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The Falcon of Sparta

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The Falcon of Sparta

By: Conn Iggulden
Narrated by: Michael Fox
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About this listen

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Falcon of Sparta by Conn Iggulden, read by Michael Fox.

In the Ancient World, one army was feared above all others.

401 BC. The Persian king Artaxerxes rules an empire stretching from the Aegean to northern India. As many as fifty million people are his subjects. His rule is absolute.

The sons of Sparta, those whose fathers and grandfathers fell at Thermopylae and perished in the Peloponnesian Wars, work as mercenaries for Persian princes eager to play the game of thrones. When Cyrus the younger, brother to the Great King, lays claim to his father's crown, he does so with an elite army of Spartans at his side.

Yet battles can be won - or lost - with a single blow. Princes fall. And when the dust of civil war settles, the Spartans are left stranded in the heart of an enemy's empire, without support, without food and without water. Far from home, surrounded by foes, it falls to the young soldier Xenophon to lead the survivors against Artaxerxes' legendary Persian warriors.

Drawing on one of history's most epic stories of adventure, The Falcon of Sparta masterfully depicts the ferocity, heroism, and savage bloodshed that was the ancient World.

 Action & Adventure Ancient Historical Fiction Fiction Ancient History Ancient Greece

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Critic reviews

His finest novel to date, brings alive the extraordinary world of ancient Persia, as well as the ruthless nobility of the Spartans. The battle scenes are thrilling and the men who fight in them are impeccably portrayed
Iggulden is in a class of his own when it comes to epic, historical fiction
Iggulden tells an absolutely cracking story. The pace is nail-biting and the set dressing magnificent
One of our finest historical novelists
Pacey and juicy, and packed with action
All stars
Most relevant
I read the physical copy of this a while back and enjoyed it.
The audible version seems even better as I wasn’t struggling with foreign names and places. The reader put the emotion in and played the people very well. I could even picture Sean Bean as one of the characters.

Not too bad at all.

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Great story with a few twists to surprise, narrator a little slow for me so I listened at 1.2 which was perfect.

Another Epic Iggulden - fantastic

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It felt like the narrator stumbled over some of the character's names on a few occasions (I don't blame him), but this broke the tempo of the story at times.
The ending felt a little rushed and so I felt some of the battles weren't as descriptive and almost put in for 'filler'. still, it was a good listen and any fan of Conn Iggulden will enjoy this.

A decent enough story but not his best.

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I've read (or listened to) all of Conn Iggulden's books. I love the blend of history, great characters and action. Unfortunately this book didn't live up to the blurb. I thought it would be a thrilling ride and not a pedestrian stroll. The march to safety is only really in the last third of the book. The supporting characters are wafer thin, and considering the Spartans are outnumbered and far from home, there is no real tension. As Walter Hill's film The Warriors shows there is a fantastic story to be told about Xenophon and his march to the sea, but unfortunately this isn't it.

I was similarly underwhelmed about his previous book Dunstan. I hope Conn gets his mojo back for his next book.

A good narration.

As Dry As The Land That The Book Is Set In.

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Normally love Iggulden, the run of the story great but what was the story? Poor.

great story telling but no real story

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