Tyrant: Tyrant, Book 1

This is not a classical fantasy. In fact, it's not really a fantasy- there are subtle supernatural elements, but it is more a form of historical fiction. Most importantly, it is set in an interesting time and place- the Greek colonies of the Black Sea coast during the time of Alexander the Great. The time period is one in which I had always been vaguely interested, but into which I had never really gotten around to delving. it is different, yet familiar. And the region simply bleeds history.The story centers around a Greek mercenary captain and his compatriots (late of Alexander's army) who take a job building a cavalry force for the tyrant of one of the Euxine (the aforementioned Black Sea) city-states. There is a LOT of Greek culture in the book including things that might disturb some modern readers, such as the period's Greek acceptance of male homosexuality- and indeed worship of the ideal male form- as well the near-cloistering of women. But this all just made it the more interesting to me, because my (limited) understanding is that this is not inaccurate.Of course, war happens, and politics happens. There is treason. Soldierly camaraderie is played up. Etc. I won't include spoilers. There is an obligatory romance, which is annoying (as they almost always are), and this one is particularly ridiculous as it involves a female Scythian war leader, but there you have it. I can overlook such things, since the current publishing establishment seems to consider them essential for some reason.At any rate, I just bought and downloaded the entire 6-book series, if that is any indication of how much I liked the first book.

The book Tyrant by Cameron Christian transported me back to my first love in ancient history, The Greeks. This story takes place during the time of Alexander toward the end of his flaming career. The main character is Kineas, an Athenian who once fought under Alexander but who is now an exile from Athens and has become the leader of a mercenary band of warriors. Kineas is an interesting fellow, an Athenian noble brought up as a gentleman able to hold his own in symposium settings as well as the gymnastic. As the story progresses we watch the author allow his protagonist to grow as circumstances compel him to be more than he imagined.Kineas has been hired by a tyrant, The Archon of Olbia to come and train his troops ostensibly to defend against the depredations of the horse warriors of the Steppes, The Sakje. Merely bandits in the eyes of Olbia, The Sakje are in reality a highly organized and civilized society. The main plot is concerned with the alliance formed between the Sakje and the Tyrant of Olbia as they are facing an invasion from one of Alexander's generals looking to garner some glory for himself.The gamut of human emotion and experience are all explored by the author, from greed and avarice to the almost carefree spirit of warriors before a big battle. The ancillary characters are well done and provide Kineas with a well-rounded group of friends, followers and foes. Kineas also has a mystical element to his character as he is haunted by powerful dreams that shape his outlook and actions.The action is bloody when necessary, the horsemanship is superb, the story is well told. My only real complaint is that it seems to take a while to get to the climactic battle scene with The Macedonians but when it happens, it is intense and satisfying. I look forward to the sequel. I rate this book at 4.1.

I was very impressed. It was a good story that I thought really captured the birth of Hellenism. Not quite Mary Renault's league but I thought the book was good literature. I did have some problems otherwise I would have been happy to give the book 5 stars. Another reviewer, commented on the lack of maps and I agree. A map would have been good, two would have been better. The other problem I had was with what I thought were a few loose ends (was the Spartan a spy? what about messages from Athens? etc.). When I purchased this book I didn't realize it was part of a series, so maybe it's OK to have loose ends if you are going to follow up in the next installment. That said, a well-crafted story that I enjoyed and I think you might also enjoy.Addendum 9/2013I thought the sequel, Tyrant: Storm of Arrows while not of the same caliber as the original book, was very good. The third book in the series Funeral Games, was VERY disappointing. I thought it read like a 'B' movie script. I do not recommend it. I never read the fourth book in the series.The author's books on the First Persian Invasion of Greece and it's aftermath, Marathon and Killer of Men were both solidly crafted works and I enjoyed reading them.As an aside, I noticed a fellow reviewer mentioned the "Scythians and Slavic peoples". Tyrant takes place around 300 B.C. and the Southern Slavic Migration doesn't happen until the 5th century A.D., some time after the collapse of the western Roman Empire. After the Southern Slavic Migration happens the Scythian, Thracian, Illyrian and other peoples of the region all disappear. DNA evidence seems to indicate there was little or no assimilation between these peoples and the Southern Slavs.

