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The Wandering King #1
Summer, Harvest, War
The Wandering King is a historical fiction novel based on events that occurred in ancient Greece prior to the famous last stand of King Leonidas and the 300 Spartans at the pass of Thermopylae. Recent books and movies on the subject tend to leave out the facts that Leonidas was one of four ambitious brothers who fought over the Spartan throne.
Though Leonidas is a character in The Wandering King, this is not his story. The novel is told from the perspective of Leonidas' nephew, Euryanax. To escape political turmoil at Sparta, Euryanax journeys to Libya with an expedition led by his father Dorieus to found a new colony.
The first book in the series, Summer, Harvest, War, describes the Spartans adventures in Libya where they go to war with Persia’s allies Phoenicia and Carthage and Euryanax falls in love with the daughter of his father’s most hated rival.
Exotic locales and peoples, action, adventure and romance, The Wandering King has all this and more.
Though Leonidas is a character in The Wandering King, this is not his story. The novel is told from the perspective of Leonidas' nephew, Euryanax. To escape political turmoil at Sparta, Euryanax journeys to Libya with an expedition led by his father Dorieus to found a new colony.
The first book in the series, Summer, Harvest, War, describes the Spartans adventures in Libya where they go to war with Persia’s allies Phoenicia and Carthage and Euryanax falls in love with the daughter of his father’s most hated rival.
Exotic locales and peoples, action, adventure and romance, The Wandering King has all this and more.
517 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
18 people are currently reading
218 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Bradford Marte
5 books15 followersHello, I am a professional writer working for a large international corporation in their creative department. Initially I started out as a newspaper reporter, then briefly worked as a high school English teacher. After doing my student teaching a company offered me a job as a writer and I've been doing that ever since.
I've had a life-long love affair with ancient Greece. In my house are over 500 books devoted to ancient Greek literature, culture and history. The Wandering King: Summer, Harvest, War is my first historical novel. It is based on little known characters and events recorded in The History by Herodotus. Am currently working on the third book in the series, which it tentatively titled The Sworn Band.
I've had a life-long love affair with ancient Greece. In my house are over 500 books devoted to ancient Greek literature, culture and history. The Wandering King: Summer, Harvest, War is my first historical novel. It is based on little known characters and events recorded in The History by Herodotus. Am currently working on the third book in the series, which it tentatively titled The Sworn Band.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 6, 2019
"I am called Euryanax and I am a Spartan. In the Dorian tongue, "eury" meant wandering and "anax" meant king... From my name comes my story.".
As an old man, he tells his story to his granddaughter, Alala. This promises to be a great series: the story of Euryanax, wandering king, Prince and nephew of THE Leonidas of immortal fame. When his grandfather, Anaxandridas, one of the two Spartan kings, dies, his father Doreius is passed over as the successor, so Doreius leads a group of Spartans to found a colony in Libya. We see how they try to set up their colony in a beautiful spot, but are betrayed by the king who had invited them there and defeated by Persians and Medes, who occupy the nearby area. Euryanax loses a dear friend, Battus, a boy from a local tribe, and finds a Persian Princess with whom he falls in love. A priest just happens to appear and present them with a new destination: Eryx in Sicily. Are he and his message genuine? Or is he a charlatan? The Spartans venture to Delphi after picking up a ship at Corinth.
The prophecy they are given by the Pythia is ambiguous:
"Hear your fate, Spartans of the wide spaces,
Before you are two roads, different from other places:
One leading to an honorable city of freedom,
The other to the realm of Hades, which mortals shun.
You may travel to one through honor and bravery;
The other through greed sand destruction most cowardly;
Whichever path thou wilt take, hear me clearly,
Thou shalt conquer all before thee."
I enjoyed the fight scenes--on both land and sea--and the athletic contests at Delphi. There were a few anachronisms, e.g., potatoes, but nothing spoiled the novel. I plan on continuing the story. Recommended.
As an old man, he tells his story to his granddaughter, Alala. This promises to be a great series: the story of Euryanax, wandering king, Prince and nephew of THE Leonidas of immortal fame. When his grandfather, Anaxandridas, one of the two Spartan kings, dies, his father Doreius is passed over as the successor, so Doreius leads a group of Spartans to found a colony in Libya. We see how they try to set up their colony in a beautiful spot, but are betrayed by the king who had invited them there and defeated by Persians and Medes, who occupy the nearby area. Euryanax loses a dear friend, Battus, a boy from a local tribe, and finds a Persian Princess with whom he falls in love. A priest just happens to appear and present them with a new destination: Eryx in Sicily. Are he and his message genuine? Or is he a charlatan? The Spartans venture to Delphi after picking up a ship at Corinth.
