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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.

In the Ancient World, one army was feared above all others. This is their story.

When Cyrus, brother to the Great King of Persia, attempts to overthrow his reckless sibling, he employs a Greek mercenary army of 10,000 soldiers. When this army becomes stranded as a result of the unexpected death of Cyrus and then witnesses the treacherous murder of its entire officer corps, despair overtakes them.

One man, Xenophon, rallies the Greeks. As he attempts to lead them to freedom across 1,500 miles of hostile territory seething with adversaries, 10,000 men set off on the long way home.

©2018 Conn Iggulden (P)2018 Penguin Audio
Action & Adventure Ancient Fiction Ancient History Ancient Greece King
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What listeners say about The Falcon of Sparta

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Conn's Falcon Has Him Flying High Again!

I was starting to think that I wasn't quite so in thrall to Mr Iggulden after my two previous attempts at his books. Dunstan was a strong but slightly less spectacular historical novel while Darien from the Empire of Salt trilogy wasn't something I thought would set the fantasy genre alight no matter how brave he'd been to try something so new.

The Falcon of Sparta though sees Iggulden doing what I think he does best. Taking an historical tale of already epic proportions and bringing it to life for us. Giving us heroes, epic battles and a grand, impossible journey engineered by a quite unlikely champion of Greece! The sheer scale of what they attempted given the terrain and distance they needed to cross is one of the truly great stories of the Ancient Greeks.

The structure of the book is a little different with the narrative being carried by almost a relay team of lead characters. Michael Fox is the man charged with putting the breath into Persians and Greeks alike. He does a very sound job and is engaging throughout though I wouldn't say his performance is quite of the very top standard. He's certainly much better than some of the choices Conn or his publisher have made in the past - check out the Emperor series for the proof.

If you've enjoyed some of Iggulden's earlier historical fiction and want some more then this is a very worthwhile purchase.

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28 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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HUGE SPOILER IN SYNOPSIS. DON’T READ IT

Great book but ruined by the synopsis telling of major character death that didn’t occur until 3/4 way through book. What total idiots.
Great book though

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Do you understand?

It's a good story, well written. The characters are cardboard for the most part, especially the Spartans. The author repeats certain phrases regularly which can be jarring at times. The ending was disappointing. But overall, I enjoyed the book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Really great experience!

Felt as if I was there with the Greeks, really enjoyed this thrilling story. Highly recommended!

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Gutted to have finished it.

Gutted to have finished it. I wish it was part of a series. Great Book.

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Outstanding work

It wasn't long after reading Xenophons Anabis that I found Iggulden had written a book about it. I've read Igguldens series on the Mongolian Empire and I loved that. When I finished reading Xenophons Anabis I was thinking to myself why isn't this more main stream? Why isn't there a movie or a series about this? The 300 Spartans at Thermopylae is a great story but Xenophons march of the 10,000 is gripping. Iggulden really made it into a more outstanding and thoroughly enjoyable listen. Even though I knew the story going into it the way Iggulden wrote gave me so much hope for Cyrus the Young, and I feel like Clearchus of Sparta was spot on as a character. Highly recommended this book. I'll be picking up the paperback sometime even after listening to it.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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loved the book but didnt like the narrator

The book was superb but the narrator wasn't that great. I wouldn't be able to listen to whiole book of him again

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Not too bad at all.

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.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Good Conn Iggulden story, not so good narration

Usually enjoy Conn Iggulden's tales and this one I suspect is no different but couldn't get into this one. I found the tedious narration left me unengaged with both the plot and characters.

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A great short story

This book is full of surprises.Like Game of Thrones don’t get too attached to any characters you like. It’s a pity there is not a book two. Would highly recommend - good narration.

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