Good story. Enjoyable read. I liked the treatment of the Scythians who probably don't get a fair shake in Herodotus' accounts. Little is known about them so a lot of good guesswork is needed to bring them alive in a novel. Cameron does a good job. While some may find the woman warrior aspect unrealistic, it is in line with the archaeological evidence (see Mayor, THE AMAZONS) that shows about 30 percent of the warriors found in Scythian/Sarmation burial sites unearthed so far are women decked out with weapons and armor, and these women have battle wounds to show the equipment wasn't just ceremonial. There's other evidence to suggest the Scythians were an egalitarian culture (at least with regard to sex) which contrasts sharply with the paternalistic Greeks. Cameron's depiction of them is highly plausible.

Being a great fan for some time of the "Killer of Men/Long War" series, I've decided to give the "Tyrant" series a go as well, and this book Tyrant has certainly thrilled me to bits.Just like the "Killer of Men" series the storytelling is of an absolute top-quality, and thus bringing vividly to life the Ancient Greeks within this wonderful book.As far as possible the book has been thoroughly researched historically, and the details provided in this book are of a very clear definition.The book starts off in the year 333 BC when Kineas and his Athenian Cavalry comrades are leaving Alexander the Great's army after a hard fought battle against the Persians, and so finally they are going back home to Athens.Once there Kineas finds out that his father is dead and he himself has been exiled for serving, as an Athenian, Alexander the Great Macedonian army, and he will finally end up along with some of his Athenian veterans on the Euxine, in Olbia to be exact.In Olbia Kineas and his Athenians are hired by the Tyrant to train the city's elite cavalry, only to find out soon enough that they are being used as pawns in the Tyrant's schemes, and so after first fighting with the Macedonians, Kineas now has to fight with Olbia and their unpredictable Scythian allies against the might of Macedon, for gold and grain.What will unfold is a thrilling and gripping story which keeps you spellbound from start to finish, and with great interaction and with hard fought battle scenes in which Kineas and his allies have to fight for their lives against the mighty Macedonians in a Greek world in turmoil.Fully recommended, because this book of this particular series is "A Marvellous Opener"!

I believe this is one of the greatest historical novels I have ever read, and I have read a few. The novel covers a period of history largely forgotten because the sources for it are so few and far between and all written down at a much later date. The author managed to have a six book series on the wars of the diadochi, the Macedonians fighting over the empire of Alexander the great, I know Eumenes was a Cardian one of the few none Macedonians involved. Kineas the Athenian became an old friend struggling to deal with his terrible dreams and foresight of his death as he believed. The Scythians those mythical warriors of Herodotus come to life on the pages of Tyrant as never before, the Sea of Grass grows in your imagination and reaches on towards the far east and the mysteries of China. I have read and reread this book and its sequel Tyrant Storm of Arrows they are different in tone than the rest of the series more introspective Kineas and Strayanka his beloved dominate both books of course.

Christian Cameron is one of those authors who effortlessly manages to suck you into whichever world or era they are writing about. This was the first book I read of his, being a fan of the genre. I have since read and re-read his other work. What sets him apart is that, apart from the fast paced action and excellent storytelling, Cameron weaves culture, religion and philosophy into a rich backdrop which offsets the violence and intrigue, and makes you care about why it is happening and the people involved.

Reviewing a book isn't always easy, especially when you are trying to remain objective while having either loved or hated a book. I bought and read this book three years ago and I loved it. I have just re-read kit and, for me, it is still one of the best ever.Rather than the "usual" book (or series) about and around Alexander's the Great (see Pressfield, among many others), this is about some Greek cavalry who, when dismissed by the victorious young king, turn mercenary and serve a Tyrant in one of the Greek cities (Olbia) around the Black Sea.The military research on the Greeks, Macedonians and Scythes is excellent. The praise, however, goes well beyond that because Christian has also taken care to make the characters come alive, even secondary ones, and taken the trouble to describe features of everyday life at the time (for instance, the athletic contests or the dinners). He has also attempted (and in my allegedly biaised view succeeded) to recreate the mentality among educated Greek elites - the Hippeis (whatever you might want to call them nobles, gentry etc...). I admit that some readers may have been put off by this and believed he was trying to be pedantic and showing off his knowledge. However, it seems that they did quote the Classics to each other during dinners. You may find this kind of behaviour pedantic and snobbish, but it is somewhat unfair to blame the author for it. In fact, this has happened through the Ages with all elites in all countries or regions in one form or another (think of the lords and ladies in the Middle Ages, the Aristocrats in the 18th century or the British gentleman in the next one, to limit oneself to Western Europe).Some commentators also got a bit tired of the mystic pieces - the dreams of Kineas who seems to have some kind of foresight of the future and foresees what he believes to be his own death. Well, whatever personal opinions we may have have, Greeks and Macedonians, despite the wars, slaughters and brutality, were rather religious, superstitous and even mystic and professional soldiers (or even killers if you will) obviously do not necessarily have to be dumb brutes. For me, characters like Kineas, Philokles or Nikeas, and there are many others, illustrate that point.Another strong point is that Christian has chosen a geographical region - the Western part of the Great Steppe - (from the Danube to the Caucasus) covering parts of modern Ukraine and Southern Russia within a period were we mainly know about the events that happened south of this region. This may give him a somewhat greater degree of liberty than being constrained by specific historical events.Two final points:I loved all of the battle scenes - and especially the cavalry fights - because they felt so real. No "blue-eyed hero" slaughtering half of the ennemies with the back of the hand. Rather, it's more like blood, sweat anf tears, with Kineas (and others) being wounded at almost each encounter. This seems to be quite realistic, in part because many leaders (with Alexander as the most obvious example) tended to lead from the front and in part also because, at the time, cavalry had no shields and little protection for legs and arms (nothing to do with the chainmail armour of our medieval knights, for instance). Each time there was close combat and a melee, they would suffer multiple cuts even if these were very often not fatal.We do not know exactly what happened north of Macedon while Alexander was busy conquering and enlarging the Persian Empire, although we do know about one Zopryon, a Macedonian governor of Thrace, being defeated and killed in battleby Scythians. We also do know that both Alexander's father (Philip II King of Macedon) and one of the Persian Emperor's (Darius the Great, if I remember correctly) tried, and failed, to subdue the nomad tribes north of the Danube. Although the contemporary Greeco-Macedonian and Persian secondary sources are rather discreet (and they would be, of course!) on these episodes, it seems that both were defeated although managing to extricate at least part of their forces and pull back across the Danube. It is very possible that another attempt by the Macedonians to conquer the rich cities of the Pont Euxin could have happened again while Alexander was in Asia. As described in the book, it would have made perfect strategic and political sense (for instance to better control Athens who - quite literally - depended on the wheat from the north for it's daily bread.Well worth five stars, in my view. I hope you will enjoy it at least as much as I did.

I bought this book when it came out in 2008. It's the story of my life that I buy more books than I can read, and it languished in the 'To Be Read' pile for 4 years. More and more people began to tell me how good an author Cameron was, however, so I tackled it in the summer of 2012. I was astonished by how good it was, and devoured it in 3 or 4 days. To say that it's well written is an understatement of the greatest kind.Cameron is a reenactor, and has therefore spent many an hour, and day, wearing and using the kit of a Greek soldier of the 4th century BC. He's also spent considerable time learning ancient Greek, and reading all the sources that he can lay his hands on. Boy, does it show. Kineas, the main character, reeks of authenticity. So too do the people he encounters: his friends and enemies, and the world that they all inhabit.Rarely have I been so transported to another place, another world. I lived with Kineas and his comrades for every moment that I read this book. I could not wait to buy the sequel, and over the last 12 months, I have read three of the four others in the series. It's a benefit of not having read them as they were published, I suppose, but I will be sorry to come to the end of  Tyrant: Destroyer of Cities . At least I will have the Long War series to read then, however!If you haven't read any of Cameron's books, I suggest that you start now. He stands head and shoulders above most authors out there, and is now one of my favourite writers. If I could award this book more than five stars, I would.Ben Kane, author of the Spartacus and Hannibal novels. Tyrant: Destroyer of Cities