The prophecy they are given by the Pythia is ambiguous:
"Hear your fate, Spartans of the wide spaces,
Before you are two roads, different from other places:
One leading to an honorable city of freedom,
The other to the realm of Hades, which mortals shun.
You may travel to one through honor and bravery;
The other through greed sand destruction most cowardly;
Whichever path thou wilt take, hear me clearly,
Thou shalt conquer all before thee."
I enjoyed the fight scenes--on both land and sea--and the athletic contests at Delphi. There were a few anachronisms, e.g., potatoes, but nothing spoiled the novel. I plan on continuing the story. Recommended.
June 5, 2013
I won this book in a free drawing from GoodReads, and I'm glad I won a copy.
This is a superior novel about the life of a young Spartan prince as he grows up and travels the world on various adventures. It's based on the History written by Herodotus, only with some modern corrections.
Starting in the Spartan youth camps, the protagonist, Euryanax, whose name means Wandering King, is caught up in a struggle for succession of the Spartan kingdom, and follows his father, who leaves to start a colony in Libya. This starts a chain of events in the ancient world's various struggles between the Hellenes and the Persian Empire.
Eurynax learns to fight, and to love, and is an engaging character.
All in all, a great novel, and I can't wait for the next volume.
This is a superior novel about the life of a young Spartan prince as he grows up and travels the world on various adventures. It's based on the History written by Herodotus, only with some modern corrections.
Starting in the Spartan youth camps, the protagonist, Euryanax, whose name means Wandering King, is caught up in a struggle for succession of the Spartan kingdom, and follows his father, who leaves to start a colony in Libya. This starts a chain of events in the ancient world's various struggles between the Hellenes and the Persian Empire.
Eurynax learns to fight, and to love, and is an engaging character.
All in all, a great novel, and I can't wait for the next volume.
September 7, 2016
I enjoyed this book about Euryanax the son of Dorieus the Spartan of the agiad clan and son of Spartan king of Anaxandridas. Ive read a lot books on ancient Greece and Sparta and this was very entertaining with good story line you have a lot of books iv read about Leonidas and this was good change of pace of reading about his brother Dorieus and his son, already have the second book and will start that one soon
February 23, 2014
Excellent historical fiction!! Great story based in ancient Greece with action, love, friendship and lots of historical details. The author keeps the story moving so one is not bored for a single page. The story is actually so good that I would recommend this book even to people who aren't normally fans of historical fiction.
A great read!
A great read!
December 24, 2013
Fantástico! Tomando el hilo de Herodoto, se narra la historia de Eurianax, hijo de Dioreo, sobrino de Leónidas. Con lujo de detalles sobre la educación y cultura espartana recorremos la adolescencia de Rudy en sus viajes de Esparta a Corinto y a Delphi, rodeado del conflicto entre Helenos y Persas. Tiene trazas para ser una serie memorable, ya espero el segundo libro ansioso.
July 8, 2020
A work of love
There are some books, such as textbooks or history books, written to teach others. There are other books, churned out in a never ending stream by profit driven authors, written solely to make money without regard to the art or beauty of the written word. And then there are books like this. Books written, or should I say crafted, by a wordsmith driven to produce a product that expresses his love of the subject matter being put to paper. The research done for this book is amazing. The skill of the author is excellent. What you learn about Greek history alone is enough to make this a worthwhile read.
There are some books, such as textbooks or history books, written to teach others. There are other books, churned out in a never ending stream by profit driven authors, written solely to make money without regard to the art or beauty of the written word. And then there are books like this. Books written, or should I say crafted, by a wordsmith driven to produce a product that expresses his love of the subject matter being put to paper. The research done for this book is amazing. The skill of the author is excellent. What you learn about Greek history alone is enough to make this a worthwhile read.
April 7, 2022
An amazing two books, which I read back to back!
So far, these are my favorites about Spartan characters.
I am nervous about the length of time between With this Shield and the as-yet-unpublished final book!
So far, these are my favorites about Spartan characters.
I am nervous about the length of time between With this Shield and the as-yet-unpublished final book!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews