Sea, which Ford uses as his cut-off point.
I don't want to end on a completely negative note, however. I did, after all, give this book 3 stars. That is because it does do a great job of transporting you into the ancient world, and Ford does show obvious enthusiasm and fondness for his material. He's certainly a good author, and I would probably give him another shot. This was his first published novel. If i was too agressive in my attack on this book, it is due to it's comparisons to Steven Pressfield's GATES OF FIRE. GoF looms over all other Greek Military stories in the way Everest looms over foothills. For every 5-star story, well, Something has to suffer in comparison.
Customer Rating:
Summary: good read
Comment: As a fan of history I enjoyed this book. It was interesting to know what life was like for a Greek Hoplite on campaign.The battle scenes are done well as are the characterizations. I never realized how much rivalry there was in the Greek city states. The Spartans were incredibly different from the other peoples of Greece and it shows in this book. The things these men had to undergo in the deserts of Persia fighting is amazing that any of them returned home. A great read for people interested in historical fiction.
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