Alexanders Erbe: Sturm auf Babylon:

Alexander's Legacy #4

by Robert Fabbri

Die epische Serie über die unerbittliche Schlacht um Alexanders Imperium. Blutig und schonungslos. Von Bestsellerautor Robert Fabbri.
Der plötzliche Tod Alexanders des Großen hat sein Weltenreich ins Chaos gestürzt. Krieg tobt, Städte fallen, Tausende Leben werden zerstört, während Alexanders machthungrige Generäle um die Vorherrschaft kämpfen. Drei große Mächte sind noch ü Antigonos in Asien, Kassandros in Makedonien und Ptolemaios in Ägypten. Nun will der einäugige Antigonos das Juwel des Ostens für sich Babylon. Als seine Feinde davon erfahren, schließen sie sich zusammen. Sie wollen verhindern, dass er seine Macht bis nach Europa ausdehnt, und schicken ihre Flotten von Griechenland in Richtung Gaza. Denn wer Babylon einnimmt, hält den Schlüssel zum Osten von Alexanders Großreich.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Ancient History

566 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 17, 2023

About the author

Robert Fabbri read Drama and Theatre at London University and has worked in film and TV for 25 years. He is an assistant director and has worked on productions such as Hornblower, Hellraiser, Patriot Games and Billy Elliot. Now, his life-long passion for ancient history, especially for that of the Roman Empire, has drawn him to write his first novel. He lives in London and Berlin.

Reviews

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Into the war of succession in the East, Egypt & Macedon after the death of Alexander the Great

The focus is on Antigonos early doors, not my favourite character of the piece for sure, a belligerent b’stard in the extreme but one who manages to avoid death at every turn so it would seem. He, Seleukos, Kassandros & Ptolemy are the main players where Thessalonike’s role as Kassandros’s wife grows into that of at least equal partner as she is really the brains & the strength in that partnership and a new character appears in Artonis as the wife of Eumenes to carry his torch forward now he is no longer with us.

At first its full of political machinations and schemes involving said players as they strive to conquer or align all in the name of peace and for that part it’s entertaining enough, which is all good, however as we reach the middle section it becomes fair mundane as we go through the motions without any real action or consequence (pg 150 onwards it would seem) and I found myself waning somewhat at multiple incursions.

A lot of the conflict is played out in piecemeal and the timelines jump on a fair bit between POV’s, there’s a lot to cram in so I get it, but even so it makes for a (very) disjointed read at times especially in the later stages of the middle part of the book where sometimes for a POV we just get names, places & consequences thrown at us for a few pages without any real story. Characters flit here & there, some are killed off (all off-screen) which are relayed to us through a messenger or traveller, some names are lost to me & I did struggle to keep fully invested.

It’s almost a book where the subject matter is so vast, the author spared us (or himself maybe) a great chunk of events so he could cut to the next book? Maybe Im being unkind, as IT IS a huge endeavour to undertake & at least the author has kept a semblance of events for a reader to follow….

The least interesting of the series so far for me, no real vibe or excitement about it tbh & at times a real struggle to read once I’d hit the middle section.

2.5 stars & that’s down to the two parts of the book, the storytelling is great, when it’s there, the rest is just filling for me. Trying not to be critical but it is what it is.

[George Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled with this book more than the others in this series, especially as the characters are very one dimensional. The last quarter was much better though with the Battle of Gaza and a new POV with Demetrius Poliorcetes.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps inevitably given how much has happened in the previous books, there is a fair bit of summarising previous events. Equally, this one has a lot happening in it's own right - and if you know the history, you can see things starting to shake out as they eventually will.

Ptolemy already has Egypt and now we see Seleukos focusing on Babylon - around which he will form the Seleucid Empire. And you're getting very worried for the young Alexander. Poor kid. Equally, what will eventually happen to him - and the fact certain people are already thinking about it, shows how far they have fallen away from their respect and loyalty to the late Alexander. And how desperate they are for power that they will (in the near future/probably next book) resort to murdering a child

It's testament to the author that he makes the various main characters memorable, despite there being so many - and I liked that there are interesting subplots, such as with Kassandros trying to prove himself despite being a bag of anxiety when it comes to a battle. As horrible and scheming as a lot of these characters are, they do feel like real people because they've each got their own personality. As a reader, you feel like you know them enough to understand their actions, as horrific as those actions may sometimes be.

