Book Review: Tyrant: Funeral Games

Continuing to work my way through a list of Ancient Greece in 36 Historical novels, I hit #32, Christian Cameron's 2010 novel Tyrant: Funeral Games. This was actually the first time in the entire list where I was being asked to read volume three in a series, so of course I quickly read one and two.

Tyrant Mini-Review
This 2008 novel follows a Greek mercenary called Kinneas and his interactions with the Scythian people during the reign of Alexander the Great. The book was a lot of fun, showing a little known corner of the era.

Tyrant: Storm of Arrows Mini-Review
This 2009 novel follows Greek mercenary Kinneas and his battle with a Macedonian army led by one Alexander the Great's generals. A lot of action, as well as an interesting look at Alexander himself in the latter days of his reign.

Ok, so back to Funeral Games. The novel follows the children of the leads from the first two books as they navigate the collapsing Macedonian Empire after Alexander's death. Twins Satyrus and Melitta begin the novel around age twelve and allow the reader to examine how nobles from different cultures viewed gender, roles, and responsibilities against a backdrop of action, intrigue, and adventure. I think it's fair to say that this list very nicely led me to two great authors, Mary Renault and Christian Cameron.

Book Review: Tyrant

Valerio Massimo Manfredi's Tyrant (2005) moves away from mainland Greece and into the Greek colonies in Sicily.  Following the life of Dionysius I of Syracuse the novel follows both the rise and fall of the character, as told from the point of view of journals and private papers he left for his son.

The novel follows Dionysis through his early frustrations as poor leadership causes a number of Sicilian cities to be destroyed by Carthage, and then follows his own rise to power, which starts, as is all too often the case, with the best of intentions, but ends in pure corruption.

A really interesting, readable novel, that showcases a part of the ancient world I was less familiar with.

Well worth a look!