Category: Historical Fiction Publisher: Publish America
ISBN-10: 1413745822
Pages: 324
Copyright: February 28, 2005
Shades of Artemis recounts the life of Brasidas, Sparta’s most audacious commander, from his upbringing in the Spartan military school called the Agoge to his induction into the ranks of the ancient world’s finest warriors. Overcoming petty jealousies and the politics of his own country, he finally rises to the rank of general and embarks on a daring mission to bring Athens to its knees and an end to the Peloponnesian War.
With the death of Pericles, the politician Kleon becomes the architect of war policy in Athens, directing the strategy against Sparta. Thucydides, the Athenian general and chronicler of the conflict, bears witness to the brutality of ancient combat, the
devastating plague that strikes his city, and the ambition of fellow Athenians that rely on war to sustain them.
In the last quarter of the fifth century BC, these three men would meet in battle on the plains of Northern Greece, and determine the course of the ancient world’s first world war.
Professional Reviews
SHADES OF ARTEMIS: A NOVEL OF ANCIENT GREECE AND THE SPARTAN BRASIDAS
SHADES OF ARTEMIS: A NOVEL OF ANCIENT GREECE AND THE SPARTAN BRASIDAS
Jon Edward Martin, PublishAmerica, 2004, $19.95, pb, 320pp, 1413745822
This novel is set in the fifth century B.C. in ancient Greece, immediately after the combined forces of Athens and Sparta defeated the mighty Persian Empire. The novel follows the fortunes of Athens, Sparta, and their natural rivalry through the lives of three men: Brasidas, the main protagonist, whose unorthodox yet highly successful strategies helped to forward Sparta’s military agenda; Cleon, the Athenian demagogue; and the Athenian general Thucydides, whose chronicles of the Peloponnesian War contain the historical basis for this novel.
The story begins by following the extensive military training of Brasidas from an early age, his colleagues, the drama of his early life, and his primary opponents. The drama moves back and forth between the youths of Cleon and Thucydides in Athens, and that of Brasidas in Sparta. As the story progresses, the reader follows the rise of these three men in their respective historical positions, reaching a climax with Cleon becoming the architect of war policy in Athens, Thucydides’ recording of the horrors of ancient combat and the plague that strikes Athens, and Brasidas’s efforts to bring an end to the Peloponnesian War with Athens.
This novel is well constructed, and the drama is ongoing and exciting. The author provides a list of main characters at the beginning of the book and a glossary of terms at the end. These two additions helped me to follow the storyline much more easily, given that there are many terms, places, and names that may be unfamiliar to most readers. Once acclimated to the characters and the semantics, however, the author guides the reader through the interesting lives and careers of the important men in Athens and Sparta at the end of the Peloponnesian War.
Brad Eden - Historical Novel society
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