I don't know how long we will have to wait for the next book, but I look forward to it.

[John Francis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant.

I am loving this series. The basic storyline is what happened after the death of Alexander the Great. Whilst dying at the very young age of 32, Alexander handed his ring over to Perdikkas and instead of naming an heir, he simply said, to the strongest. All his generals decided that was them and war ensued. This series is what happened next. I love the way the author got Eumenes back in the story in this book, I also missed him. The sly little Greek was one of my favourite characters.
Once I started this book, I couldn't put it down and now i'm impatiently waiting for the next.
Brilliant read.

[Liviu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe due to reading the first 4 installments of the series one after the other, or maybe due to the fact that some of the most interesting characters left the scene and the new ones are not at their levels, while the "not on my ar.." expression of Antigonous kind of started wearing thin, but this while still interesting is the weakest volume so far. Essentially what is known as the 3rd Diadochi war with Antigonous (biggest army, wealth and interior position) against most everyone else (scattered in various places) who are by and large orchestrated by Ptolemy of Egypt; Antigonous wants it all, the others just want their kingdoms, though for now they still all act in the name of the regency as one of the kings is still on the board and as Alexander legitimate son, he is still difficult to kill without encountering the various armies opprobrium, but everyone kind of knows the child is not going to survive for long as nobody really cares about him anymore with his main protectors all dead

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series

I was worried after a certain death in the last book that the characters would not be as engaging, but this is another action packed story with characters you can like and dislike. And it just keeps you turning the pages.

[Arnoud Visser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now that we are used to all main characters, including all their nephews, Robert Fabbri is able to show how Ptolomeus long term scheming works out.

Great how Robert Fabbri uses fiction to make sense of history.

[Gazza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great stuff

Well written and possibly historically correct .Very riveting and occasionally hard to put down but altogether a very good read,as all the authors books are

[Brian Seare · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remarkable

Excellent once a gain thank you .Cannot wait for the sequel as I'm interested in Alexander the Great period of time.

[Mr Jeffery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the best in the series so far but well worth a read.

It feels like meeting old friends renewing acquaintance with the characters (or at least the ones still alive!)

[peter eells · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent series of books, absorbing and informative, read the whole series one after another 👍

[Robert Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good as always

Fabbri has you invested in each character. Linking the story well and making time fly. Great chapter in the series.

[Koit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Immensely enjoyable even without Eumenes to lead the way, Mr Fabbri’s continuation of this saga delivers again. There are some pretty long gaps in coverage here which I feel could have been explained better, but overall we come from a point where Antigonos was the main power to a situation where he no longer has unquestioned authority. In this, of course, Ptolemaios and Seleukos play they roles—which endears the book to me even if both of them have a slightly lower prevalence here than in previous books.

As the name of the book suggests, the key player this time round is Seleukos, but even despite this role of a protagonist that he has been given by the author, only a few chapters are really about him. The great city itself only features at the start and end, with Seleukos spending the majority of his time in between in exile. His time in exile isn’t as bad as it sounds, however, as he’s given an army by Ptolemaios with which Seleukos harasses Antigonos everywhere around the Mediterranean. It is not just victories, but also defeats, of course, that he suffers, but the likely reader will know of his future rise so the character’s survival is never in question.

The more interesting developments take place in Macedonia, where Kassandros is doing his best to stay in power. Some of the most emotionally powerful chapters of the book took place in Macedonia where the author looked in on the young Alexander, King of Macedonia. Roxana never features as a character in this book with whom one would want to sympathize, but the moment when the young lad was taken for virtual imprisonment in Macedonian foothills was forceful. In one of the few glimpses of the horror of history, that authors of historical fiction choose to take on, Mr Fabbri here managed to show the cruelty that people are willing to indulge in to stay in power.

I am interested in this period in history, and I liked this book.

This review was originally posted on my blog.